Travelers Championship Round 2 Best Bets, Tips, and Predictions.
If the first round of the Travelers Championship is a sign of things to come, an exciting three days are in store for us at TPC River Highlands. Mackenzie Hughes sits atop the Travelers Championship leaderboard after making 10 birdies on Thursday. Unfortunately for Hughes, some big dogs, none more fierce than Rory McIlroy, lurk closely behind. Follow along as we recap Round 1 and looks at best bets for Round 2 of the Travelers Championship.
Less than a week after shooting a 78 at Harbour Town, Mackenzie Hughes, currently ranked 158th in the world, improved by 18 shots in his first round of the Travelers Championship. As remarkable as his Thursday was, it could have been even better. Hughes’ putt came up short on the final hole in his quest for a highly coveted 59. The Canadian was 150-1 to be first-round leader and 300-1 to win the Travelers Championship before golfers teed off Thursday morning. Now Hughes leads the field by three strokes and his currently 16-1, per FanDuel Sportsbook’s live golf odds.
In most cases, a three-stroke lead is a nice cushion, but with golfers like Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, and Sergio Garcia not far behind, it’s understandable why Hughes remains a longshot to win. More so than anything, it will be tough for him to repeat a putting performance where he gained five strokes on the field with his short stick.
Best Price for Hughes: 20-1 at BetMGM
Is the Travelers Championship McIlroy’s to lose?
It’s a weird question considering McIlroy is three strokes back and tied for second with Schauffele and Viktor Hovland, but the fact that McIlroy gained less than a stroke with his putter — behind 47 other golfers — doesn’t bode well for the field. Off the green, McIlroy was the best in total driving, 2nd in strokes gained approach, and 1st in strokes gained tee-to-green. He was also 16-for-18 in terms of GIRs. In fact, McIlroy was 1.32 strokes better tee-to-green (+5.46) than the next closest golfer, Sergio Garcia (+4.14). If McIlroy keeps this up, he’s going to walk away as a winner on Sunday, and that’s what sportsbooks expec. As of Friday morning, oddsmakers at FanDuel Sportsbook make McIlroy a +380 favorite to win.
Travelers Championship Betting Picks Review
Unfortunately, Mackenzie Hughes wasn’t included in my pre-tournament PGA golf betting picks for the Travelers Championship, nor was Viktor Hovland. However, we did find some pre-tournament value on Sergio Garcia. We snagged the Spaniard at 50-1, but he’s now down to 18-1 at most online sports betting sites. Garcia hit the ball as well as anyone in the field on Thursday other than McIlroy. This is a good sign. Garcia’s incredible iron performance at Harbour Town, where he finished 5th despite losing more than three strokes putting, was no fluke. As I wrote earlier this week, “If the Spaniard hits the ball at River Highlands like he did at Harbour Town, he’ll be in contention. He might win if he can combine that with only a marginal putting improvement.” Things are trending in the right direction.
If you’re a little late to the party on Garcia, you can still find 22-1 odds by signing up at FOX Bet. However, I’ve warned you that beating McIlroy this week will be no easy feat. One thing worth looking at is Sergio’s odds to win the 2020 Masters.
Garcia rings in at 80-1 to win The Masters at FanDuel Sportsbook. Though his recent performances are a small sample, Garcia will be a contender at Augusta if he stays in form. Remember, Garcia won at Augusta in 2017 and has two runners up there throughout his career.
Bet on Sergio Garcia 80-1 to win the Masters at FanDuel
Best Bets: Travelers Championship Round 2
Max Homa +2600 Top 20 (FanDuel) – The only person who struggled more with his putter than Homa on Thursday was Vijay Singh. Singh finished +5 while Homa is +1. Homa hit 78% of greens but lost over 4 strokes when he was on them. As a colleague of mine said in distress (we both have Homa shares in our DFS golf lineups), “he’s probably over par one out of 100 times he plays that round.” Homa has a lot of work to do to make the cut, but as Hughes showed us, low— very low— rounds are in play at TPC River Highlands this week. Homa is hitting the ball well. In fact, he gained +3.05 strokes on his approach shots. To put that in perspective, McIlroy gained +3.31.
On that note, let’s add Homa +200 in his three-ball matchup vs. Leishman and Long (via FanDuel).
Monkey Knife Fight Golf Picks for Round 2
Don’t live in a state with legal online sports betting? Sign up at Monkey Knife Fight to get in on the golf action. Here are my favorite golf picks at Monkey Knife Fight for Round 2 of the Travelers Championship:
Justin Rose AND Justin Thomas – Less than 66.5 Strokes (2.5x your buy-in)
Rahm/Cantlay/Johnson Less than 67.5 Strokes (4x your buy-in)
Image Credit: USA Today Sports Images