TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP MEDIA DAY

May 5, 2026

Chris Berman

Andy Bessette

Keegan Bradley

Nathan Grube

TPC River Highlands

Press Conference

CHRIS BERMAN: Have we ever seen this big of crowd? My God, two free meals, free golf on a 70 degree day in New England. Pretty good, huh?

Thanks for coming. I know some came from Boston and Providence. Some came from Rocky Hill. We appreciate everybody being here.

We're excited. Year number 20 of Travelers already, okay? That deserves a round of applause, I think.

(Applause.)

Of course, the tournament has been around since the '50s. Once upon a time, first prize was $2,400. I think when Arnold won, it might have been $4,000. I think when Keegan won, it might have been $3.6 million. So that's one of the many things that's changed since the '50s, which I did not cover, by the way.

If anybody in the room covered those early days, with Sam Snead and Billy Casper, please raise your hand. I didn't think so.

I find it interesting. The only thing I'll say before we bring Andy and Nathan up is that we have been a signature event now for a little bit, and we're very proud of that. That's the commitment that Travelers makes. Ever year the Travelers Championship gets better and better and better and better. I'm not speaking because I'm told to say this. I'm speaking as a resident of Connecticut and Southern New England where I'm very proud that this is our -- for professional sports, this is our week in the sun.

Later this year, because Father's Day is later, and the last week of June. Schools are out, even with the snow days. I've been guaranteed that it was a good move that we went a week later. So even with the snow days, school is out.

The crowds will be great. The list of the players is unbelievable, and in this year -- I told you I was going here, Nathan -- in this year of 250 anniversary of signing of the Declaration of Independence, you might have heard of it, I find it that we have a signature event. Come on, I think that's a pretty good -- I majored in history. I think that's a pretty good thing. American history, not golf history, but American history.

The fact that it's the last week of June and July 4th is the next week, I just find it interesting that we have a signature event. So without much further ado, I'd like to bring up our two John Hancocks, Andy Bessette and Nathan Grub. You sit wherever you want. It's your event.

Hi, Andy.

ANDY BESSETTE: Chris Berman, I know you.

CHRIS BERMAN: I signed it too. Samuel Adams, I make beer. Nathan.

The one little trivia on John Hancock, you know why his signature was so big? Some know, right? He said this. I wasn't there either. I'm going to go with it. "So the King of England can read it without his glasses." So I thought that was -- you can take that away. Now we're going to go golf.

ANDY BESSETTE: I was going to say that he probably couldn't see.

CHRIS BERMAN: The King couldn't see. He couldn't see what was coming down the turnpike.

ANDY BESSETTE: Got it, yeah.

CHRIS BERMAN: He couldn't see at all. Andy, let's start with 20 years Travelers. We all remember when hastily put together a press conference on the lawn of Travelers, and Tim Fincham, the Commissioner then, We're back in the golf business. We're hosting a PGA. The Greater Hartford Open lives on. The Greater Hartford Open lives on as the Travelers Championship. It's 20 years. What are the most important things to Travelers to put this on year after year and elevate it, elevate it, elevate?

ANDY BESSETTE: Boy, that's a loaded question.

CHRIS BERMAN: Take your time.

ANDY BESSETTE: We were a lot younger then too. Still, Nathan is, like -- first, we said it was like brothers then we went to father and son. I'm not sure where we're going next, but we've had a long relationship for a long time. It started back, Nathan, right in '05, '06 when we were thinking about doing this.

The reason the Travelers Championship is so important for us is that the corporation, the Travelers company, it's so important to us to be a part of the community. It's so important for us to give back to charities and give back to organizations that need help.

That is what the Travelers Championship brought to us. It gives us a charity element. It gives us a community element, and it gives us an element for our brand, which is great with the red umbrella.

I always say to people, you know, I see the red umbrella, I always see a different piece of it. I see a big red heart, because the heart of the Travelers and the heart of our employees is so, so important.

You know, last year as a company, we gave over $24 million, $24 million, to different organizations around the country, and our volunteer hours of our employees was over 125,000 hours of volunteerism.

So our team, our Travelers team of 30,000-plus employees, gives back in so many ways, and that is just the ethos of what the Travelers Championship is.

It was a perfect fit for us as a company, and a perfect fit for us as a tournament.

CHRIS BERMAN: And $4 million last year, which was a record back in the area.

ANDY BESSETTE: Yep. And to over 245 different organizations, which is terrific as well. I think the first year, Nathan, we started at $200,000?

NATHAN GRUBE: We just cracked $200,000, yeah.

ANDY BESSETTE: Just cracked it. So to go from $200,000 20 years ago to $4 million now, and it will continue to keep growing. And we've got a lot of great partners on the charity side. The Webster Bank has great to be our Birdies For Charity partners. This year we have added Aetna to be a big partner for our Birdies for Charities program. That's where we match the 15% to all the monies donated.

