‘Really cool to see’ up-and-coming stars at Travelers Championship

CROMWELL, Conn. – They settled into seats at the same table to share the same spotlight in a prelude to the same tournament, the Travelers Championship. Then again, that should not have felt out of the ordinary. After all, if it feels as if Matthew Wolff, Justin Suh, Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland have shared the amateur golf stage for years, it’s because they have. “It’s really cool to see us out here,â€� said Wolff. Nodding in agreement, Morikawa said, “I think it all brings us to the same point.â€� Related: Featured Groups | Hovland signs with Ping | Wolff brings unique swing to Travelers | What’s in Wolff’s bag? At a tournament that is heralded for the way in which it extends playing opportunities to up-and-coming players, the Travelers Championship outdid itself this year. Berths were extended to Oklahoma State teammates Hovland, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, and Wolff, the recent winner of the NCAA Championship; Suh, the University of Southern California standout who won eight collegiate tournaments; and the University of California’s Morikawa, who recently finished T-14 at the RBC Canadian Open in his pro debut. It will serve as the pro debut for Hovland, who has been low amateur in the Masters and U.S. Open this year, and Wolff, while Morikawa turned pro two weeks ago in Canada and Suh made his pro debut at the Memorial Tournament a few weeks ago. So, while these young stars – Morikawa is 22; Suh and Hovland are 21; Wolff is 20 – are toeing the starting line together as professionals, take note that they surely feel as if they’ve been racing together for years. In fact, Morikawa smiled when he looked out at the assembled audience and noticed Shari Wolff. He waved to Matthew’s mother. “It’s good to see his mom back there. Haven’t seen her since, I think Cabo (the Cabo Collegiate in Mexico) where she rode in a cart with us. That was a great week for us.â€� Listening to these four young men speak on the eve of the Travelers Championship, it sounds like there have been a lot of great weeks for them. In so many ways, the ways their paths have intersected provide great depth to their friendships. Suh, Morikawa and Wolff share California roots. Suh and Morikawa first met in local AJGA tournaments, while Morikawa (La Canada) and Wolff (Westlake) went to high schools north of Los Angeles that did not compete against one another in the same league, but served to introduce the players. Wolff recalled seeing Morikawa play for the first time, at North Ranch CC in Thousand Oaks. “He shot 70 and I think I shot 75 or 76,â€� said Wolff. “It was a hard day. I was just kind of blown away by it.â€� Morikawa remembers where he was when he heard that Suh, who hails from San Jose, had committed to USC. “We were in San Diego at an AJGA (tournament),â€� said Morikawa, smiling. “Just really cool to see us grow, even though we switched paths from southern California.â€� Which isn’t to say that Hovland doesn’t factor into the storyline, even though he was born and raised in Oslo, Norway. “Or California 2.0 as we call it,â€� laughed Hovland, whose infectious personality has captivated media members who met him at Augusta and last week at Pebble Beach. “The golf community is so small over there and when you do well and you think you’re big time, because everyone is talking about you.â€� Turns out, Hovland had the international observers talking about him, too. Wolff, for instance, remembers seeing this kid who wasn’t wearing a golf hat, “just Oakleys on, just a really European look,â€� he said, laughing. A few seats away, Hovland laughed, too. He remembered. “I met (Wolff) that week and figured out, ‘Wow, there is a bunch of good guys out here,â€� said Hovland. Morikawa was T3 in that AJGA Thunderbird tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz., while Hovland was tied for seventh and Wolff joint 10th. They have plastered their names to the tops of collegiate and amateur leaderboards ever since, and none of them are entering this PGA TOUR phase devoid of confidence that it will continue. Asked if they’d be surprised if they won this week, they took turns and took different ways to share the same answer. No.

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