A strong PGA Tour field makes its way to TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, for this week’s Travelers Championship. On the heels of Jon Rahm’s victory at the 2021 U.S. Open. Below, we look at the fantasy golf power rankings and odds for the 2021 Travelers Championship, with PGA Tour picks and predictions.
The field is surprisingly strong considering the cross-country travel from Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California. The main reason is tournament organizers always arrange charter flights from West Coast U.S. Open sites to get players and caddies there quickly.
Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and defending Travelers champion Dustin Johnson are the biggest names making the trip and are the top-three betting favorites this week. Rahm, No. 1 in the World and Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, is not in the field.
TPC River Highlands, a long-time PGA Tour venue, measures a conservative 6,841 yards and plays to a par of 70. The course puts an emphasis on accuracy off the tee but low scores should be expected with Johnson winning by a single stroke at 19-under par in 2020.
Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Odds last updated Monday at 7 p.m. ET.
20. Ryan Moore (+12500)
The course history pick of the week, Moore has 46 career rounds played at TPC River Highlands with an average of 1.69 strokes gained on the field per round. He has never won the Travelers but was a runner-up in 2011 and 2006. He more recently tied for 15th in 2019 before a missed cut last year.
19. Kevin Na (+5500)
The winner of the Sony Open in Hawaii has a top finish of T-11 at the WGC-Workday Championship in 13 events since and is coming off a missed cut at the U.S. Open. He has still been strong in the short game and is 35th on Tour in driving accuracy.
18. Cameron Tringale (+8000)
Tied for third at the Valspar Championship which was played at the highly comparable Copperhead. Averaged 1.58 SG: Tee-to-Green that week and has three top-10 finishes in 2021.
17. Brendon Todd (+7500)
The most accurate driver on Tour this season will benefit from the shorter venue this week. He missed the cut in the difficult U.S. Open conditions, but he’s just four weeks removed from a T-8 finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
16. Russell Henley (+5500)
Tumbled down the leaderboard in the final round of the US Open to finish T-13, but he averaged 1.63 SG: Tee-to-Green and 1.60 SG: Approach per round for the week. He has averaged 1.18 strokes gained on the field over 14 career rounds at TPC River Highlands.
Russell Henley reacts to his putt on the 18th green during the third round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Torrey Pines Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
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15. Sam Burns (+5500)
Won the Valspar Championship and was the runner-up at the AT&T Byron Nelson the next week but withdrew from the PGA Championship due to injury, tied for 50th at the Memorial Tournament, and missed the cut at the U.S. Open. As a result, his odds have ballooned back to where they were prior to his maiden victory. He’s a great fit for this course.
14. Keegan Bradley (+5000)
Finished alone in second at the Valspar as one of two top-10 placings this year. Followed it up with back-to-back top-20 finishes before a missed cut at the Memorial. Averaging 0.97 strokes gained over 38 career rounds at this venue, including a T-2 finish in 2019.
13. Joaquin Niemann (+3500)
His play around the greens has been his only real weakness this season but it won’t be tested too much at TPC River Highlands. He tied for fifth in his debut at this event in 2019.
12. Bubba Watson (+5400)
The three-time Travelers champ missed the cut in 2020 but is just three years removed from his third win at TPC River Highlands. He stumbled to a T-50 finish at the U.S. Open, but he was strong off the tee all week with 0.52 strokes gained per round.
11. Patrick Reed (+2500)
Tied for 19th at Torrey Pines with strong play on and around the greens. Averaging 1.07 strokes gained over 30 career rounds at this venue.
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10. Abraham Ancer (+3000)
Finished T-8 in 2019 and T-11 last year at the Travelers. Ranked among the leaders in SG: Tee-to-Green in both appearances. Missed the cut at the U.S. Open but tied for eighth at the PGA Championship and is better suited to the shorter course.
9. Paul Casey (+1800)
Three straight top-10 showings, including a T-7 at the U.S. Open and a sixth-place finish at the European Tour’s Porsche European Open. Has two runner-up finishes in this event since 2015.
8. Tony Finau (+3000)
Comes off a rare missed cut in a major at the U.S. Open. He performed well with the putter over two rounds but was a disaster from tee to green with 2.63 strokes lost per round. He’s still averaging 1.67 SG: Tee-to-Green per round for the season and should bounce back at inflated odds.
7. Brian Harman (+2800)
Averaging 1.07 strokes gained per round across 36 career rounds at TPC River Highlands. Looks to follow the mold of Watson as a lefty winner at this venue.
6. Harris English (+3500)
His Sunday 68 tied for the fourth-best round of the day at Torrey Pines. He was ninth among those who made the cut with 2.02 SG: Tee-to-Green per round.
5. Bryson DeChambeau (+1200)
Three straight top-10 finishes in this event but will need to recover from his final-round 77 at the U.S. Open.
4. Scottie Scheffler (+2800)
Tied for seventh last week with a field-best 2.12 SG: Putting per round. He’s also tied for first on Tour in total driving this season.
3. Brooks Koepka (+1600)
Didn’t play this event last year but tied for 57th in 2019 and for 19th in 2018. He was among the leaders in both SG: Off-the-Tee and SG: Tee-to-Green in a T-4 finish last week.
2. Patrick Cantlay (+1800)
Followed his Memorial win with a T-15 finish at the U.S. Open. He’s third on Tour with 2.01 total strokes gained per round and his 3.02 expected wins, according to Data Golf, are the most by over a full victory. He has two victories this season.
Dustin Johnson studies the green during the final round of the Palmetto Championship at Congaree. (Photo: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports)
1. Dustin Johnson (+1400)
The reigning champ has begun rounding into form with a T-10 at the Palmetto Championship and a T-19 at the U.S. Open. His victory at the 2020 Travelers snapped a lengthy winless drought and was his first of three of the calendar year en route to winning the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
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