After a great U.S. Open highlighting an incredible storyline for the new major champion, the PGA TOUR heads to the final Signature Event of the season. The 2025 Travelers Championship will take place June 19-22 in Cromwell, Connecticut at the TPC River Highlands. As we get ready for what should be a fantastic week in the Constitution State, let’s break down a quick history of the event and what to expect from the familiar course this week.
The History
The tournament started in 1952 as the Insurance City Open, changed its name to the Greater Hartford Open in 1967, and became the Travelers Championship in 2007. It took place on a few different courses around the city of Hartford until settling at TPC River Highlands in 1991.
The event typically draws the second-highest attendance of any PGA TOUR event behind only the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. It is a very fan-friendly event and gives fans from the New England and New York areas a great destination to see top-tier golf.
This year will be the third straight year that the event is a Signature Event. Being a PGA TOUR Signature Event provides an elevated tournament purse of $20 million and means that the winner gets 700 FedExCup points. It also means that there is no 36-hole cut at the event, and that all 72 golfers in the field will play four rounds barring withdrawal or disqualification.
Last year, Scottie Scheffler claimed the victory, but he needed two extra holes to get the job done. Scheffler and Tom Kim tied at -22 at the end of the Final Round, with Tom Hoge and Sungjae Im two strokes back. Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, Justin Thomas and Akshay Bhatia all finished tied for fifth, continuing the pattern of astuffed leaderboard packed with stars at the Travelers.
This year, Kim received a sponsor exemption and will join the field along with the top 50 from last year’s FedEx Cup Standings. Kim claimed the title as King of the Course in the DraftKings Sportsbook promo last week and will look for more success this week at TPC River Highlands
Both World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 2 Rory McIlroy are both in the same field at a Signature Event for the first time since the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, and the field will have nine of the top 10 golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking and at least four previous champions.
Native New Englander Keegan Bradley won the event in memorable fashion two years ago, and he’ll be back in the field this week as well. For now, every eligible player in the top 40 of the world rankings will be in attendance, except Justin Rose and the injured Billy Horschel and Sahith Theegala.
A Closer Look at the Course
TPC River Highlands is one of the shortest courses in the regular PGA TOUR rotation. In fact, at only 6,841 yards, it’s the second-shortest course on TOUR behind only Port Royal by a few yards. The course has still presented a challenge over the years, though due to the water hazards, elevation changes and tough green complexes.
The Pete Dye-designed Par 70 is a classic, tree-lined layout that requires shot-shaping and players to get creative while using their full skillset to take on the challenge.
Even though it is challenging, it’s nothing like what the pros faced last week, and birdies and eagles are sure to be flying at TPC River Highlands this week, where the winning score has been -19 or lower in four of the last five years.
While length isn’t required to overcome the challenge this week, some of the players with the best course history at this venue are long hitters. Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler have had good success here, but so have Brian Harman and Kevin Streelman with their more “target golf” approach. Players typically dial back their distance to keep to the wider parts of the fairway, with the emphasis on iron play and putting on the blended Poa and Bentgrass greens. The rough is typically very difficult, so playing to avoid the thick stuff will be critical.
Here’s a hole-by-hole over view from a local news channel in Connecticut to help you remember the venue from the past few years.
This week, Strokes Gained: Approach, Par 4 Scoring, and Strokes Gained: Putting on Bentgrass/Poa will be key metrics to analyze along with current form and course history. Stay tuned to DraftKings Network for more best bets and fantasy golf picks throughout the week! It should be a great tournament with the top PGA TOUR golfers all in action on this beautiful course competing for a top prize.
