Travelers Championship 2023: Predictions, Best Bets, Sleepers

While the week after a major is always a bit of a letdown, this week’s Travelers Championship is a designated event, so almost all of the top players on the PGA Tour are teeing it up, which should make for a great event.

TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, is one of the easier courses of the year, so there will be plenty of birdies. Over the last five years, the winning score has been 13-under or better every year, including 19-under during two of the last three.

Jim Furyk holds the TPC River Highlands course record of 58, which was set back in 2016.

It is a par-70, and at just over 6,800 yards, it’s one of the shorter courses on the PGA Tour. This puts a premium on hitting fairways and keeping the ball in play on some of the quirkier, shorter holes. 

Some advanced stats to favor this week include Strokes Gained: Approach, Birdies or Better Gained, and Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green on shorter courses.

Xander Schauffele is the defending champion. He finished at 19-under, which was two shots better than J.T. Poston and Sahith Theegala.

Below are some players to target when golf betting, followed by my betting card for the week.

*All odds as of June 20.

Travelers Championship Predictions 

Scottie Scheffler is predicted to win the Travelers Championship with a 14.29% implied probability — i.e., the overall chance of a potential outcome in relation to the odds — according to betting markets.

Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy have the next best odds to win, with a 9.09% implied probability.  They are followed by Patrick Cantlay at 7.69%.

Travelers Championship Best Bets

Scottie Scheffler +600 Odds to Win

Another week on the PGA Tour, and another week where Scheffler tops the odds table – and for good reason. Scheffler has 17 straight top-12 finishes and five straight top-5 finishes. He’s by far the most consistent player on the PGA Tour.

Specific to this event, he finished T-13 a year ago and then had a missed cut and a T-47 in his two other appearances.

Patrick Cantlay +1600 Odds to Win

Cantlay has been a big fan of TPC River Highlands for a long time, after shooting 60 as an amateur back in 2011. Since 2018, he’s made the cut in all five of his appearances, with a T-11, two T-13s, two-T15s, and a scoring average of 67.55.

Following a decent performance at the U.S. Open, this could be the week for Cantlay to pick up his first win in 10 months.

Travelers Championship Sleepers

Sahith Theegala +5000 Odds to Win

After a second-place finish a year ago, it’s hard to place Theegala in the sleeper category, but at +5000, that’s what I’m doing. The 25-year-old has the ability to make a ton of birdies, which suits him well for this course.

This is his fourth week in a row teeing it up, so fatigue may be a factor, but he’s still young, so it isn’t as much of a concern as it would be for an older player.

Keegan Bradley +6600 Odds to Win

Growing up in New England and being a huge Boston sports fan, Bradley will have the support of the crowd all week long. He used that to his advantage at the U.S. Open last summer and will look to do it again.

Bradley has had some success here, including two top-10 finishes and a T-19 last year.

Travelers Championship Betting Card & Other Predictions

• Patrick Cantlay Outright Win +1200
• Sahith Theegala Outright Win +5000
• Harris English Outright Win +6500
• Keegan Bradley Outright Win +6600
• Patrick Cantlay Top-5 Finish +240
• Tom Kim Top-10 Finish +375
• Collin Morikawa Top-20 Finish +100
• Michael Thorbjornsen Top-20 Finish +700

For this week, my betting card was a little bigger than a typical tournament, and I relied on my Fantasy National model and some gut feels.

It’s hard to know how some players will approach the event the week after a major.

Here’s the top 10 of my Fantasy National model:

1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Tommy Fleetwood
3. Patrick Cantlay
4. Viktor Hovland
5. Jon Rahm
6. Xander Schauffele 
7. Rory McIlroy
8. Tony Finau
9. Rickie Fowler
10. Si Woo Kim