2024 Travelers Championship Preview - Cantlay a Whopping bet at 28s

Patrick Cantlay loves it around TPC River Highlands and will be whetting his lips after his US Open performance

The last of the Signature Events hits our screens this week after an enthralling US Open Sunday. It's one of the better majors I can remember watching for a while and Bryson was a deserved champion. The 10-year wait goes on for Northern Irish player Rory McIlroy.

The Travelers Championship will be a reduced field which is a shame really. Guys that featured near the top of the market on Sunday will surely be mentally exhausted, namely Rory 15/2, so we can look at some potential extra value down the field. Scottie Scheffler 7/2 must be facing burnout sooner or later too. Ludvig Aberg has a lack of experience on this particular nuanced course. 

700 FedEx Cup points are on offer for the winner (Cantlay) and there's a purse of $20 million in the Signature Event last chance saloon. The current Aon Swing 5 and Aon Next 10 have cemented their spots in the event along with last year's top 50 in the FedEx Cup.

TPC River Highlands Player and Course Profiling

TPC River Highlands is a pretty easy track that favours precision over power despite the likes of Bubba Watson dominating here in the past. The Travelers Championship is set up to make birdies but rough is often up so you need to find fairways. For example, in past editions of the Travelers Championship Kevin Streelman made seven par breakers in a row to win, and Jim Furyk hit a 58 here. You may remember Patrick Cantlay as an amateur hitting a round of 60. 

Greens at TPC River Highlands are small, upturned and tiery and you don't want to be too aggro and miss on the short side - a mini Pinehusrt if you will! The course itself plays around 7,000 yards to a par 70. It features thick fibre and plenty of risk-reward water holes. The course sees plenty of elevation changes and mounds surrounding the fairways and greens like TPC Deere Run.

Key Metrics for TPC River Highlands

• Total Driving efficiency
• Proximity to the hole
• Course management needed 
• Par breakers
• Holing out
• Risk reward par 5 performance
  
  

Nic's Picks for the Travelers Championship

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Patrick Cantlay 28 to 1 regained his touch at the US Open, finishing 3rd, and he's played the last 6 Travelers Championship events. What was his worst finish? 15th. He was 4th here last year having shot a 61 in round 3. The fact it's a Signature Event might make Cantlay focus even more. The bigger the event the better for the 32-year-old. I mentioned he shot a 60 here as an amateur too.

Sahith Theegala 40 to 1 was woeful in round 1 for us last week at Pinehurst however he did play the last 54 holes in even par. I did say he was hard to get right. The American was recently 2nd at Harbour town which shares some similarities with TPC River Highlands and in 2022 he had this Travelers Championship tournament in his grasp coming down the last hole until a poor decision cost him the title.... 

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