The Travelers Championship is the third event in the PGA Tour’s post-lockdown schedule and we have taken an in-depth look at the tournament ahead of Thursday’s opening round.
Colonial Country Club in Texas and the Harbour Town Links in South Carolina staged the first two tournaments in the return of the PGA Tour – and this week the circuit has moved to TPC River Highlands in Connecticut for the Travelers Championship.
The Travelers is typically one of the highest attended events on the calendar – with hordes of fans lining the fairways – but spectators are still banned from PGA Tour venues amid Covid-19 concerns. Nick Watney became the first Tour player to test positive last week, so PGA chiefs are praying they get through the Travelers without any spread. The action starts on Thursday.
The seven highest-ranked players in the world – and ten of the top 11 – are at the 6,841-yard, par-70 River Highlands. The easy course should be ripped apart by the stellar field.
McIlroy and Thomas Top the Betting
Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas will relish the chance to open their shoulders at a venue which encourages attacking golf. McIlroy closed with a 64 in the 2017 Travelers and opened with the same score in 2018, without seriously contending for the title.
Form figures of 32-41 for the last fortnight may put McIlroy fans off the 12/1* that he becomes Travelers champion on Sunday.
Thomas, tenth at Colonial and eighth in the Heritage after a closing 63, is 12/1. He was third in the 2016 Travelers and has won ten PGA Tour titles since.
Bryson DeChambeau, another of the Travelers market principals, has finished ninth and eighth in the last two editions of this tournament. The musclebound Californian will expect to contend for a sixth PGA Tour triumph.
Young Guns Could Prosper on Straightforward Track
Pounding greens in regulation and setting up countless birdie chances is the key to success at River Highlands – while a hot putter can go a long way too – and the simple assignment sets up well for attacking youngsters.
Viktor Hovland is a fairly fresh face on the PGA Tour, but he has already got a victory under his belt in the Puerto Rico Open and further success seems inevitable for the super-talented Norwegian.
River Highlands, where he made his debut as a professional 12 months ago, could be the perfect venue for this potential European Ryder Cup star to land a second Tour triumph.
Hovland is 55/1 for Travelers glory, a generous price considering he is widely regarded as somebody who could become world number one over the next few years.
A tie for 23rd at Colonial the week before last featured a closing 66, then 21st spot followed at Harbour Town, again with a Sunday 66. He was a course debutant for both events.
Hovland could hit the ground running at a layout he knows, while the same can be said of Joaquin Niemann, who finished fifth last year.
Niemann was fifth in the RBC Heritage on Sunday, so brings an attractive mix of course and current form to Connecticut, and he is 35/1 to claim the spoils.
*All odds correct at time of writing