Travelers Championship:
Sunday at the 65th Travelers Championship brought fireworks long before the leaders were scheduled to tee off and the eventual champ was hoisting the hardware.
No slight here to the champion Russell Knox, but we have to begin with the historic final round of Jim Furyk.
Before we delve into the 46-year-old’s history-making performance on Sunday, it’s important to mention again that he DID NOT WIN, but he’s a no-brainer to slot in the lead-off position.
Let’s backtrack a bit first, to Friday’s second round.
Furyk was one of 18 players to make the CUT on the number (T56). He arrived to the midpoint on 1-under 139 by chasing an opening 3-over-par 73 with a bogey-free 66 in Round 2, doubling his output from just eight greens in regulation (GIR) in R1 to 16 GIR in the second frame.
On the two greens he missed, the Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, resident saved par with a pair of one-putt seven-footers, first on No. 5, and again on No. 9, his final hole of the round. It goes without saying but for emphasis sake, had that par putt on the ninth not dropped, he’s packing his bags early and history never happens.
In the third round, the University of Arizona product backed up with 2-over 72, beginning the finale in 70th place, 16 shots behind 54-hole leader Daniel Berger. He went off at 8:41 a.m. ET in the third group of the morning, 5 hours and 19 minutes before the final pairing of Berger and would-be-champ Knox.
By 12:20 p.m., still an hour and 40 minutes before leaders were scheduled off, the Pennsylvania native was putting the finishing touches on a bogey-free 12-under-par 27-31=58, the FIRST-EVER 58 in the history of the PGA TOUR. (CBS Sports later stated that there have been approximately 1.5 million round played).
Six players had previously shot 59; the most recent was Furyk himself in R2 of the 2013 BMW Championship at Conway Farms GC (par 71). That week, he carded one eagle, 11 birdies and one bogey, eventually finishing in 3rd place with chasing rounds of 69 and 71.
Furyk becomes the only player in TOUR history to record TWO sub-60 rounds but interestingly enough, he hasn’t won either time.
On this particular Sunday, he tallied 10 birdies, five from between 14 and 24 feet, and strung together seven straight circles on Nos. 6-12 (new personal best). He set his sights early with a hole-out eagle from 135 yards away at the par-4 third and wrapped his scoring with birdie-2 at the 16th from 23’8”.
Furyk, playing his 23rd consecutive TOUR season and his 1,959th career round, striped 13 (of 14) fairways, hit ALL 18 greens in regulation, requiring 24 putts. In the mother of all back-door top 10s, he vaulted 65 places to T5.
Almost as an aside, Furyk also broke the tournament and course record of 60, shot by amateur Patrick Cantlay in 2011/R2. His 58 was 10.658 strokes better than the field average in the final round.
Russell Knox: Making his 21st start of the season, Knox erased a three-shot deficit with a final-round 2-under-par 34-34=68, claiming victory with a 72-hole aggregate of 14-under 266, one shot clear of runner-up Jerry Kelly.
The 31-year-old adds his second TOUR title in his 110th career start and second of the season, joining the WGC-HSBC back in November, which he co-led after 54 holes. He becomes the fifth multiple winner on TOUR this season, joining Jason Day (3), and Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, and Adam Scott with two each.
The Scot began the final round in a three-way T2 on 12-under, three shy of overnight leader and playing competitor Berger, who shot 74. He mustered just six (of 14) fairways but hit 13 greens in regulation, posting a tidy 1.692 putts per GIR, though a pedestrian 0.289 in SG: Putting.
The Jacksonville University alum outpaced bogey-5 at four with birdies on 3 and 6 to turn 1-under, trailing Berger by one.
1- Daniel Berger: -14 (thru nine holes)
T2- Jerry Kelly: -13 (thru 13)
T2- Russell Henley: -13 (10)
T2- Russell Knox: -13 (9)
T5- Justin Thomas: -12 (in with 62)
T5- Tyrone Van Aswegen: -12 (10)
T7- Jim Furyk: -11 (in with 58)
T7- Brooks Koepka: -11 (11)
After the break, he circled back-to-backs on 13 and 14, both from inside of seven feet, before squaring bogey-4 at 16 (failed scramble). Knox came to 18 leading Kelly (in the clubhouse with 64) by one. He missed the fairway and the green, but got up-and-down from a greenside bunker, nailing a 12'1" par for the title.
This was the 26th playing of the Travelers at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. The 6,841-yard par-70 layout (35-35) played over-par the first two rounds and under-par the final two rounds. The cumulative scoring average was 69.668.
Making his fifth appearance, Knox posted rounds of 67-67-64-68 for an 11.590 in SG: Total. His previous best was T13 in 2013.
