PGA First Look: Travelers Championship

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2016-08-04 12:18:53

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The PGA First Look is complete with a course preview, odds, salaries, Official World Golf Rankings, and course history.

Be sure to check out my strategy guides:

DFS Golf Research and Strategies: How to Win in PGA

Attacking Multi-Entry Tournaments

PGA Championship Recap

WalkerPGA

In what is becoming a theme for this PGA season, we had another rain-soaked event for the fourth and final major. It was one of the most tilting weeks of DFS golf that I can remember. If you played the chalk, you were absolutely roasted. There were six or seven of the highest owned players that ended up missing the cut. Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar, and J.B. Holmes all contributed to a week worth forgetting on my end. However, my DFS interests aside, it was a fun tournament to watch. You always like to see golfers go out and win tournaments rather than having it handed to them and that’s exactly what Jimmy Walker did. Oh, and how great was Dash Day (Jason Day’s son)? That kid is going to be a star one day.

We had quite the year of major championships. All four were won by golfers without that previously had never won a major. There are still some strong names out there to have never won a major (cough: Sergio Garcia), but these were four of the best golfers in the world that didn’t have a major under their belt. Even though I loved the days of Tiger Woods dominating every other golf tournament, there is something special about parity. Before this season, none of these four golfers were described as being clutch, yet they all stepped up when it matters the most. I’m sad that we don’t have any more majors this year, but we still have the Olympics and the FedExCup Championship to look forward to.

Travelers Championship Preview

Bubba

There is typically a letdown after the majors, both in terms of the DFS prize pools and in terms of the strength of the field at the next event. However, we have a pretty big event this week in the Travelers Championship. Of the top 20 golfers in the world, eight will be in attendance this week, including defending-champion Bubba Watson. If you are tired of seeing the tough scoring conditions in the majors, this event will be more to your liking. In each of the last five seasons, the winner has been at least 12-under par.

The TPC River Highlands is a Par 70 course that measures 6,841 yards. It is a Pete Dye redesign that is located in the beautiful Cromwell, Connecticut. This is one of the shorter courses on the PGA Tour each and every season and while it only features two par fives, there are plenty of scoring holes. The fairways are fairly wide and the greens are average size and easy to hit. In terms of speed, the greens measure 10.5 on the stimpmeter, which is very slow. Golfers are going to be able to get aggressive with their putts.

As for the type of golfers that usually performs well here, there hasn’t been a big advantage to either distance or accuracy. We have seen a nice mix of players with nice track records here. Rather than targeting bombers or accuracy types, I’m going to be targeting the scorers this week. The more birdies a golfer can make the better, especially since DraftKings rewards scoring so heavily. I will also be factoring in par four scoring since there are 12 of them on the course. Best of luck this week. As always, be sure to check out our premium PGA content.

Cut Rule: Top 70 and ties will move on after the first two rounds. The MDF rule will be in effect if more than 78 golfers make the cut.

Recent Winners of this Event: Bubba Watson (2015), Kevin Streelman (2014), Ken Duke (2013), Marc Leishman (2012), Fredrik Jacobson (2011)

Key Statistics

1) Strokes Gained Tee to Green
2) Strokes Gained Putting
3) Birdie or Better %
4) Par 4 Scoring

Salaries, Odds, and Course History (2011-2015)

