The Travelers Championship

The Travelers Championship

We were treated to a scintillating US Open at Oakmont, which will go down in the memory banks as to one of the most dramatic final days we have witnessed over recent years.

Oakmont lived up to its reputation as one of, if not the, toughest tests on the Major Championship rota with the players struggling to get to grips with the thick rough and lightening fast greens.

After many of the games leading names including the much fancied Bryson Dechambeau parachuted out of the event at the halfway stage it was left to the inform Sam Burns, the veteran Adam Scott and the unheralded JJ Spaun to take centre stage over the weekend.

With conditions deteriorating as the week progressed Sunday then produced a remarkable three hour plus finale as the players returned from a weather delay to slog it out on an all but unplayable saturated course.

The lead continued to change hands as one by one Burns, Scott, Carlos Ortiz and Tyrrell Hatton who had all held a share at some stage fell away. Robert Mcintyre then came to the party late to grab the lead on his own before Spaun who had bogeyed four of his first five holes earlier in the day rallied superbly to sit one ahead of McIntyre as he stood on the 18^th tee.

With pretty much everyone though bogeying the final hole the ‘four to win’ looked a huge ask. At this point though Spaun hit two superb shots to find the edge of the green in two before, having been shown the line by Viktor Hovland, he rolled in a 65ft putt to seal the victory.

Incredible scenes then and you cant help but be delighted for the likeable Spaun who had come so close earlier in the year at Sawgrass.

From our point of view it was a frustrating week as most of our team played well, but not well enough! In the end though we eked out some place returns on Jon Rahm and our first round leader pick Ben Griffin to limit the damage on the week.

So onwards we go as the tour heads to the North East and to Connecticut for the traditional post US Open slot the Travelers Championship.

The tournament has been a fixture on the tour since the early 1950s and it has been played at its current home TPC River Highlands since 1991.

Since 2007 the event has held the spot in the calendar of the week after the US Open with the only exception to this during this period being in 2016, when as part of the tweaking of the schedule due to the Olympics it was moved to August and in 2020 when it followed on from the RBC Heritage in the revised calendar that followed the Covid related shutdown.

For the third year running the event has been given ‘signature event’ status and we have a limited field no cut set up in play. Following on the heels of the brutal test of Oakmont it remains to be seen how much gas in the tank some of the big names have!

Still, whether they want to be here or not the big names have all turned up. The market therefore is of course headed up by Scottie Scheffler, the worlds number one is then followed by Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa.

COURSE

TPC River Highlands is a Par 70 measuring at 6841 yards.

The greens are Bentgrass with Poa Annua.

The original course designer was J Moss back in 1928. Subsequently the course has undergone renovations in the hands of Pete Dye in 1982 and Bobby Weed in 1989.

There are different ways to play TPC River Highlands. One, as we have seen from Bubba over the years, is to overpower it’s collection of short par 4s. Another as shown by the likes of Russell Knox, Ken Duke, 2020 winner Chez Reavie and Tom Kim last year who narrowly lost out to to Scottie Scheffler in a play off is to plot your way round. Either way plenty of birdies will be required on what is basically a short resort course.

HISTORY

Lets take a look at the winners here since 2012.

2024 Scottie Scheffler

2023 Keegan Bradley

2022 Xander Schauffele

2021 Harris English

2020 Dustin Johnson*

2019 Chez Reavie

2018 Bubba Watson

2017 Jordan Spieth

2016 Russell Knox*

2015 Bubba Watson

2014 Kevin Streelman

2013 Ken Duke

2012 Marc Leishman

*Denotes when the event was not played the week after the US Open.

As you can see from the list and as mentioned above there have been different types of winner here of late.

Over the past 10yrs we have seen two wins for Bubba who basically over powered the course [he also triumphed here in 2010] and a similar performance from Dustin Johnson in 2020.

Then we have seen wins for Reavie, Knox, Duke, Leishman, Streelman, English, Schauffele and Bradley, all renowned tee to green exponents who have combined this with a hot putting week.

Streelman of course memorably made seven straight birdies when closing out victory in 2014.

It is not unsurprising that after the demanding test we usually see at the year’s second Major the week before this event, The Travelers tends to be won by a lower tier player.

