The return to life on the PGA TOUR at the Travelers Championship comes with one constant, Scottie Scheffler ($13,300), leading the way at the top of the board at DraftKings DFS contests. Scheffler, defending for the fifth time this season at TPC River Highlands, is the clear favorite among the 72-man field after cashing T7 at the U.S. Open last week.

Rory McIlroy ($11,500) is one of three players in the elite field to join the Texan in the five-figure dollar range. His final round 67 on Sunday might be enough to stoke the fires of believers before he makes his annual summer tee times across the pond. The average winning score over the last three editions is 21-under par. I need recent heat, not the Grand Slam or one-round garden variety.

Xander Schauffele ($10,800) and Collin Morikawa ($10,200) have not won in nearly a year. Schauffele, who owns one top 10 this season at the Masters, cranked out his usual top-15 or better result at the U.S. Open with a T12. Morikawa, who hit it great at Oakmont but could not putt, led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green and SG: Approach the Green, but he did not crack the top 20 (T23). The greens this week t Travelers will pay off more shots than they will repel. I’m interested in the hot ball strikers who can get hot with the putter.

Patrick Cantlay ($9,800) and Justin Thomas ($9,300) each own back-to-back top-five paydays. Cantlay ended his streak of paydays at the U.S. Open at nine and has not won since the 2022 BMW Championship. Thomas, who missed the weekend in two of the three majors this season, earned a Signature Event victory the week after cashing T36 at Augusta National. He also leads the TOUR in multiple scoring categories, has multiple low rounds at TPC River Highlands and is going to be one to watch this week.

Sam Burns ($9,100), the 36- and 54-hole leader at Oakmont, is due a bit of good fortune after recent results. He cashed in eight straight with the last seven all T30 or better. Viktor Hovland ($9,000), who earned solo third last week, picked up his first top 10 since holding off Thomas at the Valspar Championship. Russell Henley ($8,800) cashed top-10 paydays at two tracks not many had seen before in his last two outings, but TPC River Highlands has been the site of this event since 1984.

Corey Conners ($8,700) withdrew from the U.S. Open on Sunday with a wrist injury, and his status for this week remains in question. Highlighted with a 62 in 2024 on his first visit, Robert MacIntyre ($8,400), the runner-up last week, played his final 54 holes in 14-under in 2024 (T16). The value of the group belongs to Keegan Bradley ($8,500). The tournament-record-setting winner from 2023 kicked off his torrid two-year stretch with a victory in his part of the world and has not looked back. Captaining the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in September has sharpened his game, not dulled it. Cashing a check in 12 of 14 career starts, including T2 in 2019, he will be the hometown favorite by yards.

Digging deeper, red-hot Ben Griffin ($8,100) shows zero signs of slowing down after four consecutive top-10 paydays. Cameron Young ($7,800) owns back-to-back T4 paydays in the national opens of Canada and the United States. He was born and raised in Scarborough, New York, just down I-95, and cashed T9 in 2024. Daniel Berger ($7,500) lost a playoff here to Jordan Spieth ($8,200) in 2017. Akshay Bhatia ($7,400) opened 64-65-64, teed it up in the final group with Scheffler and Tom Kim ($7,100) before cashing T5 on debut.

Rickie Fowler ($7,200) received another sponsor exemption and is fresh off a T7 at the Memorial Tournament and T16 at Charles Schwab. Harry Hall ($7,100) is the fifth-best according to average points this week. Unlike the names above, he did not have to battle Oakmont and the elements of a U.S. Open week last week and makes a ton of birdies, a theme this week. He’s rested, ready to go and cashed nine straight events on TOUR. Max Greyserman ($6,900) has quietly made the cut in all three major championships in 2025. Andrew Novak ($6,700), who lost in a playoff to Thomas at Harbour Town, has four finishes of T17 or better in his last seven on TOUR.

Here's how I would devise a six-man lineup this week, staying within the $50,000 salary cap for DraftKings contests:

• Justin Thomas ($9,300)
• Sam Burns ($9,100)
• Keegan Bradley ($8,500)
• Ben Griffin ($8,100)
• Cameron Young ($7,800)
• Harry Hall ($7,100)