This article is part of our Weekly PGA Preview series.
Just one week after a U.S. Open that left many less than satisfied, the Travelers Championship satisfied just about every type of fan out there. The Travelers Championship was a huge hit for many reasons, but none more than the multiple levels of drama witnessed to on Sunday.
The obvious level of drama was the playoff, where Jordan Spieth holed out from a bunker to all but seal his victory. That particular shot didn't leave me speechless; in fact, I got out two words as the ball dropped, "no" and "way." You simply can't go wrong when those two words are uttered near the end of a tournament. It means something amazing happened, good or bad, and in this case, it was obviously good for anyone not rooting for Daniel Berger.
Prior to the hole-out from Spieth, though, there was another type of drama and it revolved around, oddly enough, Spieth's game falling apart all around him. It started with the putter, then the driver, then his approach shots. What was an assumed victory lap for Spieth turned into a question of if he could simply get to the finish line. The start of the playoff didn't put anyone's mind at ease, either, as he hooked his driver well right and ended up in the fairway only because of how squarely he hit a tree that should not have been in play. A decent approach left Spieth in the bunker, a place he was just minutes prior, but this time
Just one week after a U.S. Open that left many less than satisfied, the Travelers Championship satisfied just about every type of fan out there. The Travelers Championship was a huge hit for many reasons, but none more than the multiple levels of drama witnessed to on Sunday.
The obvious level of drama was the playoff, where Jordan Spieth holed out from a bunker to all but seal his victory. That particular shot didn't leave me speechless; in fact, I got out two words as the ball dropped, "no" and "way." You simply can't go wrong when those two words are uttered near the end of a tournament. It means something amazing happened, good or bad, and in this case, it was obviously good for anyone not rooting for Daniel Berger.
Prior to the hole-out from Spieth, though, there was another type of drama and it revolved around, oddly enough, Spieth's game falling apart all around him. It started with the putter, then the driver, then his approach shots. What was an assumed victory lap for Spieth turned into a question of if he could simply get to the finish line. The start of the playoff didn't put anyone's mind at ease, either, as he hooked his driver well right and ended up in the fairway only because of how squarely he hit a tree that should not have been in play. A decent approach left Spieth in the bunker, a place he was just minutes prior, but this time he left no doubt about the outcome, no doubt about whether he was in any shape to make a putt.
With that one stroke from the bunker, he erased everything that went wrong in the final round. Years from now we won't remember how much he struggled in the final round or why he was even in a playoff. We'll just remember the shot. It's actually typical of the greats. They have a way of setting the scene, of making us remember what they want us to remember.
We'll remember the Travelers Championship fondly, mostly because of one shot that probably should have never been, but we'll remember it fondly, nonetheless.
This week: Quicken Loans National - TPC Potomac at Avenel - Potomac, Md.
Last Year: Billy Hurley III shot a final-round 68 on his way to a four-stroke victory over Bill Haas.
PLAYERS TO CONSIDER
Rickie Fowler
Unfortunately, course history is not a consideration this week because the PGA Tour has not played this course since 2006. With that in mind, it's all about the current state of each individual's game. When we last saw Fowler, he was doing pretty well at the U.S. Open, and though he faltered toward the end, there won't be nearly as much pressure this week.
Patrick Reed
Expectations were high for Reed entering this season and by just about every measure he's failed to live up to those expectations. But his game might be turning a corner as he posted his best finish of the season last week at the Travelers. His top-5 last week was his sixth top-25 in his last seven starts.
Danny Lee
Remember 2015 when Lee nearly cracked $4 million? Well, he hasn't resembled that player much the last two seasons, but he just might be back on track. Lee finished in the top 5 last week at the Travelers, which makes three finishes inside the top 6 in his last five starts.
Kevin Streelman
Streelman has played fairly well this season as he is 78th on the FedEx Cup Points list, but he's played some of his best golf in his last three starts. In those three starts, Streelman has finished T18, T13 and T8, the T8 coming last week at the Travelers.
Xander Schauffele
If you are not comfortable using a big name or even a middle-tier guy this week because of the unknown on this new course, then Schauffele could be your guy. Schauffele caught the attention of the golf world with a strong showing at the U.S. Open and backed it up with another good showing last week at the Travelers.
PLAYERS TO AVOID
Jhonattan Vegas
Vegas is about as cold as it gets on the PGA Tour. Vegas has missed five of his last six cuts on the PGA Tour, and with nothing else to go on this week, he looks like an easy fade.
Kevin Tway
Tway came out of seemingly nowhere at the end of April to post three consecutive top-5s, but his game has predictably fallen since. Tway managed to post top-20s in his two starts after that streak, but he's finished T31, T43 and MC since. Not horrible, but not trending the right way either.
Luke Donald
Donald was in this spot last week as his form entering last week was enough to override some decent history at the Travelers. He ended up missing the cut at the Travelers, which makes four consecutive MCs, and with no course history to balance out his current form, there's just no reason to use him.
Boo Weekley
Weekley is coming off a solid outing last week at the Travelers, but his performance last week is the outlier in what's been a pretty bad season. Weekley missed the cut in four of his last seven starts. Consistency hasn't been his thing the last few years, so it's doubtful he can build off of his performance last week.
Hudson Swafford
As someone with Swafford on a season-long team, I was excited to see him open with a 66 last week. But as has often been the case since his win early this season, he was unable to put four good rounds together. He was able to make the cut last week, which was an improvement from his previous four starts, but he still doesn't appear to have his game back yet.
ONE AND DONE GOLFER
Last week: Marc Leishman (T17) - $83,111; Season - $6,436,185
This week: Danny Lee - Lee looks like a great pick this week, but I can only hope that this pick isn't a week too late. Lee has been superb his last few starts, and there's no reason to think that will end this week, but golf has a way of humbling even the best players in the world.
YAHOO PICKS
Points: 3,091
Rank: 23,074
This Week:
Group A: Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler
Group B: Justin Thomas, Danny Lee, Adam Hadwin, Kevin Chappell
Group C: Xander Schauffele, Wesley Bryan
SURVIVOR PICK
Last week: Marc Leishman - (T17); Streak - 1
This week: Danny Lee - Survivor picks are especially difficult on courses where everyone is a first-timer, so I have to double-up this week with Lee, who is about the hottest player in the field.
