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Xander Schauffele, along with dozens of others, is about to have a lot more fun this upcoming weekend in New England than he did the last in the Hamptons.
After the grind that is Shinnecock Hills for the U.S. Open, the PGA Tour is stopping at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, for a player-favorite in the signature Travelers Championship.
Only three players finished under par in the third major of the golf season, but the Travelers, almost notoriously, is quite the opposite. Two years ago, Scottie Scheffler’s win at 22-under was after a playoff, and this is where Jim Furyk shot his 58.
“I didn’t even mind the rain today, to be honest,” Schauffele, the 2022 Travelers winner, told Fox News Digital after practicing on Tuesday.
Sure, some of that is probably due to simply getting away from Shinnecock (Schauffele’s +2 was good to finish T11). But everything about the first event that succeeds the U.S. Open is what makes it a favorite of the two-time major winner.
Don’t expect scores in the minus-20s this weekend (Keegan Bradley won at -15 last year), as the course has been made a bit tougher. A 58 might not be in the cards, either.
But that’s exactly how Schauffele likes it.
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“There’s plenty of tricky spots where you feel like you’re supposed to pick shots up and sometimes you don’t. But it is a fun course,” Schauffele said. “If you can kind of get in the zone, you can shoot seven or eight under and there’s some days where you’ll be like, you know, even one over and you’re like, man, I feel like I’m losing all these shots.
“So I think the changes to the course have been great, narrowing certain spots, growing some rough in certain spots. So, definitely, I think we enjoy, you know, kind of a mid-teens win.”
Not only is it the layout of the track, but it’s the behind-the-scenes aspects of the event that keeps the Tour’s top stars coming back for more.
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“Everything from, you know, the food, to the coffee on the range, to the coffee they bring into the dining room, the food, there’s a gift when you register for your wife and yourself,” Schauffele said, “they go above and beyond to just make you kind of feel warm and almost like family when you’re on property.”
The Travelers tees off on Thursday morning, and Schauffele is paired up with three-time Ryder Cup teammate Collin Morikawa at 10:55 a.m. ET.
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