Weekly PGA Preview: Travelers Championship

This article is part of our Weekly PGA Preview series.

Travelers Championship

TPC River Highlands
Cromwell, CT

The PGA Tour heads to Cromwell, CT for another edition of the Travelers Championship.

Before we get to that, we had a major this past week, so of course I have some thoughts. In fact, I have too many thoughts to put here, so I'm forced to pick a single topic and this week, I'm going with the case of Rory McIlroy and the missing major. The one word that comes to mind when looking at what Rory has gone through over the past decade and what lies ahead is baggage. When he ruled the golf world a decade ago, he had no baggage. No massive failures that would creep into his head as he strolled down the back nine of a major, no second guessing himself in the biggest moments, just the complete confidence of a golfer that would often come through in the biggest moments, but as the winless majors have stacked up over the past decade, the baggage has accumulated. Whether that baggage was the cause of his misfortune this past Sunday, we'll never know, but we can only assume that as he piles up more near-misses, it's only going to get harder to actually win another major. The thing about baggage and why it's tough to overcome is that it pops up at the most inopportune time. It rarely has an impact Thursday through Saturday, but Sunday, Sunday is an entirely different beast. McIlroy seemed to be just fine this past Sunday, even past the turn, but once you let that baggage creep into your mind, it's tough to stop. Again, maybe I'm wrong and all of his near misses over the past few years have nothing to do with the doubt that baggage brings, but it sure seems like something changes in Rory's game as he gets near the finish line at a major. The the bad news is, that baggage doesn't go away until you win, the good news for Rory is that if he can somehow manage to get major number five, that baggage no longer has as much of an impact, so basically, all he has to do to get back on track is the one thing that's been most difficult for him over the past decade. No problem, right?

All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook as of 6:00 PM ET Tuesday.                   

LAST TIME

Keegan Bradley shot a final round 68 on his way to a three-stroke victory over Brian Harman.

FAVORITES

Scottie Scheffler (18-5) 

Scheffler failed to contend this past week, but just a week later he has the same odds as he had entering the U.S. Open. This makes sense however as we are back on a standard track and we all know how Scheffler handles standard courses. Scheffler's track record here is not great, he has just one top-10 in four starts, but he's improved in every start here since he missed the cut in 2020. I'm not going to let this past week's performance change my opinion on Scheffler, in fact, he might be even harder to stop this week because he underperformed this past week.

Xander Schauffele (15-2)

Another week for Schauffele as the second favorite. Xander finished inside the top-10 this past week at the U.S. Open, but he was never a factor. It was his first major since breaking through at the PGA Championship, so he can be excused if he didn't have his best game. To be honest, I'm somewhat impressed that he fought his way back into the top-10 on Sunday and I fully expect him to be a factor this week. Schauffele won this event in 2022 and has four total top-20s here in five starts.                             

Collin Morikawa (12-1)

There was a lot of steam on Morikawa heading into last week's U.S. Open, but outside of a charge on Saturday, he failed to meet expectations, which makes his placement as the third-favorite this week a little odd. I say that because his track record here is not good. He's played this event three times and missed the cut twice. Perhaps his odds are based on his form on a standard course, and odds makers are giving him a pass for this past week. Whatever the case, I don't see a lot of value at his current number.                                              

THE NEXT TIER

Patrick Cantlay (20-1)

Was Cantlay's performance at the U.S. Open this past week a sign of things to come? It's been a rough year for Cantlay, but we all know that when he's on, he's a top-10 player in the world, so the question then is, is he back? If so, we should see him contend this week because his track record here is pretty good. He's missing the high-end finishes at this event, but he has finished inside the top-15 in his five most recent starts at this event. 

Hideki Matsuyama (25-1)

Matsuyama's exceptional year continued this past week as he again contended at a major, eventually landing in solo-6th. He doesn't have a long history on this course, but he did finish inside the top-15 in his first start at this event this past year. When healthy, Matsuyama is one of the best players in the world and while he can't always be sure of a golfer's health, he looked pretty good this past week at the U.S. Open, so these odds look very enticing. 

Brian Harman (45-1)      

Harman was racking up top-10s at this event long before he was a major winner and now that he's got that confidence boost, perhaps he can finally win here after so many strong outings. Harman finished runner-up here this past year, but that was just one of a long line of strong showings here. In total, Harman has six top-10s at this event, all of which have come in the past 10 years. Harman hasn't really shown the form this year that won him the Open Championship this past year, but this might be the week he finds his best game.                                                      

LONG SHOTS

Keegan Bradley (50-1)   

Bradley has not had a great year, but he has popped up a couple times and if he's going to do it again, this would be the spot. Bradley won this event this past year and finished runner-up here in 2019. He's made the cut here in 11 of 13 starts and although he's been hit or miss over the past five years at this event, when he's been on, he's been really good.                     

Wyndham Clark (65-1) 

I'll start by stating that there are no long shots with a good history here and good form, in fact, there aren't many, if any with either good form or a good track record here, so the options are limited. The route I'm going this week is simply taking someone that has proved he can beat the best in the world and Clark fits that bill. His form is not good right now, but he's got the game to compete with anyone, so if he gets it going this week, who knows.                                                    

ONE-AND-DONE LEAGUES

Highly-Chosen Pick: Xander Schauffele - Scheffler can't be available for many teams at this point, so he's not an option here. Schauffele was probably pretty popular this past week, but with the LIV guys in play, perhaps there are still plenty of OAD teams with him available. If so, he looks like a great option this week as he's one of a few guys that has both a good track record here and good form coming into this week. 

Moderately-Chosen Pick: Patrick Cantlay - Cantlay was so bad earlier in the season that he's probably still an option for many OAD players. I don't know if this past week was just a fluke, but he looked like his old self and if that's the case, he's going to be a solid asset for someone down the stretch. This week looks like a good place to use him though if you still have him available.   

Lightly-Chosen Pick: Keegan Bradley - Bradley has not put up strong numbers this season, but he has shown the ability to get hot at least a couple times. If he's anywhere near his top form at some point this week, he could be a factor as he loves this track. It's a risky move taking Bradley at a signature event, but this is the time of the year where there are plenty of teams looking to make up ground, if you are one of them, Bradley could be your guy.     

Buyer Beware: Ludvig Aberg - I'm not expecting Aberg to play poorly this week, but I am curious to see how he responds after falling flat on the weekend at the U.S. Open. It was his first time in a spot like that at a major and needless to say, it didn't end well, but I'm wondering how quickly he'll bounce back. I have a feeling he'll be just fine, but I probably wouldn't use him this week in a OAD format. 

This Week: Keegan Bradley - Each season it seems there are a few pivotal moments, and this past week was one for me as I decided to go with Schauffele over DeChambeau and essentially torpedoed my chances. I'm not giving up, but I have resigned myself to the fact that I need to take a lot of chances the rest of the way, starting with this week. I have more reliable options in this spot than Bradley, but I have to consider each of their potential ownership percentages and in each case, Bradley comes in lower, so I'm somewhat forced to go with Bradley here.

Previous Results

FANDUEL PICKS

Upper Range:  Scottie Scheffler ($13,200) 
Middle Range: Brian Harman ($10,000) 
Lower Range:  Matthieu Pavon ($8,700)

SURVIVOR LEAGUES

This week: NO CUT THIS WEEK

Previous Results