The Travelers Championship will be played at TPC River Highlands (par 70, 6,385 yards, bentgrass/Poa annua greens) in Cromwell, Connecticut this week, which is the eighth and final Signature Event of the season. There will be 72 golfers competing this week and there will be no cut.
Below, I have featured some finishing position bets to consider for the Travelers Championship.
Sam Burns––Top-20 Finish including ties (+105)
While Burns has only carded one top-20 finish in five starts at TPC River Highlands, very few are playing better golf than him this week. Burns has produced a top-20 finish in six of his last seven starts, most recently with a T12 at the Memorial Tournament, a runner-up at the RBC Canadian Open and a T7 at the U.S. Open, in that order. Burns gained strokes on approach and with his putter during each of these last three finishes and in the grueling conditions at Oakmont Country Club for last week’s U.S. Open, the four-time PGA TOUR winner posted a 5-under 65 in the second round, which was the lowest score of the major.
Burns leads the PGA TOUR in SGP this season and having a hot flat stick will be essential for success at TPC River Highlands this week, as three of the last five winners at this Pete Dye design have finished the event top-five in SGP. Burns ranks second only to Scottie Scheffler in total strokes gained when we compare this field’s last 24 rounds and Burns should have no issues finishing inside the top 20 this week.
Akshay Bhatia––Top-30 Finish (+100)
After missing the cut in the tough conditions at Oakmont Country Club for last week’s U.S. Open, Bhatia should get back on track at TPC River Highlands and he is a strong wager for a top-30 finish at this plus-money price. TPC River Highlands is a course that far better suits Bhatia’s game than Oakmont, as TPC River Highlands is a vulnerable track that yields low scoring. Each of the last two winners at TPC River Highlands have cracked -20 and Bhatia’s last PGA TOUR win came at last year’s Valero Texas Open, which is another birdie fest that he won at -20. Bhatia competed at TPC River Highlands for the first time last season and he flourished with a T5 finish, including a pair of 6-under 64s.
This season, Bhatia has finished inside the top 30 six times in 16 starts. Included in this is a T16 at the Memorial Tournament earlier this month and a T3 at THE PLAYERS Championship in March, both of which featured world-class fields like the Travelers Championship. Bhatia’s T3 at THE PLAYERS Championship is also very notable because this event was played at another Dye-designed course in TPC Sawgrass. Bhatia ranks 16th in SGP this season and he should thrive at the scoreable TPC River Highlands this week.
