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PGA Golf

2013 Travelers Championship Preview/Picks & Gambling Lines

Travelers Predictions

The PGA pros move to Hartford Connecticut this week after one of the most difficult, scintillating tournaments in quite some time. While TPC River Highlands is the second straight under 7000 yard course that the pros will play this week figures to be much, much easier that we saw in the US Open.

2013 Travelers Championship
Location: Cromwell, Connecticut, United States
Course: TPC at River Highlands
Date: Jun 20-23, 2013
Total Purse: US $ 6,000,000
Winner’s Share: US $ 1,080,000 (18% of total purse)
Odds from Bovada

Defending Champion: Marc Leishman ($1,080,000)

TPC River Highlands was the easiest par 70 played on TOUR in 2011 and was the sixth easiest last year.

There are a number of players from last week’s major entered this week – a hangover is certainly possible for these guys. We should see some low scores this week with rain predicted but the greens figure to be the biggest challenge of the week – just like last week.

Let’s break down a few of the contenders for this week and what should play out a week after the second Major of the year.

The Favorites:

Justin Rose 14/1

Rose proved last week that course management on a short track is certainly not an issue! He is 5/7 with four top 25s and a third-place finish to go with two other top 10s on this track. A US Open hangover looms over Rose and nobody would fault him for an off week but on the flip side – he likely won’t be feeling a ton of pressure after his groundbreaking win last week. He enters second in adjusted scoring and top 5 in the World Golf Rankings and is the deserved favorite in this event.

Hunter Mahan 14/1

You gotta think that Mahan will be out to redeem himself this week after contending but melting down at the end of the US Open but still finishing a very good T4. He has a win in 2007, a pair of T2s and a T4 among eight cuts made in 11 starts and is the all-time money leader in this event. Mahan loves this event and will enter a very motivated guy this week.

Lee Westwood 16/1

Westy is another guy that was in contention at the US Open but fell off eventually finishing T15. He is 18th in total driving, 64th in greens hit, ninth in scrambling and 14th in adjusted scoring and has just one start on this track – a T51 in 2005. He is a big name but his game may not be the best suited for TPC at River Highlands.

The Contenders:

Bubba Watson 25/1

Is a former winner here in 2010 and has three other top 10s including a T2 last year and four top 15s in the last five years overall. He hasn’t been that great this year however – failing to place in the Top 10 since the Match Play. A somewhat easy track may just be what Bubba needs to kickstart his year and TPC at River Highlands has traditionally been a safe haven for the big hitter.

Rickie Fowler 25/1

Quietly finished T10 at the US Open with a terrific 67 in the third round. Fowler is a guy that loves to take risks and TPC at River Highlands is a track in which risks aren’t necessarily penalized. He’s only played here twice, with a MC in 2009 and a T13 in 2010. He’s a risk/reward player whose skills seem to be a good fit for TPC at River Highlands.

Jason Dufner 25/1

Looked good except for Triple Bogey in the final round of the US Open en route to a season-best T4. He is 28th in greens in regulation, 30th in adjusted scoring and T8 in par-4 scoring on TOUR this year but hasn’t quite been the same Duf that we saw last year. He missed the cut in his only start here in 2008. [soliloquy id=”82219″]

Webb Simpson 25/1

Is 5/5 here, with only one top 25. Surprising. He is 32nd in greens in regulation, 31st in par breakers and 27th in adjusted scoring and he has three top 10s and eight top 25s this season. But Simpson has had his issues at TPC at River Highlands and is a tad hard to trust this week as well.

John Rollins 28/1

Was T2 in this event in 2011 with a T4 last year and enters this year in arguably the best form of his career – ten top 25s this year, including a T4 at Colonial and a solo sixth at TPC Southwind in his last two starts. He is 4/9 at TPC River Highlands with a T2 and T4 in his last two starts but as mentioned comes into this week playing the best golf of his career. He absolutely has to be on the radar this week.

Harris English 35/1

He recorded his first win two weeks ago in Memphis and took last week off – he should be fresh and should be confident! He is T50 in greens hit, 37th in strokes gained-putting, T22 in par breakers and T15 in par-4 scoring on TOUR but has just a T64 finish here in his only start in this event.

Freddie Jacobson 40/1

Enters off consecutive missed cuts – Ugh! But he won this event in 2011 and finished T8 here last year – TPC River Highlands could be exactly what he needs to break the slump! He loves this track but enters in sketchy form this week.

Padraig Harrington 40/1

Paddy has been good in this event – 4-for-4 at the Travelers Championship with a T5 in 2010 and a T11 last year. He was T21 at the US Open and T10 at TPC Southwind in the start before that – Harrington is definitely trending upward at this point.

Bo Van Pelt 40/1

Is 7/10 with six top 25s and two top 10s in this event and enters off a pair of T21 finishes in his last two starts including last week at Merion. Van Pelt’s game seems perfectly suited for TPC River Highlands – he is an intriguing 40/1!

Ryan Moore 40/1

Two top 15s in his last five starts, but he missed the cut in the other three. Is 6-for-7 at TPC River Highlands with a pair of T2s, a T4. But he has been very inconsistent this year – tough to trust indeed.

The Sleepers (50/1 or higher):

Charley Hoffman 55/1

Gave the tournament away last year with a Double Bogey in the final hole – he will be out for redemption. He has made five straight cuts and looked good last week before a final round 79 took him out of contention at the US Open. Hoff has four top 10s this year and is by far the best value on the board this week.

Marc Leishman 66/1

Defending champ here and looked great in the spring with four top 12 finishes. He hasn’t done a ton since but is certainly capable of going low at he scene of his only PGA victory.

The Pick:

The pick this week is the player with the least amount of pressure on him heading into the weekend at the US Open – Bubba Watson at 25/1. It was a foregone conclusion by Friday that he would not contend last week. He has a terrific history on this track (a win in 2010 and a runner-up finish last year and he is certainly due for a much-needed win on TOUR this week.

The sleeper is Charley Hoffman at 55/1. He has been very good this year and almost won this tournament if not for a meltdown on the last hole.

2013 Travelers Open Betting Lines & Future Odds

JUSTIN ROSE 12/1
LEE WESTWOOD 15/1
HUNTER MAHAN 15/1
BUBBA WATSON 20/1
JASON DUFNER 20/1
RICKIE FOWLER 25/1
WEBB SIMPSON 25/1
KEEGAN BRADLEY 30/1
JOHN ROLLINS 30/1
HARRIS ENGLISH 30/1
IAN POULTER 40/1
RYAN MOORE 40/1
BO VAN PELT 40/1
ZACH JOHNSON 40/1
FREDDIE JACOBSON 40/1
PADRAIG HARRINGTON 40/1
NICOLAS COLSAERTS 40/1
CHARLEY HOFFMAN 40/1
BRENDON DE JONGE 40/1
MARC LEISHMAN 50/1
TIM CLARK 50/1
JOHN HUH 50/1
GRAHAM DeLAET 50/1
BRIAN DAVIS 50/1
CARL PETTERSSON 50/1
GONZALO FERNANDEZ-CASTANO 60/1
JONAS BLIXT 60/1
K.J. CHOI 60/1
BEN CRANE 60/1
ROBERT GARRIGUS 60/1
CAMILO VILLEGAS 60/1
JAMES DRISCOLL 60/1
GARY WOODLAND 60/1

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By DaveB

Dave B has been a Fantasy Football writer for us for 10 years. A couch potato wannabe, Dave’s insights have been read by 10’s of people for years. He hope’s for world peace + global relaxation. Enjoy and remember only smoke things that are completely natural.