Ian Wilkerson
The 3rd Major of the golf year is now in the books following JJ Spaun’s victory at the US Open, but the leading lights of the PGA Tour have little time to gather themselves as this week brings the latest Signature Event, the Travelers Championship in Connecticut. World #1 Scottie Scheffler defends the title he claimed in a playoff victory 12 months ago and will have been boosted by recovering from a poor start to take 7th spot at Oakmont.
However, this will be a very different test and there will be a host of challengers desperate to put last week’s Pennsylvania examination behind them. Rory McIlroy hit the nail on the head for many of those who toiled at Oakmont last week when he said his hopes for the 4th round were to complete 18 holes in 4.5 hours and leave. The Pennsylvanian course, with its thick rough and lightning-fast greens, caused many to struggle and that provides golf bettors with a bit of a dilemma when looking at this week’s Travelers Championship. Let’s dive into my golf predictions for the Travelers Championship this week.
Get set for the Travelers Championship by checking out the best golf betting sites available, where you can earn THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS in bonus bets by using our promo codes!
Travelers Championship golf picks and predictions
Travelers Championship best bet: Russell Henley (+4000)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing.
It would be easy to draw a line through last week’s form and it would also be straightforward to suggest that it was such a grind for those who did well that they may not have much left in the tank for this week’s trip to TPC River Highlands. It’s just about finding the right balance and, with that in mind, Russell Henley, who finished 10th at Oakmont, could be the player who fits the mould for this Connecticut test.
In contrast to last week, when winner JJ Spaun was the only player to finish under par, the winning score at River Highlands has been 17-under or better for each of the 7 tournaments. The top 4 finishers last year — Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim, Tom Hoge and Sungjae Im — were all in the top 4 in terms of greens in regulation. Henley sits 13th on that metric and he can flourish in this week’s test.
The Georgian will be encouraged by not only being a signature-event winner in March when he claimed the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but also by other good results he has posted in other prestigious gatherings. Henley was 5th at both the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Memorial Tournament, and an 8th at the RBC Heritage was also a solid performance. This strong tee-to-green operator, who was 6th at River Highlands in 2018, can make a strong push if he has one of his better putting weeks.
You can secure the best odds on our Russell Henley best bet when you use FanDuel Sportsbook. And if you’re new to FanDuel, even better! Simply click here to sign up now and you’ll receive $200 in bonus bets INSTANTLY if your first $5 wager wins.
Travelers Championship prediction: Patrick Cantlay (+2500)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing.
Patrick Cantlay missed the cut by one shot last week as his second-round 72 was not quite enough to book him a weekend slot. But he is another player who deserves respect this week, having posted 5th at the Genesis Invitational, 4th at the Truist Championship and 12th at the Memorial Tournament, all of which are signature events, where only the top performers gain an invite.
River Highlands is a venue where he tends to excel, with 7 successive top-15 finishes, including 4th in 2023 and 5th last year. Two extra days off may have done him good and that first PGA Tour win since the BMW Championship in August 2022 could come this week.
Travelers Championship pick: Daniel Berger (+5500)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing.
Daniel Berger is fighting his way up the world rankings after a troublesome back injury, and making the cut at Oakmont will have boosted his confidence after a couple of missed cuts at the Charles Schwab Challenge and the Memorial. He is definitely moving in the right direction and could put in a strong performance at good odds, having finished 5th in this tournament in 2016 and then falling in a playoff to Jordan Spieth 12 months later.
Travelers Championship longshot pick: Kevin Yu (+12000)
Odds available at bet365 and FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing.
Finally, our Travelers Championship longshot pick is Taiwan’s Kevin Yu, who will have no Oakmont hangover to deal with as he wasn’t playing in Pennsylvania. That could prove a great benefit to last year’s winner of the Sanderson Farms Championship, who was 3rd at the Canadian Open 2 weeks ago and also claimed a top-5 spot at the admittedly low-grade Myrtle Beach Classic recently, so he could go well at huge odds.
Get the best odds on our Kevin Yu longshot prediction with bet365, where new users can click this link to sign up now and receive $150 in bonus bets INSTANTLY when they make their first $5 wager — win or lose!
