Cromwell, Conn. — Amateur Michael Thorbjornsen got another crack at being the hometown hero.
Last week, Thorbjornsen, 20, missed the cut at the U.S. Open in Brookline, Massachusetts, just minutes from his hometown. Though he’s a bit farther from home this week at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, he still gave the New England fans someone to rally behind after a third-round 66 has him T-7, five shots off the lead.
“There was a good crowd cheering me on,” Thorbjornsen said after his round. “It’s been really nice. I think it’s definitely more so than any other event would be because I’m only an hour away from my hometown. It’s been really nice.”
Thorbjornsen took some lessons from the U.S. Open to the Travelers, which he’s used to play himself into contention.
“I was saying earlier how Collin [Morikawa], I played a practice round with him,” Thorbjornsen said. “I was trying to pick his brain a little bit on like how to be so good and he said to really try and do whatever it takes to be comfortable out there and understand that it’s just another round of golf — that everyone’s human, basically. Those guys are just really good. Try and forget about that and just play your game.”
And that’s exactly what Thorbjornsen did. He fought the nerves and is higher on the leaderboard than Rory McIlroy, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and many other notable names.
Full-field scores from Travelers Championship
Tomorrow, playing his first Sunday ever on the PGA Tour, he said, “it’s going to be pretty cool to watch how [all the players] approach the scores.”
However, there’s no pressure tomorrow. Thorbjornsen is just going to play his game and see what happens.
“I’m not getting paid either way, so it’s just another tournament for me,” he said, “it’s just one more round of golf, just trying to again, do the same thing I did today. Focus on my swing, just like making sure I get to certain positions and I guess like not really having any regrets tomorrow.”