There's no rest for the weary elite golfer, as 64 players who competed in last week's U.S. Open have traveled to Cromwell, Conn., for the final of eight signature events of the year.
There is no cut this week, just a whopping $20 million purse and 700 FedEx Cup points to the winner of the Travelers Championship. Our golf experts preview the event and provide their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.
TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP
Cromwell, Conn., June 20-23
Course: TPC River Highlands (Par 70, 6,835 Yards)
Purse: $20M (Winner: $3.6M)
Defending Champion: Keegan Bradley
FedEx Cup Leader: Scottie Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 8 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
X: @TravelersChamp
PROP PICKS
--Ludvig Aberg to Beat Collin Morikawa (+105 at DraftKings): Morikawa is in the midst of an excellent stretch of golf, including three consecutive top-4 finishes before a T14 at the U.S. Open. Aberg led after the first round at Pinehurst before eventually settling for a T12 after consecutive 73s over the weekend. The young Swedish star is up to fourth in the world and continues to shine on the biggest stages, including a solo second at the Masters and a T5 at the Memorial.
--Si Woo Kim Top 20 (+110 at BetRivers): We like finishing position props for signature events due to the limited fields. Only 71 players will tee it up this week, and Kim has taken advantage of smaller fields throughout 2024. That includes top-20 finishes at each of the past three signature events -- the Memorial, the Wells Fargo Championship and the RBC Heritage.
--Tommy Fleetwood Top English Finisher (-130 at DraftKings): Fleetwood is coming off a T16 at the U.S. Open and has finished T21 or better in six of his past eight starts. He's up against countrymen Matthew Fitzpatrick (+180) and Justin Rose (+390) in this prop. Fitzpatrick has been highly inconsistent much of this year outside of top-5s at the Memorial and The Players, while Rose enters on the heels of two missed cuts and a T32 since his surprising T6 at Augusta.
2024 Prop Picks Record: 33-36-1
BEST BETS
--Scottie Scheffler (+360 at DraftKings) is the first player since Justin Thomas in 2016-17 to win at least five times during a single season on tour. His wins have come at The Players Championship, the Masters and three signature events. Once again, Scheffler has received huge support despite his short odds, leading the field with 13 percent of all money wagered on this week's winner along with 11 percent of the total bets. His odds shortened from +500 to +350 at BetRivers after Rory McIlroy withdrew on Monday.
--Xander Schauffele (+750) is coming off a T7 at the U.S. Open and has seven top-10s in his past eight individual starts. Unlike Scheffler, Schauffele's short odds have led to modest support with just 4 percent of the money backing him. Schauffele did win the Travelers in 2020 and has shorter odds at +700 at BetRivers.
--Collin Morikawa (+1200) has only made the cut in one of three previous appearances but does have three top-5s in his past four starts.
--Ludvig Aberg (+1400) is coming off a T11 at Pinehurst, where he led after 36 holes. He also finished T5 at the Memorial in his previous start, and is third at DraftKings with 9 percent of the money backing the Swede to win.
--Patrick Cantlay (+2000) has received significant support on the heels of his T3 at Pinehurst, and is second at DraftKings with 10 percent of the money backing him.
NOTES
--McIlroy withdrew the day after finishing second at the U.S. Open. He is the only winner of a signature event this year (Wells Fargo Championship) not in the field. He is also the only player in the top 30 of the FedEx Cup points standings and the only player in the top eight of the Official World Golf Ranking not playing this week.
--TPC River Highlands underwent "course enhancements" since last year that included narrowing the fairways of four holes.
--There are four sponsor's exemptions in the field: Billy Horschel, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson and former Stanford star Michael Thorbjornsen. Thorbjornsen earned his PGA Tour card by finishing first at PGA Tour University.
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