Traveler's Championship

June 21 - 24, 2007
TPC at River Highlands
Cromwell, CT
Par: 70 / Yardage: 6,820
Purse: $6 million with $1.08 million going to the winner
Defending Champion: J.J. Henry

List of Champions & Scores

Results & Scores 2006 Travelers Championship

Box Score of 2006 Travelers Championship

Tournament facts:

Tournament information:

The Insurance City Open underwent a name-change in 1967, when it became the Greater Hartford Open. The tournament's original goal was given a boost when, in 1971, defending champion Bob Murphy donated $20,000 of his 1970 winnings to start the Greater Hartford Chapter of the "Jaycees." 1973 was momentous for the Greater Hartford Open. In an effort to further boost tournament notoriety, entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., who frequently participated in the Pro-Am events, lent his name to Greater Hartford Open. Also in 1973, Billy Casper won his record fourth and final Greater Hartford Open. In 1985, the first major Corporate Sponsor for the event surfaced in the form of Canon USA.

The event, starting with the 1985 tournament, added Canon to the tournament's name; however, the name would be altered just three years later. In 1988, Sammy Davis Jr. was removed from the name, and beginning in 1989, the tournament was knwon as the Canon Greater Hartfod Open. By 2001, the tournament had grown to previously unrealized levels. Phil Mickelson's personal best 61 as well as appearances by Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino headlined the tournament, which saw a tournament record 318,000 spectators come out to watch the 50th annual Canon Greater Hartford Open. In 2004, a three-year partnership was forged between Buick and the GHO. The result was the Buick Championship. After the three-year contract expired, however, Buick decided not to renew the contract. Consequently, St. Paul Traveler's stepped in to become the new title sponsor.

Course information:

The golf course itself is much more forgiving than last week's event at Oakmont. The Par 70 course, measuring at 6,841 yards, has a Course Rating of 72.7 and a Slope Rating of 131. The tees and fairways are a 3/8" cut of Bent Grass, while the greens are a 1/8" cut of Bent Grass. The rough consists of a mixture of Kentucky Blue Grass, Perennial Rye Grass, and fine fescue cut at just over 6". The 132-acre venue has 119 bunkers and 5 water hazards that come into play on 6 holes. As for course acclaim, Golf Digest rated TPC at River Highlands as one of the 6th best courses in the state of Connecticut. Another notable achievement for the TPC at River Highlands was that it was the 49th course to become fully-certified in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses (ACSP), which promotes ecologically sound land management and the conservation of our natural resources.

Of the challenges throughout the course, holes 4 and 10 provide the most challenge to golfers. Number 4, the most difficult hole on the golf course, is a severe dog-leg right that measures 460 yards from tee to green. The tee-shot requires a heavy fade to reach the fairway, while avoiding the tree-line on the right-hand side. From there, the approach shot goes into a tight green with a bunker guarding the front left-hand side. As for the 10th hole, the 460-yard Par 4, requires a slight draw to the left-hand side of a tiny fairway to avoid the large fairway bunker on the right. From the fairway, the player aims for a green that is protected by a front left and back right bunker. The most famous portion of the course, the three-hole stretch from 15 to 17, incorporates a four-acre lake in the layout that is affectionately dubbed the "Golden Triangle. The trio, along with the 18th hole, comprise one of the top finishing stretches on the PGA Tour circuit.

The Buzz:

The last we saw of Cabrera was Sunday night when he was dinning with some Argentine friends. The steaks were big and the red wine was flowing, afterwards the party were enjoying some Montecristos. As for playing again, his website, which still isn't update with the victory says he was playing Travelers, but he isn't in the field. Look for him to resurface at the Barclay's Scottish Open in three weeks.

As for Tiger Woods, the birth of his daughter Sam Alexis Woods on Monday morning was a bit of a surprise, so much so that news didn't get out until late Monday evening when his website made the annoucement. Nobody expected this, even though Woods has been very private on this everyone expected that it would happen sometime from July 1st on. One good thing is that now, unless there are any complications, Woods will be able to play in the AT&T National and the British Open without the birth looming.

One person that won't be able to relax is Phil Mickelson who has not only withdrawn from the Travelers Championship but has been told not to play golf for at least two weeks. It is now looking like this injury may be more serious than it looks, Butch Harmon has reported on Sky Sports that on Friday the pain was so bad that Mickelson had to ditch his driver because it hurt so much. With the golf season in full swing over the next two months with the British Open, The PGA Championship, the Bridgestone Championship and the playoffs of the FedEx Cup we have to seriously wonder if 2007 may be a wash out for Mickelson. He put on a gallant attempt at the U.S. Open but if you don't have the wheels the car just can't drive, too bad.

For a tournament which a year ago was finished and killed off by the PGA Tour it's nice to see the Travelers Championship make such a comeback. For the last five years it hasn't gotten the best of spots and it was originally left off the FedEx schedule but with the partnership of Travelers insurance the event will be bigger than ever. That's great for the town of Hartford who have not only been loyal to the event over the years, help produce some of the biggest crowds in golf. Sunday night after the U.S. Open about 30 players got the ultimate perk when the tournament sent a Airbus to Pittsburgh to pick up the players, caddies and family members to fly them to Hartford.

Lastly 2000 Travelers champion Notah Begay III will make his 2007 PGA Tour debate. Now 25 weeks into the year that may sound strange with the season way past the halfway point but Begay is spending this year on the European Tour. Of course Begay would rather be on the PGA Tour but after being on the DL for a couple of years with back problems, he was happy to qualify for the European Tour. Unfortunely it hasn't been a great golfing experience as in ten events Begay's highest finish is T31st as he has only made five cuts and he is in 201st place on the money list with just under $50,000.

Here are some things to look for this week:

Photo: © Chris Condon/Wire Images The 18th Hole of the TPC at River Highlands, home of the 2007 Travelers Championship..

The TPC at River Highlands is a different type of TPC course. Since it was a reconfiguration of a traditional, old style course it still has some of that flavor. Most of the green are small, are raised or crowned making it a scramblers delight. The tournament is well supported in the community, as many as 80,000 spectators could be around this week, so the timid need not apply. Another factor that comes into play is the fact that the tournament has close finishes every year. Since it moved away from Wethersfield in 1983, 15 of the 22 tournaments having been decided by either a shot or a playoff just like two years ago when Brad Faxon beat Tjaart van der Walt in a playoff . Here is a chart that shows exactly how close tournaments have been in the 55 year history of the Canon Greater Hartford Open:
Tournaments tied after 72 holes: 18
Tournaments won by one shot: 18
Tournaments won by two shots: 8
Tournaments won by three shots: 4
Tournaments won by four shots or more: 7

• Key stat for the winner:
  As of late hitting it fair is more important than accuracy because the last six champions have been in the top-eight of the driving distance stat while the same six have only broken into the top-ten of the accuracy stat just once. Of all of them they have averaged 35th rank in driving accuracy so hitting it far is a big advantage.
• Playing the par 4s well is another key. Again of the last eight champions, five of them have played those holes in nine under or best, with Notah Begay III playing it them in 16 under in 2000.
• Now I don't want to jinx the tournament, but weather in Connecticut should be picture perfect this week. Making it even better a cool front will pass through on Wednesday evening bring cooler weather to the tournament. Still with the lack of rain look for the course to play firm with a lot of run.
• Hitting greens will be at a premium, just like in a U.S. Open hitting lots of greens goes a long way in this event. Look for the winner to hit globs of greens this week.
• Good putters should have a field day this week. That's because I hear that the severely-sloping greens will be a lot slower than normal.
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