Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions – 2021 Travelers Championship

Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the 2021 Travelers Championship

The 2021 Travelers Championship Fantasy Preview

Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold.

And Jon Rahm had ten days to plan his redemption after his attempts to retain his Memorial Tournament were frustratingly cut short by a positive COVID test.

Forced to isolate indoors, the Spaniard turned his attention to Torrey Pines, a golf club he loves, and began to plot his assault on the U.S. Open.

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Rahm admitted after the major that he played without expectation or pressure, telling himself if he had a bad week ‘well, I didn’t have the best preparation, so there’s no need for anxiety.’

It’s ironic, really, because on a chaotic Sunday on the South Course, where four different players held the lead or a share of it at different points, it was Rahm – shackles removed – who flourished.

He showed trademark grit on the final two holes to nail two long and winding putts, and then he watched on with relish as Louis Oosthuizen, his closest challenger, hit a drive into a ravine on 18. That was that.

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It was the sixth T2 finish in majors for the South African, but Jon Rahm won’t be losing any sleep over that – he will be celebrating a major victory that has been a long time coming.

From the west coast to the east….life on the PGA TOUR is relentless, and the players in the field for this week’s Travelers Championship are swapping California for Connecticut as the road to glory and FedEx Cup points continues.

Last Week’s Fantasy Results

BOOM! We love picking winners, but man do we LOVE picking major winners! 

Jon Rahm was heavily our guy heading into the week, and while we sadly lost Hovland from a freak sand-in-the-eye accident, but our next man in line was Harris English (3rd) who rounded out our roster with a 1-3 punch!

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Here’s a recap of what we had to say about Rahm heading into the event:

We drafted Jon Rahm for the Farmers Insurance Open here in January, and he didn’t let us down with a top-10 finish.

That extends the Spaniard’s fine run of form at Torrey Pines, and the 2017 Farmers champion is in excellent spirits as he returns to a happy hunting ground.

He would surely have won the Memorial Tournament but for that ill-timed positive COVID test, and the fact that he was asymptomatic – meaning, he remains in fine health, ensures we don’t have to worry about him not being well enough to compete.

Rahm was out on the course practicing on Sunday, and he could not be better primed to win the first major of his career.

Paul Casey and Daniel Berger were also shining stars on our Tuesday Sleeper Report, both coming in with T7 finishes.

The 2021 Travelers Championship Field

The week after a major and you normally fear the worst for the field in the subsequent event – especially when the requirement is to traverse the United States.

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But actually, the Travelers Championship surely won’t disappoint with plenty of star names teeing up at TPC River Highlands. The defending champion and former world number one (deposed by Rahm), Dustin Johnson, will look to retain his crown, and he will face heavyweight competition from Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed.

Fresh from top-10s at Torrey Pines, Paul Casey, Scottie Scheffler and Harris English are also putting in the air miles, as are Tony Finau, Phil Mickelson and Abraham Ancer.

Former Travelers champions Marc Leishman, Bubba Watson, Kevin Streelman and Chez Reavie will also be looking to get their hands on this trophy once more.

This Week’s Course Preview

If the South Course at Torrey Pines was a 7,700 yard beast, TPC River Highlands is an altogether different monster.

At just 6,841 yards, this Par 70 features just two Par 5s and a whole host of trouble, with tight, tree-lined and doglegging fairways, deep rough and water in play on five holes.

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However, if we’re making TPC River Highlands sound like a U.S. Open standard challenge then nothing could be further from the truth – the winning score is typically in the late teens under par, and Jim Furyk once shot 58 here back in 2016.

Designed by Robert Ross back in the 1920s, both Pete Dye and Bobby Weed have since had a go at toughening the layout but with minimal avail, and really it’s all about the wind – if it blows, the course can play tough. If it doesn’t, then it can be a fairly benign affair.

With fast-running fairways and a bit of a breeze, it can be difficult to stay in the short stuff off the tee, but the Bentgrass/Poa Annua mix greens are large enough to be found with regularity in regulation.

Weather Forecast for Comwell, CT

Aside from some potential rain showers on the Sunday, the weather is set reasonably fair in Cromwell this week.

Some patchy showers on Tuesday might frustrate the greenskeeper more than anyone else, but after that it should more or less be sunshine all the way.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are all set fair at temperatures of around 80˚F, and then we head into the weekend.

Saturday looks set to be dry, bright and warm at around 84˚F, but note the wind speed of 13mph and possibly even stronger.

That breeze might bring in some more unsettled weather on the Sunday, however the early predictions can usually be taken with a pinch of salt.

CROMWELL WEATHER

Last Year’s Results from the Travelers Championship

A number of players threatened to join the 59 Club at the Travelers Championship last year with TPC River Highlands playing agreeably soft.

A 60 from Mackenzie Hughes on the Thursday set the tone, but it was a 61 – plundered by Dustin Johnson on the Saturday – that ultimately proved definitive.

DJ followed that up with a breezy 67 on the Sunday, and despite bogeying two of his final six holes he had already done enough to win by one shot from Kevin Streelman.

An eclectic top-five was rounded out by Will Gordon – who made more birdies than any other player, Hughes and Kevin Na.

Dustin Johnson’s winning highlights from the Travelers Championship 2020

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Where to Play Fantasy Golf for the Travelers Championship this Week

Hopefully armed with an enhanced bankroll after the U.S. Open, onwards we go to the Travelers Championship. As mentioned, this is not the easiest of weeks with all manner of players coming to the fore, but nevertheless opportunities abound.

• PGA $1M Pitch and Putt: While not quite a milly-maker, this contest pays out $250k to the winner with an entry fee of $20 enabling you to keep close tabs on your purse strings. The top 20% will at least double their money, too.
• PGA $125k Micro Birdie: With one eye on our budget, we can fire a few entries at this $3 contest that pays $10k to the winner. Aside from that dream payout, this contest offers bankroll-boosting opportunities aplenty.

This Week’s Fantasy Notes for the 2021 Travelers Championship  

This is a fascinating golf tournament where almost anything goes.

We’ll direct you to the leaderboard of the 2020 Travelers. The top-10 featured Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, Na, Ryan Armour, Brendan Steele, Patton Kizzire and an eclectic band of others.

If you can find anything that they have in common, you’ll have done very well.

The point is that you need a high GIR count to succeed at TPC River Highlands, but it doesn’t really matter how you get it there.

Chez Reavie, the 2019 champion, hit plenty of fairways and left himself mid-range irons in. Bryson, as you would expect, averaged 316 yards off the tee last year on his way to T6, and left himself lots of fluffy chips onto the green.

It’s different strokes for different folks, and the fact that Bubba is a three-time winner here – and Jordan Spieth has also prevailed at this stretch – it’s hard to say with confidence that hitting fairways is an absolute necessity.

This isn’t fact, but our records suggest that Bentgrass/Poa greens run slightly differently on the east coast than they do on the west – do your own research if that’s an angle you are considering pursuing.

Excellent shot shapers also tend to thrive at TPC River Highlands, but when you look at leaderboards from yesteryear at this venue there is no real consensus as to what it takes to succeed.

Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win the 2021 Travelers Championship

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Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2020-2021)

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