To have Webster and Aetna part of that in the community is so, so, so important, because this is a team effort. The only way this works is to have a lot of different companies, a lot of organizations involved in making it, and to have it supported by our fans and supported by the players. The players -- Brian Rolapp who is the new CEO of the PGA TOUR says to me -- he says a lot of things to me -- but what he always keeps saying is that the players, the players' wives, the players' kids, the players' families love the Travelers Championship, and they wouldn't go anywhere else without the Travelers Championship.

My last funny story, and I'll be quiet, is Scottie Scheffler's wife, Meredith, is tremendous. I love her. She's great. They just had their second child. She said to me last year, oh, I don't know if Scottie ever knew this. Andy, you don't have to give him a penny. He will be here to play this tournament because I want to be here to be a part of this with the kids.

I think all of that is so, so important. To hear that from a wife of the No. 1 player in the world is special. It's really, really cool. That's what we do. It's fun.

CHRIS BERMAN: Your best negotiator on that one. I'm sure we'll hear Keegan, who I can already see, we're waving at him, but Keegan is going to join us from Charlotte in a little bit. I'm sure Keegan will talk about what it means to the players and the wives and the caddies and the families, et cetera. He ought to know.

That's been a part of our DNA anyway. Volunteers back to the community even when it wasn't for $4 million, right, Nathan?

NATHAN GRUBE: Yeah.

CHRIS BERMAN: You were here before it was the Travelers. You started here when you were 10 years old.

NATHAN GRUBE: I was 11. Andy and I were talking about that. 20 years is unbelievable. The first two years before they got here were just very, very different, but when they came in and set the tone and the culture, I would say the last 20 years have been one year at a time.

I mean, we never looked, hey, four years, five years. It was literally how are we going to get better next year in every part of our business, and literally being with him just tearing apart every part of our business from the volunteers to the media to the golf course to the practice facility, the clubhouse.

I mean, you name the tangible steps that have been taken forward. That was one year at a time. None of that could have been bitten off at once. It was just every single year.

All of a sudden 20 years you've marched down this road of going, man, we have made some serious progress. I was just talking to Bill about this, that you look at the metrics now that we can measure with this event. You look at that 38 states have purchased tickets to the Travelers Championship. Different states with the ticket sales.

CHRIS BERMAN: Really?

NATHAN GRUBE: You look at volunteers and where they come from and how many different states they come from. You look at the charities and how many states we are giving to now. It's just not off the top, oh, we're New England's event. I can show you the date where ticket buyers -- this is New England's event, and to be that -- I mean, we were I think a really cool local event, and then we became a really cool state event; now we've become this regional event.

That's something that we take a ton of pride in, but it was every single year just pushing the envelope every single year, and it's been amazing to be a part of.

Andy, I've worked with him for 20 years. We've had people on our team. I mean, Tara (ph) and Kevin that I've worked with for 20 years, like you been here - no offense - for more than 20 years.

CHRIS BERMAN: 21.

NATHAN GRUBE: Let's just say you have people that are willing to roll up their sleeves and actually take this thing forward every single year.

CHRIS BERMAN: You say year by year. What are some of the new things this year that we might -- the fans and everyone will see?

NATHAN GRUB: I kind of break this down into three buckets when you have the fan journey and the fan experience, which I would put our experience on property -- take hospitality out of it for a second, because I would put that up against any professional sport in the country.

Our fan experience, you walk up, kind of three buckets: health and wellness, where am I going to watch golf, and then what is my experience going to be like?

Health and wellness: We have first-aid stations. We have a hospital that's basically built on property. We have paramedics riding around on bikes taking care of people. We have family care stations where you can, you know -- infants when they come out, need attention, right, so we have several locations on property where parents and caregivers can go in family care station on property.

We have hydration stations where people bring their bottles in. They can fill up free water at these beautiful locations to stay hydrated. Free sunscreen everywhere. We have cooling benches all over the property, because we're in the summer. So you kind of look at the health and wellness piece, we have enhanced taking care of you on property.

Then you go to the viewing experience. We have free venues still on property. Now, these are corporate partners who have said the fans are important to us, we want to subsidize and pay for amazing viewing areas for the general fan.

Let's just start. Our friends from Hartford HealthCare here, they have one of the greatest spots down there on 15 where it's free, open to the fans. We have partners from Tree House Brewing Company that they have helped us build a viewing platform next to the 14 green, free to the fans. Our partners from Stanley, they have on 18 fareway, free to the fans. They built a practice facility experience. Huge boards at the practice facility. Trackman tracing every shot. Free to the fans.

We have a venue on eighth green where fans can put headphones on and listen to the conversation of the caddies and the players on the tee box before they hit the shot. It is one of the coolest experiences to actually listen. It's not bleeped, so be careful what you may or may not hear, but the conversation --

CHRIS BERMAN: Before the shot, though, right?

NATHAN GRUB: Before the shot, yeah. It's fascinating. You have the health and wellness. You have the viewing, and then you have the general experience, right?

