On the Range | Travelers Championship

Live action straight from the practice range on Wednesday at the 2024 Travelers Championship, featuring expert analysis, DraftKings betting and fantasy golf previews, player interviews and more at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.

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e from TPC River Highlands in Cromwell Connecticut we welcome you to Golf Channel’s coverage of on the Range in advance of the opening round of The Travelers Championship tomorrow getting deeper into the PGH season on the heels of last week’s United States open contested at Pinehurst in North Carolina 64 players in the field at last week’s Us open have made the journey up to Connecticut here this week which has had a home on the PGA tour since the early 1950s one of the longest running events on the PGA tour calendar Pete D originally designed this place in 1984 it looks a lot different these days Bobby weed was the man who redesigned TPC River Highlands in 1989 and it is a stellar field gathered here this week I’m John Swan great to have your company along with ailia miao the ketzer as well we’ll hear from Steve Scott Who’s down there on the range with a lot of the players in the field including that guy who has been the most dominant player in the game first player Scotty shefer to win five times this early in the season since Tom Watson did it back in 1980 guys this is a pretty special place Billy you know it well as the 1977 champion in Hartford to win here is a big deal for the players and since becoming signature of that it’s become an even bigger deal now oh yeah I think so and when you start looking uh at the field and even though Rory is not here I mean it is a very very strong field when you start looking at the top 30 of the FedEx Cup 29 of those players are here you start going down that list you see guys that are trying to win for the first time it’s a great opportunity for those guys as well Swan to to have that chance it only have to be you know 70 other players so um but what you’re going to have to do what remains constant and you have to do well is you have to make putts when you start looking at seven feet and in this golf course provides a lot of opportunity some of the best numbers that you’ll see on the PGA tour come from these greens right here in Crono we went from a signature event a couple weeks ago millia to the US Open last week you were there at Pon Hurst on the call for PGA Tour radio um there is a fatigue Factor perhaps that’s been a narrative coming in end of the week but boy there’s a lot to play for here a lot to play for in a signature event and a huge fatigue Factor coming off of two big weeks the memorial and the US Open at this point of the Season it can be really easy for things to get a little technically off so the Rhythm and just getting everything right prior to the start of the week is going to be so so important because these guys are tired and it’s going to be survival of the fittest who wins this week Keegan Bradley is the uh defending champion and what a performance it was for the New England ER last week in route to the victory this is the man who now holds the 3654 and 72 hole scoring marks on the PJ tour and boy did he ever just slam the door down the stretch on Sunday didn’t he pretty much had it on cruise control and once he extended the lead never was going to relinquish the lead played all the smart shots played all the sensible shots really never got out of the moment and right there fist in the air pretty special 257 total 20 under par best score in relation to par that we’ve seen in tournament history there’s his wife Julian their little boys Logan and Cooper the former downhill skier from Woodstock Vermont with an emotional and significant Victory on his home turf in New England a year ago and he’s followed it up ailia with a heck of the Season almost won in Honolulu this year finishing as the runner up at the the Sony Open in January keegin played really well this season I know he’s thinking about that uh Ridder cup uh later in the year at Beth pagee but just really excited to see him start off the year strong and made the cut at the US Open as well Hometown hero last year I know he’s really excited to come into this week eighth signature events of the season and Chris Kirk cracked the seal with his victory out in Maui in early January wendam Clark and a truncated AT&T Pebble Beach proam that was shortened to 54 holes Hideki 62 on Sunday at Rivier for my money the round of the Year Rory at the Wells Fargo where he’s won a handful of times now and Sheffer with three siggies already under his Bel Billy well I’m kind of thinking uh 38 you’re probably 7% win rate right there so keep it going it has been a prosperous and lucrative PJ tour campaign for that man right there made the cut on the number last week at plus five and I felt like when that happened Milly I’m like of course she’s going to go out and shoot 65 on Saturday morning and get himself right back into this thing but he didn’t materialize oh I I was certain he was going to play well just he didn’t hit that driver well and as good as he is with the irons when you get out of position at pineer number two it’s just so hard to hit the green so just never really got that into form and couldn’t make a putt that’s really where he kind of fell off at Piner last week I kind of took away the fact that you know what it’s the first time I’ve seen Scotty grind in quite some time the fact that he was put in a position that he could possibly miss a cut after playing so well all year long and to see him grind like that coming down the stretch that was amazing and and he kind of knew that five plus five was going to be the number and he was just not going to give in he was not going to relinquish he was going to make that cut and by the time the third round of the US Open that was the first time in his professional career that he shot four consecutive rounds over par starting with the final round at Memorial even though he won that week so to your point Billy he was grinding all week and never stopped and that bleeds right into this week finding some form and getting right back into contention where he’s used to being there was a little frustration bubbling over last week as well that you don’t ordinarily see from this cool customer right here it happens it happens it happens it’s easy not to be frustrated when you’re winning all the time he has been a force in these Signature Events winning three of them as we Illustrated earlier Scotty is 88 under par in the signature events on tour this season far away the best of any player and his scoring average in these Signature Events is 68 on the notes well driving the driving the ball poorly last week um there’s some attention paid to what he needs to do this week you can see the alignment sticks down on the ground every player does it just for the alignment um you can see the checkpoints he’s always checking grip and you know it’s kind of like he wants to keep the the arm slot kind of right in between there it’s a pretty simple it’s a pretty simple move that he has but what he doesn’t want to do is he doesn’t want to to get it to where that club lays down wants The Club at the top and then the first move see there’s no dropping there’s no flattening the left arm pretty much stays on the same plane then of course the footwork but I look at the transition Amelia and