2023 Travelers Championship: The Rundown

With the Third Major of the year in the rearview mirror, we’re moving to Cromwell, Connecticut for the 2023 Travelers Championship.

The Travelers Championship is held at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. The Travelers is a designated event this year and will boast the strongest field here since 2020 after the Covid restart.

Last year, Sahith Theegala relinquished the lead on his 72nd hole and Xander Schauffele rode a hot putter to earn his first of back-to-back wins.

In 2021, Harris English shot 65 on Sunday and defeated Kramer Hickok in a playoff to get his 2nd win of the year.

TPC River Highlands is a Pete Dye designed 6,800 yard par 70 with Bentgrass/Poa mixed greens. They tend to run faster than typical Bentgrass. The course is the 2nd shortest on tour only behind Pebble Beach. This allows players of all skill sets a shot at competing well into the weekend.

There are four par threes, two par fives, and twelve par fours at River Highlands. Two of the par threes are on the front 9 and play over 200 yards; they play as the 4th and 6th most difficult holes on the course.

The two par fives will have to be scoring holes for anyone looking to contend as they play as the two easiest holes on the course. There are eight par fours measuring 400-450 yards. The par four 15th hole is potentially drivable playing under 300 yards.

In addition to some shorter holes, players with less distance off the tee can take advantage of hitting fairways; this is far easier at TPC River Highlands coming in at about 70%. Obviously, with shorter holes comes shorter approach shots, 25% of which come from 150-175 yards. Wedges will be relied upon heavily at the Travelers Championship.

Shorter approach shots lead to a higher GIR percentage which is about 68% at TPC River Highlands. If greens are missed scrambling will be key, especially with scrambling being more difficult here than at your average PGA course.

There are plenty of greenside bunkers and the rough around the greens can make chipping difficult. Ultimately, hitting greens and making putts will be key this week with four of the last five winners shooting -17 or better.

There are 156 players in the field with the top 65 and ties making the cut

Recent Winners of the Travelers Championship:

• 2022: Xander Schauffele-19
• 2021: Harris English -13
• 2020: Dustin Johnson -19
• 2019: Chez Reavie -17
• 2018: Bubba Watson -17

Travelers Championship Historical Cut Line:

• 2022: -1
• 2021 -1
• 2020 -3
• 2019 -1
• 2018 -1