If you’re looking for the next star in golf, chances are you can find them at the Travelers Championship. The tournament have a pretty decent track record of picking them out well before they make it big. Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm and Patrick Cantlay. Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson. Just a year ago it was Collin Morikawa, Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland. Heck, records show David Duval, Justin Leonard and Scott Verplank are all amongst those who were gifted one of their first few PGA TOUR starts at Travelers. In fact, since the 1996 tournament and including this week’s edition, 77 of the 98 unrestricted sponsor invites at TPC River Highlands have gone to golfers with less than 15 TOUR starts to their name. Two more had yet to play 25 times on TOUR. An incredible 32 of those 77 were given either their very first TOUR start, or their first TOUR start as a professional. “It’s important (to get an early invite). You can’t measure yourself when you’re playing in college or amateur golf against the best in the world because you’re not competing with them, you’re competing against your peers,” Rahm said about the opportunity the tournament provided him and so many others. “I gained a lot of experience. It’s just kind of eye-opening to see at what level you’re at. Experience is something you can never take back; it’s invaluable. You can’t put a price to it. Not many sports can do that. It’s not like you can go into a professional football game and just play for a half and learn how things are going, or you can’t do that in tennis.” Sponsor invites are part of the deal when you put up the money needed to host a PGATOUR event. The simplistic explanation is that a handful of spots, usually four, are left open for the tournament to add players they feel can add value to the field. For some this can be a veteran player who maybe is not otherwise exempt but that still draws a crowd. Or perhaps it’s a local product who you know will bring fans and exposure to local media. Sometimes it can be a celebrity with game like Tony Romo or just simply someone who wrote a letter and asked nicely. For the Travelers Championship, these coveted spots are weighted heavily towards the future of the game. “It’s a big deal to us. It’s not just a sponsor’s exemption. You’re becoming part of the Travelers Championship family,” tournament director Nathan Grube told Golf Digest. “We’re going to make a big deal out of it when you’re here.” It’s been a big deal to them throughout Grube’s time at the helm, from 2006 onwards, but before as well. As Grube’s actual family has grown, from wife and newborn to having two kids in middle/high school, so too has his Travelers exemption family. Prior to 1996 records of invites become a little sketchy, but we do know Leonard was invited for his eighth TOUR start, his first as a professional in 1994 and Duval made his pro debut at the tournament, and seventh overall start, in 1993. Verplank’s fourth pro start came at Travelers way back in 1986. Sadly we’ve been unable to get word on who may have been invited as the potential next big thing in 1952 when the tournament made its PGA TOUR debut. Ted Kroll took the title, his second of eight TOUR wins, amongst a field that included the likes of Jack Burke Jr., who won four titles in a row earlier in that season. Perhaps it could have been Robert T. Jones III playing in his mid 20’s as an amateur in just his second TOUR event (T50). Young winners weren’t the norm at the time so maybe it was Doug Ford, who had just one of his 19 TOUR wins and had just turned 30. Or Art Wall Jr. who was yet to win any of his 14 TOUR titles and was still over a year shy of the same milestone birthday. Regardless of when the tradition started, the fact is it’s now entrenched and likely to stay for some time yet. All of the earlier listed players have gone on to win on the PGA TOUR after using Travelers as an early test and they’re not alone. Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Kuchar, Danny Lee, Kevin Tway, Nick Taylor, Kyle Stanley, Michael Thompson, Matt Every, Steven Bowditch, Bill Haas, Brian Harman, Hunter Mahan, D.J. Trahan, Nick Watney, Lucas Glover, Charles Howell III, David Gossett, Ryuji Imada, Tim Petrovic and J.J. Henry join Thomas, Rahm, Cantlay, Fowler, Simpson, Morikawa, Wolff and Hovland make it 28 different TOUR winners since 1996. Those players combine for 90 TOUR wins, 1,090 Top-10s, two FedExCup’s, three major championships and three PLAYERS Championships. Henry, the 2006 champion at this very event, was given his very first start on TOUR at TPC River Highlands in 1998. It is this claim to fame that has incidentally allowed for him to buck the trend to be one of this week’s four invites. But the other three remain well and truly on brand. Sahith Theegala (third TOUR start, first as a professional), Peter Kuest (first TOUR start) and Will Gordon (eighth TOUR start) join the list of those given the honor of trying to uphold the tradition of future stars this week. Theegala finished his Pepperdine college career ranked No.1 in the Golfweek college rankings with his 69.04 scoring average