and you know sure it’s Wednesday it’s the pra practice session everything’s synced up right there you start looking at numbers 179 ball speed I and I think I think he has more in the tank he he just never displays it never goes after it he can display it when he needs to though and yeah one of the best things about Scotty and why he’s been so successful is he has his team around him who are focused on the numbers the stats he’s always talked about in his swing he’s really focused on his Tempo and we talk a lot about his footwork and there’s a lot of movement going on but because he’s so rhythmic that’s why he’s able to hit the shots Under Pressure he has that smooth transition he can rotate his body really well and the footwork just sort of takes care of itself another thing he does which I think people who are the average golf fan don’t realize is when these players are on the Range they’re not just hitting shots every sing shot has a purpose Scotty always talks about how he likes to shape shots and when he know when he gets on the golf course he knows that he’s hit every single shot that he can think of so he’s not getting over the ball and you know there’s no doubt creeping into his preparation yeah he is probably the most fundamentally tied player on the PGA tour he has the grip on a club that he checks and makes sure that his grips right the alignments he and Randy Smith probably the Simplicity of the whole process is what is so intriguing to me his beloved instructor who’s been working with Scotty since he was knee high now he is a top the mountain in the world of golf Far and Away quick peek at his track record here at River Highlands in recent years down our house I someone distracted him that’s probably as vulgar as you’re going to see Scotty get but concentration and focus is not broken very often is it something got him though I do find that very intriguing you would think the number one player in the world is always Super Hyper focused but every time I’ve watched him on the Range he’s always is very relaxed very Carefree well there’s always been a balance in his life as well and and more so now within the last month with the arrival of young Bennett s Scotty and his wife Meredith that man’s season turned around at Augusta National didn’t it and Colin morawa for the last month and a half Billy has looked like the col Mo cow that we expect to see every time he teas it up definitely pushing it right that yeah see once a player and all of a sudden their appetite increases and his increased at Augusta National now all of a sudden you’re back in the mix for another major you’ve got two of the four now of a sudden everything just started to click he’s always had a gol swing that I think is is hard to to kind of pick out differences because it’s the same wrist position I think a lot of his is just where’s the confidence level you know I think the form kind of stays the same you just kind of go in and out of confidence but you’ll see the the position at the top maybe a little late with the body rotation there but I just think his confidence is so so good right now he briefly parted ways Amelia with Rick susing house who’s been his instructor since he was a little boy and there’s been a few guys who have sort of dipped away from the instructors they’ve worked with throughout their life and career and have gone back to them and found that comfort zone and that productivity and that success once again as Colin has Victor hoblin another example leaving Jo Mayo coming back to him after he missed the cut at the Masters and withdrew from the RBC to work back with him and so many of these guys when they reach what they believe is the their peak level on the PGA tour they want to get better they’re always looking to improve so they start to change things the first thing you usually change is a caddy your agent maybe your swing coach but don’t change what’s working don’t change your swing coach who got you to that point so great to see Colin back to where his roots have gotten him oh yeah we did last sometimes players look in the wrong spot you start looking in the wrong spot it’ll show up quick I know where it but you you look at Kum Mor Ricky Fowler was the story last year going back to Butch you look at Davis Riley going back to Smith uh and Amilia mentioned hlin going back to Joe Mayo I mean there’s you can just go right down the list and seemingly it it kind of happens there’s there’s that point of communication that you have to understand what is going on and sometimes between swing coach and player not many words have to be spoken that’s communication that’s when you get it Colin and JJ formidable team as well JJ really good Collegiate player in Northern California in his competitive days and look at some of the noteworthy pairings for round one tomorrow hii coming on back-to-back top 10 at the memorial in the US Open will play with the defending Champion Keegan Bradley know how many Cuts Max homes made here zero goose egg for match for five this is one of the easier courses on the PJ tour and it stands in stark contrast to the Grind of a major championship that 64 players realized a week ago I was actually I was actually stunned when I saw that because I think a Max and I think oh my gosh he’s going to drive it in every Fairway he’s going to flush Daddy some putts and then we’re off to the but when I saw that stat I went no it can’t be well it is ESPN plus coverage begins Thursday morning at 8:00 a.m. was one of the past champions in the field Jordan spe the 2017 winner and one of the champions from the Hartford Bristol Connecticut area Chris Boomer Burman e e e and we welcome you back to TPC River Highlands in Cromwell Connecticut outside the capital city of Hartford and golf channels coverage on the Range on this Wednesday Travelers championship week has it really been seven years since we witnessed this one of the most indelible moments in tournament history delivered by George feet gave us Air Jordan there with a little high flying chest bum with gr there and the place went off the hook everybody except maybe Daniel Burger was enthused about that one but what a moment to cap it off in sudden death back in 2017 this is the Jordan spe that everybody loves he has so much character you’re hanging on to every shot he hits and that is why because he can hold a bunker shot when no one expects it and now everyone expects it reminiscent of TPC Deer Run 2013 the first Victory out here for Jordan at the John Deere clausi and I got to tell you he’s on song like that it’s better for God mhm much better the burger get back burer had a great putt he did I mean he hit a high quality putt this season a little bit of a mixed bag for Jordan and much of it Billy I would think precipitated by the left niggling wrist injury that he’s been trying to manage all season long could be but he’s he’s driven the ball quite well this year and when you start looking at so far as the distance the accuracy you combine it the driver has been much better this year uh the iron play I’m going to say for a guy that was 2015 2017 he was in the top two um it simp and it will and maybe the rest maybe the turf contact maybe that’s a little bit of that on a te there’s no resistance Turf contact there’s plenty but he’s um he’s done a the job he’s done with the driver I think it’s A+ made the cut last week Amilia at the open with eight back to starts uh the weekend and not able to get