Travelers Championship 2025 First-Round Leader Tips: Trio to back from 55/1 to 110/1

• 60/161.00 Rickie Fowler is finding form and shot a 60 here two years ago

• 55/156.00 Ryan Fox is one of the Tour's form players and can shine early again

• 110/1111.00 Adam Hadwin showed some good signs in Canada and can go low

Weather forecast for Thursday

It's a sunny round one for the 72-man field (tee times run from 8am to 2.05pm) with temperatures really climbing as the day goes, peaking in the mid-90s at around 2-3pm.

Winds are around 6mph for the early starters but could rise to double that and more midway through the afternoon so perhaps teeing off before midday offers a slight advantage.

An ultra-low score is usually needed for FRL honours on this short par 70.

In the last five years, 60 has led the way twice at TPC River Highlands while 62s were also needed twice.

Rickie Fowler @ 60/161.00

Rickie Fowler missed the brutal test at Oakmont which may be no bad thing.

So his last memories of competitive golf were an encouraging seventh place at Memorial following a 16th at Colonial where he posted a Friday 64.

Two starts earlier, Fowler opened with a 63 in the Truist Championship so he's been putting together some low rounds of late.

And talking of shooting the lights out, two years ago the Californian carded a stunning 10-under 60 in round three here on the way to a 13th place finish.

Last year he opened with a 64 and closed with a 65 to again make the top 20.

Given his recent uptick in form and course history, Fowler looks a bet at 60/161.00 (1/4, 5 Places) from his 11.30am tee-time.

Ryan Fox @ 55/156.00

Ryan Fox is on an absolute high after two wins in his last five starts. Another way of framing it is two wins in his last three non-majors.

And we shouldn't hide his performances in those majors under the bed as he was 28th in the US PGA and 20th in the US Open.

The New Zealander won the Canadian Open with a 64 and three 66s and he opened with a 65 when winning the Myrtle Beach Classic.

It's a bit of a punt to back him on his course debut but his irons look dialled in (6th and 9th for Approach in his last two starts) and this course doesn't take a lot of learning.

Add a hot putter into the mix and Fox, who has been in the top five after 18 holes in two of his last five starts, is a bet at 55/156.00.

He tees off at 10.45am.

Adam Hadwin @ 110/1111.00

This may be a speculative play to be honest but Adam Hadwin being the third highest price in the field did take my eye.

We know from his exploits in The American Express at La Quinta that Hadwin can go wild and he's a member of the '59' club after breaking the magic 60 barrier there in 2017.

It's been a pretty poor season for him to be honest and the promise of a ninth in Phoenix quickly evaporated.

But he had his best week since that February top 10 when tied 27th in his home Canadian Open last time and playing well in front of the locals may just have given him a boost.

Hadwin carded a Saturday 65 there which put him 16th with a round to go so it wasn't far off being a very good week.

His assessment at the end of it? "I did a lot of good things. I drove it really well. I thought this was one of the better driving weeks I've had in a long time, if not in my career. Hit a lot of good iron shots. I did a lot of good things."

He hadn't done much here in five starts up to 2021 but the 37-year-old returned last year and fired a 64 on the way to 27th.

Give him a whirl at 110/1111.00 from his 9.45am tee-time.

*You can follow me on Twitter @DaveTindallgolf

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