This week, we travel to Connecticut for the 2025 Travelers Championship. In what should be a nice reprieve from the treachery that was Oakmont, TPC River Highlands should give players a much more comfortable look and much lower scores. As the host of the Travelers Championship since 1984, we’ve seen this event become much more of a birdie-fest in recent years. Keegan Bradley set the all-time tournament record just two years ago at -23, but will that trend hold this year and who comes out on top?
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings)
Will Scottie Scheffler Bounce Back at TPC River Highlands? | Travelers Championship 2025 Picks
Course Layout
The 2025 Travelers Championship will take place at TPC River Highlands. This course plays at 6,844 yards as a par 70 and given that format, we will see four par 3s, twelve par 4s, and just two par 5s. We stay with the Poa Annua greens we saw at Oakmont, but these will be much more straightforward for players.
Course Strategy
Since the length of this course is on the shorter side, with many of the trademarks of a Pete Dye-designed venue, positional play will be the name of the game this week. The par 3s all play at pretty standard distances (between 158 and 225 yards), but the par 4s are the interesting part of this layout. Seven of these par 4s fall into the 400-450 yard range, with one playing as short as 296 yards. While the Pete Dye design is present, this is a much less daunting Dye course than we will see at most events.
The greens here are going to be fairly easy, as well as the overall layout of the venue. While Poa Annua greens are known to be tricky at times, this event is traditionally very straightforward, with only a small number of the 2024 field losing strokes in this area. Looking at traditional success metrics here, like Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee, Around-The-Green, and Putting, will all be more important here when compared to the PGA Tour average. Additionally, with the length being minimal here, we will see a much larger concentration of approach shots fall into the 100-175 yard range, where over 55% of approach shots came in 2024.
Building Our Betting Model
- Strokes Gained Off-The-Tee
- Proximity (100-175 yards)
- Strokes Gained Putting
- Double Bogey Avoidance
- Birdies or Better Gained
- Strokes Gained Ball-Striking
- Course And Comp Course History
- Strokes Gained Around-The-Green
Players to Target for The PGA Championship 2025:
Scottie Scheffler (+280) | ($13,300)
We just watched some of the worst golf we’ve seen out of Scottie Scheffler in the last three years at Oakmont and the man still finished T7th. That’s simply how good he is. Even with these shorter odds, I have to be all-in on Scheffler here. This course is essentially what he would build himself if he was building a course tailor-made for his game. He’s the defending champion here for a reason.
Even though he struggled off the tee last week, Scheffler still ranks second in Shots Gained Off-The-Tee and first in Shots Gained on Approach. He is top ten in approach proximity from 100-175 yards out and he is a top three scorer, not to mention the best bogey avoider on tour. He’s the quintessential player that we want at this type of venue.
Ludvig Aberg (+2200) | ($9,600)
Ludvig Aberg has been disappointing thus far in 2025 by most standards, but he’s showing signs of getting things back on track. He truly only struggled around the green at Oakmont, which isn’t too surprising given that this has consistently been his biggest weakness. That said, Aberg still sits at tenth in Shots Gained Off-The-Tee, top 40 in approaches from 100-175 and perhaps most importantly, he sits in the top 20 in Par 4 Birdies or Better. He will need to be more dialed in than he has been of late, but Ludvig Aberg had some strong finishes here, with back-to-back top 30 finishes here in his first two career starts. He’s played well on the top comp courses for this venue. He’s a strong upside play this week.
Sepp Straka (+3000) | ($8,600)
Simply put, Sepp Straka is a bit of a short course mercenary. Luckily for us, we have a short course this week! While his overall numbers off the tee leave something to be desired, his “lack” of distance won’t be a problem this week and his top ten driving accuracy numbers are a huge plus to his profile. Straka has also been the best approach player from 100-125 yards, the 11th best from 125-150, and top 25 from 150-175. Much like Aberg, he has struggled around the greens, but his overall proximity and approach game make that less of a concern for me. Only Justin Thomas has a higher birdie or better percentage than Straka this year, and only ten players have avoided bogeys as well as he has. Sepp Straka has great value here.
Other Outrights to Consider:
- Rory McIlory (+1200): Rory McIlroy hasn’t been himself as of late, but this course should be a nice reset for him. It’s not often we get to see double-digit odds for The Lion, so we take advantage when we can.
- Ben Griffin (+4500): This dude was doing mortgages four years ago, and Ben Griffin is now rattling off the best month of golf in his career. With a win and three other top-ten finishes in the last month, he’s on the perfect type of heater to dethrone a defending champion like Scottie Scheffler.
- Patrick Cantlay (+2200): Patrick Cantlay has been just about as good as it gets at TPC River Highlands. He’s rattled off top five finishes the last two years, and top 15 finishes the five years prior to that. He’s shown signs of being very close to a breakthrough this year, and what better place to do it than a course you have historically dominated?
Longshots To Consider:
- Ryan Gerard (+10000): Ryan Gerard fits the aforementioned Sepp Straka mold as a bit of a short-course specialist. His putter is a concern, but the rest of his profile is exactly what we’re looking for here, given he’s been very accurate and strong around the green.
- Luke Clanton (+8000): Simply put, Luke Clanton is the type of player who can succeed on this type of course. We’ve seen him dominate similar courses and now that he’s a full-time player, he’s going to be a guy we can’t often bet at these odds. He’s a top ten scorer; he deserves a look as a result.
- Brian Harman (+7500): It pains me to write Brian Harman here since I truly just do not enjoy watching him play. That said, there is no denying how good he’s been here. In his last seven starts at TPC River Highlands, he’s missed just one cut and otherwise has rattled off top ten finish after top ten finish. His recent form has been bad, but so was his form going into this event in previous years. Sometimes, you just have to get back to a course you love and this is it for Brian Harman.
Thanks for reading my PGA Tour picks & predictions for who wins the 2025 Travelers Championship! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter/X @Parry_FF for more sports & entertainment content, and check out our entertainment betting show, “Popcorn & Root Beer,” on our YouTube channel!
*Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire – USA Today Sports*
