The PGA Tour heats up this week as it contests another Signature Event and visits TPC River Highlands for the 2024 Travelers Championship. Originally designed by Robert J. Ross and Maurice Kearney in 1928 before undergoing redesigns by both Pete Dye and Bobby Weed in the 1980’s, TPC River Highlands will play as a Par 70, 6,835 yard layout this week.
TPC River Highlands is an anomaly on tour, a course playing under 7,000 yards in length. Because of that, scoring conditions have always been low, with the winner a finishing double digits under par in each of the last 30 editions. So immediately, you better have a good putting week if you want to have a chance at finding victory. In order to have a chance on the greens, you have to hit the greens first, so having great control of your irons is going to be key to setting up your scoring opportunities. Length doesn’t matter for this week. Deep exhale fellows! Short hitters have equally found success at this event, so this is a course that truly suits nearly every style of golfer. With only 2 Par 5’s on the course this week, you’re going to need to take advantage of your scoring opportunities on Par 4’s as well. Lastly, to find success, players will need to find that proper combination of aggression and intelligence. You’ve got to keep your foot on the gas to keep pace in an event like this one. So going low is important, but racking up a bunch of pars is just as bad as making a bunch of bogeys. You’ve got to play smart and take your scoring chances when you are able, but if you try and force something to happen, you’ll be out of the running for the title.
The Travelers Championship was first held in 1952 and has produced an incredible list of winners over the years, including Bob Toski, Tommy Bolt, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Gardner Dickinson, Jack Burke Jr., Gene Littler, Bob Goalby, Billy Casper, Ken Venturi, Art Wall Jr., Charlie Sifford, Bob Murphy, George Archer, Lee Trevino, Dave Stockton, Billy Kratzert, Jerry McGee, Howard Twitty, Hubert Green, Tim Norris, Curtis Strange, Peter Jacobsen, Phil Blackmar, Mac O’Grady, Paul Azinger, Mark Brooks, Wayne Levi, Billy Ray Brown, Lanny Wadkins, Nick Price, David Frost, Greg Norman, D. A. Weibring, Stewart Cink, Olin Browne, Brent Geiberger, Notah Begay III, Phil Mickelson, Woody Austin, Brad Faxon, J. J. Henry, Hunter Mahan, Kenny Perry, Bubba Watson, Freddie Jacobson, Marc Leishman, Ken Duke, Kevin Streelman, Russell Knox, Jordan Spieth, Chez Reavie, Dustin Johnson, Harris English, Xander Schauffele and Keegan Bradley, just to name a few.
Billy Casper has won the Travelers Championship the most, finding victory in this event 4 times. Bubba Watson has won the Travelers 3 times, while Arnold Palmer, Paul Azinger, Phil Mickelson, Peter Jacobsen and Stewart Cink each have a pair of victories in this event.
The 18 hole scoring record for the Travelers Championship is 58, which was fired by Jim Furyk during the final round in 2016 and is the lowest round ever scored in the history of the PGA Tour.
The 72 hole scoring record is 257 (-23), which was achieved by Keegan Bradley during his victory last year. The 72 hole scoring record to par is 259 (-25), which was achieved by Tim Norris during his victory in 1982, which was held at Wethersfield Country Club.
Last year’s edition was won by Keegan Bradley, who picked up his 6th PGA Tour victory by three strokes over Zac Blair and Brian Harman. Patrick Cantlay, Chez Reavie and Scottie Scheffler all finished T-4, four strokes back.
Player to Fade:
One of the great journeyman players on the PGA Tour, Adam Schenk has had a quiet season so far, with just 1 top 10 and 6 top 25’s in 19 starts. Schenk has seemingly been in free fall of late, with 3 missed cuts over his last 5 starts to go along with a WD and a T-64 finish. Schenk’s ball striking can likely be pointed to as the cause of his recent woes, ranking outside the top 100 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and Strokes Gained: Approach the Green. Most importantly, Schenk has been abysmal in his career at TPC River Highlands, missing the cut in all 6 of his previous starts in this event. Since the Travelers Championship is now a Signature Event, Schenk is guaranteed four rounds of golf. However, I don’t expect him to be much of a threat and will finish in the bottom third of the field this week.
Dark Horse:
The 48th ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking, Thomas Detry has had a solid season, with 4 top 10’s and 7 top 25’s in 16 starts, including a T-4 finish at the PGA Championship and a T-14 finish at the U. S. Open. Detry’s success can largely be attributed to his prowess on the greens, ranking 7th in Strokes Gained: Putting and 31st in Total Birdies. The Travelers Championship has, for the most part, always been a birdie fest, so having a hot putter is a bonus if you’re looking to contend and Detry fits this stat to a tee. He may have long odds this week based on name recognition alone in a stacked Signature Event field, but recent form still counts for something despite Detry’s lack of success in this event. Detry missed the cut in his lone start here last season, but I predict he will bounce back and capitalize on his recent form by bringing home a top 20 finish.
Ludvig Åberg has continued to impress in his first full season on tour, earning 6 top 10’s and 10 top 25’s in 13 starts, highlighted by runner-up finishes at both the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am and Masters Tournament. Åberg is a player who falls into the dual threat category of elite ball striker who can back it up on the greens, ranking inside the top 15 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, Off-the-Tee and Approach the Green, 43rd in Strokes Gained: Putting, inside the top 25 in both Driving Distance and Driving Accuracy Percentage, 23rd in Greens in Regulation Percentage, 15th in Scrambling, 13th in Birdie or Better Percentage, 9th in Bogey Avoidance and 8th in Par 4 Birdie or Better Leaders. Åberg finished T-24 in his debut in this event last season and with his recent form, there is no doubt in my mind that he will improve on that result and finish in the top 10 this week.
Winner:
Since winning The Genesis Invitational, Hideki Matsuyama has been quietly putting together a solid run since, with 4 top 10’s and 5 top 12’s in his last 7 starts, including a strong 6th place finish at the U. S. Open last week. Matsuayma excels all the way through the bag, ranking 3rd in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, 15th in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and 1st in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green. Unfortunately for Matsuyama, he suffers from a balky putter, ranking 122nd in Strokes Gained: Putting. Matsuyama finished T-13 in this event last year while making his first start in the Travelers Championship, which is promising as he returns for his sophomore attempt this week. It’s always tough to predict that a notoriously bad putter will find success on any given week, but anybody can get hot any given week, which is why I predict that Hideki Matsuyama will slip on the coveted black jacket with the Travelers umbrella emblazoned on the pocket by winning the Travelers Championship!
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