People get on property from the gate. Peggy is here from the Travelers team. You are getting lip balm, sunglasses all free, welcome to the Travelers Championship.

If you can't get around the property, there's golf carts that can help take you around. On the event lawn back here we have the event lawn eatery now with lobster rolls and ice cream. We have the food trucks out on five.

Something new we have this year that the team has been working incredibly hard on is a way finding system now. Our team is going to chuckle. It has not been a light lift, but to create on property now, the fans are going to be able to walk around, have a completely interactive map, see where the players are. Oh, Scottie is over here. Oh, Xander is here. Great. Now, how do I get to the food trucks on five? It literally is a map situation that will walk you around. The technology is there.

I would put our -- you didn't expect an answer that long, so I'm really sorry.

ANDY BESSETTE: And the food.

NATHAN GRUB: And the food.

ANDY BESSETTE: The food is great.

NATHAN GRUB: I would put our experience up against -- I used to say I thought we were one of the best golf tournaments in the country. I would put us up against any sporting event in the country about how we take care of the fan on property. So it's obviously something we're passionate about.

CHRIS BERMAN: Hearing them on eight, that's interesting as hell.

Different TV network this year, Andy. NBC, not CBS. Look, Jim Nance and CBS, they love this. Explain what NBC has said. Okay, we're coming from the U.S. Open, but we're coming to you. It's a ferry ride. It's not a plane ride. So that's helpful. Explain what they've told you guys that they will try to do, if there's anything new or how they want to cover it in a different way. Not that anything bad about CBS. I would never say that.

ANDY BESSETTE: No, we had a very good parting with CBS. Dave Pearson who runs CBS Sports is a phenomenal friend, and I've talked to Jim since then and Amanda Balance. Everyone understands it. This is like the NFL, the NBA, whatever it is. This is the PGA TOUR. They have to do what's best for the business, but I have to tell you. Rick Cardella, the CEO at NBC Sports and his team, Sam Flood and --

CHRIS BERMAN: Tommy Wright, producer.

ANDY BESSETTE: Phenomenal.

CHRIS BERMAN: Great.

ANDY BESSETTE: They've been nothing but great partners. Alan Schnitzer, our Chairman and CEO, and I met with them in New York early on, and they were phenomenal.

They said to us -- I said, why do you want us to badly? We were only event that they picked up this year. Only one. I said, Why do you want us? They said, We want you because we're a Connecticut-based company, NBC Sports down in Stanford, and your Travelers is a Connecticut company. We want to be with you. Wow, that's pretty powerful.

I said, So, what are we going to do? So he went on for an hour with his team telling us about all of the way they're going to broadcast. Tommy Wright who is the executive producer is phenomenal. I talked to him a bunch of times, and Nathan has worked with him. He's just great. We're going to get shout-outs in sporting events leading up to the Travelers championship, probably two or three weeks before, and bringing it to life in basketball, bringing it to life in horseracing, bringing it to life in all kinds of sports other than golf, but also at the U.S. Open.

I think that we're going see a very different television broadcast theory and approach to it with NBC, and right now I see nothing but them picking it up and the greatness that CBS was with us for 19 years, NBC will be great with us going forward.

CHRIS BERMAN: It will be fun. Tommy Wright is great. CBS and NBC, they love their golf. They'll love this. They'll love it. They'll love seeing it here. They'll like seeing the Connecticut river from up high. It's always a good view.

ANDY BESSETTE: Yeah.

CHRIS BERMAN: So Tuesday before we tee off, so the Tuesday after Father's Day, right after the U.S. Open, Brian Rolapp who is -- I guess he's on the commissioner. He's the CEO of the PGA. I kind of looked at that twice, but that's okay.

ANDY BESSETTE: That's what they say.

CHRIS BERMAN: It's a big one. He's going to give an address right here and really address a lot of 2027, at least as far as we know. I'll start with Andy, but you too, Nathan. What are you hoping to hear? We still have six or seven weeks, right? What are you hoping to hear?

ANDY BESSETTE: Listen, I think that Brian has been a great partner so far, really great. To do the second press conference after The PLAYERS to announce more progress being made with what the PGA TOUR would look like here is phenomenal. We're going to have over 150 -- over 150 media here with us in this room during that press conference, and it's going to be spectacular.

What do I want to hear? I just want to hear where we're going and how we're going to do it. Brian has assured me that we hold a place in the heart of the PGA TOUR, we hold a place in the heart of the players, of the fans, and we're here, we're not going anywhere. So that's reassuring.

It will be interesting to see if they address the LIV piece. It will be interesting to see how they address the tournaments going forward. There's a thousand details to get this thing put together, and every time I see him, I say, okay, what kind of progress have you made? He says, well, we're getting there. So it's slow. It takes a lot of work.

