2023 Travelers Championship leaderboard, grades: Keegan Bradley falls short of record, wins with 23 under

Bradley flirted with the PGA Tour 72-hole scoring record, settles for a three-shot win over Zac Blair and Brian Harman

Big names were abundant on the leaderboard at the 2023 Travelers Championship, but a near record-setting performance from New England's own Keegan Bradley was more than enough to keep them at bay. Claiming his sixth career victory on the PGA Tour, Bradley needed 257 strokes around TPC River Highlands this week, coming up short of the PGA Tour 72-hole record, and instead settled for a 23-under total for the tournament and a three-stroke victory.

The triumph in Cromwell, Connecticut, was the second for Bradley this season and puts him in good company. With his win, Bradley becomes the sixth player to claim multiple titles joining Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau, Max Homa and Wyndham Clark. The others are likely to find themselves on their countries' Ryder Cup teams in Rome come September, and now Bradley can say the same.

"This is for all the kids that grew up in New England and have to sit through the winters and watch other people play golf," Bradley said. "I am just so proud to win this tournament. The Travelers and everybody involved puts on a first-class tournament. It's been like this for a decade, and I'm just so proud to be the winner here."

The 37-year-old began the weekend with a share of the lead with Denny McCarthy before surging ahead ever so slightly. He entered the final 18 at 21 under and one clear of his playing partner Chez Reavie who would provide zero resistance.

Three birdies from Nos. 3-6 put Bradley in firm control, and the race to the record books was on. Looking to track down Justin Thomas's 253-total from the 2017 Sony Open, Bradley began his back nine with a flurry. A dart on the downhill par-3 11th was followed by another birdie on his next and saw Bradley reach 26 under with six holes to play. Two more birdies and the record would be his.

The scoring record was in sight with a par 5 on deck, but Bradley's first wayward swing of the day resulted in his first dropped shot since the fifth hole on Thursday and sent a shockwave through his system. Ill-advised bogeys on 14 and 16 saw his lead dwindle to three as Patrick Cantlay mounted a late charge of his own.

It proved to be too little too late for Cantlay as a missed birdie bid from 6 feet on the 71st hole gave Bradley enough breathing room to exhale, relax his shoulders and enjoy the warm welcome into the winner's circle.

"It's been unbelievable," Bradley said of the fan support. "I am so lucky and so thankful to be from this New England area. I just can't believe it. It seems like a dream."

Bradley's career – like Sunday's back nine – has been an up-and-down battle. His rookie season was filled with achievement as a win at the Byron Nelson was followed by a contention run at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational and a victory in his first major championship at the 2011 PGA Championship.

He made amends by winning in Akron in 2012, and the team appearances for the United States came in lockstep. However, it wouldn't be until six years later that Bradley – who was affected by the anchored putter ban – would claim his third victory in a massive spot during the FedEx Cup Playoffs. A win at this season's Zozo Championship broke yet another drought, but perhaps it is this win that will shatter the thought of further setbacks.

Bradley's Travelers Championship title marked his first conversion of a 54-hole lead as he entered the day 0-for-4 with four runners-up results. Despite his old tap-dance routine, his stutter steps when utilizing AimPoint on the greens and his sometimes hairy closing abilities, Bradley is a player who genuinely loves being in the arena. No matter the stakes, no matter the prize, he will always get up for it. It's why he has been able to climb out from the depths of his career, and it's why he can say he has won not once but twice during a season dominated by some of the greats in the game. Grade: A+

Here is the breakdown of the full leaderboard at the 2023 Travelers Championship.

T2. Zac Blair (-20): What a Sunday for Z.B., who fired a 62 (with two bogeys!) to get into the top five for the first time since ... the 2019 Safeway Open! In fact, the T2 finish for Blair is going to result in the most Official World Golf Rankings Points he's earned in any tournament over the course of his career. Blair is playing on a major medical exemption, and he even said after the round that he was unsure about whether he had done enough to retain his PGA Tour card going into next season, but he did note (correctly) that the nearly 250 FedEx Cup points and $1.8 million earned on Sunday are a nice first step toward that being a reality. Grade: A+

T4. Scottie Scheffler (-19): Another week, another fiesta. Scheffler struck the absolute hell out of it again this week, finishing second from tee to green, which is the 10th consecutive tournament in which he has been inside the top five in that category. Think about that. Scheffler almost exclusively plays in the best events in the world, and he has not been worse than fifth in ball-striking since February. An absolute heater that he almost certainly should have gotten more wins out of by now. Grade: A

T7. Rory McIlroy (-18): It looked for a bit on Sunday that Rory might make a little run at Jim Furyk's seven-year-old record of 58, which he shot in the final round of this tournament in 2016. A bogey at the 9th ended all of that, but this was the end of a pretty impressive T7-T7-T9-2-T6 run for him, which started over a month ago at the PGA Championship. The exciting part for him has to be that he's shown nice strides outside of his driver and without a smoking hot putter. With irons and wedges in his hands, he's been really solid in basically four of his last five tournaments. There's a legitimate case to be made that he should be the favorite at Royal Liverpool here in three weeks. One other thing to consider from his performance at TPC River Highlands: He played the par-3 8th hole in even par, which in and of itself is not an extraordinary stat. However, he did so with just two pars, no birdies and no bogeys. Grade: A

MC. Collin Morikawa (-3): I'm not sure what to make of Morikawa's season. On one hand, he has a couple of near misses at the beginning of the season. On the other hand, he's missed four cuts at elevated events (Phoenix, Bay Hill, Quail Hollow and this week at the Travelers). On one hand, he's played quite well at the major championships (made cut and top 30 in all three). On the other hand, he doesn't have a win since the end of 2021. He's become something I never would have imagined when he turned pro and did not miss a cut for a year straight ... inconsistent. Of course, being inconsistent is fine in golf because if your highs are high enough (i.e. victories), then nobody really cares about the lows (missed cuts). But Morikawa's skillset outside of putting screams consistency so it seems like there's something else going on right now. One thing is for sure -- the old adage of "it's never as good or as bad as it seems" definitely applies to both him and what this season has looked like so far. Grade: D+

[Jun 25, 2023 at 5:32 pm ET · Patrick McDonald]

Bradley will get this home

It was hairy, but it was effective. A par on 17 has steadied the ship and will see Bradley head to the final hole with a three-stroke lead. He should be able to enjoy that walk to his sixth victory.