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| PGA Tour's top golfers travel across country for $20M purse at Travelers Championship | | | agencies
CHENNAI, June 23: Nathan Grube, the tournament director of the Travelers Championship, used to worry about the years when the U.S. Open took place on the West Coast.
Many of the world's top golfers would make a decision to take a break the week following the major or head to Europe to begin preparing for the Open Championship, rather than travel across the country to play at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut.
But this year, in response to LIV Golf, the Travelers was elevated to one of 17 so-called "designated" PGA Tour events, with a much bigger purse and a near mandate for top golfers to play, giving the tournament the guarantee of a strong field.
"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 said 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 tournament field includes the top eight golfers in the world rankings and 38 of the top 50.
Grube and his team have gotten a reputation of pampering golfers in an effort to get them to Connecticut, including running those free charter flights for players from the Open.
Once in the state, there are perks including free laundry and hair cuts for caddies, day care on site, and day trips for spouses and children to amusement parks. This year, the tournament added a coffee and ice cream bar and lounge on the driving range.
Grube said it was in part because of its player-friendly reputation that the Travelers was chosen last fall to be among the first events to win elevated status.
"We've been auditioning for this for 16 years," Grube said, a reference to the length of time Travelers has been the event's title sponsor. "And when it came time to go ... We showed up.
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