CBS reporter fires back at Twitter trolls mocking her Keegan Bradley interview after she called him a ‘hometown’ winner at Connecticut’s Travelers Championship – even though he grew up in Vermont
- Amanda Balionis Renner called the Travelers Bradley’s ‘hometown event’
- The tournament is played 159 miles south of his birthplace of Woodstock, VT
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Some critics – upset about a technicality – took issue with CBS Sports golf analyst Amanda Balionis Renner’s characterization of the Travelers Championship as a ‘hometown event’ for Keegan Bradley.
The Woodstock, Vermont native won his sixth PGA Tour event on Sunday after taking the title at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut – a suburb of the state capital of Hartford.
While Bradley’s birthplace is 159 miles north of the golf course, Renner still referred to the Travelers by the way many New Englanders view this tournament – as his local event.
That led to her asking Bradley on the 18th green, ‘What does it mean to be a winner at your hometown event?’
But some people jumped on that characterization as false – leading Renner to defend herself – and her interview – on Twitter.
Twitter critics hit out at CBS analyst Amanda Balionis Renner calling the Travelers Championship, played in Connecticut, a ‘hometown event’ for Vermont native Keegan Bradley
Bradley finally won the tournament he had been coming to as a child after 12 previous tries
The Woodstock, VT native took the trophy in the event played 159 miles south of his hometown
She quote tweeted one user who said he would ‘STRONGLY object’ to calling it Bradley’s ‘hometown event’.
‘Oookay everyone can calm down,’ Renner said. ‘This is the only regular PGA TOUR event in New England that comes every year.
‘Keegan has been coming here since he was 10-years-old and always considered it his home event because it was the closest to his home. Can we not just have nice things??’
If anyone had any doubts over the validity of Bradley’s feelings about this being a ‘hometown event’, they just simply had to watch – or attend – the Travelers any time within the last few years.
Bradley had always enjoyed a welcome reception at the tournament, which attracts people from across New England each year.
That was evident on Sunday as a large crowd followed the Vermonter – currently living in Massachusetts – around the hilly central Connecticut course and cheered him on to victory.
Bradley compared the atmosphere walking up the 18th green and the surrounding cauldron of fans to the environments seen at Fenway Park, Gillette Stadium, or TD Garden.
‘One of my favorite things about myself is where I’m from,’ Bradley told Mail Sport after his victory. ‘The bond that you have with people from New England is different than anywhere in the country I’ve ever been. I’m very proud.
New Englanders who flocked to the course cheered as one of their own took the title
He became the first player born in the region to win the Travelers since J.J. Henry in 2006
‘I’ve lived all over New England, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts… I’m very, very proud of where I come from. And I love every sports team in this area. So to hear the fans cheer for me like they would a sports team means a lot.’
Bradley set a tournament record for score to par on Sunday, having shot 23-under a week after missing the cut at the US Open.
At River Highlands, Bradley also set the tournament’s record for score across 36-holes and 54-holes.
It all led to him becoming the first New England-born player to win the tournament since 2006 – when the Fairfield, Connecticut-born, Ft. Worth, Texas-raised J.J. Henry captured the title.