NATHAN GRUBE: What would I hope to hear? I guess I would hope to hear what I've already heard. I'm going to kind of answer that in a funny way. What I wanted to hear was what I already heard. The players are incredibly supportive of this event. We're still the only tournament that has been voted as the players' choice award two times. No other tournament has had that. I want to hear how they look at us. I just want to know the metrics and how they measure us.

When I hear, hey, we're looking at your charity and you guys are growing. We're looking at your market penetration and you guys are selling. We're looking where the ticket buyers are coming from. We're looking at the revenue generation that you're able to produce. We're looking at how you're representing our brand in New England.

When I say what I hope to hear, I hope to hear all the things that I've heard. Hey, you guys are doing what we asked to you do. To Andy's point, you're a great partner with the PGA TOUR, you're a great partner with the players. I think we're doing everything we can do to be in the best position we can be in. We're looking forward to Brian being on the stage saying the same stuff.

CHRIS BERMAN: He's still waiting to hear on LIV has been in the news, and maybe someday we'll see some of those guys, like Bryson and Jon Rahm, just to mention two who you know. It seems like they've been gone a long time, but then again, it's not that long. It sounds like the light beer adds before you were born, great taste, less filling.

NATHAN GRUBE: I technically was around.

ANDY BESSETTE: The best part about that is every year at the Masters we see Patrick Reed, we see Bryson DeChambeau, we see Brooks Koepka, and we see Jon Rahm, and I give them all a hug, and I say to them, whenever the TOUR, the rules allow you to be back, we want you back.

They all say, you're the first tournament we'll be back to.

So you know what, I think maintaining relationships with players is really, really important, as we do with all the PGA TOUR players, and it has been with LIV as it's evolved, and we'll see where this all goes. It will be exciting.

CHRIS BERMAN: We'll see. Brian will say what he says. We're hoping to hear some good things.

Listen, I could keep you guys up here all day, but I'm looking at this trophy right here, and I don't see John Hancock or John Adams, but I see Keegan Bradley. Ready for Keegan here? Oh, we have another minute.

As a former disk jockey in Rhode Island in 1977 and '78, I was going to finish reading the weather right on time for the first note to hit. I spun 45s. I am that old, not guns, these are records.

I thought that I had timed that. How are sales? Through the roof, ticket sales? 38 states, I got that.

ANDY BESSETTE: I was going to say we set records last year. Our charity record -- like the charity dollars come from somewhere. It comes from the corporate community, investing in the event. It comes from fans buying tickets. The fact that that has continually gone up every single year, it's a testament to the relationship we have with the fans. People are buying tickets more than they ever have, and that translates into everything I mentioned before.

We have a very open relationship with our ticket buyers. What do you want to see? Starts with they want to see the best players in the world. Like every top answer is we want to see the best players in the world. Travelers has delivered that. They've made the investment. They have done what it takes to be a signature event.

So it's like once you go past that, the fans say, oh, I love this. How about parking here? What about rest rooms here? How about this? If you deliver on that, they will support you. That's what we have seen, the steady growth of those, and we're on pace to -- I mean, I say it. We're on pace to break another record for our region, for our community.

NATHAN GRUBE: I would just add too to have Keegan Bradley as our champion two of the last three years, you don't understand that. That is so, so important to have him.

(Interruption.)

That's a big deal. Every time I see a young player come up in the PGA TOUR -- and we've given a lot of exemptions to a lot of young players -- I love -- if you ask me the one thing I love about the Travelers Championship, the Keegan Bradleys, little kid dreaming when he was 5 years old or 10, whatever you were, Keegan, but I think that's so, so important in giving exemptions to the kids coming up to get them into the PGA TOUR. It's so, so, so, so important.

I love, I love the young player piece to this thing getting him into this, but I love having Keegan as our champion and having him dream as a kid of being here and winning it two of the last three years. It's phenomenal stuff.

CHRIS BERMAN: He's with us now. Tell you what, you can tell that the fingerprints haven't been on the last time they put Keegan's name on there that much. That's like jumping off the page right there. I don't know if Keegan can see that there. Can we zero in on this trophy?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, I can see it.

ANDY BESSETTE: We're leaving.

CHRIS BERMAN: You're going to come back, but we're going to hang out with Keegan. What do you want to do? You can eat the Keegan Bradley M&Ms that are on every table.

Nathan Grube, Andy Bessette, you'll be back. Like MacArthur, you shall return.

(Applause.)

Joining us from Charlotte at the Truist. Next week is the PGA. But soon thereafter is the Travelers Championship. Can you see the trophy here, Keegan, with me?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yes, I can. It looks great.

CHRIS BERMAN: They spelled your name right. It's buffed. It looks nice. By the way, you and I are setting a record here because I think this is our sixth interview in 36 months.

You were nice enough to do a Massachusetts event both last year, which you were unbelievably gracious, and a couple years before that up at TPC in Boston. Of course we've done this.

I didn't interview Billy Casper like nine times after he won, so this is a new record. I know that means a lot to you. I'm kidding.

