{"id":24786,"date":"2026-06-21T11:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T11:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/24786\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T11:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T11:27:11","slug":"course-correction-travelers-rescued-cts-pga-event-and-transformed-it-into-one-of-the-tours-best-hartford-courant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/24786\/","title":{"rendered":"Course correction: Travelers rescued CT\u2019s PGA event and transformed it into one of the Tour\u2019s best \u2013 Hartford Courant"},"content":{"rendered":"

The view from the middle of the 18th fairway at the Tournament Players Club at River Highlands during the week of the Travelers Championship<\/a> is unmistakable. The grandstands left and hospitality area right will be filled, as they always are when the PGA Tour<\/a> makes its annual trip to Cromwell.<\/p>\n

The hill behind the final green will be a sea of people, all hoping to witness some magic like Jordan Spieth\u2019s bunker blast<\/a> or Harris English\u2019s marathon eight-hole playoff win over Kramer Hickok or someone trying to challenge Jim Furyk\u2019s mind-boggling round of 58.<\/p>\n

For exactly two decades now, with Travelers as the title sponsor, the event has been embraced by fans and, more importantly, by an elite field of players who leave the pressure cooker of the U.S. Open<\/a> and make the trip to New England\u2019s only regular Tour stop. All of this is important because it serves as a necessary reminder that this tournament was marked for extinction after what was then the Buick Open wrapped up in 2006.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was dead,\u201d Travelers executive vice president and chief administration officer Andy Bessette said. \u201cGone. Done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s make something perfectly clear. This is not overstating a point for dramatic effect. It is not hyperbole or revisionist history or an over-the-top opening for a feel-good story about how the little tournament that could keeps chugging along.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got a call from the Tour,\u201d tournament director Nathan Grube said. \u201cIt was before Zoom, so we\u2019re listening on speaker phone. It was [then-Tour commissioner] Tim Finchem<\/a> and a few others.<\/p>\n

\"FansFans watch as Rory McIlroy and Keegan Bradley approach at the 18th green on Thursday, June 19, 2025, during the first round of the 2025 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell. They both finished with a 6-under par for the day. (Aaron Flaum\/Hartford Courant)<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just said, \u2018You guys have had a great run. You no longer have a date on the schedule. Maybe you can be a Champions Tour event. We\u2019re not sure. Maybe you can talk to the LPGA. But again, it\u2019s been a really good run. Thank you for everything you\u2019ve done.\u2019 It was legitimately a thanks-for-the-memories, pat-on-the-back call. It was over. It wasn\u2019t close to over. It was over.\u201d<\/p>\n

In January 2006, Buick announced it was pulling its sponsorship and the PGA Tour took the stop at TPC River Highlands off the schedule. That was it.<\/p>\n

Dead. Gone. Done.<\/p>\n

Then, in April of 2006, 84 Lumber pulled out of its commitment to the Pennsylvania Classic.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, a week was now open. That\u2019s when then-Travelers CEO Jay Fishman and Bessette jumped in, worked out a contract and kept the tournament in Cromwell. On April 11, 2006 Finchem, Fishman and others held a press conference in Hartford to announce the tournament was back.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo this day, 20 years later, people see me on the streets and say \u2018Thank you for saving the golf tournament,\u2019\u201d Bessette said.<\/p>\n

\"FansFans walk past the Travelers logo painted on the grass in front of the 15th tee box as they walk the course during the first round of the 2023 Travelers Championship at the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell on Thursday, June 22, 2023. (Aaron Flaum\/Hartford Courant)<\/p>\n

Before moving to here and now \u2013 and, more importantly, what\u2019s next as the PGA Tour once again embarks on significant change that will remake how it operates and where and when its events happen \u2013 Grube wants to underscore the point one more time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe book was sealed,\u201d Grube said. \u201cThis wasn\u2019t a continuation. This was a rebirth.\u201d<\/p>\n

A promise made to the PGA<\/p>\n

None of this happens \u2013 the tournament, the memories, the fans, the acclaim of the players \u2013 without Bessette and Grube. But a key player in all this \u2013 perhaps the most important \u2013 was Fishman.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we started with the tournament, we didn\u2019t want this to be a Hartford sports story that didn\u2019t work out,\u201d Fishman told The Courant years ago. \u201cWe\u2019re in it for the long haul.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re giving it everything we have to make it great.<\/p>\n