much closer than that finished 41st speed is known for his scrambling after seeing the whole out bunker shot at just earlier when he won The Travelers in 2017 but 63rd around the greens this season he’s just not getting up and downs as much as we are used to seeing him much as we think of Jordan spe and how much of a magician he is around the greens I am looking forward to seeing him play this week because of how good he is with his wedges his irons haven’t been that that good but because he’s driving the ball well he’s 11th in Strokes game this season I think he could pull together some really nice rounds and for Jordan too it’s all about that momentum when Jordan’s happy he plays well his game is so reliant on his mood I think and and I think with the scrambling he’s he’s having to do it more because of the iron it’s just not nearly as sharp and uh he will tell you uh the misses on the short side when you start breaking down players and you start looking at the guys who win tournaments you can look at hole locations and you can go through 72 holes and you can see if they’re 65% or higher into the fat side of where the hole is located those are the guys that are win those are the GU anything less than that they’re not they’re not winning the golf tournament he’s he’s missed it too many times on the short side as we watch Jordan warm up one thing that he’s been really working on and we’ve seen has been the rehearsal in his back swing it almost looks like a little Loop and then bowing it off at the end shallowing it out but he’s been working with Cameron McCormick wanting to get back to having the club more in line with his hands not so late off that’s how he felt he was most comfortable and Swinging the best and a lot of players have exaggerated rehearsals but then their swing looks normal but it takes a little bit of time for that there was a a while where the swing for Jordan Speed looked a little unorthodox when he was really working on getting that uh club path or that club plane more online yeah and I think you know the reference that you’re making the support at the top of the Swing was with the right wrist hinge it’s it’s not as as much to the side it’s more up and down therefore you can support the club a little bit more and deliver it with more consistency see we get a little closer look at the wrist hinge here slow it down St you can see it right there I like the way that everything stays low the right shoulder low through so 2017 when speed took the totle here and that dramatic sudden death was a banner season of course he went on to steal the Open Championship and The clar Jug from Matt coocher there at Royal burkdale and then had the four-year drought until the Breakthrough in San Antonio with the Valero and backed it up with a victory on the back end of the Masters at the RBC Heritage two years ago so it’s been a little more than two years since Jordan’s last win speed down on the Range so is Steve Scott part of our team on the Range uh Steve how’s it going and what are the conditions like there at CPC River Highlands on this Wednesday you know Swan it’s going great out here you got a lot of great players out here the best players in the world on the PJ tour dialing in their game this week on the practice te here but really important this week There’s real a few three three few keys to really dial in this week for these players you know number one think about this golf course 23 underpar one here last year with Keegan Bradley and uh one underpar in the last two weeks at the US Open as well as the memorial the last two weeks if you would have shot that you would have finished in the top 10 you shoot one underpar here you’re going to be going uh you’re going to be having a tough time finishing in the top uh top 20 and then you look at the rough this week I took a look at the golf course yesterday and the golf course is really uh you know it’s one of the shortest the shortest golf course they play on the PGA tour this year but the rough is mowed into the players and so they really have to be cognizant of that they’re going to have to really steepen their approach angle if they do hit it in the rough and that’s going to be a definite challenge the third and final thing is really the heat and humidity at least the first couple days the heat and humidity are going to be a real Factor these players are going to have to manage you know their fluids and their food and make sure they stay hydrated lots of electrolytes are going to be needed in Cromwell Connecticut this week all right thank you Steve if you got one under by the way you may not even be around for the weekend uh here at TPC River Highlands and uh it’s weird to talk about the the transition to a golf course with rough ailia coming off a US Open of course Pinehurst was so penal in so many different ways but it is something that the players will have to be cognizant of here this week especially because every other golf course you’re practicing out of some kind of rough and rough shots are much different than chipping out of the Fairway because you’re not getting any spin every single lie you get out of the rough is different so there’s a lot of inconsistency so early on in the week it’s really important for players to dial in their short game from outside of the Fairway you saw the course record of 58 authored by Jim furck in the final round 2016 I think that course record is uh pretty safe we’ll say no one’s ever gone lower on the PG tour than Jim did in the final round that year Victor hlin will begin his tournament competition Thursday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. eastern time we talked about the reunion with Joe mayo and going through the little rehearsals and the checkpoints over there on the Range it’s really interesting because Victor just rehearsed a little side tilt someone at the US Open asked him how he does that so well his side tilt and he said I actually tried to get rid of that because that creates inconsistency in my golf swing you do need side tilt to have a good uh impact through the ball but too much of it and you can start to let go of the club face and do some other things but that drill that Jo Mayo is doing holding his head that’s a really good way just for everything to stay over the ball you you lose all the moving Parts you keep everything really sound and covered over the golf ball so a great drill to do prior and even after a tournament round it’s always good for a player to have a center point and and if that’s his Center Point left side of his head that’s great a lot of players will think of their chest keep the center of the chest constant but the fact that that the club was the grip was getting too high at impact and then there was a two-way Miss for Victor that’s been the correction it’s it’s almost like he needs to to kind of let it go out just a little bit but then keep the body rotating through cuz he wants to peel it left to right pretty hard you think about all the trackman data and the launch monitors that these guys carry around with them from week to week sometimes it’s just as simple as that right there having your swing instructor hold your head still and that club is outside of the right forearm so that’s how he hits that nice fade but Billy you mentioned the double Miss I walked with him at the US Open round one and he had a double miss going missed his first Fairway and then really couldn’t find his footing he was hitting it well on the Range but when you have swing thoughts they work on the Range you do not want swing thoughts other than Rhythm and tempo or some kind of play thought like finish to the Target you cannot be having things jumbled in your brain even if you try to remove those thoughts if you’re thinking about things constantly on the Range it’s bound to transition onto the golf course yeah if you if you get away from Target in shot shape you’re thinking too much tyer 11th in 2020 just couple years after he came out a Stillwater Oklahoma that story career at Oklahoma State helping to lead the Cowboys to the NCAA Championship while winning the US Amer of course was the low Amer at the US Open at P beach in 2019 as well that was just a short while ago feels like Victor hin has been around longer than that but he’s only a half dozen years removed from his college days and one of the stars in the field here this week that we will be showcasing with PJ Tour live coverage we’ll get it cranked up on ESPN plus starting at 8:00 a.m. Thursday morning from here at The Travelers e e e okay we welcome you back time now for going for the green presented by DraftKings sports book as we preview the field this week at The Travelers Championship outside of Hartford and offer a little Intel a little insight and a little guidance uh as you invest wisely and responsibly in the players on the board here this week here to help us from golf bet is Chris Bree who’s on location this week at TPC River Highlands Chris it’s good to see you short field this week just 69 players competing who will be the last man standing outside Harford on Sunday evening well let me tell you what swanie uh everybody remembers the iconic weekend at the US Open I wonder how many folks remember who was leading that tournament halfway through it was ludvig oberg that’s my pick this week at The Travelers and look ludvig clearly did not have his stuff on the weekend it was because he was learning how to win a major championship venue experience was everything last week he does not have that issue this week when you’re looking at a guy who’s hitting the ball really well I don’t know if anybody is playing as well right now as ludig oberg is give me that plus 1200 and the big narrative this week Swan and you tell me if you agree with this is fatigue and exhaustion uh I hate to say it but fatigue hits a little bit different for somebody who’s 24 years old as opposed to maybe you or me no doubt about it and uh $20 million to play for this week I think uh they can reasonably expect to shake off the fatigue that’s just my view on it listen it is a short field there’s going to be more value than there traditionally is with a field of 144 or 156 a little further down the board Chris who’s your value pick this week and that’s why I’m looking at the top 20 market and we do something every week on golf Pi called key stats figuring out what all the winners did recently here to make them successful the stroer course at TPC River Highlands 125 yards to 150 yards 50% of shots are hit from that range Tom Hogan is third on tour in that stat I got him top 20 at plus 250 and look you talk about wanting to be in good form he did not make the cut last week at the US Open but I think there’s value in guys who are rested hogi by the way made 15 straight cuts before that eight of those John were inside the top 20 and he’s only got to beat two-thirds of the field yeah he hasn’t had his best stuff hasn’t contended at the top but top 20 you don’t really need that much you just got to beat a handful of guys and I think Hog’s got the wedge game to do it yeah I like that pick a lot the ball comes off the center of the club face routinely from Tom hogi shortest golf course of the season on the PJ Tour by the way this week at 6800 and change and there’s some really intriguing head-to-head matchups Chris including the guys ranked one and three in the world talking about Scotty and Xander which way you leaning in that head-to-head swanie it would have been a cop out if I didn’t pick this match up with two major winners this year I’m not fully buying into the hoopla that sheffer’s exhausted but let’s keep in mind this guy has had a 4mon historic stretch and just a little bit he’s having maybe some issues playing at the top of his game I’m going to go Xander mainly for the massive plus money plus 130 to beat Scotty and Xander’s been playing almost as good as Sheffer has the last five six months this is a guy who has been top 25 in every event since I believe the beginning of February he won here a couple of years ago I think he nips Sheffer just a little bit and a fantastic matchup all right good stuff Chris you can follow Chris Bree on X and his social media accounts you can read his terrific editorial content in the golf bet space on pj.com he’ll be working this week from TPC River Highlands thanks Chris good to catch up with you yeah of course so draftking Sportsbook is an official sports betting partner of the PG in this week new customers can bet $5 in pocket at $150 in bonus bets instantly download the app and use promo code range when you sign up DraftKings Sportsbook the crown is yours e e e beautiful early summer day in New England welcome you back on the Range here at The Travelers Championship TPC River Highlands just outside of Hartford ajor has been coming here since the early 1950s and last year they had a native New Englander take the crown Keegan Bradley getting loose down there on the Range in advance of the start of his title defense on Thursday here start looking at guys that can take it deep off the tea and are reliable to find Fairways I put Keegan in that category by the way he has a monster three yes he does strokes gained off the T Numbers those are Monster as well this guy usually resides in the top 20 in that analytical category ball striking has always been good for keeg and it’s just can he get the putter he’s had the ups and downs with the putting for a while and really like what he’s doing with the glove that is a common training age you see players use they’ll put a glove in the under their left armpit sometimes under their right depending on what they’re working on when the glove is under the left that usually is to help their shoulders rotate through and you keep that left arm connected allowing that left arm to really dictate the swing so it ear early morning start well mid morning tomorrow 10:20 is when the title fense will begin for Keegan Bradley the winner here last year in his native New England and it meant just a little bit [Music] more Travelers championship in this record setting atmosphere called TPC River Highlands and will be a popular local win in Keegan Bradley Keegan Bradley there’s a lot to like about him around here he’s proud to be a New Englander one of my favorite things is where I’m from I’m very very proud of where I come from to hear the fans cheer from me like they would a sports team means a lot oh yes Keegan Bradley keeps pouring in the birdies starting to hear a very engaged um New England accent crowd this was always the top of my list and what a special thing to be the winner of this tournament New England’s very own takes the title at The [Applause] Travelers born in Woodstock Vermont played his high school golf at Hopkin kin and led that Squad to back-to-back Massachusetts state titles in 03 in ‘ 04 Billy you know his dad pretty well a well respected Club professional