This year’s Travelers Championship will take place Thursday, June 20 through Sunday, June 23, at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. Keegan Bradley emerged victorious over Brian Harman and Zac Blaira last year and is expected to defend his title this spring. Below we will provide a betting guide for this year’s contest, which will include Travelers Championship odds as soon as they are posted by top sportsbooks.
TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS
Travelers Championship odds have been posted by sportsbooks. Also, be sure to view the best betting sites before wagering on golf.
The field for the 2024 Travelers Championship will be officially announced on Friday, June 14. Until then, here are the odds for John Haslbauer’s projected favorites a month out from the event.
- Rory McIlroy +800
- Patrick Cantlay +1000
- Xander Schauffele +1200
- Scottie Scheffler +1200
- Sam Burns +1800
Get $100
TPC River Highlands
TPC River Highlands is one of the shortest courses on the PGA TOUR schedule, but its contoured design and prevalence or water and tricky greenside hazards have managed to keep scoring in check and impose a challenge to the field. The course encourages more conservative play off the tee, and instead emphasizes in-form iron play from inside 150 yards and putting on these blended Poa and Bentgrass greens.
In terms of Course History, Xander Schauffele, Paul Casey, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, and Bryson DeChambeau highlight the list of players who have repeatedly played well here, suggesting a strong correlation with players who have found success on other short, positional Pete Dye designed courses.
How It Breaks Down
At just 6,841 yards, TPC River Highlands stands as the second-shortest course on TOUR, just edging past Port Royal by several yards. While a short course does open it up to the plodders like Chez Reavie, Brian Harman, and Kevin Streelman, just as many bombers (Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Bryson DeChambeau) have found success. Distance is always a nice to have on the PGA TOUR, and it does allow players to take more aggressive lines. However, we should expect a tight dispersion of driving distance on a majority of holes this week with many forced layups on shorter par 4s.
The scorecard this week includes the standard mix of four par 3s, two par 5s, and 12 par 4s that we would expect on a par-70 layout. The two par 5s on property bring the easiest scoring opportunities, followed by the two par 4s which measure under 350 yards. TPC River Highlands’ identity lies in its short par 4s, with 10 holes measuring under 450 yards. That brings forward a concentration of mid-irons from the 125-175 range, and very few approaches from beyond 200. The drivable 296-yard par-4 15th hole is one of the more memorable ones on TOUR, tempting all players to go for the green with water surrounding left and a giant hill right. It’s one of my favorite risk-reward holes on TOUR, in which eagle and double bogey both beckon.
Traits And Recent Notable Facts
Looking over the stats that make TPC River Highlands unique, the rough stands out as the course’s best defense. Fairways measure wider than TOUR average and players have historically dialed back their driving distance to ensure playing from the short grass. That has resulted in about 70% of fairways hit compared to TOUR average closer to 65%. Penalty for misses is steep, however. The course ranks top seven in each of the last six years in strokes lost from off fairway. Things don’t get much easier around the green, from where TPC River Highlands routinely ends among the top five most difficult courses to gain strokes.
With that in mind, this week should all come back to ball striking. Players can reach the fairways and greens in regulation more easily than average, so those who can repeatedly hit precise shots from Point A to Point B should do just fine. Although the greens complexes may bring challenging scrambles, we should expect contenders to hold a high percentage of these greens anyway.
TPC RIVER HIGHLANDS COURSE SPECS
- Yards: 6,841
- Par: 70 (4x 3s / 12x 4s / 2x 5s)
- Greens: Bent & Poa Blend
- Architect: Pete Dye (with renovations from Bobby Weed in ’89)
- Historic Cut Line: -1 to +1
- Comp Courses: Colonial CC, TPC Deere Run, Sedgefield CC, TPC Sawgrass, Harbour Town, Riviera CC, Innisbrook Resort, Waialae CC, Oakdale G&CC
- Recent Past Winners: Harris English -13 (’21), Dustin Johnson -19 (’20), Chez Reavie -17 (’19), Bubba Watson -17 (’18), Jordan Spieth -12 (’17)
- Hole-by-hole Breakdown:
TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP betting history
When looking through the Travelers Championship winners over the last 10 years, it’s a very even distribution of winners between the favorites, mid-range, and long shots. Shorter courses like TPC River Highlands tend to open up a wider pool of contenders across the field, so there is plenty of value in the mid to long range of the odds board when considering betting the 2023 Travelers Championship
The below table tracks consensus pre-tournament outright odds for the last 10 winners of the Travelers Championship.
| Year | Winner | Pre-Tournament Odds | Winning Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Keegan Bradley | +9000 | -23 |
| 2022 | Xander Schauffele | +2000 | -19 |
| 2021 | Harris English | +4500 | -13 |
| 2020 | Dustin Johnson | +3000 | -19 |
| 2019 | Chez Reavie | +7000 | -17 |
| 2018 | Bubba Watson | +3300 | -17 |
| 2017 | Jordan Spieth | +1000 | -12 |
| 2016 | Russell Knox | +5000 | -14 |
| 2015 | Bubba Watson | +1400 | -16 |
| 2014 | Kevin Streelman | +15000 | -15 |
| 2013 | Ken Duke | +15000 | -12 |
How to bet the Travelers Championship
The betting options for the Travelers Championship are much more expansive than just “outright winner.” If you’re confident in a strong performance from a golfer at TPC River Highlands but don’t want to lay too much on him to beat the entire field there are options to bet Top 5 finish, Top 10, Top 20, and more.
You can also bet on whether or not a golfer will make the cut, if there will be a hole in one in the tournament and head-to-head matchups.