Golfer	Salary	S-Rank	Odds	O-Rank	+ / –	OWGR	Cuts	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011
Bubba Watson	$12,300	1	14	1	0	6	5/5	1	31	4	2	38
Branden Grace	$11,500	2	16	3	-1	10	0/1	136	500	500	500	500
Brooks Koepka	$11,200	3	16	2	1	17	1/1	500	51	500	500	500
Patrick Reed	$10,900	4	21	5	-1	14	2/4	73	87	18	47	500
Matt Kuchar	$10,600	5	21	4	1	20	2/2	500	31	500	8	500
Zach Johnson	$10,200	6	24	6	0	21	4/5	6	125	58	64	24
Webb Simpson	$10,000	7	34	9	-2	62	3/3	500	500	5	29	13
Paul Casey	$9,900	8	27	8	0	29	1/1	2	500	500	500	500
Jon Rahm	$9,800	9	26	7	2	143	1/1	64	500	500	500	500
J.B. Holmes	$9,700	10	37	11	-1	19	2/2	500	500	500	37	59
Daniel Berger	$9,600	11	40	13	-2	40	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Jim Furyk	$9,400	12	36	10	2	24	0/1	500	500	500	500	75
Louis Oosthuizen	$9,300	13	40	12	1	16	1/2	112	500	500	47	500
Gary Woodland	$9,100	14	46	15	-1	57	1/1	20	500	WD	500	500
Francesco Molinari	$8,900	15	42	14	1	55	1/1	25	500	500	500	500
Russell Knox	$8,600	16	46	15	1	26	2/3	WD	61	13	112	500
Brendan Steele	$8,500	17	49	18	-1	78	4/5	25	5	13	112	13
Kevin Chappell	$8,400	18	56	22	-4	35	0/2	500	87	500	500	75
Tony Finau	$8,300	19	62	26	-7	80	1/1	25	500	500	500	500
Marc Leishman	$8,200	20	47	17	3	48	4/4	39	11	30	1	500
Charley Hoffman	$8,100	21	54	21	0	45	4/4	500	26	7	2	43
Martin Laird	$8,000	22	69	30	-8	134	2/2	15	500	500	500	33
Shane Lowry	$7,900	23	72	31	-8	31	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Ryan Moore	$7,800	24	52	19	5	61	4/4	500	5	7	47	2
Justin Thomas	$7,800	24	57	24	0	41	1/2	73	500	30	500	500
Tyrrell Hatton	$7,700	26	54	20	6	52	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Brian Harman	$7,700	26	61	25	1	125	4/4	3	42	51	24	500
Soren Kjeldsen	$7,700	26	84	34	-8	43	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Daniel Summerhays	$7,600	29	56	23	6	53	1/4	136	500	84	112	74
Keegan Bradley	$7,600	29	65	28	1	111	5/5	39	31	18	29	63
Kyle Reifers	$7,500	31	88	36	-5	101	0/2	89	500	500	99	500
Kevin Streelman	$7,500	31	64	27	4	105	3/5	73	1	146	47	6
Padraig Harrington	$7,400	33	69	29	4	124	3/4	102	500	72	11	63
Luke Donald	$7,300	34	87	35	-1	88	1/1	7	500	500	500	500
Boo Weekley	$7,300	34	93	38	-4	151	0/1	500	500	500	500	138
Bryson DeChambeau	$7,200	36	92	37	-1	159	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Colt Knost	$7,100	37	79	33	4	97	2/4	39	500	142	99	43
Retief Goosen	$7,000	38	110	44	-6	133	1/1	500	51	500	500	500
Aaron Baddeley	$6,900	39	75	32	7	135	4/5	48	4	99	37	24
Hudson Swafford	$6,900	39	113	46	-7	235	1/2	89	24	500	500	500
Fredrik Jacobson	$6,800	41	99	41	0	116	4/4	500	31	30	8	1
Patton Kizzire	$6,800	41	133	54	-13	83	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Ricky Barnes	$6,700	43	109	43	0	182	3/5	140	46	13	134	43
John Senden	$6,700	43	136	58	-15	102	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Robert Garrigus	$6,500	45	139	60	-15	296	1/2	39	500	110	500	500
Jon Curran	$6,500	45	138	59	-14	91	1/2	10	500	84	500	500
Steve Wheatcroft	$6,500	45	112	45	0	270	0/1	128	500	500	WD	500
Russell Henley	$6,400	48	94	39	9	99	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Smylie Kaufman	$6,400	48	130	50	-2	67	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Jason Kokrak	$6,400	48	114	47	1	117	2/2	48	500	500	81	500
Ken Duke	$6,400	48	188	78	-30	213	4/4	10	46	1	47	500
Jamie Lovemark	$6,300	52	134	56	-4	94	2/2	500	31	500	69	500
