HARTFORD >> Bubba Watson (above) has played his best golf on the PGA Tour on some of the most well-known and difficult courses: Augusta National, Riviera and Torrey Pines, accounting for a combined five of his nine tour victories.


You may or may not include TPC River Highlands in that elite group, but the home of the Travelers Championship in Cromwell will always hold a special place in Watson’s heart. It was the scene of his first tour win in 2010 and he added another title at River Highlands last year.


“I feel comfortable here since I won it before,” Watson said at the Marriott Hartford Downtown Monday morning. “I’ve won in different areas, all on different grass. I’ve won in China, the Bahamas, L.A. a couple of times (Riviera) and Augusta, Georgia.”



Less than 24 hours after finishing tied for 51st place at the U.S. Open at Oakmont CC in Pennsylvania, Watson was in Hartford, then in Cromwell for Travelers Championship Media Day.

Read what else Buba had to say about the USGA's ruling on Dustin Johnson and making the U.S. Olympic team for golf in August.

Stewart Milne/Associated Press photo

PGA Tour golfer J.J. Henry (above) and former Connecticut State Golf Association president Richard Zanini will be inducted into the 60th Annual Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame on Dec. 3 at Wampanoag Country Club in West Hartford.

Henry, a Fairfield native, is a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, where he has been a member since the 2001 season. Now 40, Henry won the Barracuda Championship in August to extend his membership through the 2016-17 season.

Henry is a former three-time Connecticut Amateur champion and also won the New England Amateur in 1998. After graduating from Fairfield High, Henry became an All-American at Texas Christian University.

Zanini has been a CSGA representative since 1998. A longtime member at Wethersfield CC, Zanini is a past president, vice president and secretary of the organization. He is currently still a member of both the CSGA’s Board of Directors and Board of Trustees.

Zanini has also been chairman of the CSGA Widdy Neale Scholarship Fund since 2002.

Photo courtesy of the PGA Tour.

There was a time when Connecticut native Brett Stegmaier (above) gave up playing golf competitively.


That was in 2010. Stegmaier, a former Hamden resident and member at New Haven Country Club, was an assistant pro at Silver Springs CC in Ridgefield. The time spent on playing the mini-tours was over for Stegmaier — or so he thought.


“(Teaching) wasn’t for me. I was too good a player give up that fast,” Stegmaier said.



Five years later, Stegmaier has accomplished the ultimate dream of any male golfer: playing on the PGA Tour. Stegmaier finished ninth in the Web.Com Tour Finals. The top 25 money leaders from those four events earned spots on the PGA Tour for the 2015-16 season.

Read more about what Stegmaier went through to reach the PGA Tour.

Adam Rainaud birdied the first sudden-death playoff hole to defeat Billy Downes and win the Connecticut PGA Professional Championship Tuesday at The Ranch Golf Club in Southwick, Massachusetts.

Rainaud, an assistant pro at the Black Hall Club in Old Lyme, and Downes (Longmeadow, Massachusetts) both shot 36-hole totals of 4-under-par 140 in regulation. Both have qualified for the 49th PGA Professional Championship, June 26-29, 2016, at Turning Stone Resort in Verona, New York.

Joining them will be Jim Hanlon from The Farms CC in Wallingford, who finished second at 3-under 141, Fran Marrello from Plymouth (1-over 145) and Brent Paladino from Kensington (1-over 145).

Rainaud finished in the top 20 in the national event this year to qualify for the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. The low 20 players in next year’s event qualify for the PGA July 28-31 at Baltusrol GC in Springfield, New Jersey.

Len Mattiace (above, blue shirt) came to TPC River Highlands on June 25 not knowing if he was in the field for the Travelers Championship.


The tour pro was staying at his home in Rhode Island and found out the night before that no alternates were on site. He knew if the call came Thursday morning, Mattiace had to be there ready to play.


“Evidently, nobody came in last night or this morning,” Mattiace said.



When D.A. Points withdrew on the morning of June 25, Mattiace was in the Travelers Championship. It’s the life of a former full-time member of the PGA Tour who no longer has much status to get into weekly events.

“I don’t know what (number alternate) I was. More than 10,” Mattiace said.



According to the PGA Tour, the former two-time winner was the 21st alternate. That normally translates into it’s not going to happen. But with more than half of the alternates instead going to the Web.Com Tour event, Mattiace got the chance to play in his third event of the year.

READ MORE ABOUT MATTIACE AND WHAT STATE GOLFER QUALIFIED FOR THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP.

Five more golfers committed to the Travelers Championship on Monday.

Billy Horschel, the reigning FedExCup champion, 2012 winner Marc Leishman, Kevin Na, Paul Casey and David Lingmerth will participate in the tournament June 25-28 at TPC River Highlands.

Horschel will be making his third appearance at the Travelers. He is 20th in the latest World Golf Rankings. Leishman is currently 53rd and has three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this season.

Na is ranked 22nd and has six top-10 finishes so far this season. Casey has five top-10 finishes and makes his first appearance at the Travelers. Lingmerth won his first tour event two weeks ago at The Memorial.

The Travelers field will be finalized on Friday except for four spots, which will be determined at next Monday’s qualifier.