PGA Tour Travelers Championship

By Brent Kelley, About.com Guide

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Phil Mickelson won the Travlers Championship - then known as the Canon Greater Hartford Open - in 2001 and 2002.

Scott Halleran / Getty Images

About the Travelers Championship:

The Travelers Championship has been a part of the PGA Tour since 1952, always played in the greater Hartford, Conn., area. And because of that, this tournament was, for much of its history, known as the Greater Hartford Open. It was last played under a variation of that name in 2003; Travelers became the title sponsor in 2007. Entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. was also associated with this event for many years.

2012 Travelers Championship
• When: June 21-24
• Where: TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut

2011 Travelers Championship
Fredrik Jacobson claimed his first career win on the USPGA Tour, holding off John Rollins and Ryan Moore by one stroke. Jacobson closed with a 66 for a 260 total, 20-under par. Michael Thompson finished third after a final-round 62.

Official Web site
PGA Tour tournament site

PGA Tour Travelers Championship Records:

Tournament record: 258 - Kenny Perry, 2009 (TPC River Highlands)
18-hole record: 60, Tommy Bolt, 1954 (Wethersfield CC)
Current course record: 61 at TPC River Highlands - Kirk Triplett, 2000; Phil Mickelson, Scott Verplank, 2001; Brad Faxon, 2005; Kenny Perry, 2009

PGA Tour Travelers Championship Golf Courses:

The Travelers Championship has been played on two courses only since its debut on the PGA Tour in 1952, both of those courses in the suburbs of Hartford, Conn.:

Wethersfield Country Club, Wethersfield, Conn., 1952-1983
TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Conn., 1984-present

TPC River Highlands was originally named TPC Connecticut. It took its current name in 1991.

PGA Tour Travelers Championship Trivia and Notes:

Legendary entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. was associated with this tournament for 16 years, having his name in the title. The tournament was called the "Sammy Davis Jr. Greater Hartford Open" in 1973, in Davis' first-year as title host, and the "Canon Sammy Davis Jr. Greater Hartford Open" in 1988, Davis' last year of involvement.
Arnold Palmer's win in 1956 was just his second victory on the PGA Tour.

There were nearly - but not quite - two family "two-fers" in this tournament's history: Sam Snead won in 1955; his nephew J.C. Snead finished second in 1971 and 1976. Dave Stockton won in 1974; Dave Stockton Jr. finished second in 1995.
Billy Casper is the only golfer to win this tournament more than twice. Casper posted four wins (1963, 1965, 1968, 1973).
Arnold Palmer, Peter Jacobsen, Paul Azinger and Phil Mickelson are the others to win this event multiple times, posting two wins each. Mickelson (2001-02) is the only golfer to post back-to-back wins here.

Peter Jacobsen's first win was in 1984; his second didn't come until 2003 when he was nearly 50 years old. That's a 19-year gap between two wins in the same tournament, with no wins in that tournament in-between. The PGA Tour record in that category belongs to Hale Irwin, who won the Heritage Classic in 1973 and again in 1994.
More than one-third of the time, this tournament has ended with a playoff. There have been 19 playoffs in Travelers Championship history.
When Bubba Watson won in 2010, he became the 14th player to post his first career PGA Tour victory in this event.

PGA Tour Travelers Championship - Past Winners:

(p-playoff)

Travelers Championship
2011 - Fredrik Jacobson, 260
2010 - Bubba Watson-p, 266
2009 - Kenny Perry, 258
2008 - Stewart Cink, 262
2007 - Hunter Mahan-p, 265

Buick Championship
2006 - J.J. Henry, 266
2005 - Brad Faxon-p, 266
2004 - Woody Austin-p, 270

Greater Hartford Open
2003 - Peter Jacobsen, 266

Canon Greater Hartford Open
2002 - Phil Mickelson, 266
2001 - Phil Mickelson, 264
2000 - Notah Begay III, 260
1999 - Brent Geiberger, 262
1998 - Olin Browne-p, 266
1997 - Stewart Cink, 267
1996 - D.A. Weibring, 270
1995 - Greg Norman, 267
1994 - David Frost, 268
1993 - Nick Price, 271
1992 - Lanny Wadkins, 274
1991 - Billy Ray Brown-p, 271
1990 - Wayne Levi, 267
1989 - Paul Azinger, 267

Canon Sammy Davis Jr. Greater Hartford Open
1988 - Mark Brooks-p, 269
1987 - Paul Azinger, 269
1986 - Mac O’Grady-p, 269
1985 - Phil Blackmar-p, 271

Sammy Davis Jr. Greater Hartford Open
1984 - Peter Jacobsen, 269
1983 - Curtis Strange, 268
1982 - Tim Norris, 259
1981 - Hubert Green, 264
1980 - Howard Twitty-p, 266
1979 - Jerry McGee, 267
1978 - Rod Funseth, 264
1977 - Bill Kratzert, 265
1976 - Rik Massengale, 266
1975 - Don Bies-p, 267
1974 - Dave Stockton, 268
1973 - Billy Casper, 264

Greater Hartford Open Invitational
1972 - Lee Trevino-p, 269
1971 - George Archer-p, 268
1970 - Bob Murphy, 267
1969 - Bob Lunn-p, 268
1968 - Billy Casper, 266
1967 - Charlie Sifford, 272

Insurance City Open
1966 - Art Wall, 266
1965 - Billy Casper-p, 274
1964 - Ken Venturi, 273
1963 - Billy Casper, 271
1962 - Bob Goalby-p, 271
1961 - Billy Maxwell-p, 271
1960 - Arnold Palmer-p, 270
1959 - Gene Littler, 272
1958 - Jack Burke Jr., 268
1957 - Gardner Dickinson, 272
1956 - Arnold Palmer-p, 274
1955 - Sam Snead, 269
1954 - Tommy Bolt-p, 271
1953 - Bob Toski, 269
1952 - Ted Kroll, 273