Golf Championships: Golfers get ready, as the Travelers Championship approaches.
Taking place June 22-28 at TPC River Highlands, a par 70, 6,844 yard course in Cromwell, Connecticut, 10 miles south of Hartford, defending champion Stewart Cink will defend his title in a 72 hole stroke play.
Stewart Cink earned his fifth PGA TOUR victory at the 2008 Travelers Championship. Cink got his first PGA TOUR victory at this tournament during his rookie year in 1997 and is again defending his title this year.
Cink joins other golf greats who had had multiple wins at Connecticut's PGA TOUR event, including: Billy Casper (1963, 1965, 1968, 1973), Arnold Palmer (1956, 1960), Paul Azinger (1987, 1989) and Phil Mickelson (2001, 2002).
The purse for the Travelers Championship is $6 million, with a Winner's Share of $1.08 million.
The Travelers Championship participates in the PGA TOUR Tradition of Giving Back and since it's inception in 1952, Connecticut's PGA TOUR event has donated more than $25 million to charities in the surrounding community. This year, all the proceeds of the championship will be donated to The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp and the Greater Hartford Jaycees.
Recent Champions of the event include Hunter Mahan (2007), J.J. Henry (2006), Brad Faxon (2005), Woody Austin (2004), Peter Jacobsen (2003), Phil Mickelson (2001 & 2002).
The course is a well-balanced golf test with a mixture of long and short holes. According to the official information, the most notable stretch of holes are 15-17, which are played around a 4-acre lake. According to Stewart Cink, when combined with the home hole, they are "four of the most exciting finishing holes in a group anywhere in the world."