Thorbjornsen making good on sponsor’s exemption

CROMWELL — Michael Thorbjornsen is having quite the stretch of golf at a very young age.

He qualified for the U.S. Open last week by getting through sectional qualifying. It was his second major championship, having finished 79th in his other U.S. Open appearance, getting there because he won the 2018 U.S. Junior.

Not only did Thorbjornsen have the high of qualifying for the US Open, but the next day, the Massachusetts native found out he was receiving a sponsors exemption for this week's Travelers Championship.

After three rounds at TPC River Highlands, Thorbjornsen is tied for seventh, six shots behind leader Xander Schauffele.

“I feel good with my game. I feel like I've been playing well, have definitely had some mental errors out there. Hopefully try and not have those tomorrow. But just try and keep doing what I'm doing,” Thorbjornsen said.

Last week's U.S. Open was a home game for the amateur — it was held at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. Thorbjornsen, a rising junior at Stanford University, hails from Wellesley.

He is also the reigning

Massachusetts Amateur champion, which will take place next month. He might be a little busy: Thorbjornsen is representing the U.S. in the Arnold Palmer Cup next month in Switzerland.

Thorbjornsen will play with Webb Simpson, the former U.S. Open champion, in the fourth-to-last group Sunday afternoon at 1:25 p.m.

If Thorbjornsen were to pull off the stunning victory, he would be the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson won the 1991 Northern Telecom Open.

“I think one thing that might help is winning or coming in second or third, I'm not getting paid either way, so it's just another tournament for me, it's just one more round of golf, just trying to again, do the same thing I did today. Focus on my swing, just like making sure I get to certain positions and I guess like not really having any regrets,” Thorbjornsen said.

COMEBACK TRAIL

It hasn't been easy for Will McGirt as he recovers from hip surgery. Actually make that twosurgeries — on the same hip.

Yes, McGirt had left hip surgery twice — once in 2018 the other in 2019.

”When I tried to rotate my left side, I had zero degrees of internal rotation. They (doctors) were shocked I didn't blow my back out or my knee,” McGirt said. “I played for four months before I knew I would have surgery done.”

McGirt played in one tournament in 2020 — the Memorial, the site of his one PGA Tour victory in 2016. He played 11 tournaments last season, making just three cuts.

McGirt is playing on a major medical extension this season. This is just the fifth cut he has made after he missed the last three. He shot 66 in the third round to sit at 8-under-par overall.

“There is such a fine line out here between playing well and missing cuts.” McGirt said. “It's nice to be on the right side of the line for once. I missed three (cuts) in a row by a shot.”

McGirt said just because he finally made a cut, he can't relax.

“The problem is out here, you have to keep the hammer down. You can go shoot 4-under and back up out here if you're not careful,” McGirt said. “It's been very frustrating, coming back from injury. It's hard getting back into the competitive side after being out of the game for 22 months.”