Travelers Championship 2026: Dave Tindall's each-way picks from 35/1 to 60/1

---

Introduction to the Travelers Championship

If we thought majors came thick and fast, how about Signature Events.

They've peppered the schedule so heavily this season that this is the eighth and final one of 2026.

Once more that means just 72 players and no cut.

Predicting outcomes is more than just seeing what a model throws up and one key is assessing how several players respond to the gruel of four days at Shinnecock.

Even if Wyndham Clark and 50/151.00 trends pick Sam Burns - the US Open 1-2 - were perfect fits for this course, would you really be backing them to thrive again immediately after what they went through on Long Island?

TPC River Highlands, like Shinnecock, is a par 70 but there the similarities pretty much end.

Reworked by Pete Dye in the early 1980s, it measures less then 6,850 yards and often takes driver out of hands.

Jim Furyk shot the PGA Tour's only ever 58 here while Patrick Cantlay carded a 60 as an amateur.

As for stats, Harris English's SG: Approach stats weren't great in his 2021 victory as he leaned on short game but usually setting up lots of chances is vital.

Three of the last four winners ranked in the top four for SG: Putting while Keegan Bradley's 2023 triumph was the purest example of what's required as he was 1st for for both Approach and Putting.

---

Akshay Bhatia each-way @ 60/161.00

One weird stat that never came under threat at Shinnecock is that no left-hander has ever won the US Open.

That's a different story here. Bubba Watson won twice at a venue where you would have thought his big hitting would have been negated while Phil Mickelson is also a two-time champion.

The lefty baton is being carried these days by Brian Harman, who has eight top 10s at TPC River Highlands.

It's not obvious why but Augusta also yields to southpaws so let's follow the trend rather than explain it.

Akshay Bhatia is the one who can step up this year and he should have some confidence after a solid 17th at Shinnecock where he shot over par just once in his four rounds.

And if 17th doesn't sound too overwhelming, it was just his second top 20 in 12 majors starts (his best is 16th). Bhatia hasn't yet come good in the majors but he will.

A brilliant winner at Bay Hill in March, he's already shown he can beat an elite, Scottie Scheffler-led field and the only surprise is that the Californian hasn't built on it.

But Bhatia is no ordinary player as three PGA Tour wins at the age of 24 highlights.

The reassuring news is that he's already shone at TPC River Highlands.

That was on the first of his two starts here in 2024 when he shot 64-65-64-69 to finish fifth - four shots short of the playoff.

Shooting a 69 in the final round was probably no surprise given that it was his seventh straight week of competitive action.

With an emphasis on short game, his rankings of 9th for Putting and 30th Around The Green put him right up there and 10th for Birdie or Better Conversion Percentage and 13th for Birdie Average suggest he should take his chances.

---

Bet 2: J.T. Poston each-way @ 45/146.00

I would usually shy away from a player who made the top five in a US Open given all the graft and sweat that went into it.

The exceptions are those that weren't under the gun but came with a good run on the final day.

J.T. Poston fits the bill perfectly. Three 71s put him 30th, 34th and 17th respectively after rounds one, two and three but he turned that into a top five with some superb golf on Sunday.

Only three players bettered his closing 3-under 67.

That's now two top fives in his last four majors on American soil which shows how he's taking his game up a notch after doing nothing at that level pre-2025.

Poston's rise, of course, is also showcased by his victory at Memorial two starts ago when he held off another world-class field to get the biggest win of his career (Wyndham, John Deere and Shriners were the other three).

There's arguably no-one in this field putting better than the 33-year-old from North Carolina (3rd for SGP at both Memorial and the US Open) and he was also 6th for Around The Green at Shinnecock.

The putter is the big turnound. He wasn't even in the top 100 for SG: Putting pre-Memorial but decided to go to the TaylorMade Spider.

Explaining the switch at Memorial, he noted: "I've always felt like putting is a strength of my game, and I would say the last year or so it just has been a little streaky for my liking, and I decided to make a switch from a putter that I had used for a long time - last week was the first time I put it in play.

"And just immediately it feels great when I set it down. I feel like right away it just gave me a bunch of confidence standing over it. Definitely I feel like that boosted my confidence and we'll probably keep it in there for a little while."

Wyndham Clark's transformation with the flatstick has been a huge key to his recent successes and Poston is feeling the same.

While his performances here have been patchy, there's a runners-up finish in 2022 winking away.

That year he followed up his second place here with a win at John Deere, fuelling the belief he's a streaky player worth backing when hot.

The 45/146.00 for 10 places after winning Memorial and making the top five in a US Open... yes please.

---

Bet 3: Keegan Bradley each-way @ 35/136.00

I understand the clamour for Justin Thomas this week but the bottom line is that Keegan Bradley has vastly superior course form and is virtually double the price - 35/136.00 compared to 18/119.00 in the 10 Place market.

And it's not just superior course form, it's recent and multiple winning course form as the 2025 Ryder Cup skipper has landed two of the last three editions.

Bradley scored a three-shot victory with 23-under in 2023 and then came on strong at the finish - three behind with four to play - to edge out Tommy Fleetwood and Russell Henley and claim the title with 15-under 12 months ago.

Let's also not forget a second place from 2019 and note that Thomas has never made the top two here.

Bradley's love of this tournament, in his native north-west and playing in front of his beloved New England fans, helps explains his stellar record.

"I have fond memories of coming here when I was 13-years-old, my first time getting to see a PGA Tour player up close. I watched David Duval. It's still really such a treat for me to come here and play. My favourite place to play basically in the world, and I look forward to it every year.

"I also have an advantage of having played this course a hundred times, so I don't have to worry about learning the course."

With four top 25s in eight starts from The Masters and 32nd in last week's US Open (10th Tee To Green), Bradley is ticking along nicely enough.

"I really played great. What a treat it is to play a round of golf like that around here in a US Open in these conditions," he said after an opening 70 at Shinnecock.

It's also worth recalling that he won here last year on the back of an almost identical US Open finish (33rd). As for 2023, he secured his first Travelers victory after a missed cut at Los Angeles Country Club.

"After the US Open, this is such a nice change of pace," Bradley said last year and hopefully the good vibes will translate into another TPC River Highlands title challenge.

---

Now read Steve Rawlings' Travelers Championship preview

---

*You can follow me on Twitter @DaveTindallgolf

---