Instant Classic: '21 Travelers Decided In An 8-Hole Playoff
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Maybe the craziest part of the Harris English’s 8-hole sudden death playoff win over Kramer Hickok: this Travelers Championship playoff was a thriller without anyone recording a birdie until the winning putt.
It’s one that’ll stick for a long time and the PGA Tour at its best: a fun final round, a few crazy how-did-that-not-go-in moments, beloved sponsor that knows how to put on a tournament, a course that regularly delivers, and the (mostly) welcomed sounds of a boisterous crowd.
The sides embellished this prime cut steak: golden light on a beautiful Connecticut evening, an energized CBS crew, and dramatic drone shots to help make the theater that much grander. It’s no surprise the network stayed two hours past their allotted time instead of handing off to Golf Channel. For that they were rewarded with several clutch saves before English’s winning putt. And yes, there there was appropriate Twitter grumbling about the 18th hole’s overuse. Particularly on a course with one of golf’s most combustible three-hole stretches at 15-17.
From David Dusek’s Golfweek story:
Little did anyone know that the tournament itself would wind up being the amuse-bouche. The main dish was an eight-hole playoff culminating with fans doing the wave around the 18th green and par after agonizing par being made on a course that yielded 263 birdies in the final round.
When it was over, English outlasted Hickok after eight playoff holes to earn his fourth PGA Tour win. This was the first time a PGA Tour playoff went to eight holes since 2012 when John Huh defeated Robert Allenby at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.
“This was awesome. The fans were keeping us in this it, getting the juice from them,” English said. “That’s been really all afternoon. Hats off to Kramer. What a competitor. We were both grinding. That’s what it was all about. We were grinding and trying our hardest.”
English’s second win of 2021 makes him the only player to win more than once. The winning check will also have 10% going to caddie Eric Larson, whose time in prison and new lease-on-life Mark Cannizzaro documented here in the New York Post.
Oddly, the most incredible shot of the playoff was not posted online but you can at least see the fried egg English overcame to keep the playoff going:
The winning putt:
For Hickok’s clutch breakthrough performance, he probably deserved an interview instead of a look at the updated FedExCup standings.
But there was at least this:
The round four highlights from PGA Tour Entertainment:
