BROOKS KOEPKA, WEBB SIMPSON, GRAEME MCDOWELL COMMIT TO 2018 TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP
HARTFORD, Conn., June 11, 2018 – The Travelers Championship today announced that three U.S. Open winners – reigning champion Brooks Koepka, 2012 winner Webb Simpson and 2010 champion Graeme McDowell – have committed to play next week at TPC River Highlands. It will be Koepka’s third Travelers Championship appearance, Simpson’s ninth and McDowell’s first.
“With five of the top 10 players in the world now committed to the Travelers Championship, the stage is being set for a great tournament,” said Tournament Director Nathan Grube. “We’re excited to have Brooks and Webb return to TPC River Highlands and to welcome Graeme. You can feel the excitement building for our tournament and adding this group of major champions certainly adds to it.”
Brooks Koepka, a 28-year-old from West Palm Beach, Florida, who is No. 9 in this week’s Official World Golf Ranking, will arrive at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club this week as the defending U.S. Open champion. He finished at 16-under-par last year, winning by four strokes to claim his first major championship and his second PGA TOUR victory. Koepka has two runner-up finishes this season, at the HSBC Champions and the Fort Worth Invitational. He tied for ninth at the 2016 Travelers Championship and was T27 in 2014.
Webb Simpson recently captured his fifth PGA TOUR career victory at THE PLAYERS Championship. Simpson dominated the event, taking a seven-stroke lead after three rounds and cruising to a four-shot win. It was his first win since the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in 2014. Previously, Simpson earned PGA TOUR victories at the Wyndham Championship and Deutsche Bank Championship in 2011, and at the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic Club. He has made the cut in all eight starts at TPC River Highlands, and is currently No. 21 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Graeme McDowell won the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links by one stroke for his first PGA TOUR victory and first major championship. McDowell has added two PGA TOUR wins since then, at the 2013 RBC Heritage and 2016 OHL Classic at Mayakoba. He has nine career victories on the European Tour, and has represented Team Europe in the Ryder Cup four times, in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014. He earned the clinching point for Europe in the 2010 Ryder Cup when the matches were held in Wales.
Koepka joins four other players ranked in the top 10 who have committed to the 2018 Travelers Championship: defending champion Jordan Spieth (No. 4), Justin Thomas (No. 2), Rory McIlroy (No. 6) and Jason Day (No. 8). Other commitments include Paul Casey, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Bryson DeChambeau, Charley Hoffman, Zach Johnson and Jim Furyk. The 2018 Travelers Championship will be held June 18-24, and tickets are available. For more information on this year’s tournament, visit www.TravelersChampionship.com.
About the Travelers Championship
The Travelers Championship, held in Cromwell, Connecticut, is one of the premier events on the PGA TOUR and part of the FedExCup series. Named by the PGA TOUR as the 2017 “Tournament of the Year,” the Travelers Championship proudly supports the TOUR’s Tradition of Giving Back by donating 100 percent of net proceeds to charities. Travelers, a leading provider of property and casualty insurance for home, auto and business, is the Official Property Casualty Insurance Provider of the PGA TOUR. The company became the tournament’s title sponsor in 2007. Travelers has been doing business in the Hartford community for more than 160 years and has been a corporate sponsor of this event each year since its inception in 1952. Complete details are available at www.TravelersChampionship.com.
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