The Loop

Maybe they can borrow the Travelers' umbrella

June 21, 2009

Travelers, the insurance company with the commercially ubiquitous large red umbrella, might want to loan its behemoth bumbershoot to the USGA so that it can finish its U.S. Open in time to keep from interfering with the Travelers Championship scheduled to begin on Thursday outside Hartford.

It will be curious to find out whether the weather already has had an adverse effect on the Travelers; will an already grueling week that has been exacerbated by the miserable conditions and extended into Monday (and possibly Tuesday) result in any of the 42 Open starters committed to playing the Travelers withdrawing from the latter?

The guess here is that it will, though to do so will require such players develop an injury. Fatigue is not an acceptable excuse for withdrawing from a tournament.

-- John Strege