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PGA Tour Travelers Championship

By Brent Kelley, About.com

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Phil Mickelson - 2008 Colonial

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

Scott Halleran / Getty Images

About the PGA Tour 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.

2010 Travelers Championship
• When: June 24-27
• Where: TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Conn.

2009 Tournament
Kenny Perry opened by tying the TPC River Highlands course record (61), in the first round, and closed it out with a 63 in the final round. His 258 total was a new tourney record and three strokes better than runners-up David Toms and Paul Goydos.

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 Hunter Mahan won in 2007, he became the 13th player to post his first career PGA Tour victory in this event.

    • PGA Tour Travelers Championship - Past Winners:

    (p-playoff)

    Travelers Championship
    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

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