Weekly Recap: The King of New England

There are so many things to consider when formulating your DFS lineup or betting card -- key stats, course history, recent form, grasses, course designer and on and on.  Then there are some factors that are more nuanced.

There are few golfers more associated with a specific part of the United States than Keegan Bradley is with New England. There aren't many successful golfers from that region, but he loves it there and they love him back.

All of that was on full display across a four-day love-fest between Bradley and the fans at TPC River Highlands outside Hartford, Conn., where Bradley led almost from start to finish in winning the Travelers Championship.

In shooting a tournament-record 23-under-par, the Vermont native defeated Brian Harman and Zac Blair by three strokes.

"You know, this is for all the kids that grew up in New England. Got to sit through the winters and watch other people play golf," Bradley said after his sixth career PGA Tour win and second this season following the ZOZO Championship in October.

There aren't all that many golf tournaments in New England, though Bradley did finish seventh at the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., last year. He's not always been great at the Travelers, but he was runner-up in 2019 and eighth in 2017. Extending a little bit outside of New England, but still kind of in the Northeast, Bradley won the 2018 BMW Championship and Aronimink near Philadelphia and in 2012 at Firestone in Ohio. He tied for 29th at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y., last month and tied for ninth at the PGA there in 2013.

That's a pretty strong golf and geographic connection.

The win moved Bradley to No. 17 in the world -- his highest position in about a decade -- and greatly enhanced his chances to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team this fall. The key to his resurgence -- this is the first time in four years he will play all four majors -- has been putting. Usually downright horrible on the greens, Bradley is ranked 23rd on Tour this season in SG: Putting. He ranked 88th last year and 186th the year before. That's not an improvement, that's a 180.

Always a great ball striker, Bradley has been a little off in that department this season. But at River Highlands, he ranked first in the field in both Strokes Gained: Approach and SG: Putting. That combination will win on the PGA Tour 99.9 times out of 100. In fact, it's a little surprising Bradley didn't win by more than three.

But the win is more important than the margin, and few wins could be more important to Bradley than winning his local tournament -- the first tournament he ever attended as a boy.

"One of my favorite things about myself is where I'm from," Bradley said. "The bond that you have with people from New England is different than anywhere in the world, any country I've ever been.

"I'm very proud. I've lived all over New England, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and I'm very, very proud of where I come from. And I love every sports team in this area, so to hear the fans cheer for me like they would a sports team, it means a lot."

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Zac Blair
The 32-year-old Blair shot the round of his life on Sunday, an 8-under 62, to soar into a tie for second and bring him back from oblivion. He was all but non-existent the past two years recovering from a shoulder injury and was in this field only on a major medical extension. He'll need 25 more FedExCup across seven tournaments to get his card, but he's also up to 90th in the point standings and should finish in the top-125 regardless. He had a couple of other good weeks this season -- T12 at the season-opening Fortinet and T10 at the Valspar -- but it's fair to say Blair was struggling. Not anymore, not after winning $1.78 million.

Brian Harman
Harman has three runners-up this season, but it would still be hard to describe his overall play in a positive vein. From the American Express tournament in January through the Memorial in June, he missed eight of 12 cuts. Brutal. And yet he was a must-play for us this week. He had finished in the top-8 at the Travelers in four of the past five years (now five of six). And, while he finished 43rd at the U.S. Open last week, it at least was a made cut and he did spend time on the leaderboard the first two days. Harman will continue what may be a turnaround the next two weeks – he's in the field at the Rocket Mortgage and almost always plays the John Deere Classic.

Scottie Scheffler
We all know by now that Scheffler has finished in the top-12 in every tournament he's played going back to October. But he also has another streak going – and maybe a better one. He tied for fourth at the Travelers, giving him six straight top-5 results. We probably won't see him the next two weeks but look for a top-5 at the Scottish Open in three.

Patrick Cantlay
Cantlay has been associated with the Travelers ever since shooting a 60 as an amateur in 2011. But his results of late have been so-so – he finished between 11th and 15th place five years running. This week, he led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and did much better on the leaderboard, but his putting let him down. He bogeyed Nos. 16 and 18, and he missed a short birdie attempt on 17 that could've brought him within two and put some real pressure on Bradley. Cantlay wound up 46th in SG: Putting.

Chez Reavie
Reavie, the 2019 Travelers champion, tied for fourth. He began the day in the final group but had a terrible Sunday as one of only two players who finished in the top-24 to shoot over par on the day. Still, the 41-year-old has been on a great recent run, now making eight of his past nine cuts.

Rory McIlroy
We didn't expect much from McIlroy in the aftermath of another near-miss at a major, but he put that disappointing result in the rear-view mirror. McIlroy shot two 64s on the week and wound up tied for seventh. We should see him next in three weeks at the Scottish Open.

Denny McCarthy
McCarthy had another great result, tying for seventh. But when you consider he opened the tournament with a 10-under 60, it could've been so much more. McCarthy has had a number of very good but stinging finishes lately. He's up to No. 33 in the world.

Justin Thomas
Thomas followed last week's missed cut at the U.S. Open, which followed a T65 at the PGA Championship, which followed an MC at the Masters, with a round of par-70 on Thursday. He was 10 shots off the lead. But he showed flashes of the old JT the next two days with a 64-62 and, after a 67 on Sunday, wound up tied for ninth. Will this kick-start Thomas' turnaround? It's too soon to know.

Min Woo Lee
This was one of the most surprising results of the week to us. Lee followed up a top-10 at the U.S. Open with another one (T9) at the Travelers. It's a good sign that a young player can follow up such a good week at a major without letting down the next.

Rickie Fowler
It would've been easy for Fowler to play two rounds and go home after such a disappointing Sunday for him the week before at the U.S. Open. But after two rounds on Thursday and Friday, he came back for a third and shot a 10-under 60. Sunday wasn't great with a 69, but overall it was another excellent week for Fowler with a tie for 13th. He'll now play in the Rocket Mortgage Classic as the company's top golf pitchman.

Carson Young
The 28-year-old South Carolinian is playing really well. He shot 65-65 on the weekend to tie for 15th and register his fifth top-25 in his past eight starts. He was only $6500 on DraftKings. He'll be higher this coming week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, but how much higher?

Ludvig Aberg
The 23-year-old Swede and Texas Tech alum now is two for two in top-25s since turning pro. He shared 24th place at the Travelers. Aberg has made four cuts in four PGA Tour starts this year, including another top-25 at Bay Hill. He appears to be the real deal and we should see him at least the next two weeks at the Rocket Mortgage and John Deere.

Austin Eckroat
The 24-year-old is now inside the top-60 in the FedExCup Standings after tying for 24th. That's seven straight made cuts with four top-25s, one of which was a runner-up at the Byron Nelson.

Wyndham Clark
Playing the week after winning the U.S. Open is admirable. Tying for 29th is really impressive. Clark may not have come down off Cloud 9 all week, yet he got better as the tournament went on, shooting 68-67-67-66.

MISSED CUTS

Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Max Homa, Si Woo Kim, Sam Bennett, Michael Thorbjornsen. Rahm had not missed a PGA Tour cut since the 2021 season-opener at the Fortinet – 21 months ago. … Morikawa is now down to No. 20 in the world and he's clearly not the same golfer as the won who won two majors. … Homa followed up a bad missed cut at the U.S. Open with another one at the Travelers. He'll give it another go this week at the Rocket Mortgage. … Youngsters Bennett and Thorbjornsen have bright futures ahead, but there will be MCs along the way, of course.