PGA Tour Travelers Championship Dir Nathan Grube said that the total attendance for the tournament this past week, which saw Jordan Spieth win in a playoff yesterday, was "about 290,000," according to a front-page piece by Tom Yantz of the HARTFORD COURANT. Grube: "The metrics for parking, tickets, concessions and the eye test, there were more fans this week than in any of the (11) Travelers tournaments. It had to be a 30 percent or greater increase in fans from last year" (HARTFORD COURANT, 6/26). ESPN.com's Jason Sobel noted Spieth and Rory McIlroy this year both "decided to play here for a first time; Jason Day joined for a third time." The atmosphere "changed instantly" with those names. Tuesday's practice-round galleries "were like previous Thursday galleries, Wednesday pro-am galleries were like weekend galleries, and the weekend galleries were like nothing ever before witnessed" at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut (ESPN.com, 6/25). Golf Channel Senior Researcher Justin Ray tweeted, "I have never been to a non-major that had a better environment for a conclusion of a tournament than today at TPC River Highlands." ESPN's Scott Van Pelt added, "Such a phenomenal scene at @TravelersChamp Really happy for the event. They pulled out the stops, got a great field & the finish of the year."
ONE FOR THE AGES: CBSSPORTS.com's Matt Norlander wrote Spieth's bunker chip-in for birdie that sealed his victory during the playoff at hole 18 gives "birth a long-awaited mainstream moment for one of the PGA Tour's most underrated events." Spieth's "club-chucking, boisterous explosion of disbelief against the backdrop a wall of sun-soaked fans was great theater." It also gave fans a "new, fun, fantastic look at one of the true few players who will be asked to carry golf for the next two decades." The grassy amphitheater at TPC River Highlands "exploded into a frenzy." Golf saw "perfect convergence" yesterday, and the "long-underrated Travelers Championship is getting a spotlight it deserves." The tournament is "held annually the week after the U.S. Open, meaning it's not prone to bring an abundance in big-name golfers." Despite the obstacles, it has "become one of the more well-attended events on the PGA Tour." Spieth "remarked how closely it resembles Phoenix's Waste Management Open, which uses its massive crowds and open unruliness as a unique selling point vs. other spots on the tour" (CBSSPORTS.com, 6/25).
STAY COOL: In Hartford, Stephanie Sheehan noted the Stanley Black & Decker Chill Zone, "debuting this year, is one of the lesser-known amenities at the Travelers." There are "four zones: the 18th-hole concession stand, at the Patriots Outpost, the 15th tee and between holes 5 and 6." It is a "cushioned seat that fits four or five people, and none of the seats face the course" (HARTFORD COURANT, 6/25).