Welcome home, even though you're in Charlotte. You see your name on it. You think back. You've been through a lot this last year. What does it mean now -- I could see it on the smile. What does it mean -- a lot of media here today.

Tell us what it means to you to be now one of eight that's won this two or more times?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: For me, I really take representing New England very seriously in terms of golf. There's not a lot of us out there. So I feel an obligation to the region but also to the younger players to show them that this is possible growing up in that area.

First PGA TOUR event I ever went to as the Travelers. Already a crazed golfer and had kicked it into hyperdrive being there. My dream, I got my PGA TOUR card, the first thought was, wow, I get to play in the Travelers, the tournament I always dreamt to play in.

Then as the years went on, I actually really sort of struggled there because I wanted to play well so bad. I learned how to manage that sort of pressure. Now it's turned into one of my better -- best events that I play in. To be the champion of Travelers means everything to me. It truly does.

CHRIS BERMAN: To get the smile even larger, let's look at some of your Sunday. We'll look at it together, and everybody will look at it here. We have a little video from when you came thundering from behind.

(Video played).

You're smiling. Why wouldn't you?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: That was awesome.

CHRIS BERMAN: Look, you've won many times. You've won PGA. You've won BMW. Do you ever channel Keegan that -- not like you're standing over a putt at Augusta. I don't mean that. But does that come into your mind like, hey, I did this, I can do this? Well, of course you can do this. Does that ever creep in while you're playing a round or maybe waiting on a tee?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, I think, when you do perform at the highest level when it matters, it sticks with you. When you need to hit the shot and you hit the shot in that moment, no matter when it is -- it might be to win a tournament. It might be to make the cut on Friday. It might be a tough shot on Sunday to finish 5th instead of 12th, it sticks with you, and you really can look within and go, okay, when the lights are at its brightest, I can handle this.

The key is to put yourself in those positions. I felt at Travelers this year it all happened quickly, but I kept hanging around, hanging around. Then when I made that putt on 15 -- everyone points to the shot in on 18, but that putt in on 15 was the one that really had to go in. That was the one that sort of started to switch the momentum.

CHRIS BERMAN: A 64-footer on 9 didn't hurt either, right?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: That was a bonus. I didn't expect that one to go in.

CHRIS BERMAN: Did you -- I think we talked about this, my friend, a couple years ago too, but maybe at the trophy ceremony, when you see yourself teeing off on a Friday or Thursday, do you see yourself that came down maybe with Aunt Pat from Vermont? Do you maybe do maybe look in the gallery almost looking for you? I know that sounds trite, but do you ever look around and see kids and go, that was me?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: I do. It's really strange because even though I've been out here playing for this is my 16th year, I still feel new to this. I feel -- like I went -- when I came to Travelers, I watched David Duval play, and I watched him from his warmup to when the range was up by the clubhouse. I watched his warmup, all the way his entire round, and then after the round, and it really changed me as a player.

I do think about I need to be a good role model for the kids in the crowd that are coming from Vermont or Maine or Boston that are coming down to see. This is their one chance to see PGA TOUR golf, and I want to represent them in the right way.

I do feel that, and I feel a real sense of pride to be the winner there and then also be from where I'm from.

CHRIS BERMAN: We feel a sense of pride giving back here as well. You know that's the case. Do you feel -- we talked about it earlier with Andy and Nathan. Again, from the players standpoint, what makes the Travelers so special? From the players to the caddies, et cetera? Put it into words. I don't know if you enjoy being -- I don't know if you're the host, but you kind of are. This is New England and this is where I live.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: I think what the Travelers does so well is we're normally coming off the U.S. Open, and we're just mentally fried. What the Travelers does is they create this hometown feel of an event. It almost feels like you're playing a tournament in your backyard and they create this relaxed atmosphere.

What they do is they incorporate the families of the players so well. On Thursday evening they set up a sort of fake Fenway Park, and we have a Wiffle ball game with the kids, and our kids talk about it for months beforehand.

This is a major event in our year. The tournament, the golf is second, and the wiffle ball game is first, stuff like that.

It's really fun for us players to sort of have that moment of just a bit of a pressure release of like, okay, there's our kids playing Wiffle ball with the green monster. There's a hundred different examples of that.

Another example I have from last year was my son Logan, who's 8, is a big golfer. He really wanted to play golf. And Travelers has a person that can take the kids down to the little par-3 course by the range and took him down there for like two hours. What that does for our families too is it creates a fun time for the kids.

So the golf travel -- golf can be weird for kids. It takes their dad away. What it does is it creates this fun atmosphere for them to sort of enjoy the game and enjoy the PGA TOUR, and it means a lot to us players.

CHRIS BERMAN: Speaking of your boys, where are those little trophies that they have? Have they dented yet? Are they in a special place? Where are they?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Now we've got a whole -- we've got a ton of them now after winning it twice. We have them. We were just looking at them just the other day --

CHRIS BERMAN: It's a good problem to have.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: The Easter bunny likes to hide eggs in these trophies, stuff like that. It's really cool for the kids to get trophies, they love it so much. Such a small thing that the Travelers does, but it makes a huge impact on our boys.

