After coming up short last weekend in his bid to win a third straight US Open championship, Brooks Koepka returns to action Thursday as a strong +750 favorite on the odds to win the Travelers Championship at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Koepka finished three strokes back of Gary Woodland last weekend at Pebble Beach as a +900 co-favorite, and now has finished among the top four golfers in four of six PGA Tour appearances going into opening-round betting action of the 2019 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. this week.
The 29-year-old American has emerged as a dominant force on the PGA Tour during his rise to No. 1 on the World Golf Rankings, finishing in the top two in six of his past nine major tournament appearances including four victories, but he has finished no better than ninth in three previous appearances at this event.
Patrick Cantlay sits second to Koepka on the Travelers Championship odds at +1000, ahead of Jordan Spieth at +1600, while Justin Thomas joins Paul Casey at +1800 at sports betting sites.
Cantlay is enjoying a breakthrough season on the PGA Tour. The 27-year-old has posted top-10 finishes on eight occasions this season, including a victory at the Memorial Tournament earlier this month while sporting +1600 odds. However, he is coming off his weakest performance of the season in stroke play, a 21st-place finish at the US Open as a +1800 bet.
Spieth’s season-long struggles continued last weekend at Pebble Beach, as the 25-year-old Texan closed out the US Open by shooting a 76 to finish a disappointing 65th while listed as a +2200 wager on the golf odds. Spieth now has failed to record a tournament victory since a win at the Open Championship two years ago, but has enjoyed past success at the Travelers Championship, earning the win at this event in 2017.
Thomas also has struggled on the PGA Tour of late, missing the cut at both the Memorial and the US Open, and finishing better than 20th just once in his past seven outings.
Casey has struggled as well since earning his lone win of the season at the Valspar Championship as a lengthy +2200 bet. The 41-year-old Englishman came up short as a strong -1100 bet to make the cut at the Masters, before failing to crack the top 20 at both the PGA Championship and the US Open. However, Casey has twice finished second at this event, last year and in 2015.
Further down the Travelers Championship odds, Francesco Molinari joins Jason Day at +2000, ahead of Bryson Dechambeau at +2500, while defending champion Bubba Watson sits alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Marc Leishman at +2800.
