World class golf is always on display at the Travelers Championship. Each year, the stars come out for the second-most attended PGA Tour event annually. TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut is an intensely crafted, par-70 course that brings out the best in the competition. The playing field tends to lend itself to great shots but also unbelievable comebacks. Over the last decade, longer hitters have done well at the tournament with Bubba Watson winning three times since 2010. The Travelers Championship has been a highlight of the sport for 60 years and this time around is no different.

GETS Tickets FOR 2019 Travelers Championship

Just two years ago, Watson went on an incredible run and came home $1.2 million richer after posting an incredible 17-under score. This year the competition looks to be much tougher. With 155 other golfers, Watson will have a tough time defending his title at the course where he’s made a name for himself.

The Travelers Championship is frequently cited as one of the premier events on the PGA Tour. In fact, in 2002, the tournament set a record with 400,000 spectators coming out that week. The best golfers in the world attend the event for a reason.

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Fans can watch their favorite golfers tee off and send the ball soaring down the green or they can watch them approach a shot mere inches from the pin. The long hitters that call this event one of their favorites hit drives that seem as if they’ll never come down. This makes being there in person an experience you can’t replicate.

On Monday, June 17, for only $15 fans can attend the Travelers Championship practice. The same is true for Tuesday. However, on Wednesday, June 19, tickets jump up to $20 as it’s the day before competition begins. Tickets for Thursday’s competition start at $48 but jump up to $111. On Friday and Saturday, the event will cost you $55 each day. To see a winner crowned on Sunday, exect to pay anywhere from $55 to $198.

This is an absolute steal for a golf fan. To see the pros shine on one of the most impressive fields the PGA Tour can offer is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Get your tickets before they sell out.

GETS Tickets FOR 2019 Travelers Championship

The 2016 Travelers Championship, one of the final major events before the start of the FedEx Cup, is set to begin at TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Conn., on Thursday.

Travelers Championship 2016 Preview: TV Schedule, Prize Money, Power Rankings

After struggling at the PGA Championship in Baltusrol last weekend, Bubba Watson will seek to defend his title at the same site he earned his first PGA Tour victory. He’ll head out with fellow Olympic golfers Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar at 1:25 p.m.

Other featured groups include major championship winners Keegan Bradley, Ernie Els, and Louis Oosthuizen teeing off at 8:10 a.m. Thursday morning and Justin Thomas, Zach Johnson, and Jim Furyk heading out at 1:15 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

Here are the details of the tournament:

What: Travelers Championship

Where: TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, CT

When: Thursday-Sunday, Aug. 4-7

Purse: $6.6 million

Defending champion: Bubba Watson (-16 / Playoff)

TV Schedule:

Thursday: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

Friday: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

Saturday: 1-2:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. ET (CBS)

Sunday: 1-2:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel), 3-6:30 p.m. ET (CBS)

Here are 10 players to watch in this event:

1. Bubba Watson: Watson enters as the defending champ and clear No. 1. He recorded his first PGA Tour win here in 2010, added a runner-up in 2012 and a T-4 finish in 2013 before returning to the winner’s circle last year. He clearly enjoys his annual trip to TPC River Highlands.

2. Branden Grace: Grace followed a major by winning the next week earlier this year at the RBC Heritage, and he may pull off the feat again this time in Connecticut. Grace finished T-4 at the PGA, his third top-10 finish in his last five starts, and as Watson has shown in recent years, this is certainly a course where bombers can thrive.

3. Matt Kuchar: Kuchar made an early exit from Baltusrol, but he has still racked up six top-10 finishes in his last nine starts. His tee-to-green consistency should be rewarded at TPC River Highlands, where he finished T-8 back in 2012.

4. Ryan Moore: Moore has an affinity for this course like few others outside of the defending champ. His record here includes a pair of runner-ups and five finishes of T-7 or better in his last nine starts dating back to 2009. If you’re looking for a course horse, he’s your guy.

5. Brooks Koepka: If the ankle were healthy, he’d be much higher on this list. If it’s bothering him, he should be a little lower, so let’s split the difference and put him in the middle. Koepka gutted out a strong performance at Baltusrol, but the urgency to do so again might be mitigated by the fact that his Ryder Cup spot is now all but wrapped up.

6. Patrick Reed: While he faded on Sunday, Reed’s T-13 finish at Baltusrol continues his quiet, perhaps underrated season. He has now finished T-15 or better in five of his last eight starts and will look to bounce back from a pair of recent Travelers missed cuts by displaying the form that took him to a T-18 finish in 2013.

7. Zach Johnson: Any course that requires accuracy from short range should catch Johnson’s attention, as it did last year when he finished T-6. While he has yet to win this season, Johnson did put together four straight top-20 finishes before falling only slightly off that pace with a T-33 result last week.

8. Charley Hoffman: While Hoffman has cooled somewhat since his torrid spring that included a win in San Antonio, he tends to perk back up at this event. Hoffman was a runner-up here in 2012 and finished T-7 the following year, and his 4.95 birdies or eagles per round average here since 2010 is the best of any player.

9. Jon Rahm: Having already secured his Tour card for next season in short order, Rahm has his sights set on a breakthrough victory. The former Arizona State product has needed no time to adjust to life as a pro, following his T-3 finish at Congressional with a runner-up performance two weeks ago in Canada.

10. Brendan Steele: Steele is another player who tends to rise to the occasion at this event, with top-25 finishes in four of his five prior appearances. That stretch was highlighted by a T-5 finish in 2014 and Steele had a run of five top-20 finishes in seven starts before missing the cut at each of the last two majors.