CHRIS BERMAN: We'll take some questions here, and I've got a couple more. You touched on one thing that's interesting golf-wise. You come from the U.S. Open, which last year was Oakmont, where if it's a harder course, please tell me what it is. Shinnecock might be right behind it. I mean, any U.S. Open course speaks for itself.

How do you -- any of the golfers, but you, you're able to turn the screw in your mind from not got to make a birdie every hole, because you do that and that never works. At least for us. That's why you're a professional and we're not.

But how do you in three days go, okay, this is different where pars in the U.S. Open may be one of the best holes you played by making a par. How is that -- do players relish in that? Yeah, it's more fun, but it's a different mindset. How do you go about doing that?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, it's definitely different. In some cases I find, when the scores are really low, to in some ways be tougher because you have to -- you have one bad nine holes, and you can't win the tournament. But you come in, and again, like the atmosphere is different. The crowds are different. The person, the security guard at the front gate, at the front door of the clubhouse is softer. There's just something. They've created an atmosphere around the tournament that lets us all take a deep breath.

I think to go out -- certainly Travelers is playing so much tougher now. They've made a lot of changes that make it tougher. I wouldn't call it -- they're some of the most terrifying shots. The 13th hole is my toughest tee shot of the year. There's certainly a lot of really difficult tee shots and stuff out there.

You know, it's fun to get away from the intensity.

CHRIS BERMAN: I'll wait until we get Keegan back.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: We're back.

CHRIS BERMAN: Nice job, pal. You tell me the new tee, which you use a couple times up way high on 17, even though the angle is, quote, better, it makes you more nervous. Tell us how you mean that. I mean, there's water 300 yards on the right.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Honestly, for me almost every tee shot on the back side is just brutal. When I get to 13 --

CHRIS BERMAN: Us too.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: 13 is one like when you're laying in bed at night and you're thinking about the next day, you're thinking about 13. Whenever I'm in the final round and I've got a chance to win and I can check that one off my list, it's like, oof, okay, I don't have to hit that again.

Then when you get to 17, you're just so elevated. Fairway is so little down there. If you miss it in the left rough, you might as well have hit it in the water. You've got to chip it down. This is what makes this golf course so spectacular, because literally every hole on the back side is a birdie hole, but they're also water and junk everywhere, and you can make doubles in a second.

CHRIS BERMAN: We know that.

(Laughter).

BIP, ball in pocket today, little aside. Keegan, I have a theory -- we're not going to go back to -- because you were so gracious in October. You're starting to come on now. Masters good. Hilton Head really good. You're coming. You feel it. Not because we're coming up, but you feel it. I wonder -- although I'm going to give you my theory, and you're going to like it.

The start of the year was not what you had wanted. Look, you'd just come off Ryder Cup where you guys had a helluva Sunday, but it wasn't quite. You said even yourself it's going to take me a long time. Nobody expects anybody to get over it. I feel you were more engrossed by the Patriots and being in the playoffs in January that you really couldn't concentrate on all the putts and the shots that you need.

Is that the right theory for the beginning of the year? You like that?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: That's exactly right. I couldn't focus on anything else but Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel and Robert Kraft.

CHRIS BERMAN: I figured. They were focused on you while you were here too. Correct me if I'm wrong, the PGA next week -- I know you're trying to win this one where you are, but Aronimink, and that was a BMW, right, that you won? Now that's a little while ago, but you guys don't play it that much. So when the PGA is there next week, does that give you any advantage or any confidence, or it's so long ago and they've made changes that that's really not a factor?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: No, it definitely does. You show up to Travelers. You show up to a place that you've won. It fits your eye better. And to be honest with you, Aronimink is very much like a New England northeast golf course. I mean, it's in Philly, so it is northeast. It's just like the courses that I grew up on that I love to play that I seem to do well at.

I like forward any time we get to play in the northeast. We play so little golf there now, it's really special. To play in a major up there is going to be really awesome.

CHRIS BERMAN: Philly fans know you're from the Boston area. They're not going to be -- they're different, huh?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: They are different.

CHRIS BERMAN: No comment. I can say it, they're different. They're great, but they're different. I might put the Patriot bag away for a minute, just for a minute.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: I'm going to.

CHRIS BERMAN: Do we have a couple questions?

Q. Keegan, soon you'll be 40. I was just wondering, what do you have to do to keep it going? A lot of golfers turn 40, and it's tougher to win then. How confident are you, and what do you have to do to keep contending?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: I think that most everybody that I came out on the TOUR with are gone now. So I'm proud to still be out here. I think I just have to keep working. I've never felt like I've had the talent to just rely on talent. I've always felt like I have to outwork everybody, and I felt like that when I grew up in New England with such a short season, I couldn't mess around in the summer. I had to maximize every second.

