Consider the daunting, humbling Sunday back nine at the U.S. Open the appetizer to the main event.
Okay, so six-under probably won't win the 2021 Travelers Championship, but despite the tournament coming a week after a major happened on the other side of the country, the field is fairly loaded again. Six of the world's top-10 and 11 of the top-20 will make their way to TPC River Highlands, with many other recognizable names in addition. That includes over a dozen former major winners. Whether you're watching on TV or are one of the 10,000 fans allowed in per day, here are the big names to watch this week in Cromwell.
Keegan Bradley: The 2011 PGA Championship winner is a mainstay in the field, having played the Travelers each year since turning pro in 2011. He has a pair of top-10 finishes to his name, including a tie for second in 2019, though he missed the cut a year ago.
Stewart Cink: Cink is one of a couple players in the field with multiple wins at this event. He won the Canon Greater Hartford Open in 1997, then won the Travelers over a decade later in 2008, with both wins coming by a single stroke. The 2009 Open Championship winner went over a decade without winning a Tour event, but has a win to his name in both 2020 and 2021, most recently the RBC Heritage in April, putting him back in the top-50 globally.
Jason Day: The former world No. 1 has dealt with back issues for years, and his appearance this week might be questionable. After withdrawing from the Memorial and missing the U.S. Open, he's still technically in the field for this week, but likely won't play.
Bryson DeChambeau: The 2020 U.S. Open champion will bring his brawn to Cromwell for the sixth year in a row. A consistent presence near the top of the leaderboard, he's finished inside the top 10 in three straight years, and watching his prodigious drives will be must-see television. After the next person on our list, he's the highest ranked golfer in the field this week (No. 7 globally).
Dustin Johnson: The reigning champ dropped out of the world's No. 1 position after Jon Rahm's U.S. Open victory, but he's back and ready to defend his Travelers title. The two-time major winner hadn't played in Cromwell since 2014 before last year's one-stroke win over Kevin Streelman, but now makes it two straight years.
Zach Johnson: Another mainstay in the field, Johnson has been at TPC River Highlands basically every year in the last decade (excluding 2020), with his best finish coming in 2015, when he was sixth. The two-time major winner hasn't won an event since his 2015 Open Championship victory at St. Andrews, and has dipped down to 125th in this week's world rankings.
Brooks Koepka: For the third time in four years the eighth-ranked player in the world comes to Connecticut, off another top-10 finish in a major last weekend at Torrey Pines (he had to withdraw last year after his caddie tested positive for COVID). His best finish in Cromwell was a ninth place showing in 2016, and he'll attempt to win his fifth non-major event - yes, he has as many wins in majors (four) as non-majors.
Phil Mickelson: The legend makes his return to Cromwell for the third straight year after not playing in the event from 2004-18. Lefty, of course, won the event in both 2001 and 2002, the final two years in which Canon was the presenting sponsor of the GHO. Even if he hadn't won the PGA a month ago he'd be a big draw, but his magical weekend at Kiawah has only seen his popularity skyrocket even higher.
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Francesco Molinari: It hasn't been the greatest of years for the 2018 Open Championship winner, who has as many missed cuts this season (five) as top-20 finishes, dropping his OWGC to 133rd. But perhaps a 13th place finish at Torrey Pines represents a turning point for the 38-year-old who makes his fourth appearance at the Travelers in 2021.
Patrick Reed: Another fixture, Reed has been in every Travelers field since 2012, and he's back again in 2021 as the ninth-ranked golfer in the world. The 2018 Masters champion has a pair of top-10 finishes in Cromwell and looks primed for at least a top-25 finish this week, something he's done in all but four events this year.
Justin Rose: The 40-year-old had finished in the top-10 in the first two majors this year before missing the cut at the U.S. Open. Rose joins the field this week for the second straight year after skipping the Travelers from 2014-19. He missed the cut last year after shooting even par, which started a span of four missed cuts in five events (though the exception was a top-10 finish in a major).
Adam Scott: The Aussie has just one win since 2016, when he took home the Genesis Invitational in February 2020, but he's been fairly consistent. He has just two missed cuts in the last two years, meaning he's likely to stick around for the weekend. And take a good look at Scott, because he doesn't come here often. Since turning pro in 2000, the 40-year-old has only played in this event once, missing the cut in 2010.
Bubba Watson: The fan favorite is back once again in Cromwell, a place with which Watson is intimately familiar. Watson has won this event three times: his memorable first PGA win in a playoff in 2010, then again in 2015 and 2018. Only Billy Casper (four) has won the Travelers and its predecessors more often than the lefty Watson. Although he hasn't finished in the top-10 in an event since last October and hasn't won any event since that '18 victory, you can't count out Watson at the TPC River Highlands.
In addition to all of the above major winners, former Travelers winners Chez Reavie (2019), Russell Knox (2016), Kevin Streelman (2014), Marc Leishman (2012), Hunter Mahan (2007) and JJ Henry (2006) are also playing this week.