Following two major tournaments over the last three weeks and with the 2016 Rio Olympics around the corner the Travelers Championship seems to be slotted in an awkward position on the schedule. However, even with so many top-flight events within a one-month span this week’s tournament at the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut has attracted an intriguing field from a talent perspective. The top four players in the world passed on the opportunity but two top-10 players and nine of the top-25 players in the world are set to compete this week.
Event Details
Event: Travelers Championship
Category: PGA
Date: August 4-7
Location: TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut
The Travelers Championship has proven to be somewhat unpredictable over the years including three golfers that clinched their lone career victory at this tournament over the last five years. Bubba Watson has two victories here since 2010 but his recent struggles will make even him tough to trust for some sports handicappers when evaluating the field for this week. He’s also heading to the Olympics, so who knows where his focus is these days.
Past Five Winners
2015: Bubba Watson -16 (Playoff)
2014: Kevin Streelman -15
2013: Ken Duke -12 (Playoff)
2012: Marc Leishman -14
2011: Fredrik Jacobson -20
What To Know About The Course
The winner of this tournament has scored 14-under or better in 10 of the last 11 years so the expectation is that there will be plenty of low scoring at the TPC River Highlands this week. The only problem is that this event has been difficult to handicap from a statistical perspective as the recent winners have found a number of different ways to get the job done. Watson ranked first in Scrambling and Putts Per Round when he won here in a playoff a year ago and Birdie Average Stats seems like the type of number we can trust this week. Greens In Regulation should be a factor as well but it won’t be enough on its own to guarantee a victory.
The Field
It only makes sense that Watson would lead this field as the obvious sports betting favorite at +1400 odds after winning this event twice over the last five years. However, Watson will face some tough competition with Brooks Koepka, Branden Grace, Matt Kuchar and Patrick Reed among the betting favorites at +2500 or better. Streelman and Leishman represent intriguing plays at +7000 and +5000 respectiely and it will be very interesting to see if either one can even come close to contending for the outright victory again this week.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Ryan Moore over Louis Oosthuizen
There is some excellent value betting Moore both in this head-to-head matchup and to win this event outright as a +5000 pick. Moore has been incredible consistent at this tournament over the last decade with six top-10 finishes including two runner-up results. The fact that Moore is available at such long odds despite his success at the Travelers Championship makes him that much more intriguing of a play and it’s definitely worth taking a shot on him matched up head-to-head with Oosthuizen, who has finished outside of the top-20 in seven straight starts.
Top-Five Pick: Matt Kuchar
The temptation is certainly there to buy in to Watson’s stock for this tournament but the reality is that he has really struggled in his recent starts. His value as a top-five pick certainly isn’t as high as some of the other top plays on the board. He finished 60th in the PGA Championship, 39th in The Open Championship, 14th at the WGC Bridgestone, 51st in the U.S. Open and 65th at the Memorial Tournament. Those are his last five outings.
Kuchar represents the best combination of value and ability to contend this week as a +2200 pick to win this event outright so it makes sense to roll with him as our top-five pick. Kuchar has really struggled in major tournaments but he has recorded six straight top-10 finishes in non-major events including four top-five results. Kuchar should be in good position to contend for the outright victory again this week and he should be a strong play as a top-five pick.
Top 10 Odds For The Travelers Championship
Bubba Watson +1250
Branden Grace +1550
Brooks Koepka +1550
Zach Johnson +2050
Matt Kuchar +2050
Patrick Reed +2050
Paul Casey +2550
Jon Rahm +2550
Louis Oosthuizen +3050
Jim Furyk +3050
