This article is part of our FanDuel PGA DFS Picks series.
Travelers Championship
Course: TPC River Highlands (6,844 yards, par 70)
Purse: $20,000,000
Winner: $3,600,000 and 700 FedExCup points
Tournament Preview
After facing arguably the toughest course in the world at Oakmont, players will get a bit of a reprieve at TPC River Highlands where the birdies and eagles will be flying. The Travelers Championship is the eighth and final Signature Event of the 2025 season. This year's Signature Event winners have been chalk full of household names with Hideki Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg, Russell Henley, Justin Thomas, Sepp Straka and Scottie Scheffler taking the first seven. There's a decent chance one of them is able to repeat in the Signature Events this week, but there's also a lot of other very talented players who will be tough to get past in Cromwell, CT.
One player looking to add his name to Signature Event winners in 2025 is your U.S. Open Champion J.J. Spaun. The California product put together another great week at Oakmont, but this time he was the one that stepped up at the end to absolutely take his first major championship. Spaun closed it out in dramatic fashion with a 64-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole for a two-shot victory to finish at 1-under-par for the championship. Spaun is a great story of perseverance after being a PGA Tour journeyman. At 34 he is now at the top of his game and proven to himself that he can beat the best in the world. It's going to be a lot of process for Spaun, so it would be understandable if his focus wasn't all the way there at the Travelers.
Scheffler was the heavy favorite at the U.S. Open, but just didn't have his best stuff at Oakmont. That said, he grinded and battled his way to a solid T7 finish. Scheffler is the defending champion of the Travelers Championship after prevailing over Tom Kim in a playoff last year. He will be seeking his fourth win of the season, all of which would be in his last six starts. It would also be Scheffler's seventh career Signature Event victory, which would be crazy considering they only started in 2023.
TPC River Highlands has one of the most exciting finishing stretches in golf. Every year it seems like it comes down to the wire on Sunday with so many holes that offer chances for birdies and eagles, but also plenty of danger if you aren't careful. There's no reason to think it will be any different this year. Americans have won the last eight editions, but there's plenty of strong international players who will have something to say about that.
It's been quite wet in recent weeks in the Hartford area. That will continue again early this week, meaning that the golf course will be very receptive. The good news is that most of the weather is expected to move out of the area for the four tournament rounds. It will be very hot with temperatures in the upper-80s during the event and the winds will continue to drop as the rounds go on following a potentially tricky first round on Thursday.
Recent Champions
2024 - Scottie Scheffler (-22)
2023 - Keegan Bradley (-23)
2022 - Xander Schauffele (-19)
2021 - Harris English (-13)
2020 - Dustin Johnson (-19)
2019 - Chez Reavie (-17)
2018 - Bubba Watson (-17)
2017 - Jordan Spieth (-12)
2016 - Russell Knox (-14)
2015 - Bubba Watson (-16)
Key Stats to Victory
- SG: Approach/GIR Percentage
- SG: Putting/Putts per GIR
- SG: Off-the-Tee/Driving Accuracy
- Birdie Average/Proximity 50-125 Yards
Champion's Profile
TPC River Highlands is one of the shortest courses on the PGA Tour at 6,844 yards. That certainly opens things up for every player in the field to contend. In recent years it has also held people accountable for missing fairways, as they have tried to grow the rough up. Players won't need to hit a lot of drivers, but you do have to shape a lot of these tee shots to get it in the short grass. After the tee shot, the real separators this week will be wedge play and putting. I'll be targeting proximity from 50-125 yards, as a lot of the approach shots will be hit from that range. This is also a course where if you're putting it in the right spots you can make a lot of putts on what are relatively flat greens, especially when comparing it to what players had to face on the greens at Oakmont.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Scottie Scheffler ($13,600)
Scheffler was clearly a little off at Oakmont, but still had a chance on the back-nine to win another major championship. He can win at any type of venue, but clearly has found something at TPC River Highlands with a T4 in 2023 and then a win last year. His caddie Ted Scott also had three victories here with Bubba Watson. Scheffler is second in SG: Off-the-Tee, first in SG: Approach, first in proximity, second in scrambling and 20th in SG: Putting. Simply the best option every week he tees it up.
Patrick Cantlay ($11,400)
Cantlay has been a consistent threat at the Travelers finishing inside the top-15 in seven straight years, including back-to-back top-5 results. He didn't have a great showing at the U.S. Open, but he'll be fresh and ready to go at one of his favorite venues. The 33-year-old is 15th in SG: Approach and fourth in GIR percentage this season. Cantlay is also 14th in birdie or better percentage and sixth in par-4 scoring average, both of which will be key at TPC River Highlands.
Sepp Straka ($10,900)
Straka is 0-for-3 in the majors this season in terms of making the cut. Good news is that this is not a major and he's been great everywhere else. Straka only has one top-10 at TPC River Highlands, but all the numbers this season line up for him to have a really strong week. He ranks ninth in driving accuracy, third in SG: Approach, second in GIR percentage and fifth in proximity. Straka is also first in approaches from 100-125 yards and third from 50-125. Being that strong with the scoring clubs, it's no wonder he's second on Tour in birdie average.
The Middle Tier
Robert MacIntyre ($10,300)
MacIntyre was quietly having a very solid year prior to Oakmont, but he certainly put up a statement result with how he finished at the U.S. Open. It looked as if that +1 total was going to be good enough for at least a playoff when MacIntyre posted, but a heroic finish by J.J. Spaun ended that. Nevertheless, MacIntyre checks a lot of boxes at 22nd in SG: Off-the-Tee, 19th in SG: Approach and 17th in GIR percentage. He's also coming off his best putting week of the year.
Ben Griffin ($9,700)
At this point we have to keep riding with Griffin until he gives us a reason not to. A T10 at the U.S. Open was his fourth straight top-10 result. Over that stretch, Griffin sits at 3.2 true strokes gained per round, which is second to only Scheffler since the PGA. Griffin has struggled in two starts at TPC River Highlands, but obviously he is a completely different player now. Every part of his game is strong and he is extremely confident on the greens right now.
Maverick McNealy ($9,400)
McNealy can pop at any moment, as evidenced by his four top-5 finishes this season. After snagging his first PGA Tour win last fall, he's got the type of game to step up and take win No. 2 at any point. McNealy gained strokes off the tee in eight of his last nine starts and ranks top-50 on the season in SG: Off-the-Tee, SG: Approach, GIR percentage and SG: Putting. He rolls in birdies with the best of them when he's on.
The Long Shots
Brian Harman ($8,700)
His recent play isn't really worthy of a selection, but when you put Harman on this course he is going to contend. The Georgia native has finished top-10 a remarkable six times in his last seven Travelers Championship starts. That's the type of history where you just somewhat throwout how he's playing, because you know Harman is going to be confident at TPC River Highlands. The last time Harman played another short course like this was at Harbour Town, where he finished T3.
Harry Hall ($8,100)
Hall is one of the few players in this field that did not play at Oakmont last week, so he should be fresh and ready to make a statement. Hall has made his last nine cuts, including four straight top-25 finishes. The Englishman continues to run the tables on the greens at second in SG: Putting and second in putts per GIR. The ball-striking can fluctuate, but it's been a lot better of late. That said, his outstanding putting is the reason Hall is third on Tour in birdie average, and you're going to need to make a lot of them to contend this week.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($7,600)
Bezuidenhout is coming off a T12 finish at the U.S. Open which was his second-best finish of the season. His skillset of being a short, but accurate hitter will be able to shine at TPC River Highlands. Bezuidenhout has also gained strokes on approach in four of his last five starts. We also know that he has as much of a chance as anyone in this field to really pop with the putter. The South African finished T23 a year ago here and is 17th in par-4 scoring.
Strategy Tips This Week
Based on a Standard $60K Salary Cap
If ever there was a week to not worry about a poor finish the prior event, this would it. Oakmont is unlike anything these guys have seen, and given the mental grind of a U.S. Open, there's a decent case to be made that missing the cut or being way out of it probably bodes better for that player at the Travelers. This week will be a completely different test of having to make a bunch of birdies to keep up instead of just trying to survive with pars and bogeys. We also won't have to sweat the cut like last week, as this final Signature Event features no cut to these 72 players.
Given the nature of this event with quality players all the way down to the min. price, I think it does favor more of a stars and scrubs approach, especially considering there are only 11 players in the $9K range. You can start your lineup with Scheffler/Cantlay stack and still have an $8,750 average for your last four golfers. That's very doable given the strength of the $8K range. Other options down there that stood out would be Max Greyserman ($8,500), Bud Cauley ($8,200) and Nick Taylor ($8,000).
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