Five golfers in the top 10 to be in Cromwell next week for Travelers Championship

Five of the top 10 golfers in the world are set for next week’s Travelers Championship. (Photo courtesy The Travelers Championship)

CROMWELL, June 15 — Five golfers ranked in the top 10 and all four reigning major championship winners will be in Cromwell next week for the 2018 Travelers Championship at the Tournament Players Club at River Highlands.

The celebrity Pro-Am is Wednesday with the first round set for Thursday.

Justin Thomas, the No. 2 ranked player in the world, leads the field that will include defending champion Jordan Spieth (No. 4), Rory McIlroy (No. 6), Jason Day (No. 8) and Brooks Koepka (No. 9). Reigning major winners are Thomas (2017 PGA Championship), Spieth (2017 British Open), Koepka (2017 U.S. Open) and Patrick Reed (2018 Masters).

This year’s field also includes nine players who have won the tournament at TPC River Highlands: Spieth (2017), Russell Knox (2016), Bubba Watson (2010 and 2015), Kevin Streelman (2014), Ken Duke (2013), Marc Leishman (2012), Stewart Cink (1997 and 2008), Hunter Mahan (2007) and J.J. Henry (2006).

The final four spots in the field will be determined by a 25-person qualifying tournament on Monday at Ellington Ridge. Among the field is Zach Zaback, the former Farmington High golfer, who earned a spot in last year’s Travelers Championship event in this qualifying tournament.

2018 Travelers Championship field

The Travelers announced celebrities participating in the Celebrity Pro-Am on Wednesday. Some of the celebrities include:

• Ray Allen was a 10-time NBA All-Star after being named an All-American at UConn, won NBA titles with the Celtics (2008) and Heat (2013), and remains the NBA leader in career 3-pointers made.
• Chris Berman is an ESPN broadcaster and has been named National Sportscaster of the Year six times while winning 10 Emmy Awards.
• Nick Bonino is a center for the Nashville Predators who attended Boston University before entering the NHL in 2007. The former Farmington High student previously played for the Anaheim Ducks, Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins, winning two Stanley Cup titles.
• Jim Calhoun went 873-380 as a college basketball coach and won three NCAA titles at UConn. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005 and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
• Mike Cavanaugh became UConn men’s hockey coach in 2013, and recently finished his fifth season. He has led the Huskies to the Hockey East playoffs in each of the past four seasons, with the team advancing to the quarterfinals in 2017-18.
• Javier Colon is a Connecticut native who won the inaugural season of NBC’s “The Voice” in 2011, has released four albums, and frequently appears on the show as a guest judge.
• Chris Dailey has been the associate head women’s basketball coach at UConn since 1988, a span that has seen the Huskies win 11 national championships. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame on June 9 as part of the Class of 2018.
• Dane DeHaan is an actor and model best known for roles in popular movies such as “Chronicle,” “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” “Kill Your Darlings” and “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.”
• Randy Edsall is the head football coach at UConn who led the Huskies to the Fiesta Bowl in the 2010 season. He is about to start his 14th season, and has also coached for five seasons in the NFL.
• Boomer Esiason played quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals during his 14-year NFL career. He was a four-time Pro Bowler, was named NFL MVP in 1988, and currently hosts the radio show Boomer & Gio on WFAN in New York.
• Mike Gorman is an Emmy Award-winning commentator who has been the television broadcaster for the Boston Celtics for more than 30 years.
• Christopher Jackson is a singer and actor who currently stars in the CBS drama “Bull” and played George Washington in the original cast of “Hamilton,” for which he earned a Tony Award nomination. He has also won a Grammy Award and an Emmy Award for his singing and songwriting.
• Jermaine Kearse is a wide receiver for the New York Jets. He won a Super Bowl title in the 2013 season with the Seattle Seahawks, who drafted him in 2012.
• George Lopez is a multi-talented actor who has had success in film, television and stand-up comedy. He is best known for his role in the show “George Lopez,” which ran on ABC for six seasons, as well as appearing in 21 movies such as “Valentine’s Day,” “Rio,” and more.
• Norah O’Donnell has been the co-host of “CBS This Morning” since 2012 and contributes to “60 Minutes.” She is an award-winning journalist who has covered many of the biggest national news stories during her career.
• Dan Orlovsky spent 12 seasons in the NFL as a quarterback with the Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and is UConn’s career leader in passing yards and touchdowns.
• Nancy Stevens is recognized as one of the top collegiate field hockey coaches in the nation with a record of 662-181-24 and a .777 winning percentage. She recently completed her 28th season at UConn, and helped the Huskies to national championships in 2013, 2014 and 2017.
• Tim Wakefield was a knuckleball pitcher who won 200 games in a 19-year MLB career. He spent 17 of those seasons with the Red Sox, and won World Series titles in 2004 and 2007.