The Travelers Championship pretty much had the spotlight to itself with the European and LPGA Tour getting the week off as a number of golfers headed to Rio for the 2016 Olympic summer games. The event didn’t disappoint as Jim Furyk stole the spotlight with a record score on the final day even before Russell Knox got the opportunity to clinch his second-career victory on the PGA Tour. Meanwhile, the Champions Tour received some attention as well thanks to an exciting finish at the 3M Championship with Joe Durant getting the job done in the playoff after Miguel Angel Jimenez nearly pulled off an epic comeback victory of his own. Here is a recap of the notable events from golf fantasy this past weekend.
Travelers Championship
PGA Tour
We start our golf fantasy recap of the PGA Tour with Russell Knox. He shot a final-round 68 on Sunday to narrowly win the Travelers Championship by one stroke ahead of Jerry Kelly, but it was Jim Furyk who stole the spotlight. Furyk shot a PGA-record 58 on Sunday. He made history as the first golfer to record a 58 on the PGA Tour, which is an incredible score. The veteran American had already signed his historic card by the time that Knox went out in the final group after he shot 73-66-72 throughout the first three rounds but it didn’t make the accomplishment any less impressive. Furyk was 12 under for his final round and he also became the first player on the PGA Tour to record a pair of sub-60 rounds after his 59 at the BMW Masters back in 2013. The 46-year-old, who did not make an appearance between September and May due to a wrist injury that required surgery, needed just 24 putts and hit all 18 greens in regulation for just his second top-10 finish of the season. There was all sorts of applause from coming from the sports world as golfers, athletes and commentators were all astounded with Furyk’s incredible feat.
Meanwhile, Knox secured his second win of the season following his maiden victory at the WGC-HSBC Champions in November. Furyk finished tied for fifth at 1-under with Robert Garrigus, Daniel Berger and Tyrone van Aswegen. Other notable finishes included Patrick Reed tying for 11th at nine-under while last year’s winner Bubba Watson finished tied for 25th at seven-under.
If you thought that the field at the Travelers Championship was a bit light due to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, that’s actually not the case. Golfers like Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy are not playing there, yet they still decided to skip this event as well. Next up for the PGA Tour is the John Deere Classic, which begins on Thursday at the TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois.
Top 10 Scores From The Travelers Championship
Russell Knox -14
Jerry Kelly -13
Justin Thomas -12
Patrick Rodgers -12
Jim Furyk -11
Robert Garrigus -11
Tyrone Van Aswegen -11
Daniel Berger -11
Marc Leishman -10
Brooks Koepka -10
Shawn Stefani -9
3M Championship
Champions Tour
Joe Durant made a 10-foot eagle putt on the first hole of a playoff with Miguel Angel Jimenez on Sunday to win the 3M Championship on the PGA Tour Champions’ Tour. The 52-year-old Durant won on the par-five 18th after closing with a birdie on the hole in regulation. Jimenez actually came into the week as one of the favorites, so those who were playing golf fantasy couldn’t have been too disappointed. You don’t want to invest in a big favorite like that and see them miss the cut, so the fact that Jimenez placed a very close second was rewarding enough to those who backed him in golf fantasy.
It was an exciting finish after Jimenez birdied the last four holes for a 67 to match Durant at 19-under at the TPC Twin Cities course and then birdied the 18th hole in the playoff before Jimenez took the win with the eagle putt. It was Durant’s second win on the 50-and-over tour and his first solo victory after he teamed with Billy Andrade to win the Legends of Golf last year.
Top 10 Scores From The 3M Championship
Joe Durant -19
Miguel Angel Jimenez -19
Bernhard Langer -17
Kevin Sutherland -17
David Frost -16
Glen Day -16
Woody Austin -15
Jeff Maggert -15
Jose Coceres -14
Steve Pate -13
