BMW International Open
TOMMY Fleetwood is looking forward to returning to action in Europe following his superb showing at the US Open.
The Southport player finished fourth at Erin Hills on Sunday, five shots behind winner Brooks Koepka, in his best major performance.
Fleetwood had gone into the final round just one shot off the lead and the experience could prove highly beneficial for the rest of his career.
The 26-year-old now returns to the European Tour, on which he has won twice, for this week's BMW International Open in Munich.
Fleetwood, who is second in the Race to Dubai standings, told www.europeantour.com: "It's always one of the best events of the year. I think I've played this every year since I've been on tour.
"It's a great course and in Germany you do get great crowds. Weather like this makes it even better.
"It's a great event and I think that shows in the players that you get coming over to play."
The field includes Masters champion Sergio Garcia, who will be making his first competitive appearance in Europe since his Augusta success in April, and last year's Open winner Henrik Stenson.
Stenson is also the defending champion in this event having triumphed in Cologne last year – a victory which provided the springboard for glory at Royal Troon.
Other notable players include Jose Maria Olazabal, Martin Kaymer, Bernd Wiesberger, Rafael Cabrera Bello and Ernie Els.
Garcia is looking forward to being welcomed onto the tee as Masters champion.
He said: "It's beautiful. It's a nice feeling when you hear it on the first tee. It's not easy to be able to get that and I am going to enjoy it as much as possible."
Travelers Championship
DEFENDING champion Russell Knox will head into the Travelers Championship hoping to kick-start his summer.
The Scot will return on Thursday to the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, where he holed a 12-foot par putt at the 18th to seal victory in 2016, having missed the cut at the US Open last week.
He will do so having endured a testing start to the year and desperate to rediscover the form which landed him his second PGA Tour victory.
He told www.pgatour.com: "I haven't played nearly as well as I expected to, but at the same time I almost expected it coming off last year, my best year as a pro by a long way.
"Maybe it was inevitable there was going to be a slight downward turn. But recently my game feels pretty good. The weekend in Memphis, I saw a lot of good things – Sunday, I really could have shot a great score, so that was comforting.
"Last week was disappointing, at the US Open, to miss the cut, but I really didn't play as badly as I scored.
"All I all I'm excited to be here and hopefully this year the Travelers Championship will kind of get me going and be a good kick-start to a big summer."
Knox may not make the headlines this week even if he prospers – indeed, some of his thunder was stolen last year in victory when Jim Furyk carded a final day 58 to set a new Tour record as he finished in a tie for fifth.
This time around he will have to compete for attention with Rory McIlroy, who will make his debut in the tournament, as well as a host of other big names.
The field for the 66th edition of the Travelers also includes Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Bubba Watson.
Knox and Watson will play with Australian Marc Leishman and tee off at 12.50pm local time, with Spieth among the following group.
But there are morning starts for England's Paul Casey and Ireland's Padraig Harrington, whose three-balls get under way at 7.40am.
Harrington will start at the 10th, where McIlroy, Furyk and Brian Harman are due to enter the fray 10 minutes later.
