It was a sunny Tuesday at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C., and while PGA champ and New England homeboy Keegan Bradley was honed in on the Truist Championship that week, there’s one place he’ll always take time to turn his focus to: TPC River Highlands, where in a few weeks he’ll return as reigning champ of the Travelers Championship.
Bradley took time to speak to the Boston Herald last week, and as the sun shone over TPC River Highlands, I asked him what he was most excited about.
The $20 million winning pot, including a $3.6 million payout to the champ? The many Fed Ex points (700) up for grabs that weekend? The chance to play for a rare third win in the famed tourney?
Bradley didn’t even need to ponder his response.
“The whiffleball,” he said with a smile. “When our kids talk about this event, the golf comes second. The whiffle ball comes first.”
Bradley is speaking of one of the many “player with family” friendly touches the Travelers puts in place each year.
The family whiffle ball game set with the backdrop of a mini Fenway Park. There’s more, too. Every time a player welcomes a new child home, Travelers executive vice president and chief administrative officer Andy Bessette sends a Travelers onesie. The winner’s kids take home their own mini-trophies, and the families are woven into all kinds of other special moments.
That, Bradley said, makes it special: “You know, in a golf family, there is a lot of ‘golf takes dad away,’ but with the Travelers, they get to be part of it all.”
Bradley has long held The Travelers Championship with high regard. It was there, as an 13-year-old boy in the crowd, he watched David Duval prepping on the range in Cromwell, Conn., and thought, I’m going to do that some day.
He not only went on to play it but to win it – now twice, first in 2023 with a record-breaking 23-under and again last June when he pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind win. For the Vermont-raised Bradley, the Travelers Championship has always felt like a home tournament.
Not to say that made it easy for him to win there, because of the natural pressure a hometown athlete can put on himself.
“I struggled to win there because I wanted it so bad,” he said. “It took me a bit to learn how to manage that.”
And while the course is familiar to him, that doesn’t always mean it’s easier. More to the point, he has enough history to worry a bit.
“The thirteenth tee, a par 5? That’s the one I’m usually laying in bed worrying about the weekend before,” he said.
The hole’s narrow fairway flirts with disaster on both sides – water and super high rough.
Plus, he said, that “home course feel” almost spreads to all players. Thanks to the family vibe of the entire event and the timing of when it falls, Bradley believes most players feel comfortable at The Travelers.
“You’re coming off the U.S. Open so you’re feeling drained anyway. And then you get here and everyone in the family is happy,” he said. “It sets up for a great week.”
Bessette says that while the “feel at home” vibe comes from design, it’s from a place of simple, solid belief.
“We treat people the way we would want to be treated,” he said.
That includes the players and their families, as well as the caddies, employees, volunteers and yes, the spectators.
Keegan Bradley, left, celebrates with his family after winning the Travelers Championship tournament at TPC River Highlands on Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Cromwell, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
At The Travelers, while there are VIP and private spots, the majority of the viewing is for all, and that includes five separate venues where those holding simple ground passes can sit in chairs and suites like VIPs do.
There are interactive games and contests, all kinds of food, a great autograph zone that’s easy to access and staff and volunteers who care deeply. On the Friday of last year’s event – a busy day for sure – one volunteer approached me with a small sunscreen tube in her hand.
“You look redder than you did when you arrived,” she said, handing the sunscreen to me. That’s some white glove service.
Tickets are on sale now for the June 22-28 event. When you purchase the tickets, any food on site and any swag you may choose to take home, you won’t be lining corporate pockets. In the spirit of the tourney, 100 percent of net proceeds go to charity. Last year the tourney raised over $4 million, which was distributed to well over 200 local charities.
You’ll find easy parking, lots of great spots for viewing and – just like that young Keegan Bradley decades ago, players happy to share their love of the game.
“Particularly as a New England-raised player, there are not a lot of us out there,” he said. “I want to show them that it can be done. I do think about this: I need to be a good role model for the kids from Vermont and the Northeast as a whole.”
Third win? Bradley is going for it. But for now, just let him focus on the whiffle ball.
“When the family is happy, so is the player,” he said.