By: Harry Gagnon
Harry’s PGA Tour Prop Bets for the Travelers Championship
What: The Travelers Championship
Where: Cromwell, Connecticut
When: June 25-28
The PGA makes its third stop on tour after the Coronavirus restart, as the players head to the Nutmeg State and Cromwell, Connecticut. The golfers will be looking to build off yet another unbelievable tournament as we saw an exciting end to the festivities down in South Carolina last weekend.
I don’t recall seeing such great golf as what was on display in Hilton Head. Webb Simpson’s short game was off the charts and so was his putting, especially on Sunday. Others who played outstandingly last week were guys like Rory McIlroy, Abraham Ancer, and Dustin Johnson. All three of those guys have made the hike north up I-95 (or probably a plane, but who knows in these times) for the Travelers Championship. Chez Reavie is the defending champion (10th on tour in driving accuracy) on this short par 70 course, winning by four strokes over Keegan Bradley last year. Below are some facts on the season and some of my best plays for betting this week.
Travelers Championship Odds to Win
+1200 Rory McIlroy
Seems like he is the favorite no matter what tournament it is
+1200 Justin Thomas
Had a great final round in South Carolina after a tough Saturday
+1400 Bryson DeChambeau
What I said about JT, applies to Bryson here
+1800 Webb Simpson
Played flawless on Sunday in getting his second win of the season (the Waste-Management Open in Scottsdale, AZ is his other win)
+2000 Brooks Koepka
Ranked 4th in world but only has one top 10 this season
+2000 Jon Rahm
Currently ranked second in the world golf rankings
+2200 Patrick Cantlay
Cantlay’s first tournament back since the return of golf three weeks ago
+2500 Justin Rose
+2800 Bubba Watson
Has won this tournament three times
+2800 Dustin Johnson
Nice comeback by DJ after missing the cut the previous week
+3300 Collin Morikawa
Morikawa has now made 22 consecutive cuts to start his career. He is only three behind Tiger Woods record of 25
+3300 Patrick Reed
Is 7th in the world rankings
+3300 Paul Casey
Like Cantlay, it will be Casey’s first tournament back as well
+3500 Abraham Ancer
Ancer is 11th in Fed Ex Standings and is 24th ranked in the world
Fed Ex Cup Standings
1-1583 Webb Simpson
2-1543 Justin Thomas
3-1526 Sungjae Im
4-1213 Rory McIlroy
5-1165 Patrick Reed
Top 10 Finishes this Season
Justin Thomas
10 events, 7 Top 10’s
Sungjae Im
16 events, 6 Top 10’s
Bryson DeChambeau
9 events, 6 Top 10’s
Rory McIlroy
8 events, 6 top 10’s
Webb Simpson
7 events, 5 top 5’s
Travelers Championship Prop Bets: Best Round 1 Prop Bet
+110 Abraham Ancer
+210 Ryan Palmer
+240 Brandt Snedeker
Snedeker may be a bit rusty and Palmer played well last week, but that was his first time on the first page of the scoreboard on a Sunday in quite some time. Ancer is clicking on all cylinders as he led the field last week in strokes gained. Ancer is also 18th on tour in scoring average.
Harry’s Travelers Championship Prop Bet: Ancer
Travelers Championship Matchup Prop Bet:
-125 Webb Simpson
+105 Brooks Koepka
This might be a letdown spot for Simpson. Even though he didn’t win, you could tell Koepka was coming around as Sunday’s round progressed and that could make him dangerous this week in Connecticut.
Harry’s Travelers Championship Prop Bet: Koepka
Travelers Championship Prop Bets: To Make the Cut and Not Make the Cut
To Make the Cut:
-135 Keegan Bradley
Bradley has a fantastic history here and finished in 2nd last year’s event. He also finished 8th here in 2017.
-150 Jason Day
Day has finished in the top 12 in this tournament the past two seasons.
To Not Make the Cut:
+105 Ryan Palmer
Again, I think he gave all he had last week in Hilton Head and will start off badly on Thursday and won’t be able to recover.
Top 10’s:
+550 Viktor Hovland
This rookie has been spectacular and might just be the best Oklahoma State Cowboy on tour. You here that Rickie Fowler (Fowler has missed the cut in two straight weeks)
+300 Bubba Watson
Watson has three career wins here and has three top 10’s on tour this season. Watson is fourth in driving distance and 12th in eagles on the circuit so far this year.
+200 Jon Rahm
It was good to see Rahm play well last week after a surprising missed cut the week before. I’m telling you it is just a matter of weeks until this guy puts it all together.
Some other players to consider
Kevin Tway
Has had top 10 finishes here the past two events
Jordan Spieth
Has been in the mix the last two weeks
Russell Knox
Won this tournament in 2016
Top 10 and To Win
Harry’s Travelers Championship Picks to Win
Paul Casey
+400 (for a Top 10) and +5000 (to Win)
Since 2015, Casey has finished no worse than 17th in the tournament; he finished in fifth both last year as well as in 2017. Well top fives are fun, he also has a pair of runner ups, which he secured in 2015 and 2018. For the season, Casey is 18th in tee to green and is 24th in eagles while placing 28th in birdies on tour.
Harry’s Prediction to Finish Top Three at the Travelers Championship
3-Jon Rahm
2-Bubba Watson
1-Paul Casey