Preview
Course Info
Designer: Dye redesign in the 1980s
Used Since: 1991
Fairways: Average/narrow width, Tree Lined
Greens: Small, Poa Annua
Water Hazards: On 5 holes
Par 5's: 6th and 13th
Premium on: Approach play
Significant Info
Expect low scoring - Jim Furyk recorded a 58 here in 2016.
Be aware that the greens used to be Bentgrass and ran quite slow, but an overhaul several years ago saw Poa Annua introduced with the greens now notably faster.
Weather
Thursday
Rain showers with a max wind speed of 10mph.
Friday
Sunny intervals with a max wind speed of 6mph.
Saturday
Sunny intervals with a max wind speed of 8mph.
Sunday
Sunny intervals with a max wind speed of 12mph.
Trends
Winning Score
The winning score has ranged from -12 to -20 in the past 11 years.
Course Form
Nine of the last eleven champions had played this event prior to winning. Of the nine players who had played the course before, six of those winners had recorded a top 15 finish in this event prior to winning.
Recent Form
Three of the past eight champions had missed the cut in their last start prior to winning here, so it is possible to find your game at TPC River Highlands. That said, the five other champions had recorded a top 35 in their previous start.
World Ranking
We generally see better players prevail in this event. Five of the past six champions have ranked 26th or better when they teed off. Kevin Streelman (2014) was the last player to win from outside of the world's top 50 (he was 58th).
Nationality
Americans have won eight of the last 11 events here.
Correlating Courses
None of note.
Stats Analysis
SG: Off The Tee
The last six winners have ranked 9-83-25-9-102-25.
Driving Accuracy
The last six winners have ranked 17-87-9-138-72-47. In general, you don't need to be accurate off the tee.
Driving Distance
The last six winners have ranked 43-57-102-15-101-38. Distance is preferred to accuracy off the tee.
SG: Approach
The last six winners have ranked 32-7-1-29-9-5. Strong approach play is vital this week.
Greens In Regulation
The last six winners have ranked 19-23-11-9-57-8. Hitting greens is valued at TPC River Highlands.
SG: Around The Green
The last six winners have ranked 8-38-39-14-3-74 Players will miss greens this week, getting up and down is important.
SG: Putting
The last six winners have ranked 18-6-13-31-41-28. For a course that regularly yields low scores, a hot putter surprisingly hasn't been all that important.
In Play
Tough Holes
The 4th and 5th holes generally play as the hardest holes on the course.
Birdie Holes
The par 5's (6th and 13th) play as the easiest holes. The short par 4s, the 2nd and 15th, generally offer birdie opportunities too.
Closing Stretch
According to Stewart Cink, holes 15-18 offer "four of the most exciting finishing holes in a group anywhere in the world". The 15th is a driveable par 4 but the 16th and 17th are much harder and par is a good score.
Fast or Slow Start
A fast start in round one isn't essential. Dustin Johnson was 79th in 2020 after the opening 18 holes and 2018 champion, Bubba Watson, wasn't much better in 77th.
The past two champions have been 20th at the halfway stage. However, the four champions before them were all inside the top eight.
Four of the last six Travelers champions have been in the final pairing on Sunday. Bubba Watson and Harris English won from 6th position after 54 holes in 2018 and 2021 respectively.
In-play
The Travelers Championship In-Play Blog
26 June 2022, 10:55am (UK time)
Player | Total |
Schauffele |
-17 |
Cantlay |
-16 |
Theegala |
-14 |
Kisner |
-13 |
Laird |
-12 |
Lee |
-12 |
Four Players Tied |
-11 |
Round 2 Summary
Xander Schauffele's lead has been trimmed from five to one, closing birdies on the 16th and 17th keeping him on top. Patrick Cantlay shot a best of the day 63 to move into solo 2nd.
