Defending champion Scottie Scheffler (+300) stakes his claim as the favorite at the Travelers Championship as well as one of the top horses for the course at TPC River Highlands. The Texan, a winner in a playoff in 2024 at 22 under, posted 19 under in 2023 for T4 and has posted seven of his last eight rounds at 65 or better. Not bad for a shootout!

New Englander and crowd favorite Keegan Bradley (+4500) owns the course record, 23 under, set during his 2023 championship run. Posting 21 under after 54 holes, he cruised to a three-shot victory, the second largest in the last 10 events at TPC River Highlands. Bradley, the 2019 co-runner-up, owns paydays from 12 of 14 career starts.

Form of top players

Players listed below are competing this week.

The par 70 at TPC River Highlands has not produced a winning score in single digits since 1993. The shortest course used on TOUR in the United States is 6,844 yards, only Port Royal Golf & Raquet Club on Bermuda is shorter. The last two winning totals are two of the three lowest since moving to TPC River Highlands in 1984.

Xander Schauffele (+1600), who opened 63-63, posted 19 under in 2022 to win by two shots. He began the trend of winners who ranked in the top three in Ball-Striking and was the eighth champion in the last 10 to rank in the top 10 in Bogey Avoidance. Making his fifth start in the previous six years, he has posted a round of 64 or better in his last four visits.

Rounds in the 60s

Players listed below are competing this week; 2025 ranking

Replacing the bogeys or worse from Oakmont will be birdies or better at TPC River Highlands. The 5,000 square foot greens will roll no more than 12 feet, and putts will again produce holing speeds instead of defense. The top 35 players in 2024 were 10 under or lower. The top 44, albeit in a larger field, were 10 under or lower in 2023.

The 2024 Signature Event produced 43 of the 72 players posting a round in the 60s in Round 1. Round 3 featured Cameron Young (+5000) posting 59, one shot off of the course record, 58, set by Jim Furyk in 2016. For the week, there were TWO ROUNDS TOTAL from the top 26 players on the leaderboard above 70. Young (T9) opened with 72, but not a round of 59 was not enough to force him into the top five! In the 2024 and 2023 seasons, TPC River Highlands ranked in the top tier of easiest courses played on TOUR.

The 2023 event featured a field of 156 players, and 91 posted a first round in the 60s. Collin Morikawa (+1800) opened with 74; not even a second-round 63 could save him. While there is not a 36-hole tapering this week, getting off to a fast start and then sprinting through the tape is required.

Past champions Jordan Spieth (+5500) and Harris English (+7500) own the two highest winning totals in the last decade. English is the only one of the duo that owns an additional top-10 result on his ledger. Spieth’s best finish outside his win is T42 in defense in 2018. Both players need playoffs to win their only title.

Birdie average

Players listed below are competing this week; 2025 ranking

Even the most heavily favored players are not guaranteed to shine this week. A shootout on one of the shortest tracks brings the entire field into play. The two par-5 holes rarely settle matters at TPC River Highlands. Only two recent winners in the last 10 have ranked in the top 10 in Par-5 Scoring. The four winners since 2021 ranked inside the top 10 in Par-4 Scoring, breaking a streak of seven consecutive years from 2014-2020. Birdies are available around every corner. With the winning score averaging 21-under over the last three editions, four rounds of 65 will not get the job done! Go low and then go lower!

Dismiss Brian Harman (+9000) at your peril at TPC River Highlands. The 2023 Open champion has yet to cross the finish line in first place, but he owns seven top-10 results from 14 starts. The 2023 co-runner-up hit the top 10 in his previous four visits and six of his last seven. The left-hander was also solo third in 2015. Since 2012, he signed for 43 of 48 rounds at par or better.

Travelers Championship notables

• The field of 72, highlighted by world No. 1 Scheffler, includes 44 of the top 50 from the Official World Golf Rankings. Billy Horschel (hip surgery), Corey Conners (wrist) are not in the field.
• The last player to win on debut was Spieth (2017).
• The last player to win for the first time on TOUR was Ken Duke (2013).
• Spieth is the last player to win wire-to-wire.
• Four of the last 10 events, including 2024, required a playoff to determine the champion.
• There are no multiple champions entered.
• All 72 players will play 72 holes.
• Signature Event winners this year in the field, not listed above, include Sentry champion Hideki Matsuyama (+6000) and API victor Russell Henley (+4500).

Oddsmaker’s extras

Patrick Cantlay (+2200) has played every weekend since his return in 2018, a streak of seven straight. The 2023 and 2024 editions produced an aggregate total of 37-under, good for T4 and T5, respectively, his best two results in 10 career starts. The Californian owns rounds of 60, at one time the course record, set as an amateur, and 61 in 2023.

Justin Thomas (+3000) joins Cantlay, Scheffler, and Harman inside the top 10 in the previous two events. The Signature Event winner earlier this year at the RBC Heritage, Thomas, who shared third in 2016, played his last seven rounds at 35-under-par and cashed T5 in 2024 after T9 in 2023. His worst round of the seven loops was 68

Rory McIlroy (+1200) broke into the top 10 for the first time in five starts on his last visit in 2023. Posting 16 of 20 loops in red figures, he owns T19 or better in all five appearances.

Tom Kim (+10000), knocked out by his pal Scheffler in the 2024 playoff, would have won every event minus two in the history of TPC River Highlands. His scoring average of 66.00 over eight rounds includes a 72!

J.T. Poston (+8000) joins Tom Hoge (+11000) and Sungjae Im (+6500) as recent podium finishers in the field. Poston fell two shots short of Schauffele in 2022 and has missed the weekend in five of seven career starts. Hoge never finished inside the top 35 in nine other starts before sharing third in 2024. Im cashed T21 on debut but possesses three paychecks of T29 or better in four visits.

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