Tommy Fleetwood suffered a heartbreaking defeat at the Travellers Championship on Sunday after a dramatic final hole saw American Keegan Bradley overtake the British golfer to claim the title and a significantly larger winner’s purse.
Fleetwood, who led the tournament for the majority of the week at TPC River Highlands, looked poised to secure the victory with a comfortable lead entering the final three holes. The course, a par-70 spanning 6,844 yards, had Fleetwood ahead by a stroke with only the 16th, 17th, and 18th holes remaining.
However, a bogey on the 16th and a costly double bogey on the 18th allowed Bradley, who calmly birdied the last hole, to finish at 15-under par. This one-shot turnaround gave Bradley the championship with a four-day total of 15-under, while Fleetwood settled for second place at 14-under.
Fleetwood expressed his frustration in a post-round statement:
“You know, I’m upset now. I’m gutted. I’m angry,” he said.
“When it calms down, I’ll look at the things I did well and the things I can learn from. I haven’t been in this position all year, and it’s been a while. I think I did a lot of good things, but there are definitely things I can do better.”
The 31-year-old maintained a professional outlook despite the disappointment:
“The worst thing would be to let this week hold me back going forward. I played great, led for 71 holes, and I want to put myself in this position again as soon as possible, correcting what I did this time. Right now, I’d love to go and sulk somewhere, but there’s no point making this a negative. I’ll take the positives and move on.”
By finishing second, Fleetwood missed out on a $3.6 million winner’s prize, earning $2.16 million instead — a difference of $1.44 million. His runner-up earnings were shared alongside Russell Henley, who also finished in second place.
Selected prize money from the Travellers Championship:
Player Position Earnings
Keegan Bradley Winner $3.6 million
Tommy Fleetwood Runner-up $2.16 million
Rory McIlroy Tied 6th $720,000
Scottie Scheffler Tied 6th $720,000
Justin Thomas Tied 9th $580,000
Rickie Fowler Tied 36th $101,500
Tony Finau Tied 66th $40,000
The Travellers Championship concluded with one of the most thrilling finishes of the season, leaving Fleetwood to regroup as the PGA Tour moves next to the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club, scheduled from June 26 to June 29.