Notable Round 3 Quotes
"The first couple times (in contention) I just my heart rate was racing so fast, just everything was moving a thousand miles per hour. But even the last time -- honestly last time I was in contention was Waste and Carl did a great job, kind of settling me down and going through our process. So I know it's not the same situation because I won't be in the lead, but, yeah, just kind of sticking to the process and just going through everything like it was just another day out here. Because it comes down to just playing golf and weekend golf is always a privilege. So I'm just going to enjoy it." Sahith Theegala
"I can only get as comfortable as I'm going to be. I think it probably helps that I'm playing with him, since I kind of know his game really well. I can kind of club off him, if anything. It's going to be a lot of fun tomorrow." Xander Schauffele
"I've been working hard with Jamie the last couple months and a lot of that work has really been paying off. My swing feels like it's in a really good spot. The little cut shot with a little off on my 9-iron on the 17th hole really shows how much work I've put in and how it's paying off." Patrick Cantlay
Round 4 Weather
Sunny intervals with the wind not expected to exceed 11mph.
How do we expect the market favourites to perform?
Schauffele is now 11/10, having been odds on after the 2nd round. He spoke in his post round interview of the difficulty when holding a five shot lead and it may actually help him that the lead is now only one. He will need to play attacking golf and make plenty of birdies.
Schauffele too often lets winning opportunities slip through his grasp and it's for that reason he has a ⭐⭐ Golf Betting Club Pressure Performance Rating.
Cantlay is available at 6/4 and he's certainly the more clinical of the two. His recent efforts in contention haven't been entirely convincing but he retains a ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Golf Betting Club Pressure Performance Rating.
There isn't much between the top two from a stats perspective, Cantlay slightly edging the numbers tee to green but Schauffele performing better on the greens. Momentum is surely with last year's FedEx Cup winner now though and the 6/4 is tempting.
Where is the value?
The winner has come from the final pairing in three of the last five years at TPC River Highlands and it is expected that the winner again comes from the front two. If you have access to the without Schauffele and Cantlay market, JT Poston would be an interesting each way option at 25/1 for small stakes.
Round 4 Bet
- 2.5pts Matthew NeSmith to beat Harris English 11/10 @ Bet365 and Skybet
NeSmith tops the SG: Tee to Green figures this week whilst English has been reliant on his putting and short game. English is the defending champion here but he's recovering from an injury and referenced the difficulty he has with walking long rounds in his post round interview on Friday. We saw him struggle at the weekend at last week's US Open as he tired and there was evidence of that yesterday as he shot his worst score of the week. NeSmith has beaten English twice over the three rounds this week and we think the 11/10 on offer is too generous. William Hill have NeSmith priced up as the 5/7 favourite and whilst that's too short, it does indicate the 11/10 is the wrong price.
25 June 2022, 10:30am (UK time)
Player | Total |
Schauffele |
-14 |
Kisner |
-9 |
Davis |
-9 |
English |
-9 |
Hardy |
-9 |
Cantlay |
-9 |
Nine Players Tied |
-8 |
Round 2 Summary
We witnessed a crazy round where McIlroy dropped SIX shots in two holes on the back nine, handing a five shot lead to Xander Schauffele who shot a consecutive bogey free 63.
Notable Round 2 Quotes
"Yeah, I mean, seven birdies is a good thing. But, yeah, I mean, I had a four-hole stretch there on the back nine where I lost obviously two fairway -- well, three fairway wood shots are what cost me." Rory McIlroy
" Yeah, it's only Friday. We've got 36 more holes, and I need to stay aggressive. This is a course that's giving up some birdies, and if you're leading the pack and you get kind of comfortable, people are going to hunt you down." Xander Schauffele
"Yeah, the hip is doing better. The toughest thing is walking and playing. I mean, I feel like back home I can go hit a bunch of balls on the range, but up and down these hills and being on your feet for five or six hours is the toughest part. It's getting better and better, and I feel like the more I play competitive rounds out here, it's just going to get stronger." Harris English
Round 3 Weather
We can expect to see a lot of low scores today with barely any wind forecast. The max wind for the day is projected at 3mph with warm temperatures expected.
How do we expect the market favourites to perform?