Putting aside then the two editions over the past ten years, which were not played directly after the US Open and the only real exceptions to this over the other eight years have been Spieth’s win in 2017, Bubba’s wins in 2015 and 2018, Schauffele’s win in 2023 and of course Scheffler’s last year.

It’s worth noting however that Jordan was never really in serious contention at Erin Hills in 2017, finishing down the field in 35^th place. In addition it would be fair to say that the challenge offered up by Erin Hills was more than akin to a ‘week in week out’ PGA tour event than the US Open.

With regards to Bubba’s wins in 2015 and 2018 whilst he was seen as a marquee player at the time of those wins here his record in his home championship is poor and he had duly missed the cut both at Shinnecock and at Chambers Bay the week before.

As for Schauffele let’s not forget that in 2022 he was ending a three year plus winless drought here so motivation was high. In addition while he had finished 14^th at the US Open the week before he was never right in the thick of things closing with a 68 on Sunday.

Meanwhile last years winner Bradley was fully focused in what is to him his ‘fifth major’ as he hails from the area. In addition had missed the cut at the US Open the week before so he arrived reasonably fresh.

Finally even Scheffler last year had arrived relatively fresh after a rare off week having finished 41^st at the US Open.

Of the remaining winners over the past ten years two of them, Duke and Leishman did not play in the US Open the week before.

The two players however who did buck this trend significantly though were Chez Reavie in 2019 and Harris English in 2021. Reavie had the Major of his life at Pebble Beach in 2019 finishing third and then carried that momentum straight through to his victory the following week, a fantastic achievement. Similarly English finished third at Torrey Pines and again rode the wave to victory here.

With the field now being an elite, limited one we are more likely to have a bigger name winning of course but again it could well pay to focus on those who were not a factor or even missed the cut at Oakmont.

With regards to experience here one of the past ten winners, Jordan Spieth, was making his debut the year he won, while another Marc Leishman had played here only once before finishing 70^th. All other winners though had made at least two starts, with several like Scheffler, English, Reavie, Streelman, Knox, Bradley. [& of course Bubba on his second and third wins] having made multiple starts here.

Dustin Johnson was making his fourth appearance here when he triumphed in 2020 although he had not played the event since 2014, while Schauffele was playing here for the fourth time.

Previous good course form though is not necessarily a prerequisite. This can be seen by looking at the likes of English who had a best of seventh in seven previous starts and Duke who had a best placed 27^th in three tries prior to his win.

Looking at other winners they also had a mixed bag on previous trips to TPC River Highlands with Reavie having a best place of 11^th in numerous attempts and Knox 13^th. Streelman had fared better posting two top tens in six previous visits, however Dustin Johnson had only managed a best of 31^st in his three previous starts here while, similarly Schauffele had a best of 20^th in three visits. The 2023 champion Bradley however has been an ever present over the years with two top tens to his name. Finally Scheffler had finished fourth here the year before on his fourth visit here.

In all honesty form coming in to the event doesn’t give too many clues either although English and 2019 winner Chez Reavie did telegraph their wins with a third place at the US Open the week before. Aside from Scheffler of the other seven only two, Spieth and Leishman had posted a top ten in their previous three starts, and four had missed the cut in their prior start. 2020 champion Dustin Johnson mean had a MC and 17^th place finish to his name in his two starts since lockdown.

Schauffele arrived here in typically solid form in 2022 having posted three straight top 20s on the back of a fifth at the Byron Nelson. Bradley meanwhile had produced some solid if unspectacular golf prior to missing the cut at the US Open.

Finally Duke and Leishman were clinching their maiden PGA Tour victories when they won here.

As mentioned earlier plenty of birdies will be required this week to get the job done and over the past ten years we have seen winning scores ranging -23 from Bradley in 2024 to -12 on a couple of occasions including from Spieth, with the average over recent years being between -12 to -17.

WEATHER FORECAST

After last weeks interruptions unfortunately more cannot be ruled out this week with Thursday in particular showing the chance of a storm.

Temperatures look set to be in the high 80s while wind could be an issue with 20mph+ gusts forecast over the first two days in particular.

As I always say though this could all change!

PICKS

I have gone with four players this week as follows;

PATRICK CANTLAY – 22/1 – 2.5pts E/W 1/5 odds 1^st 6

I am going to start this week with Patrick Cantlay.

Looking back at my preview last year for this event and having started in the same vein then I could pretty much copy and paste what I said then! Here is some of what I did say 12 months ago!

