PGA Betting Guide for the Travelers Championship
Picking winners of a golf tournament is hard. Doing it consistently is downright impossible. But finding value is something all bettors must practice in order to give themselves the best chance to make hay when the day finally comes that they ping a champion.
Below, we will cover the best bets for the Travelers Championship based on current form, course fit, and -- of course -- the value of their odds over at Golf odds.
After back to back weeks with one of our picks in the final group only to fall short both times, we are right on the cusp of nailing a winner and this very well could be the week. This event generally opens things up to different kinds of golfers making hay. Aside from Bubba Watson's intermittent domination, golfers who consistently hit their approaches well have been successful here. This is a course where Jim Furyk shot a Tour record 58 as a 46-year-old, where Jordan Spieth last won on U.S. soil, and perhaps most shocking of all, where Keegan Bradley can putt.
As the traditional follow up to the U.S. Open, the Travelers has never seen a field quite like this one. Twelve of the top 15 ranked golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking are in the field, including each of the top 7. Ballstriking generally prevails here, with accuracy getting the edge over distance. With most of the top ballstrikers making the trip to Hartford, Connecticut this week, we should be in for another loaded leaderboard come Sunday.
For more info on TPC River Highlands, along with this week's key stats and comparable courses, check out the course primer.
At the Top
Justin Thomas (+1300) - Seen earlier this week as the favorite at 10/1, Thomas may well be the sharpest player in the world right now. We've seen an outrageous 15 months from Rory McIlroy (+1200) leading up to THE PLAYERS, and Bryson DeChambeau (+1300) is attempting to break the game itself. But Thomas is the man with two wins already in the truncated 2019-2020 season, and he is the best iron player of the three (and possibly in the world). With just three finishes outside the top 12 since last year's Traveler's Championship, Thomas is in terrific long term form and just waiting to break through for another victory.
Jon Rahm (+1800) - Rahm's number keeps getting shorter as we move through the week, and it's no surprise to see bettors backing him this week. While there is merit to everyone at the top of the market, Rahm is offered at a discount after a missed cut and T33 in his last two events. He had finished in the top 10 in seven of eight worldwide events leading into the layoff, and he does everything you'd want from a golfer at this track. He hits fairways and greens, and we've seen him close even if he doesn't really win quite as much as you think he should. That's due for an overcorrection, and if it clicks for him one week in a field like this he could make his charge toward an inevitable No. 1 in the world sooner rather than later.
Value Spots
Patrick Cantlay (+2800) - Enjoy this one, as it may be the best number we see Cantlay at for the rest of the season. He's currently longer than his look-ahead numbers to win the PGA Championship (+2200), U.S. Open (+2000), or The Masters (+2200). He once held the course record at TPC River Highlands, and he's been T15 here each of the past two years. He is the defending champion at The Memorial, one of our key corollaries this week. He is second on the entire Tour in greens in regulation this season. He is one of the most consistent golfers on Tour, with just a lone missed cut (at the always fickle TPC Sawgrass) in the past 24 months. He is a great bet for a Top 20 Finish (+130).
Xander Schauffele (+3000) - We'll go back to the well with Xander, his T3 at Colonial immediately forgotten after a listless Saturday saw him to a T64 at the Heritage. But a Sunday 66 was encouraging, and back on his preferred bentgrass should put him back in contention this week. He is another option with much better odds at TPC River Highlands than at the upcoming major championships, and a more natural ballstriking track than the first two post-layoff tracks should play to his strengths.
Long Shots
Gary Woodland (+5500) - What a terrific number for Woodland, who like Schauffele played well at Colonial before trudging through the frustrating Harbour Town. Wider fairways should allow him to unleash his driver more often than last week, and his irons have been firing for two solid years. Woodland won the U.S. Open last year on a short track at Pebble Beach, and he is easy to root for under any circumstances. These odds are too good to pass up for a golfer with a major championship and ranks first in total driving and seventh in greens in regulation this season.
Scottie Scheffler (+7500) - Scheffler is on the radar again at a great number. Already one of the best pure ballstrikers on Tour, he is a natural fit at TPC River Highlands. He's almost double the odds of other rising stars like Collin Morikawa (+4000), Joaquin Niemann (also offered at an absurd +4000), and Viktor Hovland (+4500), and while we haven't seen him make a real stand in a field with this much class he is one of the few golfers who got an extra week in Connecticut after withdrawing from the RBC Heritage.