After McIlroy's collapse on his back nine, Xander now holds a five shot lead and is odds on at 10/11 to convert from here. He has hit 33/36 greens in regulation and ranks 1st for approach and tee to green so is clearly in control of his game. We mentioned in the blog yesterday that Xander rated the most value out of the front three but our concern remains the same - he isn't clinical enough when leading.
A shot better off than McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay is now 2nd favourite but odds of 15/2 look slim given the task at hand. He has been heavily reliant on holing long putts so far and looks off his best tee to green. McIlroy is next in the betting at 8/1 but has been talking of fatigue all week and it looks to have caught up with him.
Where is the value?
Xander looks worth taking on with 36 holes to go and the each way places are all to play for if he does run away with it.
Round 3 Bet
- 0.5pts Each Way Brendan Steele 100/1 @ Bet365 (1/4 1-3)
Steele is playing some great golf but the putter has been hopeless over the first two days. He ranks 1st off the tee and 2nd tee to green but lost over 3 strokes on the greens yesterday. He has gained strokes on the greens in his previous two events where he finished 9th and 10th so the hope is his touch comes back today. We can expect him to climb the leaderboard over the weekend, although admittedly will need some help from the leader if he is to have a chance of winning.
24 June 2022, 10:15am (UK time)
Player | Total |
McIlroy |
-8 |
Poston |
-8 |
Laird |
-7 |
Schauffele |
-7 |
Howell |
-6 |
Simpson |
-6 |
Cantlay |
-6 |
Davis |
-5 |
Nesmith |
-5 |
Round 1 Summary
We have a strong leaderboard with three of the market favourites - Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay in the top 10.
Notable Round 1 Quotes
"I think at this point it's just -- energy levels are okay. I'm feeling a little under the weather, but it's just concentration at this point. I've got three more rounds left until I have a couple of weeks off and prepare for the Open Championship. I'm going to put everything into those three rounds. Yeah, so we're both a little under the weather but nothing to be concerned about." Rory McIlroy
" I thought the conditions in the afternoon were a lot tougher. It was blowing as soon as I got on the first tee. Watching a little bit of the coverage this morning, I knew it was much different this afternoon than the low scores those guys put up this morning." Patrick Cantlay
" Everything was good, and it's been the same case for a while. I go home and play well when I'm off weeks and come out here and hit it well and then just don't make the putts. It is nice to finally kind of see a result of -- that's closer to how I feel like I've been playing than how my scores have been recently." Martin Laird
Round 2 Weather
We can expect to see a lot of low scores today with barely any wind forecast. The max wind for the day is projected at 6mph at around 2pm.
How do we expect the market favourites to perform?
It was a typical Rory McIlroy round that we've seen lately with his short game being his main weapon, ranking 7th for putting and 3rd around the greens. With comments about fatigue and feeling a bit under the weather post round, he looks opposable at 9/4. The easy conditions today mean it's likely a lot of players will go low and he has Schauffele and Cantlay on his tail.
Xander hit 18/18 greens yesterday and spoke about getting back to his old game and it seems to be working. he ranked 1st tee to green and 2nd approach - as those stats would suggest, he could have been much lower than -7 and looks in a good place to contend. Patrick Cantlay will enjoy the opportunity to set the target for Rory and Xander with a morning start but a ranking of 1st with the putter yesterday shows his game wasn't quite at the same level as Xander. Out of the three prices this morning, Xander looks slightly favourable at 5/1 but he just doesn't get the job done often enough.
Where is the value?
With the talent at the top of the leaderboard and only 4 places available at quite a lot of books, this looks one to approach with caution. There is one 3-ball we like.
Round 2 Bet
- 2pts Keith Mitchell to beat Joaquin Niemann and Kramer Hickok 15/8 @ Skybet
Mitchell is an extremely solid match bet option, due to his excellence off the tee (ranked 1st yesterday). He won this by four shots yesterday and was seven clear of main rival Joaquin Niemann, who certainly looks out of sorts following his weekend at the US Open which he played in 8 over par. Hickok finished 2nd here last year so can't be discounted but hasn't been in great form all season.