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Just one week after a dramatic major championship finish at the U.S. Open, the Travelers Championship delivered a memorable conclusion of its own as Harris English dueled Kramer Hickok for seven playoff holes before draining a birdie putt on their eighth extra hole to capture his fourth PGA Tour title.
The win marked English’s second victory of the season: He won the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January in Kapalua also in a playoff, beating Joaquin Niemann with a birdie on the first extra hole.
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“This was awesome, the fans were keeping us in it, getting the juice from them, but it’s been awesome really all afternoon,” said the 31-year-old English, who started week listed at +3300 to win, according to PointsBet Sportsbook. “Hats off to Kramer -- what a competitor. We were both grinding out there, making those 6-, 7-footers, and it’s what it was all about. We were grinding, trying our hardest …
“That was incredible, what an experience. And the fans were awesome. They’re always great here in Hartford and glad we got to give them a little show at the end.”
That “little show” featured English and Hickok going toe-to-toe in what tied the second longest playoff in PGA Tour history, as the two matched pars over five return trips down the par-4 18th and two down No. 17 (also a par-4) before English drained a 16-footer for birdie on their sixth time playing No. 18.
The win marked the seventh top-10 finish of the season (21 starts) for English, who becomes the fifth multiple winner this season along with Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Cantlay, Jason Kokrak and Stewart Cink. Entering the week at No. 19 in the world rankings, he’s projected to vault to No. 12.
“This is validation for me,” said English, who finished solo third last week at Torrey Pines, three shots behind first-time major champion and world No. 1 John Rahm. “Been doing the right stuff, putting in the work, putting in the time back in Sea Island, and it’s validation I’m doing the right stuff. I feel like I’ve competed a lot the last couple weeks, was pretty bummed after the finish at Palmetto (when he shot 74 on Sunday to finish T-14). Played good last week at Torrey Pines and came into this week with a lot of confidence and had it going. It was nice to finish off Sunday with a birdie at 18 to have a chance, and it’s an awesome feeling.”
The former Georgia standout, whose previous best finish in seven Travelers appearances was a T-7 in 2014, started the day two shots behind 54-hole co-leaders Hickok and three-time Travelers champion Bubba Watson, and fired a 5-under 65 on Sunday, punctuated by a 27 foot, 8 inch putt for birdie at the last to get to 13-under 267. English headed to the practice range to stay loose while the final two groups finished, and he heard the thunderous roars from fans at 18 when Hickok, co-leader after the first and third rounds, drained his own birdie from 8 feet to close with a 3-under 67 and also reach 13 under.
“It was a huge learning experience for me,” said 29-year-old Hickok, a winner on the Korn Ferry Tour and Mackenzie tours and whose runner-up result marked his career-best PGA Tour finish. “It was just a tremendous day. I mean, it was just a hard-fought battle out there. Played tough. Kudos to Harris. He battled so hard. There was times I put him in a tough spot, he put me in a tough spot, and he came out on top and he’s a true champion.”
Their eight-hole playoff tied the record for second-longest in PGA Tour history (the record for longest is 11 holes at the 1949 Motor City Open) and was 13th playoff and longest in Travelers’ tournament history.
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Top 10 for Jason Day
World No. 71 Jason Day closed with an even-par 70 to finish T-10 at 9-under 271 for his third top 10 finish of the season (T-7 at Vivint Houston Open, T-7 at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am) and his second top-10 finish in seven Travelers Championship starts. He finished T-8 in 2019. Day, in search of his 13th career TOUR victory and first since 2018 Wells Fargo Championship, held a narrow one-shot lead after the second round thanks to a bogey-free 62 on Friday that marked the low round of the week. He carded back-to-back rounds of even-par 70 over the weekend to fade from contention, but Day told media Friday he the difference was a swap to an old putter.
“I tried the SIK putter and just going back to something that felt I guess a little bit more square to me,” he said Friday. “I was looking down at the putter and just wasn’t lining up correctly. To me felt a little bit closed. So that kind of crossed -- I crossed myself up and wasn’t trusting my line. So going back to the Spider, which sits a little bit more open for me, I can trust the line that I’m aiming at.
“And then just coming up the feels again. It’s nice to be able to visualize a ball going in the hole again instead of thinking, ‘Am I going to hole this putt?’ So nice to be able to do that.”
Watson’s wheels fall off at end
Three-time champ and third-round co-leader Bubba Watson, who started week listed at +4000 to win, was bidding to join Billy Casper as a four-time Travelers winner but played last five holes Sunday at 6-over par en route to a 3-over 73. He fell 18 spots into a tie for 19th at 7 under but remained composed talking to media after his back-nine collapse.
“Gosh, I’ve thrown up on myself before here. Made a triple on 16 to lose when I was up by one or two that year,” said Watson, referring to 2013 when he led by two strokes with three holes to play but hit his tee shot into the water on 16 and finished two strokes out of a playoff.
“So I’m glad that I was there, had the opportunity. You know, I would love to do it again next week -- throw up on myself again. It would it be great. I want to the opportunity and the chance to win.”
Odds and ends
Defending champion Dustin Johnson, who opened as the betting co-favorite with Bryson DeChambeau at +1100, finished T-25. DeChambeau was T-19 for his second finish inside the top 20 in his last three starts. … 2012 Travelers Championship winner Marc Leishman posted a bogey-free 6-under 64 on Sunday to finish third at 12 under in his 11th tournament start and 10th consecutive since his 2012 victory. … Following a bogey at No. 1 for the third time this week, Brooks Koepka made six birdies on Sunday to close his fifth Travelers Championship with a 5-under 65 and finished T-5 at 10 under. … Abraham Ancer, who finished solo fourth at 11 under, also closed with a 5-under 65 to card his lowest score of the week and collect his second top-10 finish in five starts at the Travelers Championship (T-8 in 2019).
Fowler misses cut, announces impending fatherhood
Rickie Fowler, listed at +6000 to start the week, missed the Travelers cut after finishing T-8 at the PGA and T-11 at the Memorial in his last two starts. It marked his eighth missed cut in 20 starts this season, however Fowler still made headlines this week with the news that he and wife Allison are expecting their first child, a daughter.
“Everyone tells me it’s life changing,” Fowler, who admitted he’s not sure yet how fatherhood will affect his competition schedule. “I’m looking forward to it. I’m sure over the next few months I’ll continue to think about it but won’t really know until the little one shows up and we know exactly what we’re going to do from there.
“She’ll be the main thing. Everything else will kind of take a backseat. But I’m looking forward to kind of trying to manage everything, keep things as efficient as possible and being able to spread my time between her and family and golf.”
Next up: Rocket Mortgage Classic
Bryson DeChambeau will look to defend his title when the PGA Tour travels to Michigan for the third edition of the Rocket Mortgage Classic at the historic Donald Ross-designed North Course at Detroit Golf Club (par 72, 7,370 yards). Last year, DeChambeau won by three shots after finishing his final round with three straight birdies to survive a late rally by Matthew Wolff and earn his sixth Tour title. Wolff, who recently took two months off from competitive play to focus on his mental health, will look to improve on his runner-up result and is chasing his second career victory. Wolff missed the cut at the Travelers but did notch a T-15 finish at the U.S. Open the week prior. Reigning PGA champion Phil Mickelson, who finished T-61 at TPC River Highlands, will make his tournament debut while Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama will make his third straight appearance. Jason Day and Rickie Fowler are both looking to end long winless droughts while Will Zalatoris is chasing his first Tour victory.
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