What a week at Torrey Pines. Jon Rahm is now a major champion, and Torrey continues to be a place where his life changes. 1st Tour win, engagement, and now a major. But, we move on. This week is the Travelers Championship, which over the last few years has become a very popular stop for the best players in the world.
Our guy is usually in this field, but Rory is taking the week off before heading over to Ireland.
Let’s take a look at the field…
Field
Defending champion Dustin Johnson returns after losing his World No. 1 ranking just a few days ago. He played decent at the US Open, but really hasn’t shown any form since his Masters victory. We’ll see if his form returns in Connecticut.
Brooks Koepka looked pose to take home another US Open trophy over the weekend, but ran outta gas down the stretch and finished T4. Brooks had a Top 20 finish here back in 2018.
Other big names in the field include Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Patrick Cantlay, Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson, and Bryson DeChambeau.
Course
TPC River Highlands
Par 70
6,841 yards
Bentgrass/Poa greens
Weather
Key Stats
These fairways are very easy to hit at almost 70% last year. The greens are also easy to hit. So, what’s the tough part? The greens.
The green complexes around this golf course are difficult, which means the longer putt you have, the less likely it is to go in. Because of that, you see above the biggest impact on scores last year was SG: Putting. If you can roll it well on these greens, you’ll have big advantage over the field.
And before you say it, yes this course is short. But, for someone who’s been there a hand full of times, there’s gonna be a lot of irons and woods off the tee. Long and short players have both won here before. For example, the last 2 champions: Dustin Johnson and Chez Reavie. That should tell the story.
Data Golf Information
Course Fit: 1. East Lake (Home of the Tour Championship), 2. TPC Twin Cities, 3. Innisbrook Copperhead Course (Home of the Valspar)
Trending (of the players in the field): 1. Patrick Reed (Last 3 starts: MC, 5, T19), 2. Kevin Streelman (T20, T13, T15), 3. Scottie Scheffler (MC, 3, T7)
% Chance to Win (Baseline, Course History and Fit): 1. Patrick Cantlay (5.9%), 2. Paul Casey (4.9%), 3. Brian Harmon (4.6%)
Betting Odds
Best Bets for the Week
Many tournaments see the same names on the leaderboard every year, but for some reason at TPC River Highlands, there seems to be more ‘horses for courses’ than anywhere else on Tour.
Another past winner, Kevin Streelman – he won the Travelers back in 2014 for his most recent victory. He was the runner-up to Dustin Johnson last year.
He’s just been hanging around leaderboards for the last month+. Since missing the cut at the Valspar, he’s played in 5 events never finishing outside the Top 30. 4 Top 20s, highlighted by a T8 finish down at Kiawah and a T15 at Torrey.
His proximity numbers are really good…
Top 20 (+175)
Going right back to Scottie Scheffler, I think this venue is perfect for a 1st time winner. Especially for a guy who ranks 4th in birdie average…
Like Bubba, Scottie shot -3 over the first 3 days of the Travelers last year, but failed to make the cut. He was in the conversation at Torrey Pines, but finished at -1 (T7). In his last 4 starts, he had 3 Top 10s.
He’s overdue for a win, and I think I’m going to jump on him at +2300 to win.
Top 20 (+135)
Rors isn’t in the field this week, so we gotta bet on our other guy, Max Homa.
He’s played the last 2 years in Connecticut, and missed the cut both times. But, he was under par after the first 2 days both times.
He missed the cut at the US Open, but the week before finished T6 at the Memorial.
Top 40 (+140)
The little lefty, Brian Harmon, loves him some TPC River Highlands. He missed the cut last year, even though he shot -2, but before that finished inside the Top 10 in 2019 and 2018.
Over his last 7 stoke play event starts, he’s only finished outside the Top 20 once (MC at the PGA Championship).
Top 30 (+110) Fanduel
Charley Hoffman will be a guy to watch this week. He’s 10th on Tour this season in SG: APP, and 17th in Proximity over his last 24 rounds.
He hasn’t had recent success at this golf tournament, but past finishes may reflect what’s coming this week. 2018 (T15), 2017 (T3), and a Top 25 in 2016.
His last 2 finishes haven’t been anything to write home about, both being T57’s. Before that, Hoffman was hot…
Top 30 (+140)
I said it last week on the podcast, this guy is getting close to winning again. Rickie Fowler.
His last 2 starts have been impressive. A Top 15 at the Memorial, and a Top 10 at the PGA.
He’s only played the Traveler’s 3 times in the past and one was as an amateur, but I think this is a great golf course to get his first win in awhile.
Top 30 (+190)
Other name to look at…
Bubba Watson.
He’s the 2010, 2015, and 2018 champ. Last year, he was -3 through the first 2 rounds, but missed the cut.
He was near the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend at Torrey, but shot +11 over the weekend to finish T50. He’s shown flashes over the last 2 months of good golf, with Top 20s at the Wells Fargo and Valspar.
It’s hard to ignore his history here, and with value at +6000 to win, you should be able to grab him for a Top 20 or 30.
Cover via SanDiegoUnionTribune (K.C Alfred)
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