Travelers Championship Preview: Can Chez Reavie Breakthrough after his Strong U.S. Open Showing?

The PGA Tour is moving from the west coast back to the east coast for the 36th edition of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. We are coming off a great week at Pebble Beach and this week’s field consists of 156 players with the top-70 and ties making it to the weekend. There are some great value plays to bet on this week with the top end of the field having overvalued odds.

Course

TPC River Highlands
Par 70
6,841 Yards

TPC River Highlands was originally built back in 1928, but was redesigned to TPC standards in 1984 by Pete Dye, with the course being remodeled one more time in 1989 by Bobby Weed.

It seems like the PGA Tour is running through a gauntlet of less-than-driver courses lately. TPC River Highlands requires hitting fairways and the right part of the greens. Jim Furyk holds the course record of 58 here, so that tells you all you need to know about the type of player that this course fits.

10 of the 12 par 4s are less than 450 yards and the course is the 2nd shortest on tour. There are 119 bunkers scattered throughout the course. Both the fairways and greens are poa annua mixed with some bentgrass. Rain is expected all week so the soft conditions could lead to some very low scores. The greens do tend to firm up as the day goes on, so I would look to target players from the early wave of tee times if you want to make a first round leader bet.  

Ball striking from 100 to 165 yards will be the key for great birdie opportunities at TPC River Highlands. Holes 15 thru 17 are the highlights of the course as they surround a 4-acre lake. Hole 15 is a 296 yard par 4 that is the 2nd shortest par 4 on tour and will be a fun hole to watch with water to the left and sand to the right.

The par 5s are difficult with only total 17 eagles being made at this event in the last 2 years. The 16th is a 171 yard par 3 that requires a forced carry over water into a narrow green. Hitting the right area is important as the green has a slope that makes some pin locations incredibly difficult to shoot at. The 17th is a 433 yard par 4 that requires golfers to hit between a large lake on the right side and a fairway bunker to the left. That is just the first part of the hole, as the approach requires a carry over water.

This week should be another fun week with a surprisingly strong field despite the cross country travel and the fact that it falls right after a major championship.

Travelers Championship Betting Picks

Francesco Molinari 22/1

Francesco Molinari seems to finally be out of his post-Masters funk. His ball striking was still a little off from what he have come to expect from him, ranking 47th in SG: OTT and 59th in GIR at the U.S. Open. However, his short game was excellent and he routinely got up and down from tough spots. If he can get his ball striking back closer to his long term averages, then this is a course that he can contend on. He will look to build on his best finish at this event, which was a T25 back in 2015.

Emiliano Grillo 40/1

Emiliano Grillo is striping the ball right now. He is ranked 6th in SG: Approach, 26th SG: OTT, and 15th in SG: Tee-to-Green. The problem is his putting, as he ranked 200th in SG:Putting and he lost over 6 strokes putting to the field last week at the U.S. Open. However, Gary Woodland was in a similar scenario heading into Pebble Beach and ended up putting the lights out, gaining over 7 strokes. With his ball striking, Grillo doesn’t need to gain anywhere near 7 strokes to be in contention this week, and even a moderately hot putter could see Grillo contend for a win.

Chez Reavie 50/1

Chez Reavie is usually a player you start in DFS when he gets hot and despite his lack of wins of the PGA Tour (his only career win was the 2008 Canadian Open), is a player that seems primed to breakthrough. After his T3 finish last week at Pebble Beach, he now has 3 finishes inside the top-18 in his last 4 events. Reavie finished top-10 in SG: Approach, SG: Around-the-Green, and SG: Tee-to-Green last week, so his game is right where it needs to be. Reavie has made the cut in 5 of his last 6 Travelers Championships with two top-25s. 50/1 is not a great value, but this is a week to ride the hot golfer.

Charley Hoffman 70/1

After a slow start to the season, Charley Hoffman has picked things up. Hoffman has a great course history here with 4 top-15s and a perfect cut record. We all know Charley Hoffman can go low. He is 28th in SG: Approach, and 1st in approaches from 125-150 yards, which will the key range to target this week at TPC River Highlands. This short course should get him into his most comfortable range to hit the greens with his wedges and a solid course history makes his 70/1 odds extremely appealing for value bettors looking for a long-shot winner.

Andrew Putnam 100/1

Andrew Putnam’s best finishes always seem to come at less-than-driver courses. He is 2nd in SG: Putting, 55th in SG: Approach  and 17th in birdie average this season. Putnam has 2 top-20 finishes in his last 3 events and finished 3rd at the Charles Schwab Challenge, which is another less-than-driver course. 100/1 is great value for a player who is playing some solid golf and whose game is a great fit for TPC River Highlands.

Si-Woo Kim 125/1

The good thing about Si-Woo Kim is that he will let often let you know early on if this is his week or not. Last week was definitely not one of his good weeks, but he is back on a Pete Dye course that fits his game. Pete Dye courses have definitely fit Si-Woo Kim’s eye throughout his career, as Kim has finished T26 and T25 in his two trips to TPC River Highlands. For the season, Si-Woo is ranked 4th in birdie average and 9th in SG: Around-the-Green. While he is an inconsistent golfer, Kim is always a great punt play when his odds are over 100/1 like they are this week.

*Odds provided by DraftKings Sports Book