Travelers Championship Golf Odds And Predictions
If you like golfers putting up birdie after birdie, then this week’s PGA Tour event, the Travelers Championship in Hartford, is just for you …. unlike the slugfest we saw last week at the U.S. Open.
Travelers Championship Betting
We recommended Sweden’s Henrik Stenson at +3300 to win last week’s U.S. Open, and while he didn’t pay off there he did finish in the Top 10 if you took that prop option at Sports Interaction. The winner was American Brooks Koepka, become the first player since Curtis Strange in 1988-89 to capture back-to-back U.S. Opens.
Frankly, though, the real winner last week was the golf course, Shinnecock Hills on Long Island in New York. The first three days were a ridiculous test of golf, with even the USGA admitting the course got away from them in terms of toughness. Koepka won at 1 over, the first over-par winner of America’s championship since 2013. The winning score probably would have been closer to 5 over if the USGA didn’t make conditions much easier on Sunday.
This week’s Travelers Championship at the TPC River Highlands, a short par 70 at 6,841 yards, will look nothing like the golf from last week. The winner will have to go well under par as no player has won the event in single digits under par since 1993. Back in 2009, Kenny Perry won at 22 under. The Travelers knows where its bread is buttered: Guys don’t want to play another difficult track the week after a U.S. Open. It’s a pretty strong field, which is somewhat unusual the week after a major with eight of the world’s Top 15 entered. Some of those guys missed the cut amid the carnage at Shinnecock
Travelers Championship Odds
It’s very rare to win the week after taking a major, but that’s what Koepka will attempt to do, and he’s +1200 along with defending champion Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy. We liked Rory for a Top 10 last week but that went out the window with a shocking first-round 80 as he missed the cut. McIlroy was T17 in this event a year ago at 6 under.
Koepka, who now has more U.S. Open wins than other PGA Tour victories (one), was ninth in 2016 when he last played TPC River Highlands. Spieth is the defending champion as he beat Daniel Berger in a playoff after both finished 72 holes at 12 under. Spieth, who also missed the U.S. Open cut, is looking to become the second player to repeat in Hartford (Phil Mickelson 2001-02). Thomas comes off a T25 at Shinnecock and missed the cut here in 2017 but was third the year before.
Patrick Reed, who was in the U.S. Open hunt on Sunday, is +1600 with Aussie Jason Day at +1800. Reed was fifth in this tournament last year. Day missed the U.S. Open cut and did here last year.
Canadian Golfer Odds
No Canadian player has won this tournament, although Dave Barr lost in a 1988 playoff to Mark Brooks (Joey Sindelar also in the playoff).
Adam Hadwin is +12500 this week, with Corey Conners at +20000, Nick Taylor +25000, Mackenzie Hughes at +30000 and Ben Silverman at +30000. Hadwin missed the cut last week thanks to a first-round 83 and was T57 at this tournament in 2017. Hughes was T17 last year, making a big jump on Sunday with a 66. He also was MC last week.
Travelers Championship Predictions
We like Berger and two-time champion Bubba Watson for Top 10s, but the winner is Paul Casey, who hasn’t finished worse than 17th in his past three visits, including a runner-up in 2015. Casey comes off a solid T16 last week.
