Travelers: Watson beats Casey in playoff

Bubba Watson of the USA beat England’s Paul Casey at the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands for a second time.

Bubba Watson of the USA beat England’s Paul Casey at the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands for a second time.

Paul Casey started the final day promisingly with a hole-out eagle on the third. He finished strongly too, with three birdies in his last five holes. He carded a closing 65 to set a clubhouse total of 16-under-par.

Bubba Watson might have bettered that number, but he bogeyed the 17th hole. He too finished on 16-under and that meant extra holes were required to decide the tournament.

On the first playoff hole, both men made par on the par-4 18th at TPC River Highlands. At the second time of asking, Casey found a greenside bunker then flew his third shot across the green. Watson played an excellent approach then holed the resulting birdie putt to claim his eighth PGA Tour title. It was the second time he has won this event. He took the victory in 2010 – also in a playoff.

"It's just about staying calm," he said. "That's what you have to do, you just breathe and walk slower, take some deep breaths and focus on the fact that no matter what you still come in second place."

Although disappointed to have missed out on the victory, Paul Casey was pleased with his performance.

"There are always ifs and buts and could haves," Casey said. "But the goal was to give myself a chance to win, and I did that."

Brian Harman led through 54-holes but, despite birdies at his final two holes, he finished a shot behind Watson and Casey. The 28-year-old could console himself with the fact his third place finish earned him a place in The Open Championship at St Andrews.

There were four Open spots available at TPC River Highlands and the other three went to Graham DeLaet, Carl Pettersson and Luke Donald.

Travelers Championship TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut Jun 25-28 Purse: $6,400,000, par 70

1    Bubba Watson (USA)    62    67    68    67    264    $1,152,000 2    Paul Casey (Eng)        67    68    64    65    264    $691,200 3    Brian Harman (USA)    66    65    65    69    265    $435,200 4    Graham DeLaet (Can)    67    66    64    69    266    $307,200 5    Carl Pettersson (Swe)    65    66    70    66    267    $256,000 6    Zach Johnson (USA)    65    70    64    69    268    $230,400 T7    Luke Donald (Eng)    68    68    67    66    269    $199,466 T7    Bo Van Pelt (USA)    70    68    65    66    269    $199,466 T7    Mark Wilson (USA)    66    68    67    68    269    $199,466

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage