Tournament History
Founded as the Insurance City Open in 1952, and formerly known as the Greater Hartford Open, the Travelers Championship has been in existence for 70 years.
The tournament was moved to August to accommodate the Olympics in 2016 and in 2020 it followed the Heritage after the disruption to the schedule caused by the pandemic, but in every other year since 2007 it's been played in the week following the US Open.
This event has seen a number of records set lately. It's now 11 years since Patrick Cantlay set the course record with a ten-under-par 60, which is also the lowest round shot by an amateur in a PGA Tour event, in 2014 Kevin Streelman became the first player to birdie the last seven holes to win a PGA Tour event, and Jim Furyk shot the PGA Tour's first ever 58 here in 2016.
Venue
TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut
Course Details
Par 70 - 6,841 yards
Stroke Index in 2021 - 69.67
Originally designed by Robert J. Ross and Maurice Kearney in 1928, TPC River Highlands was reworked by Pete Dye in 1982 and again by Bobby Weed in 1989. It's not a particularly strong test and low scores are a common occurrence. Both the fairways and the smaller than average Poa Annua greens are fairly easy to hit and scoring is always in the double-digits under-par. Last year the rough was four inches high and the greens ran at 12 on the Stimpmeter.
Holes 15, 16 and 17, are nicknamed the 'Golden Triangle' and they wind around a lake, creating a dramatic backdrop for what's often a theatrical finish. At less than 300 yards, the short par four 15th is drivable but it's not a straightforward test and last year it only averaged 3.77. The green has tricky roll-offs and water is in play for anyone straying left. The par three 16th is played back over the water and is tricky (last year averaged 3.05) and the par four 17th hole has water to the right off the tee and approach shots to the green are played back over the lake. It was the third hardest hole on the course last year, averaging 4.13.
TV Coverage
Live on Sky Sports all four days, beginning on Thursday on the Red Button at 11:45 UK and Ireland time with full coverage beginning at 20:00.
Last Seven Winners with Pre-event Exchange Prices
2021 - Harris English -13 50.049/1 (playoff)
2020 - Dustin Johnson -19 30.029/1
2019 - Chez Reavie -17 80.079/1
2018 - Bubba Watson -17 32.031/1
2017 - Jordan Spieth -12 (playoff) 11.010/1
2016 - Russell Knox -14 60.059/1
2015 - Bubba Watson -16 15.014/1 (playoff)
What Will it Take to Win the Travelers Championship?
I've gone back ten years to work out the average rankings for the last ten winners and the picture is fairly clear (results below). It's all about putting.
Average Rankings - Last 10 Winners
Driving Distance - 31.3
Driving Accuracy - 31.4
Greens In Regulation - 23.2
Scrambling - 19.9
Putting Average - 7.0
Putts Per Round - 7.2
As Furyk demonstrated in no uncertain terms six years ago, this is a track that offers up very low scoring and the event is basically a putting competition.
Last year's winner, Harris English, only ranked 18th for Strokes Gained Putting but the man he beat in the playoff, Kramer Hickock, ranked second and the first four in the SGP rankings all finished inside the top-five and ties. And the two previous winners ranked 10th and fourth for SGP.
The myriad of putting stats on the PGA Tour website may help but knowing quite who is going to have a good four days with the flat-stick on any particular week is never easy.
Last year's beaten playoff protagonist, Hickock, played the par fours better than anyone else (11-under-par) and the seven winners before English all played the par fours better than anyone else, so the Par 4 Scoring stats should be worth a look.
Is a Good Week at Brookline a Plus?
Given this event traditionally follows the US Open, I've looked back at the last 12 years to see how the winners of this event had fared the week before, or even if they'd played in the US Open - reviewed here.
The 2020 edition of the Travelers Championship was the first tournament on the PGA Tour that wasn't cancelled or rescheduled following the three-month break due to the pandemic, so it didn't follow the US Open, it followed the second event back after the shutdown, the Heritage, where the winner here, Dustin Johnson, had finished 17th.
And the Travelers followed the US PGA Championship in 2016, where the winner here, Russell Knox, had finished 22nd but in every other year it followed the US Open so here's how the last 12 winners had finished in the US Open, or if they didn't play in the US Open (DNP), how they're figured in their previous start.
2010 - Bubba Watson - DNP US Open - 33rd Memorial Tournament
2011 - Freddie Jacobson - 14th US Open
2012 - Marc Leishman - DNP US Open - 58th Memorial Tournament
2013 - Ken Duke - DNP US Open - MC FedEx St Jude Classic
2014 - Kevin Streelman - MC US Open
2015 - Bubba Watson - MC US Open
2016 - Russell Knox - 22nd USPGA Championship
2017 - Jordan Spieth - 35th US Open
2018 - Bubba Watson - MC US Open
2019 - Chez Reavie - 3rd US Open
2020 - Dustin Johnson - 17th RBC Heritage
2021 - Harris English - 3rd US Open
Recent history suggests it may be worth playing a high finisher last week if they're a decent price.
English and the 2019 winner, Chez Revie, both finished third at the US Open before winning here at a juicy price.
Is There an Identikit Winner?
Taking on the fancied ones from the start and building a book from there used to be a great way to trade this tournament but the fields have been getting stronger of late and we haven't seen a triple-figure priced winner in seven years now - although 1000.0999/1 chance, Hickock, came very close 12 months ago. He was matched at a low of 1.11/10 in the playoff!
Historically, outsiders, PGA Tour maidens, and old-timers all have a good record at TPC River Highlands. Despite his strong showing at Pebble Beach the week before, Reavie was an 80.079/1 chance three years ago, Russell Knox went off at around 60.059/1 in 2016 and we've seen a number of really big-priced winners fairly recently.
Kevin Streelman was a 220.0219/1 shot before the get-go eight years ago and 12 months earlier, 45-year-old PGA Tour rookie, Ken Duke, won having been matched at 680.0679/1 before the off!
DJ, Bubba, and Spieth are all prolific winners but Reavie in 2019, like the 2014 winner, Streelman, and the 2016 winner, Russell Knox, had won only once before, and six of the eight winners before Streelman were all winning on the PGA Tour for the very first time.
A decade after he'd won the title for a second time, 45-year-old, Stewart Cink, finished tied for second in 2018, Jerry Kelly finished runner-up at the age of 49 six years ago and five of the last 19 Travelers winners have been over 40.
Had KJ Choi, who traded at just 1.728/11 in 2014, held on, that would have read six from 19, and a number of other vets have come close recently.
At the age of 42, Bubba was matched at a low of 1.528/15 before a poor finish 12 months and when he won here for the first time he beat veterans Scott Verplank and Corey Pavin in a playoff so with a small twist of fate the aged pros could have won seven, eight or even nine of the last 19 renewals.
And the last four winners can hardly be described as spring chickens. English was 31 when he won last year, DJ and Reavie were both 36 and Bubba was 39 when he won this for a third time in 2018. DJ and Bubba have power in abundance, but this short test does give the older guys a chance.
Winner's Position and Exchange Price Pre-Round Four
2021 - Harris English - tied sixth, trailing by two 15.014/1
2020 - Dustin Johnson - solo second, trailing by two 3.185/40
2019 - Chez Reavie led by six strokes 1.282/7
2018 - Bubba Watson - tied sixth, trailing by six 36.035/1
2017 - Jordan Spieth led by a stroke 1.768/11
2016 - Russell Knox tied second, trailing by three 6.25/1
2015 - Bubba Watson tied second, trailing by a stroke 3.259/4
In-Play Tactics
Although two of the last five winners were leading after 54 holes, being in front here isn't always a plus.
