Justin Thomas withdraws from the Travelers
CROMWELL — Justin Thomas withdrew from the Travelers Championship a day before the first round.
Thomas first pulled out of the Celebrity Pro-Am on Wednesday morning. Thomas was supposed to be paired with Xander Schauffele and Tom Hoge, going off the 10th tee at 7:35 a.m.
Thomas has been replaced by Satoshi Kodaira.
PGA Tour Communications tweeted out the official news Wednesday morning.
Thomas later tweeted, “Before the rumors start flying, I have decided to WD to treat and rest my back which I tweaked earlier this week. Just making sure I get it taken care of and ready for the rest of the PGA season as planned. Hate to be missing one of the best/my favorite events @TravelersChamp!”
Thomas is ranked fifth in the world rankings and fourth in the FedExCup standings. He won the PGA Championship last month in a playoff with Will Zalatoris and finished third to Rory McIlroy at the Canadian Open.
Thomas, 29, tied for 37th at the U.S. Open last week. He has played the Travelers six previous times, including once as an amateur. His best finish is a tie for third in 2016.
Thomas has been in full support of staying with the PGA Tour while the LIV Golf Invitational Series has been plucking tour golfers, the latest being Brooks Koepka and Abraham Ancer on Tuesday.
Both were supposed to play Travelers. Koepka officially withdrew Tuesday evening.
No Geno, No Murray
Actor Bill Murray and UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma figured to be two of the biggest draws at the Celebrity Pro-Am Wednesday. But both withdrew before the event began.
The tournament made the announcement via Twitter Wednesday morning. Travelers added ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg as a late addition.
Auriemma skipped media access at his charity golf tournament Tuesday because he was not feeling well, according to a UConn spokesperson. The illness is said to not be related to COVID.
Associate head coach Chris Dailey, who played Wednesday, said various illnesses have swept through the team. Aaliyah Edwards and Ayanna Patterson weren’t feeling well on Tuesday and missed the appearance at Auriemma’s charity golf event.
Asked about the basketball program, Dailey said, “The summer access is a great time for our kids, especially the freshmen. They get acclimated and it gives us an op (portunity) to work with the returners.”
Murray, who has participated in the tournament’s Pro-Am in Cromwell in the past, was the biggest name in the field. According to media reports and social media posts, Murray was at a bar in Limerick, Ireland on Monday night.
Bonding over UConn, golf
UConn football coach Jim Mora did the bare minimum in preparing to play golf in the Pro-Am.
“Yesterday, in the defensive backs coaches office, I took a couple putts, and I went down to the driving range for about five minutes,” Mora said before teeing off at TPC River Highlands. “I haven’t had a lot of time. We’ve been heavy into recruiting and developing our own players. That’s kind of my focus right now.”
As it should be, of course.
Former UConn quarterback Dan Orlovsky approached Mora near the first tee, continuing a conversation that began on the range.
“He said if you’re a coach and you’re a good golfer,” Mora began …
“It means you’re a bad coach,” Orlovsky said, finishing the thought. “You’re not supposed to be a good golfer when you coach college sports.”
Mora played Wednesday with UConn coach hockey Mike Cavanaugh, former UConn field hockey coach Nancy Stevens and PGA Tour player Aaron Wise. Orlovsky, UConn’s career leader in all major passing categories, played in the following group with former Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield and tour player Tom Hoge.
Orlovsky got to know Mora while they worked on several ESPN shows together in Mora’s time between being coach at UCLA and UConn.
“I still stay pretty connected to him and the program and people within the program,” Orlovsky said of Mora. “I hear great things. You hear a lot of really good energy. We were chatting on the driving range about some of the transfers that have come in. I know some of the transfers just from calling games . ... I think he’s doing a really good job of infusing hope and excitement. Obviously it’s got to translate to on the field, which everyone is pulling for, but I know a lot of us are behind him for sure.”