\u201cI leaned over to [Finchem] and whispered to him, \u2018I just want you to know that we\u2019re a company that involves ourselves in a first-rate way with first-rate events. I promise you we will make this event right and will make this community proud of what we do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"InIn June 2007 Hunter Mahan gave the first Travelers Championship trophy a kiss after defeating Jay Williamson in a sudden death playoff to win the title. (Hartford Courant file photo)<\/p>\n

At one point, Grube is asked about his favorite memory from these past 20 years, with the expectation that he\u2019ll start talking about Spieth or English or Furyk or the resiliency during the quiet days when COVID-19 forced the tournament to be held in silence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the year Furyk shot 58,\u201d Grube said of the lowest score ever posted in a PGA Tour event in the final round of the 2016 Travelers. \u201cThe place was bonkers. People knew they were seeing history. Jay was battling ALS. He was in a wheelchair at this point. He couldn\u2019t get around too well. He had gotten out to the chute where Jim was walking off 18. It was a mob scene. Everyone just wanted to be in this moment, this piece of history. Jay was sitting off to the side.<\/p>\n

\u201cJim saw him and walked over. Jim knew the history. He knew that the Travelers, as a company, had saved this tournament. He goes up to Jay and says, \u2018I never would have been able to do this if you guys hadn\u2019t sponsored this tournament.\u2019 He was so appreciative. That\u2019s a moment I am going to remember forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elevation and uncertainty<\/p>\n

Fishman died 12 days later. Bessette has followed that same forward-thinking, we-won\u2019t-let-you-down, dream-big approach Fishman whispered to Finchem. In 2022, just a year after Travelers had extended its title-sponsor role through 2030,the PGA Tour was facing an existential crisis, one triggered by the sudden emergence of the LIV Golf League.<\/p>\n

Then-commissioner Jay Monahan announced at that year\u2019s Tour Championship that \u201celevated events\u201d would be created and instituted in the 2023 schedule. It was meant to infuse more exclusivity and prize money to the Tour given the truckloads of cash the LIV Golf League, backed by Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund (PIF), was throwing at players to get them to leave the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n

Grube remembers that day. He and Bessette were standing in the back of the room at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta as Monahan outlined his plan. As Monahan finished answering questions about the Tour\u2019s new vision, Grube looked around to find Bessette. He was gone, already headed toward Monahan. Bessette made it clear to Monahan that\u00a0 he wanted the Travelers Championship to be an elevated event.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to a year ago. New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, long a lieutenant of commissioner Roger Goodell at the NFL, announced more sweeping changes. He used words that had to make Bessette, Grube and everyone associated and invested in the Travelers Championship nervous. The most chilling among them was the phrase \u201cmajor market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FansFans walk into the Stanley Black & Decker Fan Zone during the second round of the 2023 Travelers Championship at the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell on Friday, June 23, 2023. (Aaron Flaum\/Hartford Courant)<\/p>\n

Among the six key takeaways was an increased focus on bringing the Tour to big cities. New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Boston were among those cited. Cromwell, it goes without saying, was not mentioned. Once again, Bessette wanted to make his case.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens when the new CEO comes in?\u201d Grube laughs, knowing the story sounds familiar. \u201cBrian Rolapp introduces himself to the world at the Travelers Championship. He walks off and guess who is having lunch with Brian for a half an hour to make sure we are going to be in the mix?\u201d<\/p>\n

