HARTFORD, Conn. – Reigning British Open champion Francesco Molinari and long-hitting Tony Finau committed to the $7.2 million Travelers Championship scheduled June 20-23 at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell.
Molinari, ranked 10th in the world, and Finau (No. 11) join No. 2 Brooks Koepka, No. 4 Justin Thomas and No. 5 Bryson DeChambeau. In 2018, Koepka won the U.S. Open for the second consecutive year and then the PGA Championship, so three of the four current major championship titlists have already committed to Connecticut’s biggest sporting event.
“It’s exciting to announce this many players this early in the year,” tournament chairman Nathan Grube said. “Adding Francesco and Tony not only gives us two more elite players; it also adds two more PGA Tour winners and two players who were in the Ryder Cup last year. We couldn’t be happier with the way our field is developing.”
Molinari became the first Italian to win a major when he captured the 2018 British Open. That came three weeks after his first PGA Tour victory at the Quicken Loans National. He then made history in the Ryder Cup, teaming with Tommy Fleetwood to sweep their four partners matches and then beat Phil Mickelson in singles to cap the first 5-0 week by a European player. Molinari, who also won the European Tour’s season-long Race to Dubai in 2018, played in the Travelers Championship in 2015 and 2016.
Finau joined the PGA Tour in 2015 and won his first Tour event a year later in the Puerto Rico Open. A 29-year-old from Utah, Finau already has a runner-up finish on the PGA Tour this season at the HSBC Champions. In 2018, he represented the United States in the Ryder Cup and finished in the top 10 in three of the four major championships. He tied for 10th in the Masters, finished fifth at the U.S. Open and shared ninth in the British Open. Finau has played in the Travelers Championship three times, with his best finish a tie for 17th in 2017.
“Each year, we strive to improve the tournament in every aspect. We owe it to our fans, sponsors and most importantly, the charitable organizations that benefit from the Travelers Championship,” said Andy Bessette, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Travelers. “The addition of these two players is another step in ensuring that this year’s tournament is world-class.”
The tournament was been just that almost since Travelers first became the title sponsor in 2007. It has won numerous PGA Tour awards the past few years, including Tournament of the Year in 2017 and the first two Players Choice Awards in 2017 and 2018.
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