Following the conclusion of the third Major of 2019, the PGA Tour now heads to TPC at River Highlands for this year’s edition of the Travelers Championship. There are some notable absentees as you might expect but we still have a strong field heading to Cromwell in Connecticut.
The US Open saw us take a return at +275 on Jon Rahm to finish inside the top 10 at Pebble Beach. The Spaniard has been profitable for us this season so let’s see if we can build on that profit over in Connecticut.
He may have just missed out on making it three US Opens in a row but Brooks Koepka is choosing to stay active. With the Open Championship due next month, we should expect to see strong fields in the next few weeks and Brooks heads the outright betting for the 2019 Travelers Championship.
Looking at stats and form, Koepka is an obvious favorite with the America-friendly sportsbooks (+750 with Bovada) and the only factor going against him is the question of raising his game for a non-Major.
Patrick Cantlay (+1000, aka 10/1) may not be an obvious name as second favorite. He has a solid return in this event but it could be due to the fact that he shot 60 here in 2011. He is second in the Power Rankings too but we’re not convinced he’s a contender this week.
Jordan Spieth (16/1) could be worth another look this week. He famously won here on his approach to victory at the 2017 Open Championship but he’s now closing in on two years without a trophy. Justin Thomas, Bryson Dechambeau and Francesco Molinari also feature strongly in the chasing pack at around 20/1 and then we come to the man who leads those Power Rankings.
Paul Casey (18/1) should be our Travelers Championship defending champion but a four shot lead on the final day in 2018 was not enough to hold off Bubba Watson. As always, Casey is solid if unspectacular right now but the Englishman can never be ruled out.
Bubba Watson (28/1) is, himself, at the head of the outsiders as he aims to become the only man, other than the late Billy Casper, to have won this event four times. Last year’s success came towards the end of a brilliant run of form and he has not quite recaptured that this season.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood is listed at a similar price while 2012 Champion Marc Leishman (28/1) also looks to have strong and relevant stats. Elsewhere, there’s definite interest in Brandt Snedeker (40/1) and Louis Oosthuizen (33/1) while Patrick Reed (50/1) will shop for clubs and return with renewed focus.
Bettors can also consider Phil Mickelson, Ryan Palmer, Chez Reavie, Charley Hoffman, Russell Knox and many more. It’s clearly a strong and competitive field but what will it take to win?
Our Preview’s Travelers Championship 2019 Course & Betting Trends with Picks & Predictions Verdict
This event has been on the Tour since 1952. In that time, it has undergone a number of name changes since first arriving as the Insurance City Open. One thing that has remained fairly constant is the venue and we have been playing the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands since 1984.
This is a short par 70 at just 6,844 yards. There shouldn’t, therefore, be too much of an advantage for the distance hitters so it may be a surprise to note that defending Champion Bubba Watson is a three-time winner here.
Last year’s scoring average came in at a shade over 69.5 and we should see some particularly low returns from the top. Putting will be key, as always, but course management is important across some treacherous hazards. Accuracy and scrambling will be vital so we are looking for someone with good stats in those categories.
Watch out for some mixed weather on the opening two days and the threat of storms on Friday. Anyone making the weekend should then be rewarded with benign conditions.
As for the winner, we weren’t really looking to go here again but Jordan Spieth seems to have all the qualities for success. Form is starting to return and we just need that putter to fire in order for the 2017 champion to convert.
Spieth gets one last chance as our 2019 Travelers Championship prediction for success while the three top 10 finish suggestions will look to compensate if he falls short. Leishman, Casey and Oosthuizen look like solid picks and all should drop in at value odds. So these are the picks for this preview:
- Bet on Jordan Spieth to win @ +1600 (16/1) with Bovada.
- Also take Spieth for a top 5 finish @ +300 (3/1) with Bovada or BetOnline.
- For top 10 finishes we like the following: Marc Leishmann (best at +275 BetOnline, found in their ‘Futures’ section and then ‘Golf – Top 10’), Paul Casey (+200 with Bovada or BetOnline) and Louis Oosthuizen (best +300 with BetOnline).
Matt Harris is a golf and soccer expert for USA Betting. His other area of specialist knowledge is cricket. He is well known in sports journalism and contributes articles to a plethora of big-name websites and media outlets. Titles that he writes or has written for include: Betfair, BetVictor, Unibet & Just Bookies.