That would be Bessette, who liked what he heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrian Rolapp said to me so many times \u2018The players love you guys so much. You don\u2019t have anything to worry about,\u2019\u201d Bessette said. \u201cWe have a couple hundred thousand fans a week, we raise tons for charity. He stopped me and said \u2018Andy, you don\u2019t have to worry about a thing. The players and their wives and their kids and their families and their caddies \u2026 they love you. Everyone loves you.\u2019 But we still worry because they are going to reshape the Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the players like growth and increased revenue, even they know not every tournament needs to be \u2013 or should be \u2013 within a 9-iron of a major market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe PGA Tour is a pretty amazing construct,\u201d two-time major winner Zach Johnson told Golfweek recently at the Principal Charity Classic, played in Des Moines, Iowa. \u201cWe\u2019re able to go to communities, big and small, and make a massive impact. It seems to me, the ones that dig the deepest and have the widest roots are the medium to modest to smallest markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result, when we come there \u2014 I\u2019m not suggesting the big markets don\u2019t want us, that\u2019s not what I\u2019m getting at, because there are amazing championships in the big cities \u2014 however, those smaller markets are rolling out the red carpet. They cannot wait for that seven days.\u201d<\/p>\n

A simple goal: Be the best<\/p>\n

That sentiment is shared by those who run the Travelers Championship. They hope, too, that what the tournament has shown these past two decades will mean something as the Tour makes its decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say that is our hope [to be a significant part of the new schedule],\u201d Grube said. \u201cIt\u2019s always been our hope. We want to be the best we can possibly be. We have never looked at ourselves as a small market. We want to be the best Tour event in the country. That\u2019s our goal. The Tour knows that. And they know we will do whatever it takes to be the best event we can be. They know where our heads are at. We are not going to push back. We are not going to cause any friction. We are going to be the best version of whatever they want us to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Bessette and Grube lead the charge, they have both evidence and voices to support their case to remain a significant part of the PGA Tour schedule. The Travelers Championship has never whined about its seemingly difficult positioning, the week after the U.S. Open, easily the most grueling of men\u2019s golf\u2019s four major championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what the Travelers does so well is we\u2019re normally coming off the U.S. Open, and we\u2019re just mentally fried,\u201d said defending Travelers champion and New England native Keegan Bradley. \u201cWhat the Travelers does is they create this hometown feel of an event. It almost feels like you\u2019re playing a tournament in your backyard and they create this relaxed atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KeeganKeegan Bradley, left, celebrates with his family after winning the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Cromwell, Conn. (AP Photo\/Jessica Hill)<\/p>\n

All part of the plan, Grube said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s super hard at the U.S. Open to get around with your family?\u201d he said. \u201cWe can be the most family-friendly event on Tour. Travel is a pain? We can make a charter for you and your caddie and your family. I remember, in \u201907 or \u201908, a reporter got in my face and said \u2018What did you do to make the Tour so angry that they gave you the week after the [U.S.] Open?\u2019 Then fast forward 10 years later and we have eight of the top 10 players in the world, and a different reporter said \u2018What did you do to get so lucky to get the week after the U.S. Open?\u2019 The luck is you work your ass off.\u201d<\/p>\n

This time around will be no different. Shinnecock Hills on the East End of Long Island, site of this year\u2019s U.S. Open, is widely considered one of the hardest golf courses on the planet. So the players will be happy to arrive in Cromwell, see the food trucks at the practice facility, the Wiffle Ball games set up for their kids and whatever other new idea or amenity Bessette, Grube and more have dreamt up.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuys are coming to play it, and I think they see it,\u201d two-time major champion Justin Thomas said last year. \u201cIt\u2019s a really fun golf course, especially the week after the U.S. Open. That can sometimes not be that fun. It feels like a little bit of relief.\u201d<\/p>\n

Go down the list and you hear the testimonials.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis place has always been kind of special to me,\u201d former U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark said. \u201cGetting my first start with Travelers, coming out of college, you don\u2019t know what to expect. It was my first ever Tour event. I remember leaving that year saying, OK, I\u2019m going to win here someday. I love this place, and it\u2019s special to me. I\u2019m always excited to come back to this course, this tournament. They treat us so well. Travelers does an amazing job. I\u2019m happy to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it enters the 20th installment literally under the Travelers umbrella, a new uncertainty exists, but one far less dire than what it once faced.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s see where it goes,\u201d Bessette said. \u201cWe are very optimistic. When everyone loves you, I would hope nobody is going to move it or get rid of it. We\u2019re small but mighty. And we\u2019re going to keep pushing forward.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The view from the middle of the 18th fairway at the Tournament Players Club at River Highlands during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1425,3737],"class_list":["post-24786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-travelers-championship","tag-travelers-championship","tag-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}