Bubba Watson came from six shots behind with an impressive 7-under par 63 today to win the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. The victory was Watson’s third at the Travelers, and his third win this season. Watson finished at 17-under par 263 and won by three stokes over four players, including Paul Casey, who had a four shot lead after 54 holes. Stewart Cink, who shot an amazing 8-under par 62, also finished in the four-way tie for 2nd place at 14-under par, as did Beau Hossler and J.B. Holmes, who shot 66 and 67 respectively.
Final Round Action
Bubba Watson switched back to Titleist ProV1x this year.
Bubba Watson began his round forty minutes ahead and four groups ahead of Casey, who was in the final pairing with Russel Henley. Watson started quietly with pars on the first four holes, but birdies at the 5th and 6th holes would get him to 12-under par. A bogey at the 8th hole, followed by a bounce back birdie at the 9th, gave Watson a 2-under par 33 on the front. Birdies at the 10th, 12th, and 13th holes put Watson at 15-under par. Another birdie came at the short par 4 15th hole and after Watson knocked it stiff at the 18th, he tapped in for his eighth birdie of the day, which gave him a back nine of 5-under par 30, and a final round of 63 to finish at 17-under par and in the lead.
Beau Hossler started the day at 10-uder par in the group behind Watson, made six birdies on the day, including four of the last six holes, and had two bogeys in his round for his score of 66. Hossler birdied the last two holes in his hot stretch run, but could only catch Cink at 14-under par. J.B. Holmes began his round at 11-under par, five strokes behind Casey and in the next to last group. Holmes birdied the 1st hole and then had another birdie at the 6th for a bogey-free 33, which left him 13-under par at the turn. Birdies at the 11th and the 12th holes put Holmes at 15-under par, but a bogey at the 14th hole moved him back to 14-under par. A birdie at the driveable 15th hole got Holmes back to 15-under par, but a bogey at 18 left him tied with Cink and Hossler at 14-under par.
Paul Casey, who began the day at 16-under par and four shots ahead of Russell Henley, birdied the 1st hole to quickly move his score to 17-under par. But a bogey at the 5th and pars on all the rest left Casey with an even-par 35 on the front nine, and still at 16-under par when he made the turn. Casey continued the run of pars on the back side until bogeys at the 16th and 17th holes would ruin his chances and drop him into the tie for 2nd place at 14-under par. Henley shot a 1-under par 69 and finished at 13-under par, tied for 6th place with Kevin Tway, who shot 65, and Brian Harman, the 36-hole leader, who had a 68.
Video Courtesy of PGA Tour
Notables
Bryson DeChambeau, winner of the Memorial Tournament three weeks ago, shot a 68 to finish at 12-under par in a tie for ninth place. Rory McIlroy and Jason Day each finished in a tie for 12th place at 11-under par, with McIlroy shooting a 67, while Day had a 69. Two-time defending U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka fired a 65 and finished at 9-under par in a tie for 19th place, along with another two-time major champion, Zach Johnson, who shot 69. Jordan Spieth shot a 69 to finish at 4-under par in a tie for 42nd, with Keegan Bradley at 3-under par in a tie for 47th after an even par 70, and Justin Thomas had a disappointing 73 to finish in a tie for 56th at 2-under par.
Earlier this week before the tournament began, a closest to the hole competition was played to a pin set into the Travelers umbrella that is situated in the middle of the lake that dominates the final holes at TPC River Highlands. This contest was won by Lanto Griffin, and he won $10,000 for the charity of his choice. He selected the Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame Scholarship Fund as his charity. I mention this because I live in the Roanoke Valley and have actually played in an amateur tournament a few times that is run by this same organization.
Masters champion Patrick Reed missed the cut by one stroke at 1-under par, with Graeme McDowell missing at even par, and Jim Furyk at 1-over par. Players Chapion Webb Simpson missed out at 5-over par, while Retief Goosen struggled to 8-over par for 36 holes.