“Cantlay has no doubt been tough to follow over the past 18 months and anyone who has been patiently waiting for him to strike will I am sure be somewhat frustrated now.

While many of the game’s biggest names would almost certainly rather be having a week off this week Cantlay though is a different story, clearly a fan of TPC River Highlands this will be his seventh straight trip here with all previous six visits bringing a finish between 4^th and 15^th, with the fourth coming last year when we were onboard.

In addition let’s not forget his love affair with this event started way back in 2011 when he shot 60 here as an amateur.”

Well here we are 12 months on and the winless streak and the frustration for Cantlay backers continues as he returns here for the eighth year running having bagged yet another top five last year.

This year Patrick has notched five top twelve finishes to date including three top fives however two of his last three starts have seen him miss the cut at the PGA and US Open with a 12^th at Memorial sandwiched in between.

In relation to this week though I can’t but help think that having avoided a draining weekend mentally at Oakmont may well prove to be a blessing.

Patrick’s long game stats are eye catching this year and he currently sits 11^th from tee to green and 15^th in approach play with the putter letting him down as a whole. Of late though he has turned a corner with the flat stick ranking seventh at the Memorial.

I’ll excuse Patrick the poor week at Oakmont then and instead chance him fresh to finally get back in the winners enclosure at one of his favourite venues this week.

DENNY McCARTHY –70/1 – 1pt E/W – 1/5 odds 1^st 8

Next up for me is Denny McCarthy.

McCarthy continues to play hugely consistent golf while still continuing to search for his maiden win.

This season he has made the weekend every time he has teed it up notching two top tens along the way including an eighth at the PGA Championship.

Last week at the US Open Denny finished down the field in 57^th however his approach play fired nicely over the weekend with a ‘best of the week’ performance of 13^th coming on Sunday on this front.

Looking at McCarthy’s history here and it is a mixed bag to say the least, however he has been a regular visitor over the years and has a best of seventh two years ago so we know he can handle the track.

Known as arguably the best putter on tour McCarthy continues to shine on this front and if he can bring the iron play he found at Oakmont last weekend and align that to his expertise on the greens this could finally be the week he breaks through.

RICKIE FOWLER – 80/1 – 1pt E/W – 1/5 odds 1^st 6

One player who will have watched all of the drama at Oakmont unfold with his feet up is Rickie Fowler and he makes an awful lot of appeal arriving here fresh.

Fowler seemed to have got right back on track when he triumphed in Detroit in 2023 however 2024 was hugely disappointing with just one top ten, while 2025 had not until recently offered much more.

Fowler showed signs of life though when 16^th at Colonial, a result which promised much more before a poor Sunday, and he then backed that up with a seventh last time out at Memorial where all parts of his game were firing nicely.

A winner of course at the Pete Dye design TPC Sawgrass Fowler returns to TPC River Highlands for the fifth consecutive year this year with the last two outings seeing him finish 13^th and 20^th. Last years 20^th it should be noted also came when he had missed his previous two cuts and had not had a top 20 since the Heritage in April.

It was around this time that Rickie got ‘hot’ in 2023 and perhaps stung slightly by criticism of his invites to signature events he appears to be getting the bit between his teeth again now.

I’ll gladly take him this week then to continue his recent upturn in form and produce a big week.

MAX GREYSERMAN – 80/1 - 1pt E/W – 1/5 odds 1^st 8

I’ll wrap things up this week by chancing Max Greyserman.

Greyserman is another who has been playing really solid golf of late without quite putting four rounds together to really threaten.

Going back to the Masters Max has tee’d it up seven times in solo events notching six finishes between 23^rd & 33^rd. Like I say solid stuff!

Max makes his debut at TPC River Highlands this week however looking at his form since he came on tour last year and he has shown with his second place finishes at the Wyndham and the ZOZO that he is more than comfortable on shorter par 70 tracks where plenty of birdies are needed. Meanwhile this year his best finish came at the Amex where he was seventh, an event that features a Pete Dye design, while his second best showing came when 11^th on a par 70 at the Honda.

Greyserman as a rule makes his money on the greens however he actually struggled on this front last week at Oakmont. Encouragingly though his iron play was firing well.

A native of about two hours away in New Jersey Max should be more than comfortable here and back on a par 70 where low scoring is key he could just flourish.