as well and of course an Pat is a Hall of Famer as well the the golfing blood runs deep in the Bradley Clan doesn’t it it certainly does and uh just to watch Keegan when one of his teams is kind of in the mix for a championship like it was for many years the Patriots Red Sox I would Lov to have seen him when the Celtics captured that 18th title I would love to see the reaction first New Englander to win since JJ Henry in 2006 and this is Keegan from earlier today on the eve of his title defense I really what Jim Nance said on the 18th hole meant so much to me and my family and um when he said New England’s very own we I caught home after I played Detroit the week after and my wife had made up this big picture with that quote on it we had in our house which is just North of Boston and what I’ve told this to him personally but what he said meant so much to me and this tournament really it means a lot to me before I had won I mean this is like I say every week this is a very important tournament to the to the Northeast and New England golfers like a a kid like me I don’t this is the only chance I would get to come up here and watch professional golfers play so this is an important week for for the game of gol golf in this area no we can hit I don’t think I don’t think want to hit one one shot okay here we go that’s Jillian Logan and Cooper we’re going to put them to work here milia see if they’ve got a little bit of Dad’s Club head speed yeah let’s see if we can get them on a track man see their numbers all right they were begging for a little bit more but Dad said just one just one trying to manage things here last year I was played in the US Women’s Open and Michelle we was warming up with her daughter McKenna and Kenna was hitting balls and there was a little posy just crowded around because all the players yeah they’re focused not anymore when Kenna starts hitting everyone was thought it was so cute this looks like a good setup here that’s a lot like Dad most down and over yes extended arms yes he’s got kind of a frame like that as well Keegan stands pretty much a full 6′ three how about Scotty hille how’s his path come on Scotty you wonder at what age do the boys sto listening to Dad despite his resume I don’t need to listen to you Dad right now they seem pretty locked in what he’s saying I’m G to say I’m going to say 14 to 21 daddy death takes over that’s when it takes over you know that sounds about right I’m 25 now definitely listen to my parents pretty much hang on to every word trying to get their wisdom needed that at 16 all of a sudden the hearing comes back just few years after that that’s a seven-year Gap though it’s a hard seven years swotting oh this is cute the boys are playing it right too they were only going to get one whack a piece but we’ve proven that we’ve you know we look like we’ve been here before launch man and they’re doing a great job at sharing as well alternating shots yeah you’re right Billy look at that setup that is Keegan ask the way the arms hang there o so was that Logan let a rip checking the numbers High launch low spin little man that’s what we’re going for creates a lot of Tumbl love that little clip from Keegan presser those aren’t just words that’s real meaning behind him when he said how important this place is to him and and always has been even before he won last year grew up coming to this event as a kid it’s a story that we always talk about leading up to a week when someone’s playing a tournament it’s their Hometown they have a lot of family behind them and the player really balances two sides of the coin they have a lot of supports they have a lot of good go momentum coming into the week but then there’s that extra little pressure of wanting to make everyone around you proud and for Keegan to be able to do that last year it’s it’s really a memory that is etched into you forever just to have the lead enough of the lead that you could enjoy the walk up 18 talk about how short this course is at 6,800 yards or so his two runner-up finishes this year Keegan have come at wly Country Club and Colonial which would fall into the category of shorter courses on the tour it’s a good Get Set Apart threes when you start looking at the fifth you start looking at the eighth of course the 16th is is the one that gets a lot of action but then the one down the hill the 11th down the hill gets a little tricky if it gets a little windy trying to choose the right Club from that elevated team see a few Red Sox hats including looks like one Jillian was wearing there as well you’ll see some Yankee hats around here well Hartford we’re kind of positioned right in the middle of New York and Boston so it’s a weird sort of split among the sports fans around this place and then you have Boomer coming out with the San Francisco hat [Applause] on go I think it might be dark before we get Logan Bradley off the range by the way oh look at that 107 carry definitely his furthest just getting things warmed up at hold on when you’re a kid and you first hit it in the hundreds that is a memorable experience oh stayed plugged in beautifully that time didn’t he just ripped it 123 it is an event for the Bradley Clan don’t there bud right there all right time for Dad to start uh his work week here and will start in Earnest tomorrow the title defense Keegan Bradley little after 10 local time on Thursday been doing something but in the run up to that a little quality family time here on the range in har what [Music] your e e for we are on the range at TPC River Highlands what a range it is and what a transformation it has undergone Billy this used to be a little you know squeezed in property between the 1 and the 18th it is expansive now yeah it used to be right in between the the first and the 18th hole now it’s a kind of a kids area that they can participate have fun all that pride of Hickory North Carolina James Tyree posted twice a winner on the PGA tour John Deer classic couple weeks ahead of us it’s more JT won his second title two years ago Tracy technology this week is provided by trackman uh it did not I’ll go back Windam championship in his home state of North Carolina was the Breakthrough win in fact did not make a bogey across 72 holes that week something that had not been accomplished on the PJ tour since Lee trino in the early 1970s and and that week he really didn’t come in with much form I mean it had been a struggle that year and all of a sudden that happens runner up here a couple years ago so uh very comfortable around this place this is a great graphic too that shows not just JT poen but so many other players how close they have been at winning JT Poston winning twice in the PJ tour but if those t2s t3s have turned into wins I mean you start to double you start to double that amount pretty quickly so winning is so difficult out here but these guys are always right there is one of the best Putters on the PGA tour and go you look at the posture very tall lanky kind of rangy guy and he kind of crowds the ball much like he does on the greens when he putts it’s a very neutral setup which just provides such a great segue into a very very relaxed golf swing and so many of these players talk about getting into a great setup and it’s crazy what your grip and aim shoulders how that can all dictate where a shot goes it’s that your setup dictates your swing path and that’s why setup is so important for these guys especially week