I think I still have that mentality. I still want to go out there and win tournaments. I really would like to have a chance to win another major. So that's in the back of my mind that I want to keep pressing forward.

I think it all comes down to just keep working as hard as you can. I know it's difficult, and the players are getting better and better. I know when I put myself in that position to win, I'm pretty comfortable there.

Q. Just want to ask you, I guess it's maybe a million dollar question, but what do you see as a pathway for the golfers who have left the PGA TOUR to come back and maybe be a part of this event among the rest in the future?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: I'm not involved in any of these decisions. I'm not involved, like they don't come to me and ask me that, what they think they should do. I certainly think that these guys are a big asset to the PGA TOUR and can come back and bring a lot to the TOUR.

But what we've learned over the years is the TOUR is going to survive, whether I play, Rory plays, it's just an incredible product. I hope someday we're all playing together again. I'm all for the guys coming back. I think that the people that are in charge have to come up with what does that mean? What do they have to do to come back? What does that penalty mean?

I think eventually, hopefully we'll all be playing together again, and the Travelers will just become an even bigger and better event.

Q. You have a son. You said his name is Logan, is that correct?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yes.

Q. He is how old?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: He's 8.

Q. Let's say under your tutoring he developed, won the U.S. Amateur, whatever, and could actually play on the TOUR. You know the pressure among competitors is so tough and it's just getting tougher and tougher. Would you encourage him, or would you say, hey, stay an amateur and do something else? I'm just wondering what your thoughts might be on that.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Actually, I think about that a lot because it is -- it's a weird -- the life of a PGA TOUR player is stressful. I don't go out there and ever play around that feels easy to me. Every round feels like a struggle. Being away from my family is getting to be really difficult. I kind of forget what it's like to have a normal life sometimes where, if I have an off week, I still feel like I have to practice a ton or I'm going to -- all these new players are going to beat me.

It's definitely I go back and forth of whether do I want them to keep at it because he loves playing golf and he loves having fun with it, but I kind of want to keep it fun. The last thing I want to do is to try to train him to be a PGA TOUR player. I don't want that for him.

But whatever he wants to do, whether it's golf, whether it's basketball, whatever, I want to help him pursue his hobbies. If that's golf, I'll definitely help him there. I hope he just has fun and enjoys his life in golf.

CHRIS BERMAN: He's already enjoying those trophies. He knows what it means to win.

Q. Keegan, good morning. I was just wondering how being from New England, you think, shaped you as a golfer and what advice you would give to young golfers from New England that want to be you one day or have that same path that you took?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: I think being from New England shapes us all in every part of life, whether it's sports, golf, business. I feel like we all sort of have a chip on our shoulder. I know for me especially in the golf world, growing up in Vermont, that's as big of an outsider as you can be.

I just felt like you have to be blue collar and work as hard as you can. Like I said earlier, I had a six-, seven, eight-month season. I had to maximize every day.

I think what really helped me was I moved to Florida after college and then I still had that mentality but I had 12 months out of the year. I improved rapidly after that. I still have that mentality.

When people from New England talk to me about golf, I say, listen, you've got to work harder than the people in Florida. That's just a fact. You have to maximize every single day, whether it's sunny out, raining out, November when it's freezing cold. You've still got to go out there.

I think, when you grow up in New England, you sort of have that built into you a little bit. I feel like I have this almost like superpower that was given to me from where I'm from. I really cherish that.

CHRIS BERMAN: Keegan, you didn't need to see the Ryder Cup from your vantage point to feel this way. You just talked about blue collar. I would say how much does that inspire you knowing Ryder Cup is next year, Presidents Cup is this year, but to make it as a player again, by being in it and now, okay, you're not removed from it, but you're (indiscernible). How much does that stick with you like, boy, I'd like to be a player one or two more times?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: It would be a pretty cool story, I would think.

CHRIS BERMAN: That's why I asked you.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: It's a weird thing because I -- it's such a weird thing to love something like the Ryder Cup as much as I do and have it kick the shit out of you your whole life. I think it would be really -- it's in the back of my mind. I've really had to take a step back a bit because this really hurt, this whole process, and I'm trying to get back to normal.

The last couple of months, I've actually felt a little more normal. I haven't had a Ryder Cup nightmare, dream I was having a couple times a week in a while, which is good.

It's in the back of my mind certainly. I would love to go out there. It would be fun to be alongside these guys in a Ryder Cup when the last Ryder Cup I played was with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and Furyk and Stricker, and now it's Cameron Young, Scheffler, Xander, Justin Thomas.

I'd really like to play alongside them. I really look up to these players. I told them this at the Ryder Cup. I'm much older than them, but I look up to each and every one of them. They're such good people, and they care about one another, where I feel like my generation didn't. They generally cheer for each other to do well and win. I never felt that.

I've learned a lot from them as people and players, and I would cherish that opportunity.

