2020 Travelers Championship Preview
Travelers Championship
June 25 – June 28
TPC River Highlands | Cromwell, CT
Par 70 – 6,841 Yards
Defending: Chez Reavie
The back 9 on Sunday was some of the best and most exciting golf we’ve seen in awhile. Whether it was Webb, Ancer, Hatton, or Berger draining putts or chips, everyone was firing on all cylinders. In the end, Webb Simpson got the win shooting 5-under on the back (64 on the day) to set a tournament record at 22-under par. Some numbers that stick out from the weekend are Koepka gaining 1.731 strokes off the tee, Ancer gaining 2.957 (!!) strokes on approach, Sergio 2.468 SG: Approach, and Webb Simpson obviously solid across the board with a hot putter. We had a nice DFS and betting weekend as well, nailing the Webb winner (+2800), and hitting on Hatton and Ancer for top-5’s (+1000 each)! Let’s keep that going this week.
Next up on the schedule is the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, CT at Par-70 TPC River Highlands, another pretty short course at 6,841 yards. Last year, Chez Reavie won the tourney at -17 over Keegan Bradley and Zach Sucher (-13) and in 2018 Bubba was the winner (-17) over Paul Casey, Stewart Cink, J.B. Holmes, and Beau Hossler (-14). All the top guys (besides Tiger) are going to be back this week including Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay.
TPC River Highlands is your classic northeast course with trees lining rolling fairways and a few holes playing around a lake from #15-#18. Long and short hitters have found the winner’s circle highlighted by Bubba Watson’s 3 wins since 2010. Chez Reavie, Kevin Streelman and Russell Knox show that you don’t have to hit it 300+ to win here as long as you’re dialed in with the irons and accurate off the tee. Other notables in the field this week are Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Patrick Reed.
TPC River Highlands | Cromwell, CT
Par 70 – 6,841 Yards
The Course
Par 3’s: 223, 202, 158, 171
Par 4’s: 434, 341, 431, 481, 443, 406, 462, 411, 421, 296, 420, 444
Par 5’s: 574, 523
The Travelers typically has a stronger field than the past couple tournaments this year, so you can put more stock into course history this week than in the past couple. There isn’t a true mold or type of player that dominates here but I’d expect another stacked leaderboard heading into the weekend with a good mix of long hitters (Bubba and Bryson) and elite iron players (Webb Simpson, Sergio, etc.).
With eight (nine if you include 462 yard 10th) par-4’s in the 400-450 yard range, scoring on these holes is going to be a huge factor this week shown by Chez Reavie leading the category last year and Bubba being top 10 from those yardages when he won in 2018. Season to date for this stat, the top guys in field are Webb Simpson, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Brandon Grace and Cameron Champ. There are only two par-5’s this week but those are huge birdie/eagle holes if the players can take advantage. The next category that pops off the page is proximity stats from 150-175 yards as this had the highest number of shots in last year’s tournament by far. Top guys this season from that range playing this week are JT, Viktor Hovland, Branden Grace, Mickelson and Vaughn Taylor.
Accuracy off the tee will again be a key stat whether you hit it long or short and GIR is always something to look at (although don’t expect Abraham Ancer to repeat that performance this weekend!). Lastly, shots gained off the tee and shots gained on approach (Ball Striking) are going to differentiate the top players from those who fall down the leaderboard. Around the green is not going to be a major factor unless a guy is really struggling this week.
Scoring Holes: Both par-5’s (#6 and #13) are key to score on this (both will give up eagles) week as they’ll play as the easiest holes over the week. The shorter par-3, hole #11 plays 158 yards and will also surrender a lot of birdies. The last hole to highlight here is the reachable par-4 15th hole, playing under 300 yards if you’re willing to risk it.
Problem Holes: Hole #4 is a beast of a par-4 that will play over par as one of the most difficult on the course. Hole #5 is another long hole, a 223 yard par-3 that has given players trouble in the past and will give up nearly as many bogeys as #4. #17 is one of the final four holes that plays around a lake at TPC Highland and will challenge players. It’s a par-4 playing 420 yards but has given guys issues in past years.
Past Winners at The Travelers Championship
2019 – Chez Reavie (-17) def. Keegan Bradley; Zach Sucher (-13)
2018 – Bubba Watson (-17) def. Paul Casey; Stewart Cink; J.B. Holmes; Beau Hossler (-14)
2017 – Jordan Spieth (-12) def. Daniel Berger in Playoff
2016 – Russell Knox (-14) def. Jerry Kelly (-13)
2015 – Bubba Watson (-16) def. Paul Casey in Playoff
2014 – Kevin Streelman (-15) def. K.J. Choi; Sergio Garcia (-14)
2013 – Ken Duke (-12) def. Chris Stroud in Playoff
2012 – Marc Leishman (-14) def. Charley Hoffman; Bubba Watson (-13)
2011 – Fredrik Jacobson (-20) def. Ryan Moore; John Rollins (-19)
2010 – Bubba Watson (-14) def. Corey Pavin; Scott Verplank
Golf Bets and DFS Analysis to be posted later this week.