Travelers Championship 2013: Tee Times, Date and TV Schedule

The 2013 Travelers Championship immediately follows the golf season's second major but will nevertheless boast a strong field at TPC River Highlands on Thursday.

Defending tournament champion Marc Leishman became the third consecutive first-time winner in Cromwell, Conn. after a wonderful final-round 62 to beat out Charley Hoffman and Bubba Watson by one stroke.

Leishman was in contention at the Masters earlier this year before finishing in a tie for fourth, which helped him notch consecutive top 10s thereafter.

However, the focus is liable to be more prominent on recent U.S. Open champion Justin Rose, who has honored his commitment to play this week despite finally getting over the hump in notching the first major title of his career.

Speaking of major champions, Watson—the 2012 Masters winner—broke through for his first tour victory here in 2010, beating Corey Pavin and Scott Verplank in an emotionally stirring playoff.

Ironically, it was Rose who held the 54-hole lead by three strokes before unraveling, which set the stage for Watson to emerge with the trophy.

That intertwined history and many other star players should make for yet another captivating week on the PGA Tour. Let's take a look at when the action will get underway, along with TV listings and the marquee groupings to keep an eye on in the first two rounds.

Note: All statistics, video and previous tournament history, unless otherwise indicated, are courtesy of PGATour.com.

When: Thursday, June 20 to Sunday, June 23

Where: TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Conn.

Tee Times: First group is off at 6:50 a.m. ET. For a complete list of tee times for the first two rounds, visit PGATour.com.

Par: 70

Yards: 6,844

Purse: $6.1 million

FedEx Cup Points: 500

TV Schedule (h/t PGA.com)

Thursday: Golf Channel 3-6 p.m. ET

Friday: Golf Channel 3-6 p.m. ET

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

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

Groups to Watch

No. 19: Harris English, Rickie Fowler and Hunter Mahan

It was English who won the week before the U.S. Open at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. That marked the first of two back-to-back runner-up finishes for Phil Mickelson, the latter of which (at Merion) was undoubtedly more heartbreaking.

Heralded as one of the best young talents in the game, the win boosted English to No. 85 in the Official World Golf Rankings. Nevertheless, his first win on tour should give him plenty of momentum entering here.

He ranks inside the top 20 on tour in scoring average before the cut, but his performance in 2013 dips quite a bit on the weekend. That's a trend English will have to reverse to be consistently in contention.

One of the other American prodigies with high expectations is Fowler, but English has already matched him in terms of victories on golf's top circuit. However, Fowler played very well in the U.S. Open, tying the best score of the week in Round 3 with a three-under 67 and finishing tied for 10th.

Even more prominently in contention was Mahan, who played in the final pairing alongside Mickelson this past Sunday. Unfortunately, after leading the field in putting entering the round, he failed to capitalize on any birdie chances, winding up with a round of 75 and in joint fourth place.

As last year's highlights show, though, Mahan fired a personal-best score of 61 in the final round and won his first PGA Tour event at this venue in 2007.

This trio enters in rather stellar form, so it will be interesting to monitor how each player gets up after feeling various rushes of intense competition so recently.

No. 32: Justin Rose, Keegan Bradley and Zach Johnson

Speaking of the notion described in the last full sentence, imagine what Rose has to be feeling.

After years of falling short on golf's grandest stages, he stood not far from where the legendary Ben Hogan hit his famed 1-iron shot to Merion's 18th green for his approach to the 72nd hole.

Rose, one of the world's best ball-strikers, striped a 4-iron so flush that it trickled to the back collar, nearly chipped in from there and tapped in for par to secure victory at the U.S. Open.

That was followed by this nice moment in the locker room that Rose sent out to the Twitterverse:

Even if the 32-year-old Englishman does have a letdown this week and doesn't play very well, his playing competitors can't make fun of him for not owning a major trophy. Bradley, the 2011 PGA champion, played terribly in Ardmore last week, missing the cut with scores of 77 and 75.

It was nearly the opposite for Johnson with regard to Bradley's scores. Johnson, who won the 2007 Masters, posted rounds of 74 and 77 respectively at the difficult course.

Only Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are ahead of Rose in the world rankings now, and he has a nice chance to close the gap with both of them idle this week.

No. 33: Marc Leishman, Jason Dufner and Bubba Watson

As if the other competitors aren't formidable enough for Leishman to negotiate, the two in closest proximity to him in the first 36 holes should make it even tougher.

It had been a slumping campaign for Dufner entering the U.S. Open. The frustration reached a boiling point during Round 2, where the typically cool-as-a-cucumber Dufner tossed his wedge into the water in front of the green at the par-five fourth hole.

In the final round, though, Dufner showed signs of life, rattling off six birdies to shoot 67, finishing in a tie for fourth.

The only shots Dufner lost that Sunday happened on one hole—a triple bogey at the narrow par-four 15th. If he had parred and his scorecard had stayed the same, he would have posted plus-two, which would have made the finish far more compelling as well as nerve-wracking for Rose.

Leishman hasn't finished inside the top 40 in his past three starts and missed the cut with a 13-over total in two rounds at the recent major championship.

While he tries to battle back into form, he'll also be dealing with Watson, who obviously loves this course, evidenced by his win in 2010 and tie for second last year.

2012 Ryder Cup teammates Dufner and Watson have one top 10 apiece in stroke play events this year, so perhaps change for the good is on the horizon in Connecticut.