Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jun 24

Xander Schauffele Returns to Travelers Championship, Eyeing Mid-Teens Winning Score After T11 at U.S. Open

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jun 24

Xander Schauffele Returns to Travelers Championship, Eyeing Mid-Teens Winning Score After T11 at U.S. Open

Q: With a $20M purse and no cut, is this tournament now more of a lucrative exhibition than a true competition?

Not merely an exhibition, but the format does soften the competitive edge compared with a traditional PGA Tour event. The Travelers still has the core ingredients of a serious tournament: a 72-player field with 49 of the top 50 eligible players in the world ranking, $3.6 million to the winner, 700 FedExCup points, and a course that has been tightened with narrower landing areas and thicker rough. Players are not treating it like a casual stop. Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa and others are here because it matters for status, momentum and the postseason, not just appearance money. That said, the no-cut structure changes the stakes. Every player gets four rounds and a paycheck, removing the Friday pressure that defines most PGA Tour events and majors. Even PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has acknowledged that small-field, no-cut events have reduced some of the “competitive meritocracy” that traditionally separates tour golf from a guaranteed-payday model. That is a major reason the Tour’s planned 2028 top-tier structure is expected to bring back 36-hole cuts. So the fairest reading is that the Travelers is a hybrid: highly lucrative and more player-friendly than a standard event, but still a true competition because of the elite field, meaningful points, and real consequences for winning. It is less cutthroat than the U.S. Open, not less legitimate.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 24

Thursday’s Travelers Championship will feature Xander Schauffele teeing off at 10:55 a.m. ET with Collin Morikawa after Schauffele finished T11 at the U.S. Open.
Schauffele said the event is a welcome shift from Shinnecock Hills, where only three players finished under par, calling TPC River Highlands a fun but still demanding course.
The 2022 Travelers winner said recent course tweaks — narrower landing areas and thicker rough — should keep scoring closer to the mid-teens rather than the 20-under range.
TPC River Highlands has produced low numbers before, including Scottie Scheffler’s 22-under playoff win two years ago and Jim Furyk’s 58, though defending champion Keegan Bradley won at 15-under last year.
Schauffele also credited the tournament’s player-friendly setup — from food and coffee to family gifts at registration — for making it a favorite stop on the PGA Tour.