in and week out when they’re competing very much in tune with the trackman data that’s being introduced to him back there taking a quick peek at it after every swipe at it kind of a middle right flag if you go to a PJ Tour event lpj Tour event 109 right they all have trackman some kind of device out where they’re measuring yardages because these players are traveling all across the country the world as well and you get in different elevations there’s wind there’s many things to adjust and the last thing you want to be doing on a golf course is hit a good shot but it goes 30 ft long or over the green or short because you don’t know your yardages a lot of guys use it for spin rate the wedges they’ll they’ll they’ll go in they’ll look at the spin rate they’re more concerned with that spin rate what it’s doing to the ball how it’s reacting how it pitches on to the green you get greens that I’m going to say are twice as soft as what they played last week now you have to recalibrate the whole thing top 10 finishes in first two starts for Xander schafle since being crowned a major Champion for the first time played very well at the memorial and again last week at the US Open and his week will begin at 1:50 in the afternoon wave tomorrow all of a sudden you start looking at his numbers the ball speed and all that to increase the amount of ball speed and Club head speed like xanders has done I don’t think people understand how hard that is to do just increasing ball speed by a couple miles an hour is really challenging it takes a lot of effort and work he’s done it by five yeah but and you look at the delivery into the ball it’s more of a relaxed left arm than than a than a kind of a rigid to where you know you you see a dambo who you can you can see it it’s it’s very I mean it’ be tough to find any flexibility in it Xander’s a little softer you talking about somebody that can torure threeway M 290 with a three-wood he can capture that in a heartbeat when a player someone like Xander so many people talk about his accuracy and his consistency in his finishes and as a result the power that he can generate gets underlooked a little bit but he has so much in the tank you know where he gets overlooked the most in my opinion the elite short game mhm Elite he’s top three on tour it was on display Valla too wasn’t it on the way to securing the W maker at the US Open as well he only hit eight Greens in the first round at Piner number two and shot even par so he made just so many up and downs he was seven for seven yeah that’s a recipe for disaster if you miss that that many greens on number two as we saw time and again last week that place is just perfect by the way as a US Open venue it presented beautifully last week yeah I know there were opportunities to score they players weren’t completely bludgeoned I think there were little windows and pockets of of opportunity and the guys who were in formed took advantage of those moments Xander was one of the very few players who finished under bar last week that was his seventh US Open that he’s finished in the top 10 incredible Xander will continue to work through the back here we already caught up with JT Poston on the Range a little bit earlier Steve Scott has has done the same let’s hear from them all right thanks John down here with JT now JT we’re doing the trackman performance center here today what is the trackman performance center and how does it help you uh it’s a way that we basically can track our Strokes gained our stats um and kind of make our practice a little bit more efficient uh it’s something I’ve started doing the last couple years and it’s kind of a way for me to uh kind of see real you know in real time what what parts of my game uh I need to work on what distances you know where are my where are my strengths as far as proximity and where do I need to work on it and um work on improving it now on a day like this how many clubs are you going through in a practice session like this and how is it relating to the golf course here at The Travelers uh well here you know you’re you’re going to have a lot of kind of scoring clubs in your hand if you drive it well and and so the emphasis this week is more kind of That 160 yards and in 170 yards and in and um trying to be really sharp with with your dist control there and uh as far as clubs go we I mean we’ll go all the way through the B that’s kind of our routine on a Wednesday is to start with the wedges and hit maybe 20 30 balls with the wedges all random numbers just trying to hit them and then kind of do the same thing from uh 140 to 160 and then 170 to 200 you’ve had two victories on the PGA tour the John Deere in 2019 and then at the Windom excuse me the Windom in 2019 and then the John Deere in 2022 those are still events are upcoming this year how excited are you at this point of the year to get to those events as well coming up yeah I mean obviously great memories there and and a lot of success um obviously the two wins and then I’ve played well other weeks where I haven’t won at those at both of those places so um I love the golf courses I love the tournaments um and yeah I’m definitely looking forward to to being there and hopefully get another win appreciate your time thanks so much yeah thank you JT Poston part of an Elite field this week at The Travelers Championship $20 million purse on offer 4 billion to the winner along with 700 FedEx Cup points for the champion this [Music] week e e e okay time now for Fantasy 4 presented by DraftKings as we help all of you fantasy Gamers get your lineups locked in this week for the Travelers Championship here’s the way it works six golfers on your roster Locked In by Thursday morning for the first te time there are salary cap implications you got to manage that 50,000 is the cap that’s the way the scoring works the salaries are provided by DraftKings daily fantasy sports and there are a lot of big names with short odds in the field here this week if you want Scotty Sheffer on your team you can have them but it’s going to cost you a chunk of that $50,000 salary cap number one of the world shley is number three at 11,200 so with that in mind experts and we’ll start with you Billy of the players like Sheffer the guys we just saw on the board there with the short odds which way you leaning I didn’t I didn’t see my guy I’m going with Tommy Fleetwood but uh um there’s good reason to go with Fleetwood uh it’s a short golf course he’s a great driver of the golf ball he’s third on the PGA tour when you look at the guys that that drive it accurately and he’s only missed one cut he got his seventh win on the DP World Tour he’s just that guy that puts the ball in the Fairway he gives himself plenty of opportunity when he does Miss a green the scrambling ability is really good and I think if his iron Play Just sharpens up just just a little bit I think he’s going to be there on Sunday 9100 the salary cap hit for Tommy Fleetwood Amilia how about you did you see your guy on the board there earlier I did see my guy on the board the third one at $10,200 ludvig oberg has had six top 10 this year including some notables tied for second at the Masters his first Masters by the way and then was the 36 hole leader at the US Open he didn’t play as well as he wanted to on the weekend so expect him to come out firing this week at The Travelers one of the best ball Strikers in the world already as a 24-year-old coming out of Texas