Weekly Fantasy Golf Recap: Keegan Takes Travelers Again

This article is part of our Weekly Fantasy Golf Recap series.

Tommy Fleetwood had a lot of things going against him on Sunday while trying to win the Travelers Championship.

First, there was the wind, though that affected all the players. Second, three outstanding golfers in Keegan Bradley, Jason Day and Russell Henley were right on his tail -- notably Bradley, the New England crowd favorite. Third, and most importantly, there was Fleetwood himself.

In the end, that was too much for the genial Englishman to overcome in attempting -- once again -- to win his first PGA Tour event.

Fleetwood, carrying all the weight of that decade-long narrative on his shoulders, bogeyed two of the final three holes while Bradley birdied the 18th to set off a wild celebration at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut.

Bradley won the Travelers for the second time in three years to continue his storybook season leading up to his Ryder Cup captaincy -- the chants of USA! USA! were deafening and surely did not help Fleetwood.

But this tournament will be remembered more for who lost.

Fleetwood had a 6-footer for birdie on 14 to take a three-shot lead. He missed it. Bradley birdied 15 to get within 2. Fleetwood flew the green on the par-3 16th, then the normally excellent wedge player left his chip some 21 feet short. He missed the long par putt. The lead was 1. On the 444-foot 18th, Fleetwood hit a perfect tee shot but mis-clubbed on his approach to leave it 50 feet from the cup, while Bradley stuck his iron to 6 feet for birdie, setting off roars from the gallery.

So with Bradley in prime position for a birdie, Fleetwood suddenly had to get down in two just to reach a playoff. He three-putted. Not only that, he left his first putt inches outside of Bradley's 6-footer, giving his playing partner a perfect read.

Bradley sank the putt to finish at 15-under, to Fleetwood's 14-under.

To his credit, Fleetwood stuck around and did multiple interviews, answering every question.

"I haven't been in this situation for a while," he said. "I think, you know, when it sort of calms down -- I'm upset now, I'm angry -- when it calms down, look at the things that I did well, look at the things that I can learn from.

"... Obviously there's a lot of chat about it [his winless stretch]. I think -- I would have loved to have done it today, search goes on, I guess. When it happens it will be very, very sweet. I don't know, really. I said yesterday, and I know I keep saying it, but I haven't really been in a position where I've really been in contention to really worry about when my win might come. Today was one of those days, led for 71 holes and it didn't happen. But, you know, like in my mind, yeah, I've won loads of PGA TOUR events, I just haven't done it in reality and I'm sure that time will come if I keep working."

Fleetwood now has 42 top-10s, more than anyone else who hasn't won a Tour event.

As far as not contending this year, true, but he has five top-10s, four of them in Signature Events. It's been a good year except for, well, you know.

As for Bradley, the first question in his post-tournament news conference was about Fleetwood.

"Yeah, listen, I know how hard it must be for him," Bradley said. "He's just an unbelievable player, and he's fighting so hard to get his first win. It's a weird thing to be on the other side of that. I do feel bad for him, but I got to go out and do what I need to do. But, you know, he battled today and I really hope that he gets his win soon."

Bradley is now one of four golfers to have wins each of the past two seasons, joining Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Nick Taylor. He's up to No. 7 in the world, which is his career best – at age 39.

Over the past six weeks, Bradley has top-10s at the PGA Championship, the Memorial and now this win, all in elite fields. He also tied for fifth at Bay Hill earlier in the year and for 20th at THE PLAYERS.

All of that while ranking 132nd on Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting entering the week. But at the Travelers, he was third in the field. A 64-footer on No. 9 for birdie to temporarily tie for the lead didn't hurt.

The second question for Bradley was about the possibility of picking himself to play on the Ryder Cup team.

"Yeah, I mean, listen, this changes the story a little bit," he said. "I never would have thought about playing if I hadn't won. This definitely opens the door to play. I don't know if I'm going to do it or not, but I certainly have to take a pretty hard look at what's best for the team and we'll see. We still got -- it's still June, so we still got a long ways to go. This definitely changes things a little bit, and we'll all get together and figure out the best way to do this."

Bradley continues his quest for the Ryder Cup -- or not! -- this week at the Rocket Classic.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Russell Henley
Henley will rue a bogey on 16 that ended his chances. But he chipped in for birdie on 18 to wind up in a tie for second with Fleetwood. This was his eighth top-10 of the season and third in a row. He is speeding toward a Ryder Cup berth -- possibly alongside Bradley.

Jason Day
Day has not won since 2023 and this was perhaps his best chance since then. A bogey on 17 took victory out of the equation but this tie for fourth was his second-best finish of the season. It has not been a great year for Day, but he now stands at 27th in the FedExCup Standings. So it's not as bad as it seems.

Harris English
The 2021 Travelers winner birdied four of the final six holes to shoot 65. He now has a win (Farmers), runner-up (PGA) and T4 (Travelers) to continue an excellent season that has moved him back into the top 20 of the OWGR. He probably won't get one of the six automatic berths to be on the Ryder Cup team, but there's a good chance he will be a captain's pick.

Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler shot one of his worst rounds in years on Saturday after beginning the day with a share of the lead. What did he shoot? 78, 80? Um, 72. 2-over. Yes, that's a terrible round for the world No. 1. He tied for sixth.

Rory McIlroy
So much for McIlroy losing interest in golf (and so much for him not talking to the media). He tied for sixth. Now, let's all move on to the next McIlroy narrative.

Brian Harman
Harman tied for eighth. What did you expect? That's five top-10s in a row at the Travelers and eight in the past 11 years. Harman is on target right now for another spot in the Tour Championship – yes, it's still two months away! – but he'll have to pick up the pace to get on the Ryder Cup team.

Justin Thomas
Thomas shared the 36-hole lead with Scheffler and they both stumbled on Saturday. He wound up tied for ninth, which of course is pretty good. But until he starts putting more balls in the fairway, especially on longer tracks, he will struggle. Thomas tied for 62nd in fairways hit in a 67-man field (there were five WDs).

Harry Hall
Hall is vry quietly putting together a nice season, He tied for ninth, giving him five top-25s in a row, one of which came at the PGA Championship. He also had a top-10 at the Charles Schwab during this stretch.

Lucas Glover
Glover tied for ninth to move into the top-30 in the FedExCup Standings. After not making the Playoffs last year, this is a good bounceback season for Glover -- at age 45.

J.J. Spaun
Spaun looked like he was sleepwalking on Thursday. Which makes sense because he probably got little sleep in the four days after winning the U.S. Open. But he turned it around after that, shooting 71-66-63 to admirably tie for 14th in a week he could've gone through the motions. Spaun originally committed to this week's Rocket Classic but pulled out on Friday. Understandable.

Kevin Yu
The 26-year-old tied for 25th. Not bad after coming in at the DraftKings price of $6,400.

Luke Clanton
In just his second start as a pro, Clanton tied for 32rd. In a Signature Event. He might be good.

Rickie Fowler
It seems like a bad year for Fowler, right? And in some ways it is. But after a 77 on Friday, he played the weekend in 64-67 to tie for 36th. If the Playoffs started today, Fowler would be in them. Barely, but still. He's 69th in the standings and 70 will get in.

WITHDRAWALS

This was a no-cut event but there were five withdrawals, a large number for a 72-man field, or any field. Jordan Spieth pulled out on Thursday with a neck issue, as did Viktor Hovland on Sunday. Si Woo Kim exited on Friday with a back injury and Eric Cole and Matti Schmid both WDed on Sunday with illnesses.

For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, tournament participation and overall golfer performance, head to RotoWire's latest golf news or follow @RotoWireGolf on X.