U.S. Open Winner Justin Rose to Play In Travelers Championship

Editor's Note: This article was posted by Daniel DeBlasio, it was written by Tim Jensen. 

The annual PGA Tour stop in Connecticut kicked off Monday with a major announcement that had tournament officials breathing a sigh of relief.

Justin Rose, who captured his first major championship by winning the U.S. Open Sunday, was an early commitment to the Travelers Championship, and squelched fears that he would withdraw from the tournament by having his wife call tournament director Nathan Grube Sunday night with the news that he would appear in Cromwell this week.

Historically, winners of major championships have been known to take the following week off due to a demanding schedule that comes with the prize of winning such a high-profile event. Cromwell felt that effect most notably in 2003, when Ben Curtis decided to skip the tournament after capturing the British Open.

With the TPC River Highlands just a four-hour drive from suburban Philadelphia, where the U.S. Open was held, Rose decided to honor his intention to play in the Travelers.

EVents got under way Monday morning with the official opening ceremony, presided over by Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. That was followed by the Aetna Tournament Players Pro-Am.

The Monday pro-am normally consists of little-known PGA Tour players and very few notables, with the top players and celebrities teeing off in Wednesday's pro-am. However, this year's event featured Tony Award-winning actor James Naughton and UConn women's basketball associate head coach Chris Dailey, as well as two-time major title winner John Daly and Glastonbury's Tim Petrovic.

Naughton, who will also play in Wednesday's pro-am (as will Dailey), said he is excited about an upcoming television series in which he co-stars.

"I will be in a series called 'Hostage' on CBS," Naughton said. "We did a pilot in March and CBS picked it up for the fall. I play alongside great actors like Toni Collette, Tate Donovan and Dylan McDermott."

The official tournament competition runs Thursday through Sunday; the winner will pocket $1.08 million.