You would think that the week following a major championship would be a calm one… but it isn’t. We have the Women’s PGA, the Travelers Championship, a new tour name, Monday qualifier history, and much more. To Minnesota we go!

Hazey

The 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Club outside of Minneapolis. All of the top 10 players in the Rolex Rankings will be in the field. Tee Times

Sung Hyun Park heads to Minnesota to defend her dramatic 2018 Women’s PGA victory. Starting the day four shots back Park shot a final-round 69 and watched as 54-hole leader So Yeon Ryu stumbled to the finish. Park then defeated Ryu and Nasa Hataoka with birdies on both playoff holes.

Jin Young Ko and Jeongeun Lee6 headline this year’s field after winning the first two majors of 2019. Both players are in the top seven of the world rankings, and will be playing with other big names at Hazeltine. Lee6 will be paired with Maria Fassi and Shanshan Feng while Ko is paired with Nelly Korda and Cristie Kerr.

Michelle Wie will also be a big story this week as she plays her first tournament since the ANA Inspiration in April. Wie has suffered continual injuries over the last year but appears healthy heading into the summer. She’ll be paired with superstars Lydia Ko and Minjee Lee.

Bubba’s Alley

The PGA Tour is back in action this week at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut. Brooks Koepka, Patrick Cantlay, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, and Tony Finau top the bill while a bunch of young guns appear on the undercard. Tee Times

Thrice as Nice

The 2018 Travelers Championship ended with a dramatic comeback as Bubba Watson overcame a six-shot deficit in the final round to win his third event of the season. Ol’ Gerry shot a final-round 63 to chase down and pass Paul Casey at TPC River Highlands. It was the second time in four seasons that Watson bested Casey at this event; Bubba defeated the Englishman in a playoff in 2015.

Storylines

New Faces – We don’t care what the featured groups say, the big story this week is the crop of young talent playing on sponsor exemptions. Viktor Hovland, Matthew Wolff, Collin Morikawa, and Justin Suh will all play as professionals this week after finishing prolific college careers last month. They were ranked as the top four amateurs before they turned pro, and all have the skills needed to compete on the PGA Tour.

Chip McDaniel – Fresh off his first U.S. Open, a red-eye flight, and a two-hour car ride, Chip McDaniel Monday-qualified for the Travelers Championship. McDaniel has now Mondayed into three events this season. He finished T-5 in Puntacana and missed the cut at Quail Hollow.

Low, low, low – TPC River Highlands has a history of giving up some of the lowest scores of the PGA Tour season. Watson fired a 63 on Sunday to win last year after Paul Casey recorded a Saturday 62. In 2016, Jim Furyk shot the only 58 in PGA Tour history at River Highlands.

Justin Thomas – JT has struggled to find his form since missing time for a wrist injury. He missed the cut at Pebble Beach last week, and he doesn’t have much of a track record at the Travelers, but he seems like a natural fit for TPC River Highlands. Let’s see if he can get out of his funk this week.

Paulie’s Picks

Low scores will be plentiful this week in Hartford. Here’s who Paulie likes at this week’s Travelers.

Little Lido

Golf doesn’t have to be played on immaculate fairways and cost $300 to be memorable. The best experiences are spent with the ones you love, at a place that speaks to you. For Shaun Smith, that place is Nickerson Dunes Pitch & Putt. Read about Shaun’s neighborhood walk at this hidden golf hamlet. Full Article

Quick Hooks

Starting at this week’s Wichita Open, Korn Ferry will take over as title sponsor of the tour formerly known as the Web.com. The name of this tour has changed several times over the years. Web.com has been the sponsor since 2012. Wichita Open Tee Times

Phil Mickelson continues to be awkwardly entertaining on Twitter.

The Western Junior Amateur is underway at Rich Harvest Farms. Live scoring

The Amateur Championship has cut to the top 64 for match play over in Ireland. Live scoring

The Latest Podcasts

Episode 145: Charlie Danielson

Charlie Danielson joins the podcast after making the cut at the 2019 U.S. Open. Charlie and Andy discuss his qualifying for the U.S. Open after a major knee surgery that has kept him out of competition for the past year. Charlie goes into the transition from 4-time All-American at the University of Illinois to playing professionally and how the injury has made him reflect. Charlie also talks about his Saturday pairing with Phil at Pebble Beach and how it setup differently from his 2016 U.S. Open venue, Oakmont. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify.

The Shotgun Start

Due to travel complications today’s Shotgun Start will be released mid day.