Travelers Championship 2012: Marc Leishman Reels In Charley Hoffman For Win

Marc Leishman entered the Top 100 on the 2012 World Golf Rankings, checking in at No. 78 on Monday after winning the 2012 Travelers Championship on Sunday with an 8-under 62 in the final round. The Top 10 of the rankings remain the same this week, however. Bubba Watson finished seven strokes ahead of U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson at TPC River Highlands, but remains a spot behind in the rankings.

Check out the full Top 10 of the rankings below:

While golf fans won’t see reigning Masters champ Bubba Watson again until next month’s British Open, U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson hinted Sunday night that his decision to skip the next major at England’s Royal Lytham St. Anne was not necessarily a foregone conclusion.

“I’m going to take next week off and go play Greenbrier [Classic at The Old White TPC in West Virginia from July 5-July 8], and then it’s going to be a little tricky,” Simpson told reporters after posting a final-round 1-over 71 to get to 6-under and a T29 at last week’s Travelers Championship. “I’m probably not going to the British Open, but as far as anything else, I’m not sure yet.”

Charley Hoffman was on the tee at the 17th hole, two shots ahead of Australian Marc Leishman -- who had finished his round more than an hour earlier and was watching from the clubhouse -- and ready to coast through his last two holes on a course that had played insanely easy all day.

Hoffman didn’t coast, however. In fact, he collapsed with a loud thud. He put a ball in the water on 17, and double-bogeyed that hole. He then hit a shot into the gallery on the 18th to finish double bogey-bogey and giftwrap the trophy to Leishman. Leishman deserved to win somewhat (he shot an eight-under 62 on the day), but this tournament will be remembered for Hoffman’s epic collapse. He hadn’t hit a bogey the entire round before 17, and his nerves just got the best of him. He finished at -13, one stroke behind Leishman’s 14-under.

Bubba Watson looked sure to tumble down the leaderboard after hitting his tee shot in the water on the 15th hole at the Travelers Championship, but, likely because it’s a short par-4, he was able to save par on the hole and give himself a chance to climb toward the tournament’s leader, Charley Hoffman. The course in Cornwall, Conn., has been playing easy all day -- Hunter Mahan shot a 61, and Marc Leishman shot a 62 -- but Watson wasn’t able to get anymore strokes on the final three holes, finishing at -13.

Hoffman birdied hole 13 to move to -16 and, at two strokes ahead of Leishman, who had been in the clubhouse for more than an hour, seemed to be comfortably ahead. Until the 17th hole that is, when Hoffman crashed and burned with a double-bogey. He’s now on the 18th, tied with Leishman. If he pars the hole, the Travelers will go into a sudden-death playoff.

After winning the Masters this year -- and even before that, really -- Bubba Watson has become one of the biggest draws on tour, with some huge galleries hoping to see his classic long drives. His gallery undoubtedly grew Sunday as he was five-under after 14 holes and just two shots off the lead. Watson’s tee shot failed him on the drivable par-4 15th, however, completely missing the green and winding up well in the middle of a water hazard. The penalty strokes likely take him out of the running for the Travelers Championship, as a 35-year-old journeyman golfer has taken command.

That golfer is Charley Hoffman, who has been even better than Bubba, shooting six-under through his first 14 holes. He’s sitting at fifteen-under, good for a one-stroke lead over Marc Leishman, who had a brilliant eight-under round of 62 to leap atop the leaderboard. Hoffman already has six birdies and no bogeys through 12, so all he needs to do is coast with Watson out of the picture and he should be fine.

As the Sunday leaderboard shuffle continues, Australian Marc Leishman has taken the lead at the 2012 Travelers Championship. The talented Leishman has never won on Tour, but has been in contention and won plenty of money over the past three seasons. He’s on fire during the final round, playing the first 14 holes without a bogey while carding seven birdies to move ahead of third-round leaders Brian Davis and Roland Thatcher at 13-under. With three holes remaining, Leishman has a chance to match Hunter Mahan’s low-round 61, which was fired in the morning.

One shot behind Leishman is Bubba Watson, who’s having his best showing since his Masters win in early April. Bubba played well on the weekend in New Orleans, but he’s missed his last two cuts since his first major win. These two weekend rounds have perhaps provided the jumpstart to reignite his season. He went out with a 4-under 31 on the front side, moving to 12-under par. More importantly, he escaped all trouble and a couple bad lies to avoid a bogey. Watson is obviously familiar with TPC River Highlands, a track where he captured his first career win in an emotional playoff.

Sunday’s final round of the 2012 Travelers Championship is underway and Hunter Mahan put on a show during the morning wave, posting a number that could make for a wild afternoon. Mahan fired a 9-under 61, just one shot off the course record then-amateur Patrick Cantlay set there last year. After Mahan, Aussie Marc Leishman is the next pro on his way to setting a blistering pace at TPC River Highlands. Leishman has ascended the world rankings over the past two years, but does not have a win on Tour. He went out with a 30 on the front side on Sunday, draining five birdies in the first eight holes to move to 11-under, one shot back of leaders Brian Davis and Roland Thatcher.