As noted above, the win comes in his 21st start of the season and is his fourth top 10. His four top 10s comprise two wins and two runners-up (P2, OHL Classic; T2, RBC Heritage).
Knox entered the week off a T22 at the PGA Championship and won as a pre-tourney 50/1 outright.
He collects 500 FedExCup (FEC) points, bumping from 7th in the FEC standings to 4th, and jumps from 26th in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) to a career-best 18th.
Winner’s Weekly Stats (ranking of 73 players):
Birdies: 20 (T3)
Bogeys: 6 (T5)
Par-3 Scoring: 3.00 (T41)
Par-4 Scoring: 3.79 (1st)
Par-5 Scoring: 4.50 (T11)
Driving Distance: 295.5 yards (24th)
Driving Accuracy: 38/56 (T43) at 67.86 percent
Greens in Regulation: 57/72 (T12) at 79.17 percent
Proximity to Hole: 30’6” (14th)
Putts per GIR: 1.684 (8th)
Total Putts: 116 (T22); by round: 30-30-27-29
Scrambling: 10/15 (T19) at 66.67 percent
SG: Off-the-Tee: 2.489 (16th)
SG: Approach-the-Green: 5.870 (3rd)
SG: Around-the-Green: 0.340 (42nd)
SG: Tee-to-Green: 8.701 (5th)
SG: Putting: 2.890 (19th)
Golf Channel Perfect Picks ($2,317,425):
Group 1: Brooks Koepka (T9): $184,800
Group 2: Russell Knox (Won): $1,188,000
Group 3: Jerry Kelly (2nd): $712,800
Group 4: Tyrone Van Aswegen; Robert Garrigus (T5): $231,825
Draw:
In total, 73 players from a field of 156 made the cut of 1-under 139:
32 (of 78) EARLY/late advanced
41 (of 78) LATE/early
Of the FIVE top-finishers in Golf Channel, TWO were EARLY/late, including the champion, while THREE were LATE/early.
Russell Knox (Won): EARLY/late
Brooks Koepka (T9): EARLY/late
Jerry Kelly (2nd): LATE/early
Tyrone Van Aswegen (T5): LATE/early
Robert Garrigus (T5): LATE/early
Yahoo! Low Rounds:
R1: Vaughn Taylor; Andrew Loupe; Jerry Kelly (64)
R2: Blayne Barber (64)
R3: Daniel Berger (62)
R4: Jim Furyk (58)
Bogey-free Rounds:
R1: Vaughn Taylor (64); Tyrone Van Aswegen (67); Rory Sabbatini (67); Bubba Watson (67); Chad Campbell (68); Alex Cejka (68); Abraham Ancer (68)
R2: Blayne Barber (64); Brian Stuard (65); Russell Henley (65); Tyrone Van Aswegen (66); Jim Furyk (66); Jason Kokrak (66); Paul Casey (67); Scott Pinckney (67); John Senden (68); Chad Collins (68/MC); J.J. Henry (69/MC)
R3: Francesco Molinari (65); Bryce Molder (66); Aaron Baddeley (67); Cameron Percy (67); David Toms (70)
R4: Jim Furyk (58); Shawn Stefani (65); Tyrrell Hatton (66); Patrick Reed (66)
What We Learned:
The pre-tourney odds-favorites have won just TWICE this season thru 40 events and Jordan Spieth has both of them, winning the Hyundai TOC and the DEAN & DELUCA.
Bubba Watson: The two-time and defending champ was the top-ranked player at OWGR No. 6 and was also the pre-tourney odds-fave at 12/1. He never factored, finishing T25 on 7-under 273 (67-70-68-68).
The 37-year-old extended his TOUR-leading consecutive cuts made streak to 22, but he logged just a second top 25 in his last nine events (T14, WGC-Bridgestone).
Watson is Rio-bound with five others who competed at the Travelers. Of the six, Alex Cejka (68-69-69-65) and Patrick Reed (70-67-68-66) were the low Olympians on 9-under 271 (T11).
There were 21 first-timers at TPC River Highlands and 11 (of 17) PGA TOUR rookies:
Daniel Berger: The 54-hole leader was the top debutant with a four-way T5 on 11-under 269 (66-67-62-74).
Playing out of the final pairing with Knox, he began the finale with a three-shot lead over three players but cratered to a 4-over-par 36-38=74, five in arrears to Knox.
This was the 23-year-old’s second 54-hole lead on TOUR in 54 career starts (both this season). He won his maiden title at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, where he also led by three at the three-quarter mark.
The second-year man opened in 66 and co-led after 36 holes with 67. His 62 in R3 was a career best in 173 rounds.
In the final round, he posted 1.297 SG: Approach-the-Green but was negative in all other SG categories, including a -2.889 SG: Tee-to-Green and -2.453 SG: Putting.
