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The 3rd men’s major championship of the year is in the rearview mirror and there is no break for the game’s top players after the year’s toughest test. Following the 124th U.S. Open at Pinehurst won by LIV member Bryson DeChambeau, the PGA Tour heads to Cromwell, Conn., 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 look at BetMGM Sportsbook’s 2024 Travelers Championship odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
Scheffler, despite coming off a disappointing U.S. Open as the favorite where he tied for 41st at 8-over-par, is the favorite again this week (+400), followed by Xander Schauffele (+750), Collin Morikawa (+1000), Ludvig Aberg (+1400) and Viktor Hovland (+1800). Defending champion Keegan Bradley, who won with a record 23-under-par 257, opens at +5000.
Rory McIlroy, fresh off a disappointing runner-up finish at the U.S. Open, announced on social media Monday that he withdrew from the Travelers. “I’m going to take a few weeks away from the game to process everything and build myself back up for my defense of the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open at Royal Troon. See you in Scotland,” McIlroy posted on Instagram.
TPC River Highlands isn’t a very long course. Designed by Pete Dye, the par-70, 6,841-yard course features some iconic finishing holes – including the driveable par-4 15th and the par-4 17th hole that bends around a pond. The course reopened in 2016 after a renovation, including reworked bunkers, tees and greens around the venue, which is cut between homes and condos.
As for the final major of the season — The Open at Royal Troon next month — Scheffler is the favorite at +450 with McIlroy at +750 and DeChambeau at +1100.
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2024 Travelers Championship – Expert pick
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 11:33 p.m. ET.
Patrick Cantlay (+2200)
The 2-time Memorial champion missed the cut in Ohio but rebounded last week in North Carolina to finish tied for 3rd place (-4) at the U.S. Open and if a few birdies had fallen we would be talking about him as a major champ. Now he comes to a course where he has enjoyed success. As a freshman at UCLA, he shot a then-course record 60 in the 2011 Travelers to finish tied for 24th. After 2 missed cuts as a pro, he has 6 top-15 finishes here, including 4th last year. He’s 68-under-par over his last 6 times at TPC River Highlands.
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2024 Travelers Championship picks – Contenders
Xander Schauffele (+750)
This year’s PGA Championship winner has 11 top-10 finishes in 15 starts, including a tie for 7th Sunday at Pinehurst at 1-under. He’s 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.
Brian Harman (+4000)
The 2023 Travelers runner-up is a horse for the course, having made the cut 11 of the 13 times he’s played here with 5 top-10 finishes in the last 6 years. 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. The 2023 Open champ finished T-21 Sunday at Pinehurst at 5-over.
Keegan Bradley (+5000)
The New England native has performed well in his home region. Especially last year when he won the event by 3 strokes with a record score of 23-under, firing rounds of 62-63-64-68. He’s made the cut in Cromwell in 11 of his 13 appearances and has 3 top 10s and 6 top-25 finishes. He tied for 32nd at the U.S. Open at 7-over.
2024 Travelers Championship picks – Long shots
Harris English (+8000)
The 34-year-old pro won here in 2021 and followed that up with a T-19 in 2022 and a T-6 last year. The 4-time tour winner was 8-over at the U.S. Open to tie for 41st.
J.T. Poston (+6600)
The 31-year-old pro has been having a very good season with 4 top 10s and 8 top 25s in 16 events. He’s made the cut in 4 of the 5 times he’s played the Travelers and finished 2nd in 2022. He tied for 32nd Sunday at Pinehurst at 7-over.
Adam Scott (+6600)
The 43-year-old Australian finished tied for 32nd at 7-over in the U.S. Open, and might have been in contention had he not shot a 6-over 76 in the 3rd-round. The 14-time tour winner has played just 3 Travelers – he missed the cut in 2010, then returned in 2021 to tie for 13th (-8) and had a T-19 in 2023 (-14). So why can he win? He shot 62 in the 1st round last year and is still capable of putting together 4 solid rounds.
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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Golfweek:
- Bryson DeChambeau cashes in with Open win
- Rory McIlroy withdraws from Travelers Championship
- U.S. Open sites set through 2051
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