HARTFORD, Conn. – Notable players have continued to join the Travelers Championship field!
Monday, it was eighth-ranked Viktor Hovland and Tommy Fleetwood, leading players from Europe now competing on the PGA Tour, who signed on for Connecticut’s biggest sporting event at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell on June 23-26. This week, Tony Finau and Vermont native Keegan Bradley, each multiple winners on the PGA Tour with 17 combined appearances in Cromwell, committed for the $7.6 million tournament.
“Tony and Keegan have been playing some great golf this year, so adding them to our player field is wonderful news for the tournament,” tournament director Nathan Grube said in a release. “Our fans want to see the best golfers in the world. Not only do Tony and Keegan fit into that category, but they’ve been consistent supporters of our event, which we always appreciate.”
Finau is a two-time PGA Tour winner who finished second in the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday after a tie for second in the Mexico Open on May 1. He won the 2016 Puerto Rico Open and the 2021 Northern Trust at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass. Finau, who is 15th in the Official World Golf Ranking, has been a member of the past two United States Ryder Cup teams and played in the Presidents Cup the last time it was held in 2019. This will be his seventh appearance at the Travelers Championship.
Bradley has five Top-10 on the PGA Tour this season, including a tie for second in the Wells Fargo Championship and a fifth-place finish in The Players Championship. He’s a four-time Tour winner, including twice in 2011 when he captured the PGA Championship on the way to becoming PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. He also won the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational in 2012 and the BMW Championship in 2018. He made his Travelers Championship debut in 2011 and has played every year since, finishing in a tie for second in 2019.
Bradley warmed up for the Travelers Championship and the U.S. Open that began Thursday at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., by throwing the first pitch before the Red Sox-Oakland Athletics game at Fenway Park in Boston.
“I’ve thrown out the first pitch one other time, but I hadn’t even met my wife yet or, obviously, had no kids,” he said during his Wednesday press conference before the U.S. Open. “To be out there with them and be on the field and have 20-plus family members there, it was really, really fun.”
Bradley’s aforementioned wife, Jillian, not only grew up in Vermont, but her uncle is Carlton Fisk, the former Hall of Fame catcher with the Red Sox whom Bradley said the family still calls “Uncle Pudge.”
“I was such a nervous wreck yesterday,” Bradley said. “I kept telling my wife, why did I agree to do this? This is like — this is all I need this week, you know, is the pressure of — I’m getting — every time I walk through the player dining, they’re all, like, I’m going to the game. I’m videoing it. You better throw a good one.”
Bradley’s toss was quick and a little high but more than acceptable.
“Tony and Keegan have both been regular supporters of our event, and we can’t wait to welcome them back next week,” said Andy Bessette, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Travelers. “It might feel like a home game to Keegan with his ties to New England, but our fans have also embraced Tony and all of the world’s best players that we see every June.”
Finau and Bradley join a stellar field that includes four of the top five, six of the top 10 and 12 of the top 20 in the world rankings. Other notable entries include No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, the Masters champion; No. 3 Rory McIlroy, who won the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday and was second in the Masters; No. 4 Patrick Cantlay, the reigning FedExCup and PGA Tour Player of the Year; No. 5 Justin Thomas, who beat Will Zalatoris in a three-hole aggregate playoff to capture the PGA Championship; No. 9, Sam Burns, a three-time winner this season; No. 12 Xander Schauffele, the Olympic gold medalist; No. 14 Zalatoris; No. 15 Finau; No. 17 Joaquin Niemann; No. 19 Brooks Koepka; No. 20 Abraham Ancer; No. 28 Harris English, the defending champion; No. 45 Mito Pereira, who finished one shot out of the playoff in the PGA Championship when he double bogeyed the last hole; and No. 52 Marc Leishman, the 2012 champion.
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