The Traveler’s followed a very exciting US Open at River Highlands Golf Club in Cromwell, Connecticut as the last designated event on the PGA Tour for 2025.  River Highlands has a devilish set of closing holes that can really impact the results of the tournament and produce some big surprises.  A good example is the drivable 301 yard, par 4, which can be penal if an attempt at driving the green is missed with rough, bunkers and water surrounding the hole.

At the beginning of the week, I was asked who might break through as a first-time winner on the PGA Tour.  Without a thought, I immediately replied that if a new first-timer could win here it would be Tommy Fleetwood.  Fleetwood has been playing consistently well all season but he is still seeking his first victory after 83 attempts.  A pack of competitors was chasing Fleetwood but he continued to maintain his lead and had a one stroke lead going into the final hole on Sunday.  Keegan Bradley had been hanging around, staying close but it seemed that the tournament would fall to  Fleetwood if he could get the ball into the fairway on the closing hole.  Fleetwood executed the tee shot and Bradley outdrove him by a few yards.  Fleetwood needed to get the ball on the green, two putt and claim his first PGA Tour victory.  It seemed a conservative play as Fleetwood pulled a pitching wedge and managed to come up close to the green–two putts from here would now be challenging.  The gods of golf didn’t like this decision especially when Bradley nailed his approach shot to about 6 feet.  Now Fleetwood was facing a must execute situation and his approach shot was poor and outside of Bradley’s ball.

Fleetwood’s poor approach shot ends up behind Bradley

With 83 missed opportunities to win in the back of your mind, Fleetwood didn’t come close to making the putt and now Bradley would have basically the same putt as Fleetwood.  The golf hole looked as wide as a manhole cover for Bradley,  and he drained the putt for birdie and went directly to the winner’s circle.  Fleetwood was naturally devastated as this was the best opportunity he had ever had to win an event.  Kudos to Bradley for execution down the stretch but it was an unlikely event.  Professionals generally don’t lose tournaments in this way and I’m sure that Fleetwood will etch this piece of scar tissue in his back forever.  Fleetwood is a good player and he will win–he had the horrible experience of what of the major tenets of the gods of golf–never underestimate what your competitor can do in any golf match.