Travelers Championship Each-Way Tips: Kim for the win in Connecticut

• 40/141.00 Tom Kim can build on his strong US Open finish

• 40/141.00 Russell Henley has course and current form

• 50/151.00 Sahith Theegala can go one better then last year

Far from being some gentle wind down after the intensity of the US Open, the Travelers Championship carries designated event status this year.

The result: the top eight players in the world rankings head to TPC River Highlands as does Rickie Fowler after his strong but ultimately disappointing week at Los Angeles Country Club.

Each of the winners here since 2016 take part and they include two more US Open contenders: defending champion Xander Schauffele and 2021 winner Harris English.

Schauffele triumphed with 19-under in 2022 which was also the winning score for Dustin Johnson in 2020. Chez Reavie and Bubba Watson took victory with 17-under in 2019 and 2018 respectively. English's 13-under came in tougher conditions.

TPC River Highlands is a Pete Dye par 70 measuring a very short 6,852 yards. Jim Furyk once shot a 58 there while Schauffele opened with a pair of 63s last year.

Tom Kim @ 40/141.00

Tom Kim had an excellent week at the US Open and I'm hoping he can use it as a springboard to success here.

The Korean secured a first top 10 in the majors in seven tries with tied eighth at Los Angeles Country Club.

And that was after giving Schauffele and Fowler an 11-shot start after round one. Kim could only muster a 73 on Thursday but he hit back with laps of 66-68-69, playing the front nine in 29 in round three.

A birdie at the last secured a top 10 and an automatic return to the 2024 US Open and he said later: "US Opens are the toughest weeks we have all year, and to shoot under par for three days in a row, it definitely shows me a lot of confidence about myself. Definitely pleased with it."

Current form and confidence are ticked but how about course form?

This is Kim's debut in the event but we can take heart from the fact that he's had some good results on Pete Dye courses earlier this season.

First, there was his sixth place in The American Express in January where he concluded with back-to-back 67s at the Pete Dye Stadium Course. And in April he teamed up with Si Woo Kim to finish seventh in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at Dye's TPC Louisiana.

Kim isn't a power hitter so a shortish test like this where wedges and short irons come into play a lot should suit. Looking at last year, far more shots than average were hit from the 125-150 yards and 150-175 range.

That's good news for Kim who ranks 2nd in approaches from 125-50 yards and 15th from 150-175.

Let's just remind ourselves that by capturing the Shriners Children's Open in Las Vegas back in October, Kim became the first player to win twice on the PGA Tour before the age of 21 since Tiger Woods in 1996.

Kim's two wins have been achieved with 20-under (Wyndham Championship) and 24-under (Shriners) so this birdie-fest should be right in his wheelhouse.

One of just two players who broke par in the final three rounds of the US Open, it's time for the man who named himself after Thomas the Tank Engine to win again.

Russell Henley @ 40/141.00

Russell Henley is already a winner this season having landed the World Wide Technology Championship at El Camaleon in Mexico - another of the PGA Tour's shorter courses at just over 7,000 yards.

And before he became a PGA Tour star, the third of his three Web.com wins came on a Pete Dye track at the Jacksonville Open in Florida.

That's a sound start for a pro-Henley argument and we can embellish it further.

Henley's October win in Mexico gave him a first PGA Tour title since 2017 so was it just a case of the American getting hot for a week? Far from it.

Starting from March he's had tied 19th at The Players (Dye track), tied fourth at the US Masters (best ever majors finish), tied 19th at Harbour Town (Dye) and in his last three appearances top 16 finishes at Colonial, Memorial and last week's US Open.

His tied 14th at Los Angeles Country Club was achieved with a pair of weekend 68s after starting 71-71 so he left there on a high.

Henley is the PGA Tour's straighest driver and a top 30 player in Strokes Gained: Tee To Green.

Drilling down a little to what's required this week and he's 12th for approaches from 125-150 yards.

So what of his form at TPC River Highlands? He's played this event five times and has an 11th on debut, a sixth in 2018 and after closing with a 64 in 2020, he made the top 20 again on his most recent appearance in 2021.

He heads there this time showing some of his most consistent form in years: seven top 20s in his last eight starts.

And to bring it back to this week's course designer, Henley has six top 20s from his last eight starts on Pete Dye tracks.

Sahith Theegala @ 50/151.00

Sahith Theegala had a pretty positive week at Los Angeles Country Club.

Tied 27th was his best result in five starts even though he'd made the cut in the previous four.

In fact, he hasn't failed to make the weekend since the calendar flipped to 2023 and his run of 20 consecutive cuts is the third longest streak on the PGA Tour.

Theegala was in danger of ending that run after a 74 on day one of the US Open but he hit back with a 66 on day two and also closed with a 69.

His main appeal this week of course is how well he played TPC River Highlands last year.

Theegala shot 67-65-64-67 to finish runner-up to Schauffele although that doesn't tell half the story.

Standing on the 18th tee, Theegala was a shot clear but he found sand with his drive, took two to get out and a double bogey wrecked his chances.

Speaking about TPC River Highlands last year, the 25-year-old said: "Just the way this course is, it allows me to really hit these low balls which I really like out here to kind of keep it in the fairway."

In the final round of the US Open, Theegala ranked 1st for Strokes Gained: Around The Green, 2nd Tee To Green and 5th on Approach so that must fill him with confidence.

In addition, no-one has made more birdies than him this season (332) while he ranks 8th for Birdie Average. All good news given that scoring will be low here.

A fifth place at Harbour Town the week after the US Masters adds further confidence given that it came on a Dye track straight after a major.

Lots of good reasons then to back Theegala at 50/151.00.

Elsewhere, Tommy Fleetwood finished like a train at LA CC and his fifth place followed a play-off loss in Canada. I'm tempted at 28/129.00 but he's had a lot to deal with mentally in the last fortnight.

Eric Cole at 100/1101.00 caught my eye but, according to my calculations, this will be his 11th week in a row! Finishing sixth in Canada on week nine of this enormous stretch shows his stamina but there must surely come a point where he's playing on fumes and perhaps that's now after the gruel of a US Open.

Favourite Scottie Scheffler must surely win again soon but I can let him go at 13/27.50 so the other main one of interest at 22/123.00 was Collin Morikawa. He was excellent for the final 54 holes in Los Angeles although hasn't done enough here (36-MC) to fully grab my attention.