Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson likes to say he was the first to commit to play in this year’s Travelers Championship that begins Thursday at the TPC River Highlands near Hartford, Conn.
“It’s dear to my heart coming here,” Watson said this week. “The fans, the volunteers here, the title sponsor, Travelers, they put together a great tournament. I just registered, and they give your wife a little gift, a little bag, and then my son, they give the little kids some toys, as well. He got a little spaceship, but he thought it was an airplane, so he thought it was the greatest thing in the world.
“When the tournament does little things like that, it makes it special for us.”
Watson, who won his first Tour victory at the Travelers in 2010, can feel special for a few more years after Travelers announced last February it had reached an agreement with the PGA Tour to extend the company’s title sponsorship of the tournament through 2024. It’s an impressive commitment to a tournament that was once viewed as an afterthought when placed on the schedule the week after the U.S. Open.
“We’ve wanted to make sure that we sent a strong message to the players and their teams that we were in this for the long run,” said Andy Bessette, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Travelers. “Our partnership with the PGA Tour is strong and we want to make the Travelers Championship one of the very best on the PGA Tour. That’s been our goal from Day 1.”
Since becoming the title sponsor in 2007, the Travelers has emerged as a favorite destination for players looking to compete in a quality tournament while decompressing from the pressure of playing in a major. Four of the top 10 players in the world—Watson (No. 3), Matt Kuchar (No. 5), Jason Day (No. 7) and Sergio Garcia (No. 8) will be in the field. Others competing include Keegan Bradley, Angel Cabrera, Zach Johnson, Dustin Johnson, Hunter Mahan, Kevin Streelman, David Toms, Nick Watney, Charlie Hoffman and U.S. Open runner-up Erik Compton.
Some of the players arrived by a special charter flight organized by the Travelers to help make it easier for the players and their families to get to the tournament from the U.S. Open. It’s one of the perks the Travelers uses to attract the strongest field possible.
“You’re not going to get all 50 of the best here,” Watson said. “But Travelers is all forward. They’re all about trying to give back and trying to give back to the communities and give back to the families that show up. When you look at that and see the hard work that a sponsor like that is putting in and their commitment, the players are very appreciative of that. They’re guaranteeing us another chance to make money for the next 10 years.”
The star this week is Compton, who tied for second at Pinehurst with Rickie Fowler. Compton, the recipient of two heart transplants, is the sentimental favorite going into this week’s tournament.
“It doesn’t feel like last week,” Compton said of his success at the U.S Open. “It feels like it was a few hours ago. It was a very exciting, solid four days of golf. It still hasn’t been able to really hit me. I’m still trying to get back to a lot of friends and family and a lot of congratulations, people who have supported me really around the globe.
“I’m right back here trying to play this week, and I don’t know if I’m going to be as well prepared as I was last week for the Open, but I’m going to try my best, and I look forward to the challenge.”
Coming the week after the U.S. Open has proven to be more of a positive than a negative for the Travelers Championship.
“It’s become an identity to us,” said tournament director Nathan Grube. “Guys know we are on the calendar.”