Being it follows the toughest test in golf every year, the U.S. Open, and the fact that tournament was across the country at Pebble Beach in northern California, it’s a shockingly good field at this week’s PGA Tour stop, the Travelers Championship outside of Hartford.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
Most top players tend to take the week after a major off to decompress, and one would have really thought that would be the case this week with the U.S. Open and Travelers on opposite coasts.
No, U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland isn’t playing after winning his first-ever major. Neither is Tiger Woods, who probably won’t be seen again until the British Open. However, five of the world’s Top 10 and 16 of the Top 30 are at TPC River Highlands, a par 70 at a very short 6,840 yards. This course is best known for where Jim Furyk shot a PGA Tour-record 58 in 2016, and he didn’t even win that year. The winner is going to be well into double digits under par at this track.
World No. 1 Brooks Koepka came up short in his attempt to become the second player in history to threepeat at the U.S. Open, finishing runner-up by three shots to Woodland. Koepka also became the first player in history to shoot four rounds in the 60s and not win the U.S. Open – just so happened Woodland did the same. Koepka is the +750 favorite at betting sites this week. He was 19th last year and has a best result of ninth in this tournament.
There are nine former champions in the field this week. Jordan Spieth won in dramatic fashion in 2017 with a bunker hole-out on the first playoff hole to beat Daniel Berger. Spieth is +1600 to win the Travelers a second time. Paul Casey has finished runner-up here twice, including blowing a four-shot lead on Sunday last year. He’s +1800.
Bubba Watson rallied from down six shots on Sunday last year, shooting 7-under 63, to win this tournament for a third time. The southpaw also did in 2015 and 2010 in a playoff and looks to join Billy Casper as the only four-time winner at the Travelers. Watson is +2800 because he’s not playing all that well lately. It should be noted that each of the past five winners of this tournament also played in that year’s U.S. Open.
Expect an American to win. This tournament debuted in 1952 and a USA player has won it all but six times. A European has just once: Scotland’s Russell Knox in 2016.
