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The wait is finally over.
We picked up our first winner of the season thanks to Matt Fitzpatrick at the U.S. Open. He has always been known for his short game, but his ball striking carried him to victory on Sunday. The Englishman has added a ton of length off the tee (so much so that I thought about ordering the swing speed system he uses) and hit 17 of 18 greens in the final round. Fitzpatrick became the second male player to win both the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Open on the same course.
While I would love to recap everything great about the U.S. Open last week, we are here to talk about the Travelers Championship. The event will be held at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. This has been a regular stop on the PGA TOUR for many years and one of my favorite non-majors of the year. The course is a par-70 that measures only 6,852 yards. It features two short par 5s and a drivable par 4.
As with most Pete Dye designs, there is more of an emphasis on iron play than on power off the tee. While the fairways are wide, many opt to club down off the tee. The penalty for missing fairways here is one of the greatest on tour. That's not to say the rough is impossible, but finding birdie opportunities on these small greens is much easier from the fairway. If you like to use putting splits, the greens here feature a mix of bentgrass and poa annua grass.
There isn't a specific skill set that you need to contend at this course. The leaderboard will likely feature a mix of short and long hitters. The recipe for success is to keep it in the fairway, be precise with your irons, and make a lot of putts. With very little wind in the forecast, we can expect some very good scoring this week.
Favorite Bet: Patrick Cantlay (+1400)
While he hasn't performed as well as expected in majors the last few years, he's arguably been the best on tour in the non-majors. He quietly finished in the top 15 of last week's U.S. Open, which was his 10th top 15 finish in his last 14 starts. During that stretch, he's picked up two wins, two seconds, and fourth place finishes. He's played TPC River Highlands four times in his career and has never finished outside of the top 15. He's the best in the field in strokes gained per round on Pete Dye courses and he loves putting on bentgrass and/or poa annua greens. I like his chances to be in the mix on Sunday.
Longshot Bet: Brendon Todd (+10000)
I was ready to bet Todd at +6000 this week, so I happily put my wager down when I saw him listed at +10000. He's coming off of finishes of T3 at Colonial and T13 in Canada. His two biggest strengths have long been hitting fairways and making putts. More importantly, he has gained on approach in six of his last seven starts. If the irons show up again, he could find himself on the first page of the leaderboard once more. He might have a tough time closing the door with so many big names in the field, so I'm backing up this outright with a top 10 and a top 20.
DFS Value: Lanto Griffin ($7,100 DraftKings / $8,400 FanDuel)
Griffin hasn't finished better than T51 in any of his last four starts, but I didn't consider any of them to be strong course fits.
Griffin's biggest weakness is his around the green play and that's put to the test at courses like The Country Club, Southern Hills and Muirfield Village. With greens being easy to hit this week and with the scrambling success rate high, I'm essentially not factoring in around the green play.
When you do that, Griffin vaults up the ratings. He has played well on Pete Dye tracks in the past and is 3-for-3 in making the cut at TPC River Highlands.
As always, good luck this week!