PGA Tour Final Results
1 Bubba Watson -17 70 63 67 63 - 263 2 Stewart Cink -14 68 68 68 62 - 266 2 Beau Hossler -14 65 67 68 66 - 266 2 J.B. Holmes -14 66 68 65 67 - 266 2 Paul Casey -14 65 67 62 72 - 266 6 Kevin Tway -13 71 64 67 65 - 267 6 Brian Harman -13 64 66 69 68 - 267 6 Russell Henley -13 66 65 67 69 - 267 9 Chase Seiffert -12 66 71 67 64 - 268 9 Bryson DeChambeau -12 66 66 68 68 - 268 9 Anirban Lahiri -12 67 67 65 69 - 268 12 Rory McIlroy -11 64 69 69 67 - 269 12 Ryan Blaum -11 69 65 66 69 - 269 12 Jason Day -11 66 68 66 69 - 269 15 Charley Hoffman -10 69 66 69 66 - 270 15 Patrick Cantlay -10 69 68 65 68 - 270 15 Danny Lee -10 67 68 66 69 - 270 15 Kyle Stanley -10 67 69 65 69 - 270
European Tour Report
Matt Wallace shot a 7-under par 65 and came from two shots back to win the BMW International Open at the Golf Club Gut Laerchenhof in Pulheim, Germany, with a score of 10-under par 278. Wallace won by one stroke over two-time major champion Martin Kaymer, as well as recent winners Mikko Korhonen and Thorbjorn Oleson. Oleson began the day at 2-over par and shot an incredible 11-under par 61 to move up the leaderboard by 40 spots and nearly set a mark that couldn’t be caught. Kaymer had started the day at 5-under par in a six-way tie for the lead, shot a 4-under par 68, but it just wasn’t enough to win in his home country. Korhonen had a 5-under par 67 to move into the three-way tie for 2nd place.
European Tour Final Results
1 Matt Wallace -10 73 69 71 65 - 278 2 Martin Kaymer -9 72 68 71 68 - 279 2 Mikko Korhonen -9 71 72 69 67 - 279 2 Thorbjørn Oleson -9 73 68 77 61 - 279 5 Lucas Bjerregaard -8 72 72 67 69 - 280 5 Aaron Rai -8 69 71 71 69 - 280 7 Scott Hend -7 71 67 73 70 - 281 7 Søren Kjeldsen -7 72 69 72 68 - 281 9 Nacho Elvira -6 71 73 73 65 - 282 9 Andy Sullivan -6 71 72 70 69 - 282 9 Justin Walters -6 76 67 75 64 - 282
LPGA Tour Report
Nasa Hataoka of Japan shot a bogey-free 8-under par 63 to win the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship by six shots over Austin Ernst at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arkansas, with an incredible score of 21-under par over 54 holes. It was Hataoka’s first victory on the LPGA Tour, although two years ago she won the Japan Women’s Open, becoming the first amateur and the youngest ever to do so. Ernst had a 65 on the day, moving herself up the leaderboard for a 2nd place finish.
Hataoka began the day tied for the lead with Minjee Lee at 13-under par after both had shot 64-65 over the first two rounds. Lexi Thompson was two behind with recent U.S. Women’s Open champion Ariya Jutanugarn three shots back at 10-under par. Jutanugarn birdied the 1st hole but a double bogey at the 3rd would move her to 9-under par and that was as close as she would ever get, as she went on to shoot 2-over par 73 and finish in a tie for 27th place at 8-under par. Thompson matched Hataoka with a birdie at 3, but Lee made a bogey and dropped back into a tie with Thompson at 12-under par, two strokes behind Hataoka.
Lee made another bogey at the 4th hole, and Thompson made a bogey at the 5th, while Hataoka made a birdie on the same hole, putting her at 15-under par and three strokes ahead of Lee, who also made birdie there. That was as close as anyone would get for the rest of the day, as Hataoka just kept pulling away from the field. Thompson ended up with a 69 and Lee shot a 71 and they finished in a six-way tie for 3rd place at 13-under par with Ryan O’Toole (65), Sandra Gal (66), Ally McDonald (67), and Brittany Altomare (67).
PGA Tour Champions Report
Scott McCarron, with a bogey-free 8-under par 64 to finish at 15-under par, won the American Family Insurance Championship at University Ridge Golf Club in Madison, Wisconsin by one stroke over hometown favorite Jerry Kelly, who had a 65 himself. Two shots back was another Madison resident, Steve Stricker, who also shot 65 and finished at 13-under par in a three-way tie for third place with Colin Montgomerie and Fred Couples. Montgomerie matched McCarron’s 64, while Couples shot 67 after beginning the day tied for the lead.
Web.com Tour Report
Brady Schnell won the Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth at Crestview Country Club in Wichita, Kansas, in a two hole playoff over Brandon Hagy and Scott Pinckney. Schnell birdied the 18th on both of the playoff holes, with Hagy matching him the first time through and Pinckney, who began the day in the lead, getting eliminated with a par. On the second playoff hole, Hagy made par and Schnell’s birdie clinched the win.
Next Week
- The U.S. Senior Open Championship – The Broadmoor (East Course), Colorado Springs, Colorado
- The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – Kemper Lakes Golf Club – Kildeer, Illinois
- PGA Tour – Quicken Loans National – TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm – Potomac, Maryland
- European Tour – HMA Open de France – Le Golf National, Paris, France
- Web.com Tour – Lincoln Land Championship – Panther Creek Country Club, Springfield, Illinois
Upcoming
- July 12-15 – Constellation Senior Players Championship – Exmoor Country Club – Exmoor, Illinois
- July 19-22 – The 147th Open Championship – Carnoustie Golf Links – Carnoustie, Scotland
