XANDER SCHAUFFELE, PATRICK CANTLAY, AARON WISE COMMIT TO 2018 TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP; DOUG GHIM, NICK HARDY, DYLAN MEYER RECEIVE EXEMPTIONS
HARTFORD, Conn., June 6, 2018 – The Travelers Championship today announced that Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Aaron Wise – all winners on the PGA TOUR – have committed to play in the 2018 tournament. In addition, top-ranked amateur Doug Ghim and a pair of recent graduates from the University of Illinois – Nick Hardy and Dylan Meyer – have received sponsor exemptions into the field.
Xander Schauffele is the reigning PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year, on the strength of his first two TOUR victories in 2017. Schauffele captured The Greenbrier Classic, then won the season-ending TOUR Championship, a victory that sent him to third place in the final 2017 FedExCup standings. Schauffele, a 24-year-old from San Diego, recently was T2 at THE PLAYERS Championship, his best finish of the current season. Schauffele placed T14 a year ago in his Travelers Championship debut and is No. 26 in this week’s Official World Golf Ranking.
Patrick Cantlay made history at the 2011 Travelers Championship when he shot a 10-under-par 60 in the second round, the lowest score ever by an amateur in a PGA TOUR event. He went on to finish T24 at TPC River Highlands and turned pro the following year. Cantlay recorded the first victory of his TOUR career at this season’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He also finished fourth at the Memorial, was T4 at the Genesis Open, and was T7 at both Hilton Head and New Orleans. Cantlay, 26, is No. 29 in this week’s world rankings.
Aaron Wise won for the first time on the PGA TOUR in just his 26th start. He shot 65 to snap a final-round tie and won the AT&T Byron Nelson by three strokes. Two weeks before his victory, the 21-year-old tied for second at the Wells Fargo Championship. As an amateur, Wise won the NCAA individual championship in 2016 and helped the University of Oregon claim the team title the same year. He won tournaments on the Mackenzie Tour in 2016 and Web.com Tour in 2017.
Doug Ghim is No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and just completed an All-American college career at the University of Texas, winning the Ben Hogan Award. Ghim was the 2017 U.S. Amateur runner-up, which earned him a spot in this year’s Masters and U.S. Open. He was low amateur at the Masters, finishing in a tie for 50th. A 22-year-old from Arlington Heights, Illinois, Ghim won three tournaments as a senior for the Longhorns and finished third at the NCAA Championships. After competing as an amateur in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, he is expected to make his professional debut at the Travelers Championship.
Nick Hardy helped lead the University of Illinois to the NCAA Championships in all four of his seasons, with the Illini advancing to the semifinal round three times. He won the Big Ten Conference’s individual title in 2015 and 2018, when he was named freshman of the year and player of the year, respectively. A 22-year-old from Northbrook, Illinois, Hardy was a two-time All-American and is No. 13 in the latest World Amateur Golf Ranking. He is expected to make his first PGA TOUR appearance as a professional at the Travelers Championship.
Dylan Meyer was named first team All-American as a junior at Illinois in 2017, when he won the Big Ten individual title and was the conference’s player of the year. Meyer, 22 and from Evansville, Indiana, finished in a tie for fourth at the NCAA Championships this season. He is No. 6 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and made the cut this year at the PGA TOUR’s Valspar Championship. After making the U.S. Open field through sectional qualifying, Meyer has accepted his first exemption into a PGA TOUR event as a professional at the 2018 Travelers Championship.
These golfers join a player field that currently includes four of the top 10 players in the world rankings: defending champion Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day. 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 online. 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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