Betting odds, value picks, insight for Travelers Championship, final Signature Event
Fresh off a rousing U.S. Open, the best players on the PGA Tour head to TPC River Highlands for the Travelers Championship.
The eighth and final Signature Event of the 2024 season has arrived, as the best players on the PGA Tour head to the Northeast for the Travelers Championship.
Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Rory McIlroy, fresh off his heartbreaking finish at the U.S. Open, headline the 72-man field at TPC River Highlands. Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, and Viktor Hovland will tee it up in Connecticut this week, too.
Unlike Pinehurst No. 2, this golf course yields plenty of birdies while placing a premium on iron play. It’s a second-shot golf course, and whoever can make the most par-breakers this week typically wins. You should also expect a final score around 18 or 20-under-par, with multiple 62s and 63s shot over the course of the week. Heck, Jim Furyk shot a 58 on this layout in 2016, which still stands as the lowest score ever on the PGA Tour.
Travelers Championship Odds:
Here are the current odds for players to win this week, provided by DraftKings.
- Scottie Scheffler +400
- Xander Schauffele +800
- Rory McIlroy +850
- Collin Morikawa +1200
- Ludvig Åberg +1600
- Viktor Hovland +2000
- Patrick Cantlay +2200
- Hideki Matsuyama +2500
- Sam Burns +3500
- Russell Henley +3500
- Justin Thomas +3500
- Brian Harman +3500
- Tony Finau +3500
- Tommy Fleetwood +3500
- Tom Kim +4500
- Sungjae Im +4500
- Si Woo Kim +4500
- Sepp Straka +4500
- Jordan Spieth +4500
- Max Homa +5000
- Matthew Fitzpatrick +5000
- Wyndham Clark +5000
Travelers Championship Insight, Predictions:
Keegan Bradley, the New England native and diehard Boston sports fan, won this event last year at 23-under-par, thanks in part to an opening 8-under 62 on Thursday and a 7-under 63 on Friday. He led the field in strokes gained approach and strokes gained putting, which explains why his final 72-hole score set a new tournament record.
Xander Schauffele continues hot stretch
Good ball strikers and solid putters tend to do well on this golf course. Xander Schauffele, who fits that billing, won this event two years ago, marking his 6th career win on the PGA Tour. He has won two more tournaments since, including this year’s PGA Championship.
Schauffele also recorded his 10th top-10 finish of the season at Pinehurst No. 2, despite not having his best stuff throughout the week.
Knowing that Schauffele has won on this golf course before and has played the best golf of his career throughout 2024, we like Schauffele to record a top-five finish at +180.
Big Ton’ posts back-to-back top-10s
If not for an unfortunate triple bogey on the 13th hole during the third round of the U.S. Open, Tony Finau could have vied for the title until the very end. He wound up tying for third, finishing at 4-under-par, two strokes behind Bryson DeChambeau.
Despite that, Finau’s game has rounded into form, as he has his four straight top-20 finishes over the last month.
He is a terrific ball-striker—Finau is third on the PGA Tour in strokes gained approaching the green. His putter has let him down at times, but it did not affect him much at Pinehurst No. 2. He gained 0.43 strokes on the greens for the week, ranking 39th among the field.
Considering the greens at TPC River Highlands come nowhere close to the ones at Pinehurst No. 2, we like Finau to have another above-average week with the putter and finish in the top 10 at +280.
Ludvig Åberg bounces back after tough weekend
Like Finau, the 13th hole got the best of Ludvig Åberg on Saturday afternoon. He made a triple bogey there, which all but ended his chances.
Nevertheless, Åberg will bounce back this week. He has quickly become one of the best ball-strikers on the planet, as seemingly every iron shot has a high ball flight and goes as straight as an arrow. That’s an excellent combination on any golf course, especially a favorable one like TPC River Highlands.
Plus, Åberg played at the Travelers Championship last year, tying for 24th and finishing at 13-under par. He even shot a 5-under 65 on Saturday, an impressive round given that he had finished up his tenure at Texas Tech roughly one month before. But knowing that Åberg has some experience on this course, and given his superb talent, we like him to also finish in the top 5 at +330.
It’s Russell Henley time
Perhaps the most underrated player in the game right now, Russell Henley arrives in Connecticut fresh off a tie for 7th at the U.S. Open. He carded a 3-under 67 in the final round, helping him record a back-door top 10, but Henley has four other top 10 finishes this season. He is also the 16th-ranked player in the world, thanks to his solid ball striking and excellent putting.
Henley does not miss the fairway often and thus awards himself plenty of opportunities to make birdie. His game should translate well to this course, where he has had some success. Henley’s best finish came in 2018 when he tied for 6th. He has since tied for 19th in his past two starts, in 2021 and 2023. But this year, we like Henley to post a result better than that. He is +3500 to win, which we are greatly considering, but we like him to finish in the top 5 at +650.
Longshot Contender and Winner
Frenchman Matthieu Pavon played well enough to earn a spot in the last group of the U.S. Open and held his own for most of the final round. He shot a 1-over 71 to finish solo 5th, as an early bogey stumbled his momentum. But Pavon put on a ball-striking and putting clinic all week at Pinehurst No. 2, a sign that his game is trending in the right direction.
He knows what it takes to win, too, having won at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. As such, we like Pavon to post another top-10 at +800 in Connecticut. His game seems to come in waves, and he’s riding high right now.
As for a longshot winner, we like South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout to get the job done at +7500. Bezuidenhout could not get any momentum going at the U.S. Open, finishing in a tie for 32nd at 7-over for the week. But he played consistent golf and did not blow up on any day, carding three 71s and a 72 on the par-70 layout. Nevertheless, Bezuidenhout is a terrific putter, ranking 11th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting. He is an above-average ball striker too.
The South African is not a bomber, either, an attribute not needed on this 6,852-yard layout, the shortest course on tour this season. Instead, he relies on his ball-striking and his short game to get the job done.
For all other sports betting content, check out SB Nation’s DraftKings site.
Also stay tuned for SB Nation’s staff picks for the Travelers Championship, set to go live on Tuesday, Jun. 18.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.