The Travelers Championship has become one of the destination events for the players on the PGA Tour and there’s no bigger sign of that than having the top two players in the world, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, teeing it up in Connecticut this weekend. Both players spoke to the media on Wednesday following their rounds in the Pro-Am. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With five wins including a win at The Masters, Scheffler quickly ascended to the top of the golf world this year and McIlroy has been impressed by what he\u2019s seen from the 26-year-old Texan. \u201cHe’s been on a tear, and he’s been threatening to go on a tear for a while. Like, even, he doesn’t seem like he hasn’t been on TOUR that long, but he very quickly got the title of best player never to have won on TOUR, and then he broke that dyke earlier this year, and then he’s just, he’s such a consistent performer week-in, week-out. You look at the world rankings, he’s head and shoulders above the rest of us at the minute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The respect goes both ways. McIlroy is a player that a lot of players on tour look up to and despite his lofty world ranking, Scheffler is among them. “He may be close to me in the rankings now, but he’s won a few more tournaments than I have out here,\u201d Scheffler said. \u201cRory’s a pretty historic player on TOUR, and so anytime we can be in fields with guys like Rory, Jordan, JT, and having opportunity to compete against those guys on the weekend would be really special for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McIlroy is in the midst of a rare stretch for him. The Travelers marks the fourth straight week he\u2019s playing an event which includes an emotional week winning the RBC Canadian Open amidst the chaos of the LIV Golf launch and a grind at the US Open. McIlroy says that it is taking a toll. McIlroy actually went home to Florida to sleep in his own bed for a night before traveling back north for this event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is my fourth week in a row and definitely feel like a little bit of fatigue is setting in, \u201c he said. “Canada wasn’t so demanding but when you get yourself in contention and you play a weekend like that, then that takes quite a lot out of you. And then you follow that up with a U.S. Open. So I think it’s a combination of everything. Mentally I’m totally fine, but I’m, you know, it will be nice to sort of rest up this afternoon and get another good night’s sleep and get ready to play tomorrow. But four weeks in a row is pretty rare for me these days. I haven’t played four in a row in a while and you start to remember why.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scheffler is playing his sixth tournament in seven weeks, but he says that he\u2019s a guy who has always played a lot of events. However, his meteoric rise to the top of the sport has taken its toll on him with the extra responsibility that comes with being the Masters champion and top-ranked golfer in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLife off the golf course hasn’t really changed at all, but life on the golf course, whether it’s fans watching me play practice round or when I’m on the putting green and I finish up, there may be people always watching and it’s like, Hey, can we have a picture, can we have an autograph, and I got to come in here every week now, and things are just a little bit different. And I’m more hadn’t than happy to do all those things. Those are wonderful, wonderful things for me to do and I’m happy to do them. It just takes more energy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the fatigue everyone on tour, not just the top two players in the world, is dealing with, the Travelers gets a good field every year. Scheffler explained why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a really good golf course. There’s nothing really tricky about it. You’re not going to have guys complaining that it’s either too hard or too easy or whatever it is. This is one of those golf courses throughout the year where you’re not going to hear many complaints from people and I’m sure that’s why a lot of the top players will come. It’s also a very simple week for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like the players who spoke yesterday, the closing stretch of holes stands out to Scheffler, particularly the 18th hole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI’ve never really been a huge fan of having water on 18 as a finishing hole. I don’t know why. I think like just a nice like classic uphill par-4 like this one has where if you hit a good drive you’re going to be rewarded and maybe make a birdie, and if you get into trouble, you could make a bogie, but it’s not necessarily like a crazy hard hole or a crazy easy hole. It’s just a simple hole to finish. You see exciting finishes on stuff like that. So for me the golf course is really good.\u201dWith no major professional sports teams in the state of Connecticut, the Travelers means a lot to the community here so the crowds always provide a great atmosphere, and with top-class facilities and hospitality, it\u2019s going to be an event that draws top players like Scheffler here every year, \u201cBeing able to come up here to Connecticut and just have a nice relaxing week and enjoy competition is really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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