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The season of resurgence has trickled into the 2023 Travelers Championship, and this week's candidate is 54-hole leader Keegan Bradley. Having already won this season at the Zozo Championship, Bradley is in prime position at 21 under to become just the sixth multiple-time winner this year joining Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Max Homa, Tony Finau and Wyndham Clark.
The 37-year-old led for the majority of Saturday's third round but fell behind Chez Reavie in the middle portion of the back nine. Entering the 15th hole one off the lead, Bradley faced adversity with a sense of ferociousness and parlayed back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16 into a two-stroke lead. Reavie remains firmly in the mix, just one stroke adrift at 20 under thanks to a closing birdie and will go for his second Travelers Championship title while a large presence lurks a handful behind.
Now 12 years removed from firing a 60 as an amateur at this event, Patrick Cantlay nearly matched this effort with a Saturday 61. The world No. 4 will start the final day on the peripherals of contention and will need another massive effort should he enter the winner's circle for the first time this year. Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler all find their names on the first page of the leaderboard and remain eager to pounce should Bradley trip up in the final round.
The leader
1. Keegan Bradley (-21)
Bradley has employed a very sound game plan with the Travelers Championship turning into a birdie barrage. He currently ranks second in strokes gained tee to green, first in strokes gained approach and first in strokes gained putting. Bradley looks extremely comfortable on the greens and should this continue into the final round, his second win of the season will be imminent. Through three rounds, the five-time winner has totaled 22 birdies, but maybe more importantly he has carded just one bogey and zero in his last 49 holes. At 189 for the tournament, he finished just one shot shy of the PGA Tour record for first 54 holes of 188 set by Justin Thomas at the 2017 Sony Open and Steve Stricker at the 2010 John Deere Classic.
Other contenders
2. Chez Reavie (-20)
3. Patrick Cantlay (-16)
T4. Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, Denny McCarthy (-15)
T7. Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler, Alex Smalley, Brian Harman, Min Woo Lee (-14)
After gaining +4.21 strokes gained tee to green on Friday, Thomas was at it again Saturday. He once again led the field from tee to green and gained 5.38 strokes en route to a stellar 62. Thomas will need to continue this form over the final stretch of the 2023 season as he entered the Travelers Championship outside the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings. With a decrease in the number of players gaining entry into the first playoff event, Thomas requires a fast finish, and this week looks to be the start of that.
"I'm not in a position right now where I can't play," Thomas said. "I'm very, very fortunate this many years into my career I've never had to add events at the end of the year for Playoff purposes, but that's where I'm at, and I'm just trying to make the most of it. So, I also feel like I got to keep plugging, keep going. I've felt very close for a while. Just have had literally nothing to show for it. And you never know. I'm one round away tomorrow from kind of completely changing my focus and outlook on the year and the rest of the year. Yeah, just got to kind of stick with that."
Rickie's run at history
A week after making history at the U.S. Open with an opening 62, Fowler nearly added another chapter. The 34-year-old came one stroke shy of becoming the 13th player on the PGA Tour to shoot a sub-60 round. After turning in 30, Fowler added two quick birdies on the front side at TPC River Highlands to get to 7 under through his first 11. Three straight pars preceded an unlikely eagle before Fowler stole another with a birdie on the par-3 8th. He entered the last needing a birdie to join the sub-60 club but settled for par and the lowest round of his PGA Tour career.
"Making the turn [I began to think about shooting 59]," Fowler said. "After birdieing 18 I knew I could potentially get six on the front, and especially after birdieing 1 and 2, my 10th and 11th. You know, 7-under through 11 is a pretty good spot to be in. So, yeah, I mean, I would say between the turn and obviously after those 10th and 11th holes, yeah."
Scheffler's streak
Rounds of 63 have sandwiched an even-par 70 in Round 2 and have given Scheffler a chance to continue his top-12 streak this season. Not since October 2022 has the world No. 1 finished outside the top 12 in a tournament with 16 straight efforts coming on the PGA Tour. He remains unlikely to pick up his third victory of the season, but another 63 would position him for yet another high-quality result in what may be his last start stateside before The Open.
2023 Travelers Championship updated odds and picks
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook
- Keegan Bradley: 5/6
- Chez Reavie: 5/2
- Patrick Cantlay: 17/2
- Scottie Scheffler: 28-1
- Rickie Fowler: 35-1
- Adam Scott: 40-1
- Denny McCarthy: 50-1
- Justin Thomas: 80-1
It felt as if Bradley took Reavie's best punch Saturday and was able to stay upright. While his lead over Reavie was cut in half, Bradley continued to show resolve. He is striking the ball beautifully, rolling the rock with the best of them and minimizing mistakes. A name like Cantlay or Scheffler entering the equation would heighten the interest, but the final day is likely to remain a two-horse race with Bradley at 5/6 garnering support.
Rick Gehman is joined by Greg DuCharme to break down moving day at the Travelers Championship. Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas take it low but Keegan Bradley leads the way into Sunday. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
