Players differ on approach to tourney

CROMWELL — If Thursday starts a PGA tournament, Sunday awards some money, and Saturday is moving day, what’s Tuesday?

With the first official round two days away, with some players still arriving in town, it depends.

“It always changes,” said PGA Tour veteran D.A. Points, preparing for this week’s Travelers Championship. “It just depends. Sometimes I’m playing a Monday proam. Sometimes I’m playing a Wednesday pro-am.

“It’ll depend if I’ve seen the golf course enough.”

Points played 18 holes Tuesday morning. The Illinois native has been here four other times since 2005, tying for 59th in 2009, so he’s seen the course. He spent an hour on the driving range Tuesday afternoon trying out some new clubs.

“I’ll chip for 30 minutes, putt for 30 minutes,

go to the gym, call it a day,” Points said. “Tomorrow, I’m not in the pro-am, so that’ll be a light day.”

While some players are on the course, others haunt the practice area. Salesmen hawk equipment around the range. (“Whatever I hit straight is the best driver on the market,” said one player, overheard in passing.)

Players come and go on the driving range, finish one bag of balls and break out another, head up to the putting green, go over to chip.

“I’d say (a Tuesday plan) depends on many factors,” said Mackenzie Hughes, returning to TPC River Highlands off last year’s tie for 17th.

“It depends where you’re coming from. How many weeks you’ve played in a row. What your energy level is like that day. If you’ve played the course enough.”

Since a tie for 42nd, his top finish of the year, at the Fort Worth Invitational in late May, Hughes has played every week. This will be five in a row,

including rounds of 76 and 75 at the U.S. Open last week.

That’s part of why Hughes slept in Tuesday morning.

“It can depend on the weather, too,” said Hughes, a native of Hamilton, Ontario, living in North Carolina. “If it’s really hot, you might not want to play as much. If it’s rainy or windy, it might not be the test you want.”

Nick Taylor, coming off a tie for 30th at the St. Jude Classic two weeks ago in Memphis, played 18 holes Tuesday morning as well, then went to the range.

“It’s just kind of maintenance,” said British Columbia’s Taylor, back for his fifth Travelers Championship and fourth in a row, “keeping it asis.”

He had less than 48 hours remaining before his 12:20 tee time in Thursday’s first round.

Andrew Redington / Getty Images Mackenzie Hughes plays his shot from the sixth tee Friday at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y.

Michael Reaves / Getty Images Nick Taylor plays his shot from the sixth tee during round two of the Fort Worth Invitational at Colonial Country Club on May 25 in Texas.