Despite a birdie-less first half of 1-over, he still led by one at the break, but it went south from there, squaring four straight bogeys to open the back nine and carding two birdies and one bogey the rest of the way.
Lucas Lee: For the first time this season in 14 starts, the 29-year-old was top rookie with T38 on 5-under 275 (68-69-72-66). His season best is T36 at the weather-shortened Zurich Classic (reduced to 54 holes).
The UCLA alum was third alternate when the field was published on Friday, but got in following two pre-tourney WDs (Patton Kizzire, Lucas Glover) and fellow rookie Rhein Gibson’s WD as second alternate to play the Web.com Tour’s Digital Ally Open, where he posted a T23.
Biggest Surprise:
Jerry Kelly: The 49-year-old painted a 6-under-par 32-32=64 in the final round to post 13-under 267, up nine places to solo second, one shy of Knox.
This is his seventh runner-up finish in 603 career starts, first since the 2008 Memorial.
The University of Hartford alum was making his 19th appearance with previous-best finishes of T7 in 2001 and T4 in 2005. He’s missed eight cuts, including last year (by four) after rounds of 75-67.
Kelly, who turns 50 on November 23rd, opened with 64, co-leading after Day 1 with two others, adding 70-69 to begin the finale on 7-under (T11), eight back of Berger.
Playing out of the seventh-to-last twosome, he peppered 13 (of 14) fairways and 15 greens in regulation, posting 1.600 putts per GIR. The Wisconsinite squared a lone bogey-5 at the 14th (failed sand save) but camouflaged it with five birdies and a hole-out eagle at the par-4 12th from 113 yards away.
He’s a three-time winner on TOUR but not since the 2009 Zurich Classic. Kelly’s lone top 10 this season in 18 starts entering the week was T9 at the Sony Open. He catapults 63 places in the FEC standings from 138th to No. 75.
Top 10 Performers Weekly Stats:
Travelers Championship | |||||||
Player | |||||||
295.6 (24) | 67.86% (T30) | 79.17% (T5) | 30' 6" (14) | 66.67% (T19) | .723 (19) | 9/ 45; 20.00% (7) | |
278.0 (67) | 82.14% (2) | 76.39% (T11) | 28' 6" (T4) | 52.94% (T53) | 1.215 (9) | 8/ 45; 17.78% (T18) | |
310.6 (9) | 58.93% (T54) | 80.56% (T1) | 30' 4" (T11) | 64.29% (25) | .027 (52) | 7/ 49; 14.29% (T30) | |
311.5 (8) | 66.07% (T35) | 68.06% (T53) | 32' 6" (23) | 69.57% (T13) | 1.237 (7) | 5/ 37; 13.51% (T43) | |
284.9 (T50) | 73.21% (T15) | 75.00% (T20) | 28' 7" (6) | 44.44% (68) | 1.524 (4) | 10/ 46; 21.74% (T2) | |
292.8 (31) | 73.21% (T15) | 76.39% (T11) | 28' 6" (T4) | 47.06% (T65) | .677 (22) | 8/ 45; 17.78% (T18) | |
269.9 (73) | 60.71% (T48) | 72.22% (T34) | 30' 7" (15) | 90.00% (1) | 1.426 (5) | 4/ 41; 9.76% (65) | |
298.0 (21) | 55.36% (T68) | 79.17% (T5) | 30' 3" (T8) | 40.00% (T70) | .602 (T25) | 8/ 50; 16.00% (23) | |
307.6 (12) | 67.86% (T30) | 73.61% (T25) | 36' 10" (62) | 57.89% (T38) | .904 (14) | 7/ 42; 16.67% (T21) | |
309.0 (11) | 58.93% (T54) | 65.28% (T62) | 35' 0" (48) | 60.00% (T31) | 1.703 (2) | 12/ 44; 27.27% (1) | |
Tour Average | 290.1 | 64.99% | 68.87% | 34' 4" | 55.69% | N/A | 692/ 5,117; 13.52% |
Source: PGA TOUR Media
Up Next:
The TOUR heads to Silvis, Illinois, for the John Deere Classic at the par-71 TPC Deere Run. Two-time and 2015 winner Jordan Spieth is not in the field. He won last year’s edition on the second playoff hole over Tom Gillis.
There are seven past champions scheduled to compete: Brian Harman (2014), Zach Johnson (2012), Steve Stricker (2009-2011), Jonathan Byrd (2007), John Senden (2006), Sean O’Hair (2005) and David Toms (1997). UPDATE: Byrd and Toms have since withdrawn.
Stay tuned to this space for all the latest player news and opinions as the TOUR readies for its 41st tournament of the season. After this week, there is just ONE event remaining before the start of the FEC Playoffs.