Caption:PACIFIC PALISADES, CA – FEBRUARY 21: Bubba Watson tees off on the 12th hole during the final round of the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club on February 21, 2016 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

As the opening round of the 98th PGA Championship has been underway in Baltusrol, four Americans are in the top ten places.

American Jimmy Walker leads the way at 5-under 65. He birdied five of his first ten holes Not bad for someone who missed the cut in two of the last four PGA events. Walker is sitting ahead of fellow Americans Harris English and James Hahn by two strokes tied at fifth and Rickie Fowler by three tied for ninth.

Fowler started the day on the tenth hole and had four birdies and a bogey on the front nine. After the first nine holes Fowler was tied with Walker and American Brian Stuard. Stuard finished the day tied for 36th spot.

Australian golfer Scott Hend and American golfer Vaughn Taylor had the first birdie runs of the Championships. Both golfers birdied holes 13 – 15 all par 4s.

American Brooks Koepka finished his first round with 68, tied for ninth. He had to pull out of Bridgestone at the beginning of June due to a torn ligament in his right ankle. For the Championships he’s got tape and a brace to keep it secure as this will be his last major of the year. He had four birdies throughout the day and made an eagle on the 18th hole.

Sergio Garcia, Jordan Spieth and Bubba Watson combined had a total of two birdies on the first seven holes. A bit of a lackluster start for the trio. The birdies belonged to Garcia and Watson who both made them on the same, and second, hole to put Garcia and 1 under and Watson at 1 over. Garcia and Watson finish the day 1 over tied at 55th and Spieth finished the first day even tied at 36th.

Rory McIlroy started on the back nine and finished the day 4 over 70. Dustin Johnson finished 7 over 70, no doubt we will see better performances from these two in the coming days after Johnson won the U.S. Open in June.

German Martin Kaymer, who won his first major at the PGA Championship in 2010, gave Walker a run for first place on opening day. He started on the back nine and had four birdies over five holes to rest at 4 under. The second half of the course he bogeyed No. 2 leaving him and 3 under and he birdied the 17th and 18th hole.

The No. 4 golfer in the world has joined a list of the globe’s greatest athletes not attending the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

Rory McIlroy, who was slated to represent Ireland this summer in Rio, announced Wednesday that he will not be participating in the tournament.

“Even though the risk of infection from the Zika virus is considered low, it is a risk nonetheless, and a risk I am unwilling to take,” McIlroy’s statement read. “I trust the Irish people will understand my decision.”

Other notable golfer’s including Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Vijay Singh and Marc Leishman have also pulled out of the games in Rio.

It is a tough pill to swallow for the golfing world, which had lobbied for decades to return the sport to the Olympic Games after being absent from Olympic competition since 1904.

It could be an even bigger blow for the Emerald Isle.

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Ireland landed a huge piece when McIlroy, a native of Northern Ireland which, although independent, is part of the United Kingdom, pledged allegiance to Ireland over the opportunity to side with Great Britain’s Olympic squad.

Pairing McIlroy with two-time, British Open Champion Padraig Harrington, would have positioned the Irish well, heading into Rio.

The disappointment was palatable in a statement released by Ireland’s Olympic governing body, the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI).

“OCI is extremely disappointed not to be taking Rory with us to Rio,” the statement read. “Rory was set to be one of the big stars of Rio 2016, but now there is an opportunity for another Irish golfer to take up the chance to become an Olympian and participate in golf’s historic return to the Olympic Games after a 112-year absence.”

McIlroy, 27, had commented earlier this month that his concerns over the Zika virus had “eased,’ according to BBC, and he was looking forward to representing Ireland at the games.

What changed is unknown.

Rickie Fowler, ranked No. 6 in the world, is still undecided as to whether or not he will participate in the Rio Games for the U.S. side. Fowler’s absence could be an equally crippling blow to the Americans.

But there is hope. “Golf Boys” co-star Bubba Watson has stated his intention to compete in Rio on Monday, saying he was “100 percent committed.”

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The International Golf Federation released a statement in response to the news of McIlroy’s withdrawal, saying the IGF was disappointed with his decision but understood that “some players will have to weigh personally a unique set of circumstances as they contemplate their participation in golf’s historic return to the Olympic Games.”

Bubba Watson won his second Northern Trust Open in three years on Sunday, and revealed afterward that he passed a kidney stone earlier in the same week.

Bubba Watson Passes Kidney Stone Before Northern Trust Open Win

This is the second time Watson, 37, has passed a kidney stone in the last five years: the first time was in New Orleans, after he took a bathroom break on the 16th hole. This time, it happened between Pebble Beach and Riviera.

“So Sunday, I missed the cut at Pebble. And that Sunday morning playing with the kids, I had to go take a bathroom break and same thing: red liquid came out. I said, ‘This ain’t right,'” stated Watson.

“So we called the doctor, we called the tournament here. They set me up with a place. I landed on Monday morning, went, did a CT scan and 30 minutes after the CT scan, again, just downing water, thinking it’s going to be the same thing. Five years ago, he said there was one more in my system and obviously it decided this week. My baby came out, I guess. I’m already a head case, so my thoughts of seeing red liquids coming out, I thought I was dying, basically, without pain.”

Watson won the Open by one stroke over Adam Scott and Jason Kokrak. He recorded five birdies to post 15-under-par for the tournament. In the same busy week, Watson also filmed a cameo for his favorite show ‘Girl Meets World’ and attended the Saturday night Clippers-Warriors game, all in Los Angeles.

He also said he received a text message from Warriors star Steph Curry shortly before his tee time on Sunday, which said that he wants to teach Watson’s son Caleb how to shoot a basketball.

Caption:PACIFIC PALISADES, CA – FEBRUARY 21: Bubba Watson tees off on the 12th hole during the final round of the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club on February 21, 2016 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)