Travelers Championship Recap: Spieth Wins Playoff

Before Jordan Spieth jarred a stirring bunker shot on the 73rd hole to defeat Daniel Berger and win the Travelers Championship in a playoff on Sunday, setting off the latest round of misplaced Tiger-comparisons, we planned on reviewing an often-overlooked component of golf and fantasy golf: How does a golfer play a week after a big tournament, specifically the 117th U.S. Open?

There were guys who performed well at Erin Hills, guys who played poorly, guys who had to feel good about themselves afterward, guys who had little to feel good about. The mental aspect of sports is not something that can be quantified like greens in regulation can, but of course it's no less important.

The guys we will look at are Spieth, Patrick Reed, Paul Casey, Brian Harman, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Jason Day. They all played at the Travelers. But there are some other big names who will require a similar consideration when they play their first event following the Open, including Rickie Fowler this week and Dustin Johnson whenever he returns.

First, Spieth.

He won his 10th PGA Tour event, and "joined" Tiger Woods as the only players since World War II to reach double digits before their 24th birthday (Spieth turns 24 on July 27). That sent half of the Twittersphere on its ear, but thankfully order was restored soon after with the other half noting that A) Woods needed almost 50 fewer tournaments to do it and B) Woods had 15 wins before turning 24.

Saying Spieth isn't Tiger is hardly a knock. But really, no one should even start with the comparisons.

As for the rebound from the U.S. Open, we didn't predict Spieth would win, but he was a RotoWire value pick. We didn't think there would be any aftereffects of his T35 at Erin Hills. It wasn't a good week by any means, but he also didn't endure any heartbreak. Even after Spieth kicked away the 2016 Masters, something that could've weighed on many golfers for a long time, he won a tournament the following month. Spieth is one of the most mentally tough and level-headed golfers on tour.

Berger was on the receiving end of Spieth's greatness, and it was not a fun way to lose, watching a bunker shot roll in for a birdie on the first playoff hole as the gallery erupted. But he no doubt feels good about his performance, chasing down one of the best golfers in the world on the back nine on Sunday. Plus, Berger is just three tournaments removed from his own victory, at Memphis, so his game is soaring (even with a missed cut at the Open).

Imagine if the roles were reversed, and it was Berger who blew the lead on Sunday? And lost. His mindset going forward might be totally different. That's something that can't really be quantified for fantasy purposes. Not all runners-up are equal, not all missed cuts are equal. Now we'll expand on that below.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Patrick Reed
All in all, Reed had a good week at Erin Hills. Sure, he had to be disappointed with a closing 74 to leave him tied for 13th. But Reed's season had largely been awful, though there were signs of a turnaround with a bunch of recent top-25 cashes. So we felt Reed left Erin Hills with positive thoughts, and we made him a value pick and believed he would have a good week at the Travelers. He did, tying for fifth. Reed is also playing this week at the Quicken Loans National, and while it's his third straight week of action, we think Reed will continue to be energized by his recent surge.

Paul Casey
Casey surprised us. He endured what had to be a painful week at Erin Hills, turning the 36-hole lead into a tumble down the leaderboard and out of the top-25. When you've been dogged for a decade about being one of the best golfers never to win a major and then crash so forcefully when you have a real chance to win one, it would seem a little hard to even get out of bed the next day. Instead, Casey tied for fifth at River Highlands. So it makes us wonder: If Casey can rebound so quickly, how much was he really bothered by his poor Open weekend? It's certainly a positive for a pro athlete to have a short-term memory; it's another to not be bothered by not winning.

Rory McIlroy
McIlroy missed the cut at the Open but he got a grade of incomplete. He was coming off his second injury-related month-plus layoff of 2017, and we're not even halfway through the year. McIlroy simply hasn't played a lot of golf, and it was good for him to get right back in action at the Travelers, a tournament he had never played before. He struggled to find a comfortable putter, but he may have found one by Sunday, closing with a 64 to tie for 17th. McIlroy still doesn't have a lot of reps, but you have to figure he will have his game almost 100 percent ready for the Open Championship next month.

Brian Harman
Harman was dueling with Brooks Koepka at Erin Hills until the final few holes. It was his best major ever, but it also had to be an exhausting week in some regards. Harman opened with a 66 at the Travelers and made it to the weekend but didn't have much fight after Thursday, tying for 35th. Just making the cut has to be considered a good week, and many golfers who don't need the money (i.e., most golfers) would've just as easily enjoyed a weekend off.

Justin Thomas
Thomas followed his record-setting 63 at the Open with a final-round 75. It was a brutal Sunday for a top golfer searching for his first major. Thomas failed miserably, and really was in no place mentally to go out and try to compete the following week. Expectedly, he missed the Travelers cut. We're not even sure how Thomas will fare this week at TPC Potomac, as he needs a certain type of course to suit his game.

Jason Day
It would be hard to find a golfer who left Erin Hills in worse shape than Day. He had started to see daylight emanating from a miserable start to the season, buoyed by a runner-up at the Byron Nelson with a T15 at the Memorial. So to then shoot a 79 on the first day of the Open, leading to a trunk-slam, it had to be a body-blow to his psyche. All of Day's good work the past couple of tournaments was gone. Predictably, he missed the cut at the Travelers. He didn't appear anywhere near mentally ready to compete – and that was reinforced when he signed an incorrect scorecard for the second round, giving himself a par when he really had a birdie. It didn't cost him the weekend – he missed the cut by two – but when was the last time you saw that? We now have to really wonder how he'll do the rest of the season. The former No. 1 is now down to No. 5 in the latest OWGR.

C.T. Pan
Pan was not in the U.S. Open. And with good reason: He's been playing terrible golf. In his 14 tournament since February, he had missed 10 cuts with zero top-35s. But he was a real surprise on the Travelers leaderboard, tying for eighth. Pan now has three top-10s on the season, including a T2 at the Farmers, but he's been so awful otherwise that he sits only 77th in the FedEx Cup standings.

RotoWire Value Picks

Last week: One top-10, three top-25s, 10 missed cuts.

This week: Winner (Spieth), runner-up (Berger) three top-5s, seven top-25s, three missed cuts.

Clearly our best showing in weeks, maybe all season. Of the 16 value picks, Spieth was the winner out of Tier 1, and Berger was the runner-up out of Tier 2. The rest of Tier 1, all top-20s: Reed T5, Brandt Snedeker T14, Marc Leishman T17. In Tier 2, Tony Finau was also T17, Kyle Stanley was T57, and Bubba Watson missed cut (it's going to be a while before we fall for Bubba again). In Tier 3, we were 4-for-4 in cuts, with David Lingmerth and Grayson Murray (both T26), Bud Cauley (T35) and Emiliano Grillo (T43). We scored a long-shot top-10 with Webb Simpson (T8). Byeong Hun An tied for 66, but our other two long-shots, Seamus Power and Harris English, missed the cut. One hole did in English, as he shot an 11 on the par-5 13th on Friday.