Nathan Grube, the match director of the Travelers Championship, used to fret concerning the years when the US Open came about on the West Coast.

Many of the world’s high golfers would decide to take a break the week following the foremost or head to Europe to start getting ready for the Open Championship, fairly than journey throughout the nation to play at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut.

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But this yr, in response to LIV Golf, the Travelers was elevated to one among 17 so-called “designated” PGA Tour occasions, with a a lot greater purse and a close to mandate for high golfers to play, giving the match the assure of a powerful subject.

“I can tell you with certain confidence that I probably wouldn’t have been here even though I love the tournament so much,” Masters champion Jon Rahm stated Tuesday. “With that said, they’ve done a great job making players comfortable. Having a charter flight always makes it a lot easier, maybe not for the best two or three players in the world, but for other people that are high quality players as well that come and compete in this event.”

This week’s match subject contains the highest eight golfers on this planet rankings and 38 of the highest 50.

Grube and his staff have gotten a repute of pampering golfers in an effort to get them to Connecticut, together with operating these free constitution flights for gamers from the Open.

Once within the state, there are perks together with free laundry and hair cuts for caddies, day care on web site, and day journeys for spouses and youngsters to amusement parks. This yr, the match added a espresso and ice cream bar and lounge on the driving vary.

Grube stated it was partially due to its player-friendly repute that the Travelers was chosen final fall to be among the many first occasions to win elevated standing.

“We’ve been auditioning for this for 16 years,” Grube stated, a reference to the size of time Travelers has been the occasion’s title sponsor. ”And when it got here time to go ... We confirmed up.”

The designated standing means the overall purse has elevated from $8.3 to $20 million, with the winner taking house $3.6 million fairly than the slightly below $1.5 million Xander Schauffele took house final June.

The high PGA Tour gamers are required to play in 16 of the 17 designated occasions.

“It almost feels like we’re at the playoffs every time we’re at these elevated events,” Schauffele stated through the Traveler’s media day news convention final month. “Everybody’s showing up, ready to go, the best players in the world showing up every week.”

Thirteen of the 17 designated tournaments, together with the 4 majors, have that standing in perpetuity. The different 4 occasions, such because the Travelers, have been initially anticipated to rotate from yr to yr.

Andy Bessette, the manager vice chairman and chief administrative officer for Travelers, stated the Connecticut match has been in talks to maintain its designated standing for the foreseeable future.

“I’ve been working on the agreement to keep us elevated for 24, 25, 26, and I think we’re getting close,” he stated Tuesday. “But I think with everything going on in the world of golf these days, we’ve got to be a little more careful to make sure we understand what it’s going to look like. So it’s a little hard right now because the definitive agreement is going to be done by the end of the year. And once that’s done, then we have to see how it’s going to operate.”

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One of the probabilities is that the Travelers may turn out to be an occasion that options solely the highest 70 or so golfers on this planet, with no reduce, Bessette stated.

But this match has turn out to be identified for giving youthful golfers their first shot at enjoying a PGA Tour occasion. US Open champion Wyndham Clark made his debut in Connecticut in 2017 and 17 golfers have earned their first PGA Tour win on the Travelers, together with Stewart Cink (1997) and Bubba Watson (2010).

Patrick Cantlay, who made his first large mark by taking pictures a 60 on this course whereas nonetheless an novice in 2011, stated he’s not nervous about younger golfers shedding a chance.

“I think potentially it could lose something, but I think it gains something too,” he stated. “I think there’s real power to having all the stars play an event and have them here for all four days. I don’t think there’ll be any difference on Tour. If you’re good enough to shoot the scores, you’re going to find your way out here sooner rather than later.”