It’s almost time for golf majors season … So what will the Masters do?

Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the Travelers Championship that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. TPC River Highlands hosted since 1991 and measures 6,841 yards (Par-70). Wonderful Watson Bubba Watson overcame a six-shot deficit as he posted 17-under-par 263 to win the Travelers Championship for the third time in nine years. This was his second come-from-behind victory at the event when trailing by six shots. The left-hander’s final round of 63 put the pressure on the leaders and in the end his margin of victory was a comfortable three shots. He becomes the first player to win three times on TOUR this season and the first player to win this event three times since Billy Casper in 1968. The regret is palpable from gamers who passed on Watson this week based on his current form (raises hand). With nothing to lose on a course he already painted for 63 earlier in the week he let it fly heading out in 33. His inward 30 saw him match his low round of the week (63) and it dropped the hammer on the guys still on the course. The exclamation point was his wedge to less than three feet on the final hole for his eighth and final birdie of the day and the clubhouse lead on 17 under. There wasn’t any surprise to the formula he used as he didn’t hit many fairways (T70) but still found plenty of GIR (T7). He measured T22 or better in every strokes-gained category but the key was he was fifth-best in putts per GIR. After opening level par he played the final 54 holes in 17 under with only four bogeys (no others). The mystery of Watson shouldn’t exist anymore for gamers. When he’s in the mood, and boy has he been this season, there are a handful of tracks where he is no-brainer, green-light special. He’s won on two of them (Riviera and TPC River Highlands) this year and added a “new” title with World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. Gamers aren’t out of luck yet as he’s gone close at Glen Abbey (if he plays) and Firestone South so there may be time to right the ship and get one more. Know Thy Enemy These were the top-10 selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game presented by SERVPRO: It’s been tough sledding for gamers who leaned on Berger at the last two TPC stops where he’s had immense successes. I guess the “up” side is that he did outscore Casey in the final round but that’s hardly a consolation. Pain or Gain These were the top-10 selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: It was a brutal Sunday two ways for Casey’s investors. He had the largest 54-hole lead at TPC River Highlands in history and his share of second was chopped four ways. If fantasy golf was played in a vacuum it would have been, on paper, a great week. Instead it was probably a disappointment. N-Cink Stewart Cink matched the round of the week with 62 and picked up his first podium since 2009. The course historians were rewarded again as the two-time champ felt right at home Sunday circling a magnificent 10 birdies against two bogeys. To say the disappointment of his 72 in the final round in Memphis (T4) was squashed is probably underplaying it. He’s as hot as the Georgia summer and is 22 under in his last eight rounds. Next in Line I’ve been asked multiple times who I believed to be this year’s Xander Schauffele and the retort I’ve given is Beau Hossler. Although he hasn’t won yet he’s been a consistent force. This week he picked up his 10th-consecutive paycheck and his second runner-up finish of the season. At No. 36 in the FEC standings a trip to Atlanta isn’t out of the realm of possibilities. No Memphis Blues Similarly to Cink, J.B. Holmes was looking to build on his excellent week in Memphis but a missed six-footer for par on the last saw him share second instead of claiming it himself. He won’t be upset with back-to-back podium finishes on TOUR but I bet the putting green will get a work out starting next week. His last 13 rounds on TOUR are in the red and so are 15 of the last 16. He demands a detailed look next week at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farms. Life of Brian The “other” left-hander on the weekend that was trying to make noise was 36-hole leader Brian Harman. He posted rounds of 69-68 but dropped all the way to T6 when the dust settled. After two years of deflated scoring, TPC River Highlands was back to its original giving self this year but Harman couldn’t get it over the finish line. He quietly goes about his business and his top-10 payday is his eighth of the season, tying Dustin Johnson for the most on TOUR. Sunday Silence There were only three scores on Sunday worse than Paul Casey’s 72 with only five players accumulating 73 or worse. His worst finish when making seven of his last eight cuts is T17 so I’m not going anywhere. … Russell Henley (T6) was in charge of putting the pressure on his playing partner in the final pairing but his 69 was also left in the dust by the peloton. He squared only two bogeys and nothing worse for the week so it’s obvious he likes it here. He’s 22 under in two trips with a 67.25 scoring average. … Anirban Lahiri is still trying to become the first Indian to win on TOUR and that can’t be easy with a couple of billion people weighing on his shoulders. His 69 dropped him from T6 to T9 but he cashes his first top 10 since November and is comfortably inside the top 100 in the FEC standings at No. 89. Study Hall Round 1 scored 69.776 (-0.224) while Round 2 crept just higher at 69.994 (-0.006). Saturday’s excellent scoring conditions were realized as the field averaged 69.108 (-0.892) but the field went even lower on Sunday. Even with the course tipped out past the scorecard total of 6,841 at 6,868 the final round produced the lowest aggregate of the week at 68.865 (-1.135). … Interestingly there were only two bogey-free rounds as Sam Ryder (64) and Adam Hadwin (66) will take their momentum forward. Neither cashed in the top 25. … Matthew Fitzpatrick accepted STM this week and will have unlimited exemptions for the rest of the TOUR season. He’s currently ranked No. 39 in the world. Remember, he’s only eligible for the FEC Playoffs if he wins a TOUR event before they begin. … Brooks Koepka was looking to join Ernie Els (1997) as the last player to win the U.S. Open and win the following week. Koepka, who is clearly not human, signed for 65 in the final round to move up 19 spots to T19. … Phil Mickelson is the last player to defend at TPC River Highlands as Jordan Spieth’s 63 on Thursday never kept any momentum. He cashed T42 in his defense.

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Phil Mickelson gets his post-holiday slate underway in his usual desert locale at the CareerBuilder Challenge, joined by Jon Rahm and reigning champ Hudson Swafford to headline the traditional first stop on the U.S. mainland after the calendar turns. Adam Hadwin, whose third-round 59 wasn’t enough to avoid getting pipped down the stretch last year, returns to take another run. Ditto for David Lingmerth, who lost playoffs in both 2013 (to Brian Gay) and 2016 (Jason Dufner). FIELD NOTES: Two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson ends a six-year hiatus in the California desert, where he shared runner-up honors in 2010. … In all, PGA West is anticipating five of the FedExCup’s current top 10 and five of the top 30 in the world rankings. … Corey Pavin, twice a winner when the event was Bob Hope’s court, is set for his first PGA TOUR start since Colonial in 2015. It’s been 31 years since his first Hope victory. … John Daly, Mark Brooks and Lee Janzen make it a quartet of PGA TOUR Champions entrants. … Local high schooler Charlie Reiter is in on a sponsor invite, the first time the tournament has given a professional spot to an amateur. Reiter won Southern California’s individual title two years ago. … Former Stanford star Maverick McNealy also got an exemption. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. STORYLINES: Mickelson, who also serves as a Challenge ambassador, seeks again to end a winless spell now reaching nearly five years since the 2013 Open Championship. He notched a pair of top-15 finishes during the fall schedule, including third at the Safeway Open. … Rahm has top-2 finishes in his past two starts bridging the holidays. His runner-up at the Sentry Tournament of Champions was preceded by a win in the European Tour finale. … 13 of the past 14 Challenge winners have been U.S.-born champions. The exception: Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas (2011). … La Quinta Country Club marks its 47th year in the rotation, missing only eight editions since its debut in 1964. That’s a longer tenure than all but four PGA TOUR venues. COURSE: TPC Stadium Course at PGA West, 7,113 yards, par 72. Three decades after a dubious first impression, Pete Dye’s vexing design now seems entrenched in its originally intended role as host. The Stadium course was unveiled at the 1986 Skins Game and joined the Hope rota in 1987, but lasted just one year when players petitioned for its removal. Charged with building golf’s toughest venue, Dye sculpted a bumpy moonscape with deep bunkers, pushed-up greens and plenty of water. The Skins Game stayed five more years, and the course later staged six editions of the TOUR’s qualifying finals. The event’s pro-am format also will utilize PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament course (7,159/72) and La Quinta CC (7,060/72) in the first three rounds. 72-HOLE RECORD: 260, Patrick Reed (2014). Note: Steve Stricker shot 255 through his first 72 holes in 2009, when the Hope was a five-round tournament. 18-HOLE RECORD: 59, David Duval (5th round, 1999 at PGA West/Palmer), Adam Hadwin (3rd round, 2017 at La Quinta CC). Stadium Course record: 63, Jonathan Fricke (2nd round, 2008 Qualifying Finals*), Whee Kim (2nd round, 2012 Qualifying Finals*). Nicklaus Tournament record: 59, Harrison Frazar (4th round, 2008 Qualifying Finals*). Note: Q-School does not count as an official PGA TOUR event. LAST YEAR: Swafford stared down his demons from a day earlier with three birdies in his final four holes, overtaking Hadwin and Bud Cauley for his first PGA Tour victory. After seeing his third round spoiled by playing Nos. 16 and 17 in bogey/double bogey, Swafford two-putted for birdie at the par-5 16th and ripped an 8-iron inside 2 feet for birdie at No. 17. A closing par left him with a 5-under-par 67, enough to hold off Hadwin’s closing flourish. Hadwin, whose Saturday 59 at La Quinta CC matched David Duval’s tournament mark, made only two birdies in the final day’s first 15 holes. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Sunday, 3-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-7 p.m. (featured holes). RADIO: Thursday-Saturday, 1-7 p.m.; Sunday, 2-7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).  

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