Bubba Watson is also off to a hot start, looking to match Leishman’s low front nine. Bubba picked up birdies on the second and third hole to move to 10-under and two shots back. He’s looking for his second win in Hartford, his first coming two years ago in a playoff that clinched his first Tour victory. Watson has two par-5s and a drivable par-4 at No. 15 where he can potentially pick up shots on the field by getting eagles that would put a scare into the leaders.

The leaders have yet to tee off Sunday at the 2012 Travelers Championship, but Hunter Mahan has already shaken things up near the top of the leaderboard. Mahan climbed 65 spots into a four-way tie for third place after shooting 9-under on Day 4 at TPC River Highlands.

Mahan made five birdies from the No. 8 through the No. 13 holes to put himself at 10-under overall along with John Rollins, James Driscoll and Stuart Appleby. His 61 was the lowest individual round of the tournament. J.B. Holmes shot 62 on Friday.

The final round of the Travelers Championship begins Sunday, with play continuing from the TPC River Highlands in Hartford, Conn. Brian Davis and Roland Thatcher will start the day tied atop the leaderboard at 12-under.

Stuart Appleby sits just two strokes behind at 10-under, and will be paired with Padraig Harrington, who is 9-under. Tim Clark and Matt Kuchar, who are also 9-under, will be paired for their final round. Webb Simpson, fresh off his win at the U.S. Open, begins the final round five stokes back at 7-under.

Roland Thatcher and Brian Davis are currently sharing the lead at the 2012 Travelers Championship after three rounds, with both golfers at 12-under after Saturday’s action. Thatcher shot a 5-under 65, while Davis had the strongest Saturday of any golfer at the top of the board, shooting a 6-under 64 thanks to six birdies on his first eight holes of the day.

Padraig Harrington made an 18-place jump up the leaderboard on the day, finishing in a tie for sixth place with Matt Kuchar at 9-under. Harrington shot a 65 on Saturday despite hitting two Par-4 bogeys on the back nine. Between Harrington and Kuchar and Thatcher and Davis is a three-way tie between John Rollins, James Driscoll and Stuart Appleby, with Rollins having the strongest third round with a 5-under 65.

Mid-point leader Fredrik Jacobson is just starting his third round at the Travelers but the field ahead of him has set a quick pace on a course that’s yielding birdies at almost every hole. Englishman Brian Davis took a one-shot lead over Jacobson, moving to 10-under after carding four birdies in his first five holes. Davis has never won on the American tour and is best remembered for calling a two-shot penalty on himself at Harbour Town that handed Jim Furyk a win in a playoff.

Davis is just one of many players lining up red numbers on the front side. Greg Chalmers fired a 30 on the front side to pick up five shots and move near the top of the leaderboard at 9-under. After a good week at Olympic, Padraig Harrington continues his solid play and has five birdies through 10 holes, putting him two shots back at 8-under.

The leaders at the 2012 Travelers Championship have yet to tee off during the third round, but the early groups are setting a brisk pace at TPC River Highlands. The course took on plenty of rain and the damp conditions should provide favorable conditions at a layout that already sees some of the lower numbers on Tour.

Bubba Watson is not completely out of it after a sluggish 1-over second round. But he’ll have to pick it up quickly on Saturday over his final 13 holes. The 2012 Masters Champ was among the first groups out on the course in the third round but he has picked up just one shot on the leaders, who are bound to add some red numbers. He has both the two par-5 holes and a drivable par-4 ahead of him so he’ll have to get birdie or better at those spots if he wants to have any chance to put a scare in the leaders on Sunday.

After some inclement weather hampered play on Friday at TPC River Highlands, the third round of the Travelers Championship is underway on Saturday afternoon. Thankfully for the Tour and tournament organizers in Hartford, playing during the week with the longest days of the year should help move things along and finish up on Sunday. They will send groups off both sides and in threesomes on Saturday afternoon.

Golf Channel will broadcast the third round from 1 to 2:30 p.m. ET before CBS takes over at 3 p.m. and carries the coverage until 6 p.m. ET. The group of Bubba Watson, Rory Sabbatini, and Kyle Stanley will be featured early in the afternoon. Leaders Fredrik Jacobson, J.B. Holmes, and Camilo Villegas tee off just before CBS comes on the air and will highlight the late afternoon coverage.

On Saturday, the suspended second round of the 2012 Travelers Championship took place at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut. At the end of two rounds of play, defending champion Fredrik Jacobson is sitting alone atop the leaderboard, but the competition is definitely heating up.

Jacobson holds the lead at 9-under after shooting 4-under in his second round. Hot on his heels is a trio of players all at 8-under, most notably J.B. Holmes, who played a phenomenal second round. Holmes jumped 56 spots on the leaderboard in the second round, as he managed nine birdies en route to going 8-under for the round.

The 2012 Travelers Championship on Friday afternoon was suspended midway through the day due to the weather. Fredrik Jacobson was one of the field who was able to finish his round, shooting a 4-under, which placed him at the top of the leaderboard with a 9-under so far through the tournament.

With play resuming at 7 a.m. EDT on Saturday, all of the players are now through at least nine holes of golf. Camilo Villegas is through 15 rounds of play, continuing from Friday afternoon and is currently tied for second on the leaderboard with an 8-under, shooting a pretty 6-under on the round.

The second round of the Travelers Championship will resume play at 7:00 a.m. ET on Saturday morning at TPC River Highlands. The third round of the Championship will begin immediately following the cut once second round action concludes. The weather forecast for the weekend appears to be clear.

Fredrik Jacobson had already finished playing Friday when the postponement was announced. He shot 4-under to assume the top spot on the leaderboard at 9-under overall. Charley Hoffman and 76 others were not so lucky.

The second day of the 2012 Travelers Championship got underway on Friday morning, but only made it partially through the round before it was suspended due to the weather. Before the weather caused play to hold off until Saturday, Fredrik Jacobson found himself sitting at the top of the leaderboard with a 4-under on the day, bringing his tournament total to a 9-under.

Right behind Jacobson are Australian Nathan Green and American Charley Hoffman at 8-under for the tournament. Hoffman climbed 13 spots by shooting 5-under for the day. Hoffman didn’t have the biggest climb of the day, however, as Blake Adams shot a 74 to bring his total to 7-under.

The second round of the Travelers Championship begins early Friday morning from TPC River Highlands just outside Hartford, Conn. During a week with the longest days of the year, the PGA Tour will start sending out groups before 7 a.m. ET in the morning wave. The featured group of Bubba Watson, Webb Simpson and Keegan Bradley will be tee off in the morning, going off at 7:45 a.m. ET. Watson scored his first tour win here two years ago, and Simpson felt obliged to play at the tournament that gave him one of his first exemptions as an amateur.

The Golf Channel will broadcast the second round beginning at 3 p.m. ET and carry coverage until 6 p.m. ET. The afternoon broadcast will feature the group of Hunter Mahan, Matt Kuchar and Johnson Wagner, who tee off together at 12:44 p.m. ET. The PGA Tour also grouped three of the game’s youngest superstars together to play in the afternoon on Friday. Ryo Ishikawa, John Peterson and Patrick Cantlay, making his first appearance as a professional, tee off at 1:39 p.m. ET. A complete schedule of tee times below:

The PGA Tour stop on the week after a major championship rarely draws a deep field, but the Greater Hartford Community Foundation -- the excellent organization running the Travelers Championship -- has consistently wooed some of the top pros in the game. Just four days after his final-round grind at Olympic, Webb Simpson is back in action at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn., looking for back-to-back wins. Simpson is off to a strong start and sits just two shots back of the lead at 4-under. He had a bogey-free round until he carded a four on the par-3 16th hole.

Tied with Simpson is playing partner Bubba Watson, who’s at 4-under through 16 holes. Watson’s round was highlighted by an eagle hole-out on the par-4 10th hole. He took a sand wedge from the rough and ran it up on the green from 137 yards out, sinking it in the unguarded front-hole location.

One of the main stories at last week’s U.S. Open Championship was how poorly Bubba Watson played in his first major since winning the Masters in April. While some fans were skeptical that Watson could win the Open after taking time off to be with his growing family, watching him miss the cut was a shock for most. He was certainly vocal about his displeasure with Olympic Club, but he should be singing a different tune when he returns to the site of his first PGA Tour victory at the Travelers Championship on Thursday.

Back in 2010, Watson was trying his best to just make the United States Ryder Cup team by virtue of impressing captain Corey Pavin. At that year’s Travelers Championship, however, Watson found himself in a playoff with both Pavin and Scott Verplank en route to notching his first tour victory. While Pavin was impressed with Bubba’s play, Watson was more impressed with the TPC River Highlands course.

While playing in front of family and friends at last year’s Deutsche Bank Championship outside Boston did not provide much of a home-field advantage for Keegan Bradley, the reigning PGA champ hoped to get a boost from the fans this week at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn.

“I’m just so happy to be back in New England,” Bradley told Boston sports talk radio station WEEI on Wednesday. “I hope the New England crowd gets real loud for me.”

It may not be the U.S. Open, but the field at the 2012 Travelers Championship still features plenty of heavyweights including last week’s winner at the Olympic Club, Webb Simpson. The 26-year-old won the third PGA event of his career, and his first major. Along with Bubba Watson (Masters 2012) and Keegan Bradley (PGA Championship 2011), this year’s Travelers at TPC River Highlands features the last three major championship winners.

The trio will form what should be the most closely watched grouping through the first two days of the tournament.