Top DFS Plays for the Travelers Championship
- Field: 71 Players
- Cut: No Cut Event
- First Tee: Thursday, June 20th
- Defending Champion: Keegan Bradley
The 2024 Travelers Championship is returning to TPC River Highlands, showcasing one of the most dynamic and picturesque courses on the PGA Tour. The course, which is part of the PGA TOUR’s TPC Network, is a par 70 and stretches only 6,841 yards. Despite its relatively short length compared to other courses on the PGA Tour, it demands precision and strategic play from golfers, making it a favorite among both professionals and amateurs.
Over the past year, TPC River Highlands has undergone changes to make players think more about the angles they are taking on the course. These updates included shrinking and resurfacing some of the greens and improving bunkers, ensuring that the course remains in pristine condition for the annual Travelers Championship. One notable change was moving the tee box on Hole 9 to make it more difficult to cut the corner and drive it over the houses, either to the green or just short of it. These changes not only preserve the course’s historical elements but also introduce modern features that challenge today’s golfers. Below are the key stats I’m looking at to find my favorite golfers this week in DFS!
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SG: Tee-to-Green
With a Greens in Regulation average of 72.6%, this course was one of the easiest to hit greens on. However, it ranks in the middle of courses when considering fairways hit. Winners of the last 5 tournaments all ranked in the top 10 of SG:T2G for the tournament. Finding a golfer that excels in this stat will be key.
Par 4 Scoring
Normally I’m preaching Par 5 scoring, but at this course scoring on the Par 4’s is crucial. There are 12 Par 4’s on the course, the shortest being only 296 yards while the longest is 481 yards (average is 415). Big numbers are within reach on every hole, but almost every hole also has a reasonable chance at birdie. From 2014-2020 the winner of the event either led or co-led in this stat.
Course History
I am normally not the biggest fan of Course History being a key stat. At TPC River Highlands though, there appear to be clear Course Horses. There are seven golfers who have won multiple times at this course. Even if we ignore the winners of the tournament, players that play this course well tend to do it time and time again. Brian Harman, Cantlay, Scottie, Keegan Bradley, and Jason Day all have multiple top 15 finishes over the last 5 years.
Enough talking, let’s get to what you came here for, below are my favorite DFS plays for this week’s Travelers Championship!
10K and Up: $11.2K – Xander Schauffele
Yes I am going back to Xander again this week but let me explain. With the Rory WD, there are only 3 golfers in this range: Scottie, Xander, and Aberg. I have enough concern about the short game of Aberg to keep him off this list, but I will still play a little bit of him. However, Xander is my favorite play because I feel like his overall game is in better form. Scottie only had 4 birdies for the entire US Open, yes the ENTIRE tournament and finished T41. Meanwhile, if you watched Xander it looked like he should have finished worse than Scottie, but he sneakily finished T7. So that means even with his ‘C game’, Xander still found a way to finish top-10 at a grueling Major. With his win at the PGA Championship Xander proved he could win a birdie fest and score on Par 4’s when scoring is available. Add in that Xander won here in 2022 and never missed a cut when this was a full field event, I feel like I can’t ignore him at this price. Until they start pricing him higher, I will continue to roster Xander.
$9K Range: $9.6K – Patrick Cantlay
This feels like a gross play, not because I dislike Cantlay but because I am going on a very small amount of good form. Prior to last week’s T3 at the US Open, Cantlay played poorly in 4 of his last 5 tournaments (ignoring the team event) including a MC at the Memorial. Now we turn our sights to a place where Cantlay plays well as his worst finish here since 2018 is a pair of T15’s. The last time we played a course that Cantlay always plays well was the RBC Heritage where he finished T3 this year. Cantlay doesn’t seem to be someone that would thrive in birdie fests, but he has strong strokes gained stats in T2G, Putting, ARG, and approach. If anything scares me its that his driving accuracy can be off at times which could easily derail his week. Either way, I will back Cantlay to play another strong tournament this week and finish top-15 or better again this week.
$8K Range: $8.3K – Brian Harman
Welcome to the Brian Harman invite, a tournament and course that Harman loves yet he has never won at. Dating back to 2015 Harman has 2 MC’s, one T35, and 6 top-10’s including his T2 here last year. At a shorter, positional course Harman’s accuracy off the tee becomes more important than his lack of length. Harman is also strong around the green and with his putter, all of which contributed to his solid T21 at the US Open. Coincidentally his best finish this year was a T2 at the Players Championship played at TPC Sawgrass, a short, positional Pete Dye designed course. Does any of that sound familiar? It’s almost the identical situation we find ourselves in this week. He might garner more ownership than I would typically like, but I don’t think I can ignore Harman this week.
$7K Range:$7.3K – J.T. Poston
If you look back at his results here, you are probably calling me a hypocrite for making Poston a play here. Yes, I listed Course History as a key stat and Poston has horrible history here. He has only made the cut at Travelers once out of six tries, but he did finish T2 in that tournament. He has lost strokes putting in three of his five MC’s, an abnormality for Poston. Typically a great putter, he has gained with his putter in five of his last eight events (excluding the net neutral putting last week). Ranking in the top 10 of this field in SG:Tot, putting, and approach from 125-150 yards, Poston comes in at 10th on the model I’m using this week. He gets a guaranteed four rounds this week and at this price he offers plenty of salary relief.
$6K Range: $6.5K – Seamus Power
Seamus Power missed the cut last week and his price would suggest that he is playing pretty poorly. If we look closer at his last 2 months, he actually ranks 13th in this field for Opportunities gained. Power ranks in the top half of the field for SG:Approach from 125-150, 150-175, and SG:Total. With finishes of T12, T16, and T27 in his last six tournaments, Power does offer plenty of upside in this event. I don’t plan on playing too many $6K golfers this week, but Power will be on that short list.
