PGA golfer to play Travelers by himself after McIlroy’s withdrawal

When the Travelers Championship has its first group teeing off this week, there will only be one person on the tee box.

That’s because of the late withdrawal of Rory McIlroy – who announced he’d be taking a brief hiatus from golf in order to process his late collapse at the US Open at Pinehurst this week.

But that leaves the Travelers in a predicament after advertising for months that McIlroy would be in the field at the lone PGA Tour event in New England.

It also left one man – Chris Gotterup – going off first in the tournament, and he’ll be doing so all by his lonesome.

He joked about it in a post to Twitter saying, ‘Good pairing this week’.

With a two-shot lead going into the final five holes, McIlroy carded three bogeys and missed two putts from a combined seven feet.

Within minutes of Bryson DeChambeau sinking his putt for victory, McIlroy fled the course without speaking to media.

The golfer announced he’d be taking a hiatus from the game in a statement that he posted to social media. 

‘Yesterday was a tough day, probably the toughest I’ve had in my nearly 17 years as a professional golfer,’ McIlroy said.

‘Firstly, I’d like to congratulate Bryson. He is a worthy champion and exactly what professional golf needs right now. I think we can all agree on that.

‘As I reflect on my week, I’ll rue a few things over the course of the tournament, mostly the 2 missed putts on 16 and 18 on the final day. 

‘But, as I always try to do, I’ll look at the positives of the week that far outweigh the negatives. 

‘As I said at the start of the tournament, I feel closer to winning my next major championship than I ever have.

‘The one word that I would describe my career as is resilient. I’ve shown my resilience over and over again in the last 17 years and I will again.

‘I’m going to take a few weeks away from the game to process everything and build myself back up for my defense of the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open at Royal Troon.’

The Scottish Open doesn’t tee off until July 11 – meaning the Irishman will be off for nearly a month in between competitions.

As for Gotterup, he’ll be the first person – and only person – teeing off at 8:05 (the first tee time of the day) at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut on Thursday.

More star-studded pairings include Hideki Matsuyama with last-year’s Travelers winner Keegan Bradley, Scottie Scheffler with Max Homa, Wyndham Clark with Jordan Spieth, and Shane Lowry with Justin Thomas among others.