Last week, there was a whole bunch of money on the line in the US Open, and there won’t be any kind of dropoff this week at the Travelers Championship, the PGA Tour’s lone New England stop on the calendar.
There’s no rest for the weary, as the world’s best golfers will make their way across the country to TPC River Highlands at Cromwell, Conn., just outside of Hartford for the Tour’s final non-major, non-playoff designated event of the season. It’s a well-deserved nod for the Travelers, a tournament that has become one of the favorites for players on Tour despite its annual placement right behind the season’s third major.
The Travelers Championship has impressive fields just about every year, but this is undoubtedly the best in the tournament’s history because of that designated event distinction. There is a $20 million purse up for grabs this week, with $3.6 million going to the winner. To compare, that’s the same exact purse and winner payout we saw last week for the US Open in Los Angeles where Wyndham Clark took home his first major championship.
So, with that sort of money on the line, it’s no surprise to see a star-studded field in Connecticut. Last week’s OWGR field rating was just north of 421; this week, for the Travelers, it’s 401 with eight of the top 10 players in the world teeing it up.
This should be a lot of fun, and there’s obviously no shortage of betting options. We dived into the course earlier this week, so let’s get into this tournament a little bit more from a betting perspective.
Here?s a quick breakdown of the course plus a pick to win at each ?tier? of the betting board.
TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP
TPC River Highlands (Cromwell, Conn.)
Par: 70
Yardage: 6.841 yards
Architect: Pete Dye
Defending champion: Xander Schauffele (19-under)
(Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook)
THE BIG GUNS (18-1 and shorter)
Pick: Patrick Cantlay (11-1)
It was another disappointing major performance for Cantlay, whose 14th-place finish at Los Angeles Country Club last week looks better than it was. However, he did play well on the weekend, breaking par on both Saturday and Sunday. Among the top players in the field, he’s arguably the most accurate off the tee, which is a key component to success at the Travelers. Cantlay finished no worse than 15th here in his last five appearances. He has no problem going super low, either, with one of his eight career wins coming at the 2021 BMW Championship where he shot an absurd 27-under. He also ranks second in this field in birdie or better gained on Pete Dye courses over his last 24 rounds.
“JUST” STARS (22-1 to 50-1)
Pick: Tommy Fleetwood (33-1)
It’s gotta happen at some point, right? Fleetwood is coming off an absurd 63 in the final round at LACC, as part of a pretty torrid stretch in which he finished fifth or better in four of his last eight starts. Off the tee and ball-striking were incredible last week, but the putter let him down. If he gets anywhere back to average with the flat stick, he’ll be right in the mix again.
MIDDLE OF THE PACK (55-1 to 100-1)
Picks: Harris English (70-1), Min-Woo Lee (75-1)
A little bit of cheating here, but there are no rules, so whatever. There’s certainly an argument to be made for just splitting units in this range, which is what we’re doing with English and Lee. English won this tournament in 2021, so he’s comfortable, and he’s starting to regain the form he flashed that summer now that he’s seemingly healthy again. He hung around at the US Open en route to a top-10 finish despite an uncharacteristically poor ball-striking performance. Recently, English hasn’t been able to do everything well at once, but maybe a return to a friendly place gets it all together.
Lee doesn’t fit the traditional mold for Hartford. He hits it a mile off the tee and traditionally struggles on approach. He has gained on approach in his last Tour starts, though, including last week where he fired three rounds in the 60s. If he could have just shot even par Saturday instead of a 4-over 74, he would have been in the mix Sunday.
LONG SHOTS (110-1 and longer)
Pick: Mark Hubbard (150-1)
Hubbard is an elite ball striker who largely keeps it in the fairway. He’s a pretty strong Pete Dye player, who has a top-20 finish here in 2021. Perhaps most encouraging is Hubbard’s recent form, as he gained strokes in his last three tournaments, a run that includes two top-10 finishes. You can also get him at +490 for a top-20 finish or right around 3-1 for a top-30.