Tech I’m really excited to see how he performs here at TPC River Highlands he is so impressive right it’s it’s astonishing how much Faith we’re putting in this the young guy based on his relative lack of experience but he’s such an impactful player Amilia how about some value picks a guy who’s maybe a little further down the board this week little further down the leaderboard I like Matthew Pavone at $6,800 he finished fifth last week at the US Open and specific things he’s improved in his game first thing is his driving this season he’s been 91st in driving accuracy well the Uso Uso last week he finished 24th so really improving on the driver and his iron play is also back to the strength 12th last week at the US Open so he’s going to perform well this week I think he’s a great value pick and he’s up to 20th in the world Pavone Billy the winner at the farmers this year one of around 60 guys who’s made the trip from Pinehurst up to TPC River Highlands who’s your value pick I want to go with Denny McCarthy um even though the form hasn’t been kind of what he’s wanted lately he’s such a good Putter and when you look at The Strokes game he’s third on the PGA tour I just think if he hits a number of greens he’s going to have that good look where he’s going to make a lot of putts and um when you when you look at him and you look at what he did the work last year he opened up with a 60 last year he ended up finishing tied for seven but he has good memories of TPC River Highlands so I think going forward he’s kind of a guy that even though the form hasn’t been good this is a place that he likes so maybe yeah and he pushed ache batia to the brink at the Valero burning his final seven holes Denny McCarthy on Sunday to force that sudden death playoff all right let’s recap the picks from Amilia and Billy Tommy Fleetwood with a salary cap hit 99,100 for Mr katzer Amilia going with the the 24-year-old Swedish sensation and the value picks Pavone the Frenchman for Amilia and Danny McCarthy looking for more magic at TPC River Highlands that he was able to produce last year hey draftking Sportsbook is an official daily fantasy sports partner of the PJ tour and this week new customers can play free for your share of millions in prizes with your first deposit download the DFS app and use promo code range when you sign up DraftKings the crown is [Music] yours e e e well what event it was here at The Travelers in 2021 72 holes was not enough to decide the outcome in fact 79 holes was not enough to decide the outcome what a thrilling sudden death duel between that man Harris English and this man Kramer Hickock both of these guys parred the first seven holes of a playoff and it went back to 18 once again Hickock was trying to win for the first time that was the putt he made in regulation on the 72 hole to force the playoff this was the second playoff hole that’s how close he came to ending matters right there his reaction says it all that looked good the whole way until it left out and so did this this stroke from Harris Engles it was true time and again the man did not miss during that e hole sudden death playoff which finally ended in Victory for Harris English denying Kramer Hickock what would have been his first title out here on the PGA tour part of a Ridder cup year for Harris as well remember he was selected by Steve Stricker Stricker the US Captain with a captain selection the team at Whistling Straits 13 under par was the number that got to a playoff and that’s kind of where we’ve landed for the most part and that 12 to 18 under far range with the exception of Keegan who went nuts in establishing the 72 hole tournament scoring Mark last year just in a different way and there’s Harris working with his swing coach Justin Parsons down on the r almost all of these guys have their coaches out there earlier in the week and just fine-tuning stuff and once you get to the tournament round you transition all of a sudden the coach is just making sure setup and all the fundamentals look good but right now you can get a little more into the technical won a couple times early in his career Billy then lost his way a little bit I think he had conditional status one season and he went back to YouTube videos from the early stage of his career when he was winning and sort of you know reconnected with what worked for him so well what what should be happening there and reconnected with the equipment that he started out with the club has gone up through here and it’s G up there basically the say is coming down so it’s it’s not dropping it’s coming down back towards the ball so if you’re from your side like if you had had a drill that would sort of help you to rationalize that it would be something like okay so if the tea went up there I want to get the tea back down there what I don’t want to do is start pulling the tea out in front too much yeah definitely done that yeah but I don’t know that we paid attention to the swing component of the drill as much as the up there so that’s not a drop if you’re the you know one of Tom’s exercises like if you were in a split stance say and you a band here you wouldn’t want the band to do that Energy’s coming back down the same line and basically what they’re trying to do is they’re trying to get the butt of the club the energy of it the grip going towards the golf [Music] ball so right now English is working on getting his body to rotate effectively so his hands don’t drop back you can see when he was flattening the arms out then all of a sudden the grip gets high and then there’s kind of a a kind of a flash at the ball but as he takes it back you can see that t going more towards the golf ball okay as he as he takes it back gets it to the top it’s all about so now now what you want is you want this to come more down towards the ball you don’t want the shaft and the arms to go in that direction you want to eliminate it you want to be over here to where you’re coming down more straight on the ball and then from there you’re going to look at the hips and you can see how easily they clear right there and he still maintains he still maintains the body angle angle with the upper body down towards the ball the chest is facing more down towards the ball so that’s kind of the ideal position you want to be in right there and look at the impact the impact the club pretty much the same in the setup that’s the really a great you know you’re hitting the ball well you’re a great ball Striker when that impact alignment is the same or very similar to when you were setting up the only way to however let’s hope they’re not uh doing all this work tomorrow we don’t need to be grinding it out right before a tournament but that little move right there where you you kind of keep that left hip down and then turning allows the arms to stay down low and then the club can actually the arms and Club can exit to the left he has some of the Great Rhythm on tour no doubt the Rhythm that has s produced four victories out here on the tour for Harris English Victor hain’s work on the Range is done for the day but his work connecting with the fans is not we’re on the range for another 15 minutes or so on this Wednesday of Travelers championship week e e e one man on PJ’s broken 60 twice in his career and it’s that man Jim furck shot 59 at the BMW Championship in the FedEx Cup playoffs and shot 58 here at TPC River Highlands in the final round back in 2016 I remember Jim with