The 10/1 pre-event favourite, Jordan Spieth, who'd led by a stroke in 2017, beat Daniel Berger in a playoff thanks to a remarkable bunker shot on the 18th and Reavie successfully converted a six-stroke lead two years later but the third-round leader or co-leader has gone on to win only five times in the last 18 years and Spieth and Reavie are the only two of 14 54-hole leaders or co-leaders to go on to win in the last ten years.
We nearly always see plenty of drama here and most years we witness at least two or three players trading at long odds-on. Bubba was matched at 1.528/15 and Hickock 1.11/10 12 months ago before English went on to win - and he was matched at 1.011/100 in regulation play before Hickock birdied the last to take it into extra time!
It's hard to get the job done here and it's a trader's paradise most years.
Paul Casey led by four with a round to go four years ago and he was matched at a low of 1.182/11 in-running before going on to get beat by three. Knox won from three adrift after the clear odds-on leader, Berger, shot a disappointing 74 to finish tied fifth six years ago but many a winner has come from even further back.
Marc Leishman trailed by six - nine years ago, as did Bubba in 2010, and again four years ago, and the two veterans Watson beat in the playoff 12 years ago (Verplank and Pavin) came from six and eight shots back respectively!
When Brad Faxon won in 2005 he was trailing by 12 at halfway and by seven after three rounds. Phil Mickelson won from five back with a round to go in 2002 and Notah Begay and Woody Austin, like Knox, have both won the event this century from three off the pace. Duke sat in a tie for 6th and was trailing by two nine years ago and Streelman was four back and trading at 55.054/1 in 2014.
We nearly always get a dramatic tight finish and eight of the last 18 renewals have gone to extra time.
And finally, don't give up if your picks start slowly. Bubba sat tied for 77th and seven off the lead four years ago and DJ came from even further back two years ago. He sat tied for 79th and nine adrift after round one!
Market Leaders
In-form Rory McIlroy's course form figures aren't spectacular given they read 17-12-11 but he signed off his debut appearance in 2017 with a 64 and he sat third after an opening 64 the following year and second after round one in 2020, having shot 63 on Thursday.
He ranked second for Putting Average and seventh for Strokes Gained Putting when winning in Canada two weeks ago and he ranked number one for SGP at Brookline last week - gaining a whooping 9.83 on the field. If the putter stays hot, he's the one they all have to beat.
World number one, Scottie Scheffler, has already won four times this year and he's finished second twice - trading at odds-on on both occasions. He was beaten by Sam Burns in a playoff at the Charles Schwab Challenge at the end of the month and he was beaten by a stroke at Brookline last week.
Currently ranking fifth on the PGA Tour for Par 4 Scoring and more than capable of going low, Scottie looks a great fit for the venue but on his two previous visits he missed the cut in 2020 and finished 47th last year.
The US PGA Champion, Justin Thomas, shot 62 in round four in 2016 to finish third but his overall course form figures reading 30-MC-3-MC-56-36-MC are far from inspiring and he looks one to take on.
He ran Rory close in Canada a fortnight ago but he could be in need of a rest if his 37th placed finish last week is anything to go on.
Patrick Cantlay finished only 14th in the US Open last week but that was a big improvement on his usual major performances, and he arrives in fair form.
Having finished 24th on debut as an amateur, when he hit 60 in round two, Cantlay missed the cut on his next two visits to TPC River Highlands but his course form figures have been strong ever since, reading 15-15-11-13.
Selection
I'll have one or two outsiders for the Find Me a 100 Winner column later in the week but for now my only pick is the man often referred to as the PGA Tour's number one putter - Denny McCarthy.
McCarthy's course form figures, reading 47-MC-W-73, aren't especially encouraging but he's never arrived at River Highlands in the sort of form he's in now.
Having finished fifth at the Memorial Tournament in his penultimate start, McCarthy shot a pair of 68s around Brookline over the weekend to move up from 55th to seventh and I thought he was great price to emulate Reavie and English and back up a high finish in the US Open with a win here.
Selection:
Denny McCarthy @ 80.079/1
I'll be back later today or tomorrow with my BMW International Open preview.
*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter