Thomas, Watson among players committing to play at Travelers in June

Two-time Masters’ champion Bubba Watson will be coming to the Travelers Championship in June. (Graphic courtesy Travelers Championship)

HARTFORD, March 27 – The Travelers Championship continue to get commitments for the upcoming Travelers Championship tournament in Cromwell on June 18-24.

In the past month, the current PGA Tour player of the year and FedEx Cup champion Justin Thomas, two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and three players in the top 30 – Paul Casey, Patrick Reed and Charley Hoffman – have committed to play at the Tournament Players Club at River Highlands.

“Having the best PGA Tour players in our field is always the goal, and there was nobody better than Justin in 2017,” said Travelers Championship Tournament Director Nathan Grube. “Justin first played in our event when he was an amateur and we’ve built a great relationship with him over the years. We’re happy that he continues to find time in his schedule to keep coming back to TPC River Highlands.”

With his playoff victory at PGA National, Thomas now has eight victories in a PGA Tour career that is in its fourth full season. Seven of those wins have come over his past 31 starts, including two this season. Thomas won five times during the 2016-17 campaign, capped by a two-shot victory at the PGA Championship for his first major title.

It’s not his first visit to Cromwell. This will mark his fourth straight appearance at the tournament and his fifth overall. As a 20-year-old amateur, Thomas received a sponsor’s exemption into the 2013 Travelers Championship, where he made the cut and tied for 30th. His best finish at the Travelers came in 2016 when he tied for third place.

Watson is a fan favorite in Cromwell, having won twice here. “Bubba seems to be in contention to win here every year,” Grube said. “Not only that, but off the course he has always taken a personal interest in things that are important to the tournament, whether it’s visiting The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp or supporting our charitable initiatives.”

Watson’s first PGA Tour victory came at the 2010 Travelers Championship, when he beat Corey Pavin and Scott Verplank in a playoff. He added a second Travelers Championship title in 2015, also in a playoff, this time against Paul Casey.

Casey, who is ranked 13th in the world, will be making his fourth consecutive appearance at the Travelers Championship. He finished second in his 2015 debut, after losing to Watson on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. Casey then finished T17 at TPC River Highlands in 2016 and was tie for fifth here last year.

Reed was tied for fifth at last year’s Travelers Championship, his best tournament showing in six starts. Reed has five victories in his PGA Tour career, most recently at The Barclays in 2016. In his past two stroke-play tournaments, Reed tied for second at the Valspar Championship, then was tied for seventh at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Hoffman is coming off one of the best seasons in his career, which began in 2006. Hoffman set career bests in cuts made and money earned, matched his season high with seven top-10 finishes and played on the victorious U.S. Presidents Cup team in 2017. In eight starts at the Travelers Championship, Hoffman has three finishes of seventh or better. He tied for second at TPC River Highlands in 2012 and was tied for third last year in 2017.

For more information on this year’s tournament, visit www.TravelersChampionship.com.