Keep an eye on these dozen
After a historic eight-hole playoff victory for Harris English at the 2021 Travelers Championship, the 32-year-old is back to defend.
The player field includes 12 of the top 20 in the official world rankings, but the field has also been affected by the PGA’s feud with the newly created LIV Golf Tour. Previous commits Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau are out, suspended from competing in PGA events after signing with the LIV.
The 2022 field includes plenty of big names in the PGA and also with a Travelers history, including No. 20 Abraham Ancer, who has recorded two holes-in-one at TPC River Highlands. Ancer did it in 2020 when he landed his first shot on the 16th hole, and again in 2021 on No. 8.
Here’s a look at some of the top names in this year’s tournament:
Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler currently sits atop both the world rankings and the FedExCup standings after his four wins and eight top-10 finishes in the 2022 season. The 25-year-old reigning Masters champion has competed at Travelers twice, with his best finish (47th) coming in 2021.
Scheffler made a run of four wins in seven weeks earlier in the season, but has cooled off as of late.
Rory McIlroy
McIlroy made headlines ahead of the US Open defending the PGA Tour and even questioning the impact LIV Golf is having on the sport less than a week after he won the Canadian Open.
Currently ranked No. 3, the fourtime major winner has finished in the top 20 in all three Travelers Championships he’s taken part in. In his most recent appearance, 2020, McIlroy finished tied for 11th.
Patrick Cantlay
Aside from missing the cut in
May’s PGA Championship, world No. 3 Cantlay has finished in the top three in his last four tournaments. His only first-place finish of the season came at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in April. His Travelers highlight came at age 19 when he shot a 60 in the 2011 second round — his first of seven years competing in the event. In the last four years Cantlay has finished in the top 15 at Travelers, most recently a 13th-place finish in 2021.
Justin Thomas
After missing the cut in 2020, Thomas is returning to the field for his eighth appearance. His 2022 PGA Championship win is his second major title. Thomas is No. 5 in the world rankings and third in the FedExCup standings with nine top-10 finishes this season. The 29-year-old’s best finish in the Travelers came in 2016 when he tied for third.
Viktor Hovland
The 24-year-old Norwegian is No. 8 in the world and made his professional debut in the 2019 tournament. He finished 54th but followed it up with an 11th-place finish in 2020. Hovland has been as high as No. 3 in the world in 2022.
Sam Burns
Making his fourth appearance, Burns’ best finish came in 2021 when he tied for 13th . Before that, the No. 9 player finished 24th in 2020 and 43rd in 2019. Burns is currently ranked No. 2 on the FedExCup standings with 2,223 points that come from three wins and eight top-10 finishes. Most recently Burns defeated Scheffler in a playoff to win the Charles Schwab Challenge in May.
Xander Schauffele
With a pair of top-two finishes in major championships, the 2018 Open Championship and the 2019 Masters, Schauffele became the first American since 1900 to win the Olympic gold medal in 2021.
The 28-year-old will make his fourth appearance at Travelers. His best finish was in 2017 when he tied for 14th .
Will Zalatoris
The 25-year-old captured international attention after his secondplace finish at the 2021 Masters. With six top-10 finishes in majors, Zalatoris is ranked No. 14 and is 13th place in the FedExCup standings with seven top-10 finishes.
Tony Finau
Finau has finished in the top five of all major championships, his best coming at the 2019 Open Championship when he finished third. The 2022 Travelers will be his seventh time competing at TPC River Highlands. He has had three top-25 finishes but missed the cut in the last three tournaments.
Joaquín Niemann
One win this season that came in February’s Genesis Invitational helps Niemann to 18th place in the FedExCup standings. At 23 years old, Niemann has won two PGA events. In three appearances at Travelers, Niemann’s best finish came in 2019 when he tied for fifth place.
Brooks Koepka
Despite being one of the biggest names listed in the early Travelers field as a four-time major winner, Koepka has yet to finish on top in Cromwell. This will be his sixth time competing at the event and he recorded top-10 finishes in 2016 (T9) and 2021 (T5). He now sits at No. 19 in the world and No. 84 in the FedExCup standings after having two top-10 finishes in just 14 events this season.
Keegan Bradley
The 2022 tournament will mark Bradley’s 12th consecutive appearance in Connecticut. He has never won the event but finished tied for second in 2019 behind Chez Reavie.