Is anyone else still a little jacked up from that U.S. Open finish? Okay, me too.
From the excitement that was Bryson DeChambeau’s bunker shot on 18 to Rory McIlroy once again faltering in a big moment, last weekend’s major championship at Pinehurst No. 2 was a thrilling ride from start to finish.
However, there’s no time to recover since the PGA Tour moves to TPC River Highlands for the last signature event of the season at the Travelers Championship.
Designed by Pete Dye, TPC River Highlands is the shortest track on Tour and features plenty of obstacles along the way, including five water hazards, 69 bunkers and four-inch Kentucky Bluegrass rough looming beyond the fairway. The fairways average 38 yards in width and lead into the sixth-smallest green complexes on the PGA Tour schedule.
Add it all up, and this course requires accuracy off the tee, quality approach shots and a hot putter. The winning score in this event has reached at least 17-under par in five of the last six years. Golfers have to make birdies to win here, and I have identified three players who have a great chance to come from out of nowhere and win at the Travelers Championship this weekend.
Let's take a look at my 2024 Travelers Championship Sleeper Picks & Longshots below who have a chance to cash at 90-1 or longer.
2024 Travelers Championship Sleeper Picks & Longshots
Harris English 90-1 (bet365)
Harris English is very familiar with success at the Travelers Championship after winning at TPC River Highlands in 2021. He also has two top-20 finishes in his last three appearances at this event.
This has not been the best year of English’s career, but he has played plenty of quality golf. In eight of his 16 starts this season, English has finished in the top 25.
There are plenty of statistical reasons to love English at TPC River Highlands because his biggest strengths map incredibly well with the course’s requirements to win.
English is phenomenal with the short stick as he ranks sixth on Tour this season in Strokes Gained (SG): Putting, and when he is hot, he can pour birdies in with the best.
English is also great at finding fairways, which is a necessity on this course. He ranks 18th in Driving Accuracy this season, and he should have no problems setting himself up to hunt flagsticks this weekend.
Combine his track record as a past winner here with his strengths off the tee and on the greens, and English is my favorite longshot at the Travelers Championship.
Akshay Bhatia 90-1 (FanDuel)
Akshay Bhatia is an underrated golfer this week who has started to garner attention from his fellow players on the PGA Tour. Just last week, Sahith Theegala was asked for a bold prediction and stated that “Akshay Bhatia will win multiple majors.”
To the casual golf fan, that may have sounded crazy, but if you have been paying attention to Bhatia this season, you can see why it's possible. The 22-year-old is coming off a tie for 16th at the U.S. Open and tied for 22nd a week before at the Memorial Tournament. He also won the Valero Texas Open earlier this season for his second win on the PGA Tour in less than a year.
90-1 is insanely good value for Bhatia in just about any 71-man field, even before considering his greatest strengths pairing well with TPC River Highlands.
Bhatia is 25th on Tour in Driving Accuracy as he consistently finds fairways off the tee. He also excels from there with an iron in his hands because he is 21st in SG: Approach.
He is also well suited to go low since the winner this week will likely be around 20-under par or lower, and he shot -20 in his victory at the Texas Open at a much tougher golf course at TPC San Antonio.
He is significantly above average with his broomstick putter at 42nd on Tour this season in SG: Putting. If Bhatia makes a few putts early, this course sets up well for him to stay in contention deep into Sunday.
Michael Thorbjornsen 400-1 (FanDuel)
Who doesn’t love a good underdog story?
May we interest you in Michael Thorbjornsen, who is making his first start on Tour since winning a PGA Tour card by finishing as the top collegiate player in the PGA Tour University Class of 2024? The previous top collegiate golfer to secure a PGA Tour card through PGA Tour U was Ludvig Åberg, and you may have heard of him recently.
While the Stanford Cardinal is making his professional debut this week, he finished fourth in this very event in 2022 as an amateur. Thorbjornsen has popped up from time to time as he has made the cut in four professional events in the last two years.
You never know how a rookie will respond to his big moment, but Thorbjornsen will be licking his chops that his first professional start with a Tour card comes at a course that he already contended at. At 400-1, this could be the most fun longshot bet to root for this weekend.
