The weekend is here in Cromwell, Connecticut, at the Travelers Championship. Surely, new golf fans have to be somewhat confused seeing these scores and style of golf after watching the U.S. Open. Once the middle of June rolls around, birdie fests are the norm on the PGA Tour.
Earlier, we got some rain in the Northeast, which will only make the scoring conditions easier. The caveat to that is it will make the rough wet and a tad thicker, which will penalize a wayward drive. That further emphasizes the key stats of either driving accuracy or total driving, so I will be taking a look at both stats, with an emphasis on total driving. I love a golfer who can take advantage of being both long and straight off the tee, which will lead to super short wedges into most holes.
Here are the Travelers Champions odds and my Travelers Championship Round 3 picks.
1) Tom Kim -13 (+400)
T2) Scottie Scheffler -11 (+180)
T2) Akshay Bhatia -11 (+1200)
T2) Collin Morikawa -11 (+400)
5) Xander Schauffele -10 (+600)
T6) Sungjae Im -9 (+2800)
T6) Shane Lowry -9 (+3500)
T6) Justin Thomas -9 (+2200)
T6) Shane Lowry -9 (+3500)
Shane Lowry Top 5 (+350)
Lowry is coming off a round of 62 and finds himself just a few shots off the lead. He is absolutely striping the golf ball, as he ranks near the the top in strokes gained off the tee, approach and around the green. He is leaving a tad to be desired on the putting greens but that is fairly on brand for Lowry.
Lowry fits the bill of a TPC River Highlands plotter, which is not what I am looking for in a winning profile. He surely has enough in the tank to finish inside the top five. Lowry knows how to play in contention and he will feel very comfortable under the pressure. Look for him to keep his foot on the pedal — he knows he needs to go low this weekend to stay in contention.
Sam Burns Top 10 (+360)
Sam Burns is currently second in the field in driving distance and he's putting well. Oddly, he is not hitting his wedges well, which he usually does. Burns has gained distance over the last year and half and that is paying dividends this week.
He is only five under, which is a tad too far back in terms of contending for a win, but a top-10 finish is surely in play. Burns has been playing great golf over the last month. His last three starts are all top-15 finishes, and I am sure he wants to keep that trend alive on a course that fits him well.
Chris Gotterup Top 20 (+4500)
Gotterup got off to a very slow start in round one. He currently leads the field in driving distance, and that showed in round two, when he posted a very solid round of 65. If he continues to drive the ball this well, Gotterup can surely vault his way up the leaderboard.
He finished T24 in his only trip to this event and is surely a more well-rounded golfer this time around. Look for Gotterup to keep bombing the ball off tee, stay aggressive and make birdies. One solid round can move you up the leaderboard in a big way, and there are plenty of birdies to be had.
