Notable threesome joins Travelers Championship field

HARTFORD, Conn. – Three more notable players committed to the Travelers Championship.

Sam Burns, Carlos Ortiz and Mito Pereira will be at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell on June 23-26 for the biggest sporting event in Connecticut.

Burns is the ninth-ranked player in the world after notching three PGA Tour wins this season. Ortiz became a PGA Tour winner at the Houston Open in 2021 and Pereira tied for third at the PGA Championship in May.

“Sam, Carlos and Mito are great additions to this year’s player field,” tournament director Nathan Grube said in a release. “They’re winning, they’re contending and they’ve made a commitment to come to TPC River Highlands this year, which we really appreciate.”

Burns is second in the FedExCup points standings thanks to victories in the Charles Schwab Challenge, the Valspar Championship and the Sanderson Farms Championship. He is now a four-time winner on the PGA Tour after earning his first win at Valspar in 2021. In addition to his three victories, Burns has four other Top-10 finishes on the season, and he is best friends with Kramer Hickok, who lost a record eight-hole playoff to Harris English in the last year’s Travelers Championship. This will be the fourth consecutive tournament appearance after making the cut in his first three visits.

Ortiz is in his sixth full season on the PGA Tour, and he has a win or a second in each of the past three seasons. He tied for second at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in 2020, won the Houston Open by two strokes last year and was solo second at Mayakoba earlier this season. Ortiz also competed in the Olympics last year, representing Mexico. He has played at TPC River Highlands every year he has been a member of the PGA Tour, and this will be his sixth appearance.

Pereira earned an immediate promotion to the PGA Tour in 2021 by winning three times on the Korn Ferry Tour last season. He has made an immediate impact with five Top-10 finishes in his first full season on the PGA Tour. It was highlighted by his performance at the PGA Championship, when he finished one shot out of a playoff after making a double bogey on the final hole. He also finished third at the Fortinet Championship and tied for seventh at the Charles Schwab Challenge. A 27-year-old from Chile, Pereira played his college golf at Texas Tech University, competed in the Olympics last year in Japan and is ranked 45th. This will be his first appearance at the Travelers Championship.

“We’re looking forward to giving Mito a big Connecticut welcome, and seeing Sam and Carlos again,” said Andy Bessette, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Travelers. “They’ve all been playing well, so I won’t be surprised to see them in contention here on Sunday of tournament week.”

Burns, Ortiz and Pereira join a stellar field that already included No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, whose four victories this year include the Masters; No. 3 Patrick Cantlay, the PGA Tour Player of the Year and FedExCup winner in 2021; No. 6 Justin Thomas, who won the PGA Championship in a three-hole aggregate playoff with Will Zalatoris; No. 8 Rory McIlroy, who finished second in the Masters; No. 12 Xander Schauffele, the Olympic gold medalist; No. 14 Zalatoris; No.16 Joaquin Niemann; No. 19 Abraham Ancer; No. 20 Brooks Koepka; No. 28 Bryson DeChambeau, the 2020 U.S. Open champion who returned to the PGA Tour last week at the Memorial Tournament after missing two months with a wrist injury; No. 29 English; No. 36 Harold Varner III ; and No. 52 Marc Leishman, the 2012 champion.

Three-time champion and major tournament supporter Bubba Watson had to withdraw because he had meniscus preservation surgery last Thursday that will cause him to be on crutches fore 8-to-12 weeks. Dustin Johnson, the 2020 champion, also withdrew after resigning from the PGA Tour to join the Saudi-funded LIV Golf Series.

Ben James of Milford, the No. 1-ranked junior player in the country, received one of four sponsors’ exemptions on Tuesday, a day after losing in an eight-way playoff for a spot in next week’s U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. The 19-year-old who played on the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup and Junior Presidents Cup teams will graduate from the Hamden Hall Country Day School on Friday and attend the University of Virginia in the fall.

www.travelerschampionship.com.