A week after the last American major of the year we have the final Signature Event on the PGA Tour when the circuit heads to TPC River Highlands for the Travelers Championship, a tournament with elevated status this time around.
Keegan Bradley walked off with the title a year ago and he is back to attempt to make a successful defence of the crown but with the elevation in stature of the tournament he will face a much stronger field than the one he beat.
Recent Winners
2023 – Keegan Bradley
2022 – Xander Schauffele
2021 – Harris English
2020 – Dustin Johnson
2019 – Chez Reavie
2018 – Bubba Watson
2017 – Jordan Spieth
2016 – Russell Knox
2015 – Bubba Watson
2014 – Kevin Streelman
The Course
It is TPC River Highlands that is staging the tournament again this week. You know what you are going to get from River Highlands. It is a par 70 which has been reduced by 17 yards so it only measures 6,835 yards so it isn’t long. You can use length to your advantage here as there are a couple of drivable holes but in the main this is a course which rewards those who drive the ball well and putt well regardless of how long they are off the tee.
The rough remains relatively significant this week at four inches but the players who are most likely to be in it are going to be a long way down there so I don’t think that will hamper them in any way. Accuracy is still going to be key around here but the emphasis is very much on accuracy. A hot putter is never a bad thing either it has to be said. The forecast suggests there is going to be rain from the third round onwards so these leading players could be firing darts at these pins from Saturday onwards.
The Field
71 players will tee it up this week. It would have been 72 but Rory McIlroy has pulled out after the heartbreaking end to the US Open. The winner of the first two majors of the season are in the field in Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele while the defending champion Keegan Bradley is also teeing it up here. Another player in the field is The Open winner Brian Harman who is a few weeks away from defending the Claret Jug at Royal Troon.
Other notable Americans in the field include Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Russell Henley and Sahith Theegala while the European pursuit of this title will be led by the likes of Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland and Tommy Fleetwood in the absence of McIlroy. The international threat will be led by Hideki Matsuyama, Corey Conners, Tom Kim and Sungjae Im. Harris English and Jordan Spieth are a couple of former winners here who are back looking to get their hands on the title.
Market Leaders
Scottie Scheffler might have found a tournament which he couldn’t win last week but he is 4/1 to get back to winning ways in this competition. Last week was a bit of a surprise, not so much that he didn’t win it but more that he ended up T41 and wasn’t a factor in the event at all. He remains as good as anything in the world from tee to green though and that is the test this week. He is hard to oppose but at the price he is easy enough to swerve too.
Xander Schauffele landed the USPGA Championship last month and he is 15/2 to add this title to his collection a month out from defending his Olympic crown in Paris. Schauffele was on the fringes of the US Open last week but finished strongly to secure another top 10 finish in the event. He was the winner here a couple of years ago so we know that he can get the job done around here and in the form he is showing it would be a surprise if he isn’t in the mix once again.
Collin Morikawa keeps on knocking on the door of winning a tournament and he is 12/1 for it to open for him this week. He carded a 63 around here last year but his first round was so bad that he still missed the cut. He doesn’t need to worry about missing the cut here because there isn’t one but the form he has shown in recent times would suggest that wouldn’t be an issue anyway. He is a tee to green monster and so if this is the week the putter heats up he shouldn’t be too far away.
Ludvig Aberg was my pick for the US Open last week and for 45 holes I was getting really excited about my selection but he ran out of steam and finished a little down the field after a momentum halting triple bogey on the back nine on Saturday which he never really recovered from. I thought Pinehurst highlighted his strengths and put him ahead of many in the field but I don’t really see that being the case at TPC River Highlands. That was evidenced with him being T24 here last year. He is 14/1 to win this week but that feels a smidgeon short to me.
Main Bets
I was praying that Hideki Matsuyama wouldn’t get himself right in the mix in the US Open on Sunday so that he could protect his price for this tournament and that has happened. He still finished sixth at Pinehurst, a week after he was T8 at The Memorial and we shouldn’t forget that he won at Riviera earlier in the season so his big event form this season is right up there. You have to hit quality approach shots to set up chances to score around here and that is the DNA of the Japanese star. I’m more than happy to be on at 25/1.
I’m also happy to be on another Asian star in Tom Kim. I’ve been tracking his progress for a while this season because I am waiting for his star to come out and shine bright again and I don’t think it will be long. If you look at his sole start here you would think it was nothing special but the middle two rounds were 64-65 and if he can bring those sorts of rounds out and better the other two he isn’t going to be far away. Kim is hitting the iron shots really nicely and I think it is only a matter of time before he is deeply challenging for a win again. I’ll pay to see if it is this week.
Outsiders
While I am not going to make out that the Shane Lowry putter is more than a slight cause for concern, his tee to green game is so good right now that I just can’t leave him out here. These greens are very small in comparison to some on the PGA Tour, and certainly the ones which were played on last week, so if he finds them in regulation, and the quality of his iron play over the last month or more suggests that he will, then he won’t be having the difficult putts which have caught him out. There are no hidden demons in these greens so I’ll pay to see if this is the week he turns it around with the short stick.
Matthieu Pavon was out in the final group of the US Open last week and when you add that to the fact that he has won around Torrey Pines this season, the Frenchman is clearly a much improved player since he hit the PGA Tour and I think a three figure price off the back of last week is a little insulting. I don’t think he was ever truly close enough to be gutted at not winning the US Open so I’m not expecting a huge comedown here. In fact, if anything, I think last week will have motivated him to compete in these big events more and more. Pavon ranked 12 in strokes gained on approach last week, was third when he won the Farmers and is still well in the top 40 on Tour this season. That approach play can get up enough scoring chances for him to be competitive again here.
Tips
Back H.Matsuyama to win Travelers Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with William Hill (1/5 1-6)
Back T.Kim to win Travelers Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with William Hill (1/5 1-6)
Back them here:
Back S.Lowry to win Travelers Championship (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-6)
Back M.Pavon to win Travelers Championship (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 111.00 with Sky Bet (1/5 1-6)
