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The PGA Tour is in Cromwell, Conn., this week for the 2024 Travelers Championship – the last designated event of the season with a limited, loaded field. Seventeen of the top 20 players in the last Sagarin Golfweek rankings are set to tee it up starting Thursday, led by No.1 Scottie Scheffler.
Below, we search for the best value prop bets from BetMGM Sportsbook among the 2024 Travelers Championship odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
Scheffler, despite finishing 41st in the U.S. Open where he made only 4 birdies in 4 rounds (he averages 5.5 birdies per round!), is the favorite again this week (+350). Scheffler has won 3 of the 8 signature events this season. He’s followed on the favorites board by Xander Schauffele (+750), Collin Morikawa (+1000) and Ludvig Aberg (+1400). Defending champion Keegan Bradley, who won with a record 23-under-par 257, opens at +5000.
Following his stunning collapse in the U.S. Open, Rory McIlroy withdrew on Monday and said he is taking some time off before switching his focus to the upcoming Scottish Open (July 11-14) and The Open (July 17-21).
TPC River Highlands is a par-70, 6,841-yard course which features some iconic finishing holes – including the driveable par-4 15th and the par-4 17th hole that bends around a pond.
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2024 Travelers Championship – Top-5 picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 11:07 a.m. ET.
Brian Harman (+550)
The 2023 Open winner has made the cut in 11 of his 13 Travelers with 5 top-10 finishes in the last 6 years – a T-2 last year after a T-8, T-5, T-8 and T-6. He has fired 13 straight rounds in the 60s at TPC River Highlands and is a combined 41-under-par in the last 3 years. If you’re not comfortable with him top 5, consider top 10 (+250) for a nice payout.
Xander Schauffele (+150)
You could consider Schauffele in this category every week. This year’s PGA Championship winner has 6 top-5 finishes and 11 top 10s in 15 starts. He tied for 7th at the U.S. Open at 1-under, one of only 8 players under par at Pinehurst. He has made the cut in 4 of his 5 Travelers, winning in 2022 (19-under) and finishing 19th last year, 20th in 2020 and 14th in 2017.
Scottie Scheffler (-145)
So he can’t win every week. But the 27-year-old pro is almost an automatic top-5 finisher with 10 in his 14 starts, including 5 wins, so it might be worth the juice. He’s played in 4 Travelers – a MC in 2020, T-47, T-13 and T-4 last year at 19-under, 4 shots back. Expect the world’s No. 1 player to rebound from his poor Open and be among the leaders this week.
2024 Travelers Championship – Top-10 picks
Keegan Bradley (+300)
The defending champ and New England native has 3 top 10s and 6 top-25 finishes in 13 Travelers. He fired rounds of 62-63-64-68 in winning last year with a tournament record 23-under. That can’t be ignored.
Collin Morikawa (-110)
He’s only played in 3 Travelers and has a T-36 and 2 missed cuts. But after a 74 in the 1st round last year he fired a 7-under 63 to miss the cut by 1 stroke. He’s tied for 3rd on the tour with 6 top-10 finishes this season and was T-14 (+2) in the U.S. Open, which included the best 3rd round at 4-under 66.
Sahith Theegala (+110)
He’s coming off a tie for 32nd in the U.S. Open (+7). He missed the cut in his debut here in 2020, but returned in 2022 to finish 2nd at 17-under-par. He was 52nd last year. He’s tied for 6th on tour with 5 top-10 finishes and if you like Theegala for a top 20, you might also consider him at +280 for a top-10 finish.
Other T10 contenders (in order from longest odds to shortest):
- Viktor Hovland (+160)
- Patrick Cantlay (+160)
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2024 Travelers Championship – Top-20 picks
J.T. Poston (+188)
He’s tied for 12th on tour with 4 top-10 finishes and, like Morikawa, missed the cut here last year by 1 stroke. But he’s made the cut the 4 other times he’s played the Travelers and he finished 2nd here in 2022, just 2 strokes behind Schauffele at 17-under which included rounds of 62 and 64. He might even be worth a shot at a top-10 finish (+450) for a bigger payout.
Harris English (+200)
The 34-year-old pro has played 10 Travelers and won here in 2021 (13-under) after an 8-hole playoff with Kramer Hickok. He followed that up with a T-19 in 2022 and a T-60 last year. The 4-time tour winner was 8-over at the U.S. Open to tie for 41st. He has 8 top 25s and 2 top 10s in 16 starts this season.
Russell Henley (-145)
The 35-year-old Georgian is having an excellent season and ranks 6th on tour with 5 top-10 finishes in 14 events, including a 7th-place finish Sunday at Pinehurst. Henley has played 6 Travelers and was 6th in 2018 and T19 the past 2 times he’s played (‘21, ‘23).
Other T20 contenders (in order from longest odds to shortest):
- Adam Scott (+200)
- Tom Kim (+120)
- Justin Thomas (+120)
2024 Travelers Championship – First-round leader
Patrick Cantlay (+2800; 1st-round top 10 +250)
Coming off an excellent U.S. Open where he shared the 1st-round lead and was in contention on Sunday, Cantlay’s 1st-round scores at TPC River Highlands the last 6 years are 65, 64, 68, 66, 66, 69.
Adam Scott (+5000; 1st-round top 10 +300)
He shot 62 last year in the opening round and played very well at the U.S. Open, except for a 3rd-round 76.
MacKenzie Hughes (+9000)
He has shot 67 or better in his last 4 opening rounds at the Travelers, including a 60 in 2020. He only ranks 103rd in Round 1 scoring average for the season (70.86), but TPC River Highlands fits his game.
2024 Travelers Championship – Top Brit and Irish
Matt Fitzpatrick (+350)
With McIlroy out, Tommy Fleetwood is the favorite at -188 with Shane Lowry at +400, Robert MacIntyre at +650, Justin Rose at +750 and Seamus Power at +900. Fitzpatrick, who has only played the Travelers twice (a missed cut in 2020 and T-49 last year), was 64th at the U.S. Open after a 5th-place finish at the Memorial. He ranks 24th in driving accuracy and 18th in putting average.
More expert prop bet predictions
Will there be a playoff? Yes: (+350)
The winning score has been at least 15-under in 7 of last 10 tournaments with 4 playoffs since 2013.
Will there be a hole in one? Yes: (+750)
There have been 38 aces at TPC River Highlands, including the 1st hole-in-one in McIlroy’s PGA Tour career during the 1st round last year (he aced the 214-yard par-3 8th hole with a 5-iron). The tournament has also produced an ace in 2021, 2020, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015.
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