fluff on the bag that week narrowly made the cut and then just went bananas over the final 36 it was such an incredible moment in tournament history it felt like he had won but Russell Knox was actually the champion in 2016 but Jim had another piece of History 58 no one has ever gone lower on the PGA tour this Travelers Championship has always been so gracious in extending sponsor invitations to promising young players really building loyalty in those players you think of Patrick Camp Justin Thomas among others milia that come to mind the latest to be on the receiving end of an invite is Michael thorbjornson the former Stanford allamerican who is number one in the PJ tour University class which means much like ludvig oberg he is a member of the PJ tour making his tour debut this week and as a result of all the success that oberg has had on the PJ tour immediately won the RSM classic won on the DP World Tour played in the r cup contended in the majors this year there is a lot of expectation on Thor yson it’s really important for him to stick with what’s working and not take the outside noise and internalize it and put too much pressure on himself now he has battled injury thorby yson actually didn’t play The Fall season of his senior year that summer earlier last year he had a pull out of the US amiter at Cherry Hills and couldn’t play on The Walker Cup team at St Andrews because of injuries in his ankle actually ended up to have surgery so he’s battled some injuries already early in his career but appears healthy now and I know he’s excited for the week I’d be excited too 181 318 carry no problem right there sitting on G waiting for the O Let’s go he’s played well here before in fact a couple years ago had a top five finish year and fourth and remember the US Open as well coup coup years back he kind of popped on everybody’s radar and opened our eyes with an introduction to his vast potential now a newly minted professional thanks to the pj2 university system that has been so rewarding to so many young players that left right I think going forward you can look at oberg you can look this young man right here you could put put him split screen impressive I mean really impressive I mean a lot of the same qualities maybe we can do it tomorrow they’re playing together Thor bjornson and oberg in the opening round on Thursday top five players off that PG University list gain access to the corn fairy tour so it gets him a step closer to the PJ tour but then they introduced the the carrot to get to number one and jettison directly to the PJ tour and it’s a big deal and as oberg has proved it is a a real enticement if you’re ready to take your game to the top level well think about if oberg was on the corn Ferry tour this past year and wasn’t and he wouldn’t have been on the Ridder cup so the PGA Tour University shows that you want to get a fast track for these players to get on the PGA tour and come out winning still p yeah your aim though touch right there your a kind of in between the pin and the edge of the white on that one just a little 317 on the carry and that bullet fade there all right let’s split it up here from a couple of different angles so many of these guys generate so much width Billy in the back swing and they have that bowed left wrist at the top well you look at the connection and you look at the this slate on the right you saw the hip turn I mean the way he got into that position and then you look at the right I mean look at the drive going forward he keeps his maintains that connection yes and keeps his spine angle while rotating with so much force through the ball we talked about Keegan Bradley’s victory in his native New England last year dson would love to turn the trick here this week he’s a Massachusetts kid and he’s pretty fired up about being here making his tour debut I I haven’t really thought about that too much I know I remember growing up well I guess to answer your point yeah obviously I KN I know Keegan from from Massachusetts and I would see him uh winning the bridgstone winning the PGA Championship um close to a decade ago um but obviously I think it was Tiger Rory those were my favorite players but come to think of it now um some kids growing up here in the Northeast and in Massachusetts them looking up to me that’s kind of a dream come true um just trying to set a good example for these kids and Inspire them to be the best golfers and best human beings they could possibly be um because I I mean that’s what the guys ahead of me uh did for me as well so hopefully one day in 10 years we have some of these kids out here playing and and beating me and winning this tournament po Beyond his years fresh out of college and making his PGA Tour debut this week Michael thoron will play with ludvig oberg both of them Val victorians from tj2 University and they’re in the afternoon wave on Thursday at 2:00 not much to quarrel with there is there launch angle great it is all speed it no a just a light 321 standing like this at theet and then I push it out like that open love what they have done this tournament Through The Years ailia in introducing us to future stars of the game a couple that I mentioned maybe dor bjornson is the next one it’s a pretty uh special week here as we get deeper into the season it’s a great investment that the tournament like The Travelers is doing to invest in these players like Michael Thor yson to then establish that loyalty but this week coming into TPC River Highlands I believe proximity is really going to be the important thing with players Having Eight iron to a pitching wedge primarily getting the ball as close to the hole as possible that’s going to set you up best for birdies makes sense and these are some small greens only about 5,000 square feet on average it’s a short golf course as we’ve documented less than 7,000 yards Billy uh your keys to the week what are you looking forward to well I think uh you know you know they’ve made some changes in the golf course and brought in the rough line on one six and nine and the angle of the T box on nine they’ve Chang that as well and so some of the green complexes a little bit smaller so yeah you put the ball in the Fairway that’s going to be a key um but we’re coming off a big block of play I mean these guys starting at the Wells Fargo all the way to this week I mean it’s been a lot of play so the guys little tired but uh they need to find the Fairway if they’re going to go deep on the scoreboard Keegan Bradley defending this week Amilia but Scotty Sheffer trying to get a return to his winning ways after a less than Stellar by his lofty standards performance at the US Open I think he’s going to be motivated this week as competitive as he is we haven’t really seen the kind of frustration that Scotty Sheffer showed at the US Open he’s going to be coming out firing this week with a little bit of a hot head he’s not used to missing Fairways he’s ready to go make some birdies out here this week and we are looking forward to bringing you the coverage on ESPN Plus at all begins Thursday morning the PJ Tour live coverage at 8:00 a.m. eastern time thanks for hanging with us on the Range as we examine the rehearsals of the stars of the game all comprising the field this week at The Travelers championship for ailia miao Billy katzer Steve Scott as well I’m John swans and we’ll see you Thursday morning for ESPN plus coverage the opening round of The Travelers e e