Chris Stroud	$6,300	52	103	42	10	177	5/5	10	18	2	37	17
Bryce Molder	$6,300	52	140	61	-9	114	4/5	64	104	30	64	6
Chesson Hadley	$6,300	52	205	82	-30	268	0/1	500	104	500	500	500
Chez Reavie	$6,200	56	116	48	8	122	3/3	25	500	43	11	500
Chad Campbell	$6,200	56	98	40	16	166	3/5	25	7	70	112	109
Adam Hadwin	$6,200	56	144	63	-7	184	0/1	73	500	500	500	500
Michael Thompson	$6,200	56	117	49	7	318	1/5	89	114	124	146	4
Robby Shelton	$6,200	56	222	88	-32		0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Lucas Glover	$6,100	61	177	72	-11	219	1/4	89	500	151	47	125
Seung-Yul Noh	$6,100	61	167	70	-9	267	4/4	20	61	58	18	500
James Hahn	$6,100	61	178	73	-12	60	1/1	500	77	500	500	500
Derek Fathauer	$6,100	61	197	80	-19	264	0/1	102	500	500	500	500
Troy Merritt	$6,100	61	214	86	-25	104	1/3	73	67	500	500	86
Mark Wilson	$6,100	61	209	84	-23	418	2/3	7	125	63	500	500
Ben Crane	$6,000	67	148	65	2	339	2/2	500	74	75	500	500
Patrick Rodgers	$6,000	67	163	69	-2	160	2/3	39	46	500	127	500
Jerry Kelly	$6,000	67	230	90	-23	194	4/5	112	31	24	37	38
Geoff Ogilvy	$6,000	67	147	64	3	256	0/1	500	500	500	500	75
Thomas Aiken	$6,000	67	234	91	-24	162	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Brendon De Jonge	$6,000	67	189	79	-12	305	3/5	112	42	63	8	86
Billy Hurley	$5,900	73	133	54	19	139	2/2	500	57	500	47	500
Bud Cauley	$5,900	73	130	50	23	373	2/4	500	11	84	120	24
Spencer Levin	$5,900	73	152	66	7	194	2/3	48	125	500	500	38
Jamie Donaldson	$5,900	73	135	57	16	79	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Wes Roach	$5,900	73	256	95	-22	390	1/1	500	61	500	500	500
Tom Hoge	$5,900	73	253	94	-21	271	1/1	64	500	500	500	500
Angel Cabrera	$5,900	73	259	96	-23	423	3/4	102	11	9	84	500
Luke List	$5,800	80	132	52	28	280	0/1	500	500	142	500	500
David Toms	$5,800	80	162	68	12	185	2/2	20	500	500	500	17
Ben Martin	$5,800	80	155	67	13	131	0/1	500	500	500	500	131
Vaughn Taylor	$5,800	80	225	89	-9	110	3/4	500	61	99	11	33
Sam Saunders	$5,800	80	181	74	6	279	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Scott Pinckney	$5,800	80	294	112	-32	325	1/1	25	500	500	500	500
Chad Collins	$5,800	80	291	111	-31	266	1/2	39	78	500	500	500
Justin Leonard	$5,800	80	316	118	-38	542	0/2	500	500	500	99	97
Alex Cejka	$5,700	88	142	62	26	126	0/1	144	500	500	500	500
Si Woo Kim	$5,700	88	132	52	36	115	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Camilo Villegas	$5,700	88	198	81	7	320	3/3	500	67	51	29	500
Tyler Aldridge	$5,700	88	322	120	-32	313	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Rob Oppenheim	$5,700	88	381	130	-42	343	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Miguel Angel Carballo	$5,700	88	353	125	-37	564	2/2	500	18	500	71	500
J.J. Henry	$5,700	88	378	128	-40	319	4/5	60	87	5	47	24
Rory Sabbatini	$5,700	88	419	136	-48	298	1/2	500	500	99	18	500
Sean O’Hair	$5,600	96	205	82	14	130	2/5	144	78	124	67	63
Morgan Hoffmann	$5,600	96	216	87	9	231	4/4	39	67	9	500	43
Shawn Stefani	$5,600	96	213	85	11	302	0/1	500	114	500	500	500
Blayne Barber	$5,600	96	278	107	-11	274	0/1	102	500	500	500	500
Hunter Mahan	$5,600	96	272	105	-9	203	3/5	102	78	24	11	43
Greg Owen	$5,600	96	444	138	-42	241	2/3	112	51	24	500	500
Sung Kang	$5,600	96	384	131	-35	181	0/2	500	500	500	127	86
Martin Piller	$5,600	96	369	127	-31	207	0/1	500	500	500	500	144
George McNeill	$5,600	96	350	123	-27	244	2/2	500	500	75	71	500
Johnson Wagner	$5,500	105	263	98	7	215	3/5	73	57	153	47	17
Michael Kim	$5,500	105	184	77	28	317	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Nick Taylor	$5,500	105	259	96	9	304	0/1	144	500	500	500	500
Ernie Els	$5,500	105	169	71	34	251	0/1	112	500	500	500	500
Scott Brown	$5,500	105	244	93	12	169	1/3	54	78	500	151	500
Jordan Niebrugge	$5,500	105	267	103	2	632	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Carlos Ortiz	$5,500	105	450	139	-34	484	0/1	128	500	500	500	500
Vijay Singh	$5,400	112	183	76	36	129	4/5	89	31	43	37	43
Matt Jones	$5,400	112	181	74	38	86	1/4	89	46	500	141	144
Kelly Kraft	$5,400	112	263	98	14	443	0/1	500	500	500	149	500
Kyle Stanley	$5,400	112	306	115	-3	324	2/5	20	104	110	60	86
Whee Kim	$5,400	112	269	104	8	351	0/1	112	500	500	500	500
Greg Chalmers	$5,400	112	278	107	5	230	1/5	112	87	110	37	109
Andres Gonzales	$5,400	112	309	116	-4	384	0/3	140	500	99	500	150
Brendon Todd	$5,400	112	481	141	-29	250	1/2	15	500	500	89	500
Tim Wilkinson	$5,300	120	264	101	19	369	1/2	102	18	500	500	500
Jonas Blixt	$5,300	120	238	92	28	147	1/3	89	78	43	500	500
Scott Stallings	$5,300	120	281	109	11	300	0/1	500	500	500	500	138
Will MacKenzie	$5,300	120	272	105	15	410	1/1	68	500	500	500	500
Jason Gore	$5,300	120	378	128	-8	226	1/1	10	500	500	500	500
Lee McCoy	$5,300	120	309	116	4	477	0/1	89	500	500	500	500
Cameron Smith	$5,300	120	303	114	6	176	1/1	39	500	500	500	500
Brian Gay	$5,300	120	316	118	2	751	3/3	500	71	51	81	500
Peter Malnati	$5,300	120	513	143	-23	209	0/1	500	125	500	500	500
Ted Potter	$5,300	120	384	131	-11	964	0/2	500	87	500	120	500
John Huh	$5,200	130	284	110	20	216	0/4	73	114	79	127	500
Steve Marino	$5,200	130	263	98	32	273	1/2	500	51	500	89	500
Henrik Norlander	$5,200	130	297	113	17	405	0/1	500	500	83	500	500
Derek Ernst	$5,200	130	563	145	-15	677	1/3	54	104	99	500	500
Dicky Pride	$5,200	130	625	149	-19	538	1/2	500	104	63	500	500
Robert Allenby	$5,200	130	797	151	-21	1135	0/3	128	500	132	112	500
Tim Petrovic	$5,200	130	672	150	-20	1012	3/5	150	114	63	71	38
Brett Stegmaier	$5,100	137	384	131	6	281	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Tyrone Van Aswegen	$5,100	137	322	120	17	348	2/2	60	26	500	500	500
Brian Stuard	$5,100	137	266	102	35	138	1/3	25	114	124	500	500
Bronson Burgoon	$5,100	137	350	123	14	307	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Andrew Landry	$5,100	137	366	126	11	437	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Zac Blair	$5,100	137	322	120	17	188	0/1	149	500	500	500	500
Erik Compton	$5,100	137	394	135	2	464	1/3	112	114	30	500	500
Andrew Loupe	$5,000	144	425	137	7	167	0/2	102	125	500	500	500
Hiroshi Iwata	$5,000	144	391	134	10	196	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Dawie Van der Walt	$5,000	144	531	144	0	346	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Dong-Hwan Lee	$5,000	144	463	140	4	453	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Steven Bowditch	$5,000	144	488	142	2	146	1/4	15	500	84	89	131
Abraham Ancer	$5,000	144	569	146	-2	519	0/0	500	500	500	500	500
Darron Stiles	$5,000	144	578	147	-3	693	0/1	500	500	99	500	500
Heath Slocum	$5,000	144	581	148	-4		4/5	112	46	63	15	17
Adam Rainaud	$5,000	144	922	152	-8		0/1	500	137	500	500	500

Color Coding
Course history in BLUE indicates a top ten finish.
Course history in GREEN indicates a top 25 finish.
Course history in YELLOW indicates a made cut with a finish outside of the top 25.
Course history in RED indicates a missed cut.

Legend