the best in the nation. The three-time All-American picked up both the Ben Hogan and Fred Haskins awards this season, just the fifth player in the last 30 years to do so. Gordon, the 2019 SEC Player of the Year when at Vanderbilt, turned pro last year, and spent some time on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada. He shot a 60 in his second event, started another one with back-to-back 64s and fired a 61 two weeks later. He finished 21st on the Mackenzie Tour’s Order of Merit. Without Korn Ferry Tour status, Gordon’s PGA TOUR starts have come via sponsor exemptions, Monday qualifiers and some strong play. His best finish is a 10th at The RSM Classic. Formally of BYU Kuest’s 69.4 scoring average in this final year was second best in the country (behind Theegala) among players with at least 20 rounds. He claimed 10 college wins, five coming in his junior season and three as a senior. The trio has a tough ask to match the incredible efforts of Wolff, Hovland and Morikawa who only needed a handful more starts after their beginnings at Travelers to become winners. But they’re up for the challenge. One young gun who did not use Travelers as one of his early starts but who did get the same treatment at his hometown AT&T Byron Nelson and also the John Deere Classic is Jordan Spieth. The 2017 Travelers Championship winner believes the quality of college golf will ensure more and more stars make their name early. “I felt more prepared I think than guys maybe five to ten years ahead of me just off the quality of the college and amateur golf, the golf courses that you’re playing, the accessibility within different junior tours, to draw in the best talent from around the world, versus 10 years before me, and I know it’s only gotten better since,” Spieth explains. “In general the courses and the competition have gotten tougher and that allows the transition to the PGA TOUR to be a bit easier.” The Texan was quick to offer his own experience to the young guys, saying the key is to sponge up as much knowledge, as quickly, as you can. “I would advise those that are getting these exemptions to play practice rounds with other guys, try and ask a bunch of questions, because guys are open to talking out here,” Spieth said. “I think it’s great. I think the TOUR looking more towards the future than looking back is only going to be beneficial.” Of course the tournament’s decision to prioritize young stars is not just for the betterment of the game. It is a strategic move to future proof itself. While not beholden to returning every year, players generally feel a sense of loyalty to a place that is generous before they are famous so to speak. Cantlay’s second ever TOUR start at Travelers in 2011, coming right after his U.S. Open debut, proved to be incredible. After opening with a decent 3-under 67 the then 19-year-old went lights out in the second round with a 10-under 60, the course record at the time and lowest score by an amateur ever on the PGA TOUR. He now tries to make it a habit to return. “Whenever I get here, I feel like I have a little bit of a warm spot for this place, and I can’t help but think about it (60) just because of how exciting it was to do and how novel it was for me at the time,” Cantlay says. “It’s great what they’ve done with the tournament, prioritizing giving those sponsor’s exemptions to young players that are deserving. They always get the top players around… and it’s an investment in those guys, get those guys to come on property and show them how good Travelers is at putting on a tournament, and then hopefully they come back year after year. “That’s definitely the case with me, coming and seeing the golf course and liking the event and liking the golf course. It’s just made me want to come back. So I think it’s smart and it’s a great opportunity for those guys to get that PGA TOUR experience when they may not have had it before.” Thomas was just 20 when Travelers gave him his third ever TOUR start in 2013. He might have been known to those in the junior, amateur and college golf scenes but outside of that he was yet the FedExCup winning star we know today. “They’re so good at giving young kids a chance or a start. It’s not like they’re – I hate to say the phrase no-name kids – but these are the top juniors, amateurs, college players in the world,” Thomas says. “The tournament staff and Travelers are just giving them a chance to show the rest of the golfing world how good they are, but also just give them a chance of competitive professional golf, and that’s what I was so fortunate to get. “Because of tournaments like this and the John Deere Classic, I became more comfortable, and it’s because of playing in these tournaments is when I turned pro when I did. If I wouldn’t have had those I wouldn’t have known how comfortable I felt in the professional setting and then I probably wouldn’t have turned pro as early as I did.” Not everyone can be a PGA TOUR winner, but don’t be surprised if the names Theegala, Kuest and Gordon join those that are over the next decade or so. After all, that is the road most traveled by those who get a start at Travelers.
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