West Suffield Golfer Seeks to Make Travelers Championship

ELLINGTON, CT — A golfer from West Suffield is hoping to qualify for this week's Travelers Championship, but 59 other players, including six former PGA TOUR champions, will be pursuing the same goal Monday at a qualifying tournament at Ellington Ridge Country Club.

Jason Thresher, 28, is among five players who currently reside in Hartford or Tolland counties looking to earn one of the final four spots in the Travelers, which runs Thursday through Sunday at the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell.

In the qualifier, Thresher is scheduled to start on the 10th tee at 8:30 a.m. Other local players in the field are John Flaherty of Glastonbury (8:50, 1st), Jordan Gosler of Manchester (8:50, 10th), John Martinchek of Vernon (8:20, 1st) and Monte Mullen of Farmington (8:40, 1st).

Heading the contingent of former PGA TOUR winners is Heath Slocum, a four-time champion who captured the 2009 Barclays Championship, the first event in the FedEx Cup playoffs. Two-time TOUR champions scheduled to compete are Frank Lickliter, who tied for fourth in the 1998 PGA Championship, and Len Mattiace, who lost a playoff to Mike Weir in the 2003 Masters. Other past champions are Arjun Atwal, Brendon Todd and Brett Wetterich, who played on the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2006.

Click here for the complete field and starting times for the qualifier.

Photo credit: Ellington Ridge Country Club