Travelers Championship One and Done Picks
The eighth and final Signature Event of the season is here, and it offers one of the last opportunities for One-and-Done players to make a serious move in the standings.
Since the start of the season in January, these Signature Events had to be planned for to best deploy the best players on the PGA Tour in hopes of securing as much of the $20 million purses as possible. It's a good time to use a key piece if you have one, but don't forget about the final major of the year as well as the elevated purses in the events that make up the FedExCup Playoffs.
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Course Tidbits
- Course: TPC River Highlands (6,844 yards, par 70)
- Location: Cromwell, CT
- Purse: $20 million -- $3.6 million to winner
- Defending Champion: Keegan Bradley (-15)
- 2025 Scoring Average: 69.236 (-0.764)
- Average Winning Score Last 5 Years: -18.4
TPC River Highlands is one of the shortest courses on the PGA Tour at a little over 6,800 yards. The biggest defense is the thick bluegrass rough which exceeds four inches in some spots. That will hold players accountable not only off the tee, but also approaching the greens. The rough penalty is much higher here than PGA Tour average, so finding fairways and greens -- as well as scrambling out of the rough -- will be key.
Because the course is on the shorter end, players will have a lot of wedge and short iron opportunities. Proximity from 100-150 yards will be a key area to focus on. There has already been a lot of rain this week in the Hartford area and more is expected to fall during the tournament. The greens should be very receptive and spin control will be something players need to focus on, especially with the shorter clubs on approach.
There's no way to get around it. You have to make a lot of mid-range putts to win this tournament. The greens are small, but statistically are on the easier end to hit. Players should have no shortage of opportunities to make birdies, and those who convert with the putter most often will likely be the ones challenging come Sunday afternoon. The hottest putters on Tour will be among the top players to target on the mix of Bentgrass and Poa annua greens that are common in the Northeast.
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Travelers Championship: One and Done Picks
I find myself in a position in the standings where I don't have a lot to lose. Cole is probably not a player anyone would have thought to consider in a Signature Event, but I think he has an excellent shot to contend. He gained the second most strokes with the putter of any player in this field over the last three months. He leads the PGA Tour in putts per GIR, putts per hole and birdie-or-better conversion percentage. This is a course where it isn't overly difficult to create scoring opportunities, so the name of the game will be maximizing them, which Cole has done better than anyone to this point. He has been hot with five top-15 finishes over his last seven starts, and both the iron play and short game have been very strong. --Ryan Andrade
I don't often go with a long shot -- especially in a Signature Event -- but I've dug myself into quite the hole so I need to go where most One-and-Done players wouldn't dare. Harman looks like a great play, and hopefully his odds scare off the masses. He has fared particularly well at River Highlands, recording a whopping seven top-10s over his last eight trips. He faded a bit after getting off to a fast start at Shinnecock, but I'm not putting as much stock as usual in that with majors being a whole different animal than most stops. --Greg Vara
Highlighted by a T4 at the PGA Championship, Thomas is enjoying a streak of six consecutive top-25s since the Cadillac Championship in early May. He now heads to TPC River Highlands, where he placed T9-T5-T9 the past three years. The short layout allows him to club down off the tee when necessary in favor of precision. Accuracy was a concern earlier in the campaign, but he's eighth in total driving over his last 24 rounds, so that has been muted a bit. Within that same sample, Thomas ranked third in SG: Around-the-Green, seventh in putting from outside 10 feet and 10th in overall proximity from 100-150 yards. --Bryce Danielson
At this point of the season, picks can be made for different reasons than they were earlier. A big factor now is, who do you have left? I still have some big names on the board, but for this week it came down to two guys: Scottie Scheffler or Thomas. Scheffler will be saved. Thomas has top-10s here three years running. --Len Hochberg
Thomas finished no lower than T19 over his last five tournaments and no lower than T9 over his last three trips to River Highlands, so he has the two big boxes checked. He also enters sixth in the field in SG: Total over the last 24 rounds -- buttressed by top-10 marks in both SG: Tee-to-Green and Around-the-Green. It's time for him to pick up his first since since April of 2025, and just his second since winning the PGA Championship in 2022. --Kevin O'Brien
Travelers Championship: One and Done Fades
Young is officially in searching mode. He made the cut at the U.S. Open, but that was really about it. The putter continues to be an issue, which has historically been one of his strengths. I don't want to use a player this week who is lacking any confidence on the greens. You're going to have to make a lot of putts to keep pace at River Highlands. Furthermore, a 6,800-yard course with a big penalty for missing fairways doesn't really scream Young's name. If you still have THE PLAYERS champion available, there will be better places down the line to roll him out. --Ryan Andrade
I hate to do this, as I was high on Burns heading into Shinnecock, but the way he lost might make it tough to get right back on the bump. If these guys were robots Burns would be a great play. He is in form and has played well enough here to make you think he could make a run. The players are humans, though, and you could tell Burns was hurting on Sunday. He will be fine in the long run, but I don't think he will have his best stuff at River Highlands. --Greg Vara
Given his run of eight straight top-15s at TPC River Highlands dating back to the 2018 Travelers Championship, Cantlay is a fine click for those looking to tread water near the top of the standings. However, this is a ceiling game in which I greatly favor win equity over what can be a false sense of comfort. Lacking a single victory for nearly four years, Cantlay hasn't been in legitimate contention anywhere all season, and he just missed the cut at the U.S. Open while losing a collective 3.61 strokes on and around the greens over just 36 holes. Although he's 10th on Tour in SG: Tee-to-Green, Cantlay ranks outside the top 40 among this 72-man field in driving accuracy, overall proximity and SG: Putting over his last 24 rounds. --Bryce Danielson
I'm not fading Schauffele because I don't think he will play well, but rather because of where he sits on the odds chart. Schauffele has won here, but over the last three years he did not place better than T13, and he finished T61 in 2025.
Matsuyama has not missed a cut all season, but that is of little matter in a tournament that guarantees every participant four rounds. Matsuyama has fared well at River Highlands with finishes of T13, T23, T30 since 2023 onward, but his statistical profile is absolutely brutal based on the last two months of play, and that's more than enough to scare me off in the last Signature Event. --Kevin O'Brien
Don't get burned by late withdrawals. Visit RotoWire's PGA tournament field page for a live-updated summary of the field for the current week and list of players who have dropped out.