CHRIS BERMAN: Today you have a chance to cheer for us. We're going to bring Andy and Nathan up for one more thing. I've never seen a media assemblage like this. We've got a beautiful day today. You said you had sleepless nights over tee shots. What do you think we feel? What advice can you give to people going out there?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: I can't imagine the nightmares you're having before you play golf.

CHRIS BERMAN: You and I will discuss that off camera at some point.

Listen, we're so very proud of you. We have a date for three more interviews. That will make nine in 48 months, pal. I want to bring Andy back up. It's great to see you again. We'll be in touch. Listen, welcome home kind of virtual. Now here's Andy to say. Good to be with you.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Andy, what did you guys get me? It's tough to top the last gift.

ANDY BESSETTE: This is good. You know how hard it is to buy something, Keegan, for somebody who has everything, just to be clear. Three years ago, John Henry and Sam Kennedy, phenomenal guys, helped us get that chair from the original ballpark, from Fenway Park. It was phenomenal. Oh, my gosh. When Nathan and I looked at each other, and I said we've got to get something unique here. This has got to be really cool. Took us a while. Jillian tried to help. Ben, well, Ben tried to help, but he wasn't really helpful. So we just used our good sense.

We happen to have some connections. I don't know if Carter and Andy are there with you. We've got two things for you. Could have gotten you a fishing rod. Could have gotten you skis from Vermont, all kinds of stuff, but we didn't. So instead -- and I think these are really cool because it's the last generation. We got Bobby Orr to sign a jersey for you, which is he was so excited to sign it for you. He asked for a picture. He wants a picture of you with the jersey to hang in his room. This is great.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: It is. Oh, wow, that is so cool, my gosh.

(Applause.)

ANDY BESSETTE: If you could read the note at the bottom.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Wow, that is so incredible.

ANDY BESSETTE: He went to his closet to get this jersey. They call them sweaters. He went to get that sweater, and he said, this is the only one of this kind. I forget what it was from, but it was the special -- he said, I want Keegan to have this.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Wow, that is so special. Bobby Orr is, first off, one of the all time Mt. Rushmore of Boston athletes, but when you meet him, you think how can you meet a nicer person in your life? So this is the coolest thing ever. Thank you.

ANDY BESSETTE: That's one. We figured you need one other thing. This is when you run out of ideas again.

So we went to a very special guy called Julian Edelman, and Julian was able to help us get Tom Brady and Julian to sign a helmet for you.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Oh, man.

ANDY BESSETTE: I think -- it almost didn't make it.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Look at this. Oh, my goodness.

ANDY BESSETTE: It almost didn't make it to you because it got sideswiped by somebody called Andy. Aren't there so many good memories of those days when Julian Edelman --

KEEGAN BRADLEY: This is so special. I love this so much. I'm not going to show my son Logan because he's going to try to take it. I love this so much. Thank you.

ANDY BESSETTE: Thank you, Keegan. Congratulations.

(Applause.)

Congratulations and thank you for being such a great friend of our tournament, and being a great human being and Jillian and the boys. We couldn't ask for a better champion, defending champion 2 out of 3 years.

These gifts, as I was getting them, I'm thinking to myself, oh, I want one of those. Oh, I want one of those. Hey, congratulations. Play well this week. Play well next week. We'll see you in 47 days. 47 days, we'll see you back here.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Thank you. I'm so grateful to be the winner of Travelers. I'm really proud of what Travelers has done, how far the tournament has come, and what they do for the local community. I hear it all the time, the impact that you guys make. I'm incredibly proud to represent -- I feel like I represent the tournament just because of where I'm from. I'm just so proud to be the champion of this event. I can't wait to get back.

CHRIS BERMAN: Thanks for your time, Keegan.

NATHAN GRUBE: I'm supposed to close it out. How do I follow that?

ANDY BESSETTE: Just to be clear, what I said to Nathan because I'm not that egotistical, I said, you should come up with us. He said, no, they couldn't fit you and Chris in the same frame and get me.

NATHAN GRUBE: That's not what I said!

CHRIS BERMAN: I'm going to get to the bottom of that.

NATHAN GRUBE: Typical Andy, that's not quite the entire truth.

I just wanted to say obviously kind of what happened with Keegan, you can tell we care about our champions, we care about our fans, and we obviously care about you. You tell the stories. You paint the picture. You create the environment that people get to enjoy what we do out there.

Thank you for being here today. Let us know if we can do anything. Enjoy the golf.

CHRIS BERMAN: Talk about the early commitments. Say a few of the commitments in case people missed them.

NATHAN GRUBE: In case you missed it, Keegan committed. Who's committed already? Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood. I'm trying to think. Getting early commitments is so hard. Xander. Justin Thomas, Cam Young, who I think is going to win every time he puts a peg in the ground apparently.

We're a signature event. It's going to be the field that you would expect us to have. Thank you for being here. Thank you for telling the story. Enjoy the day. Please ask us any questions. Thanks for being here.