Sunday at The Travelers was a day of agony, ecstasy and history.
History came first at the TPC River Highlands when Jim Furyk set the all-time PGA Tour scoring record with an incredible 58.
Agony then took over when overnight leader Daniel Berger found birdies nearly extinct and a series of run-ins with greenside bunkers destroyed his title hopes and sent him reeling with a final round 74.
Ecstasy came instantly for Russell Knox, who holed a clutch 12-foot par putt at the 72nd hole and became the fifth multiple-title winner of the PGA Tour season.
“It’s never easy,” said Knox, who took a one-shot lead over 49-year-old Jerry Kelly to the final tee. He faded his tee shot into a sidehill lie then left his approach in a deep greenside bunker. His blast came up well short, setting up the dramatic putt. His putter had been fairly chilly up until that point and it looked for all intents and purposes as if he’d be heading to a playoff with Kelly.
But Knox poured the putt into the hole, dead-center and flung his cap toward the greenside fans. “I’ll remember that one forever,” he said of the winning putt. That putt sent Knox into the top five in the FedEx Cup standings and he will jump inside the top 20 in the world golf rankings. It also gave reason for European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke to take notice and he’ll have to give Knox strong consideration for a spot on the team.
For Kelly, the runnerup finish moved him high enough to get him off the bubble for the playoffs. He will be well within the standings and will guarantee himself a spot in the Barclays. “I love playing here,” said Kelly, who played his college golf at the University of Hartford.
The day was a huge blow to Berger’s bid to earn a spot on the American Ryder Cup team. He turned one-over par then bogeyed the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th holes to end his hopes for victory.
For Furyk, it was a piece of history. No man has ever shot 58 on the PGA Tour and more than 1.5 million rounds of golf have been played with no one getting that number until Sunday.
Three players in the field will now head for the Olympics — Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar. Reed closed with 66 to finish nine-under. Watson’s 68 got him to seven-under while Kuchar was in at eight-under after closing with 65.
