Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: U.S. Open (Wyndham Clark)
THIS WEEK: Travelers Championship, Cromwell, Conn., June 22-25
Course: TPC River Highlands (Par 70, 6,852 yards)
Purse: $20M (Winner: $3.6M)
Defending Champion: Xander Schauffele
FedEx Cup leader: Jon Rahm
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming on ESPN+: Thursday-Friday, 6:45 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
Twitter: @TravelersChamp
NOTES: The field for the final elevated PGA Tour event before the FedEx Cup Playoffs includes each of the top six players in the world. … Clark made his professional debut at the Travelers Championship in 2017 and will attempt to become the first player to win on tour the week following a major victory since Tiger Woods in 2006. … Jon Rahm will make another attempt to become the first player to win five times in a season since Justin Thomas in 2016-17. … Amateur Michael Thorbjornsen, whose fourth-place finish last year was the best by an amateur on the PGA Tour since 2016, is in the field on a sponsor’s exemption along with Ludvig Aberg and Sam Bennett, former star amateurs who’ve recently turned pro. … Harris English finished T8 at the U.S. Open. He won the 2021 Travelers in an eight-hole playoff over Kramer Hickok, the second-longest sudden-death playoff in tour history. … World No. 25 Sahith Theegala posted one of his two career runner-up finishes at last year’s Travelers, and is one of three players ranked in the top-25 in the world yet to win on the PGA Tour (No. 17 Cameron Young, No. 20 Tommy Fleetwood). … Kenny Perry holes the tournament scoring record of 258 set in 2009.
BEST BETS: Scottie Scheffler (+600 at BetMGM) has finished T12 or betting in each of his past 16 starts and has 13 top-10s this season. His best result in three previous event starts was a T13 last year. … Rahm (+1000) has four wins among his nine top-10s this season and said he feels fresh coming off a T10 at the U.S. Open in part because he wasn’t grinding in contention over the weekend. … Rory McIlroy (+1000) is coming off a second-place finish at the U.S. Open, but does not have a top-10 in four previous starts at the Travelers. … Xander Schauffele (+1400) is defending his second of three titles from last season. He finished T10 last week after opening with a 62.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Rocket Mortgage Classic, Detroit, June 29-July 2
LPGA Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Meijer LPGA Classic (Leona Maguire)
THIS WEEK: KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Springfield, N.J., June 22-25
Course: Baltusrol Golf Club, Lower Course (Par 71, 6,621 yards)
Purse: $9M
Defending Champion: In Gee Chun
Race to the CME Globe leader: Jin Young Ko
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV/Streaming: Thursday-Friday 11 a.m.-3 p.m. ET (Golf Channel, Peacock, International), 5-7 p.m. (Peacock/International), 6-7 p.m. (GC); 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (Peacock, International), 3-6 p.m. (NBC), 6-7 p.m. (GC); Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (Peacock, International), 2-6 p.m. (NBC), 6-7 (GC)
Twitter: @KPMGWomensPGA
NOTES: The Lower Course at Baltusrol previously held the 1961 U.S. Women’s Open won by Mickey Wright and the 1985 edition won by Kathy Baker. … This is the second of five women’s majors in 2023. The 156-player field will be cut to the top 70 and ties after 36 holes. … All 11 winners on tour this year are in the field, as are sponsor’s invitations Gabriela Ruffels and Mariah Stackhouse. Twenty-eight players will be making their Women’s PGA Championship debuts, including rookie Rose Zhang coming off a victory in her first event as a professional. … Nelly Korda returns after missing the past month to rest a back injury, while In Gee Chun returned last week from an undisclosed injury that had sidelined her since the International Crown the first week of May. … Two-time major champion Jin Young Ko has tied Lorena Ochoa’s record with 158 weeks spent at No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings. … Lexi Thompson has finished in the top-30 in 10 of her past 11 Women’s PGAs, included a T2 last year.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: U.S. Women’s Open, Pebble Beach, Calif., July 6-9
Champions Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: American Family Insurance Championship (Steve Stricker)
THIS WEEK: Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, Endicott, N.Y., June 23-25
Course: En-Joie Golf Course (Par 72, 6,994 yards)
Purse: $2.1M (Winner: $315,000)
Defending Champion: Padraig Harrington
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Steve Stricker
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Friday, 8-10 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 3-6 p.m. (All times Golf Channel)
Twitter: @DicksOpenGolf
NOTES: En-Joie played host to the B.C. Open on the PGA Tour from 1971-2006. … Stricker leads the Charles Schwab Cup standings with $2,626,060, more than twice as much as defending champion Stephen Ames ($1,219,764) in second place. … Lonnie Nielsen set the tournament scoring record of 21-under par 195 in 2009. … The field includes four World Golf Hall of Fame Members: Harrington, Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer and Vijay Singh. Langer will make another attempt to break his tie with Hale Irwin with 45 all-time victories on the Champions Tour.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: U.S. Senior Open, Stevens Point, Wis., June 29-July 2
LIV Golf League
LAST TOURNAMENT: LIV Golf D.C. (Individual: Harold Varner III; Team: Torque GC)
THIS WEEK: OFF.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: LIV Golf Valderrama, Andalucia, Spain, June 30-July 2
–Field Level Media
