Golf betting tips: Preview and tips for the 2023 Travelers Championship

The Travelers Championship is played each year in Cromwell, Connecticut. The tournament was founded in 1952 as the Insurance City Open and in 1967 it was renamed the Greater Hartford Open. In 2007 the Travelers Companies took over the tournament sponsorship.

Since 1984 the tournament has been held at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. It is the second-most attended PGA Tour event annually, behind the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Course Overview

TPC River Highlands was originally founded in 1928 as Middletown Golf Club. In 1934 it became Edgewood Country Club and in the early 1980s it was bought by the PGA Tour.

The golf course was redesigned to TPC standards by renowned golf course architect Pete Dye. It reopened as the TPC of Connecticut in 1984. It underwent further remodelling in 1989, this time by Bobby Weed in consultation with Howard Twitty and Roger Maltbie and renamed TPC River Highlands.

The course underwent even more modifications prior to the 2016 edition of the Travelers Championship. The bunkers were restyled throughout the course, incorporating new drainage and new sand for improved play-ability.

Also, the 17^th green was rebuilt to increase the number of pin positions and small changes were made to the putting surfaces on holes 10, 13, 15 and 16. Some leveling work was completed on some of the tournament tee boxes. Bobby Weed was consulted for the renovation project.

The three hole stretch between holes 15 and 17 are known as the “Golden Triangle”. The 15^th is a driveable Par 4, the 16^th is a 170+ yard Par 3 over water and the 17^th is a 420-yard Par 4 with water in play, all combining to make for great drama and spectator viewing.

The course is one of the shortest on the schedule and historically the fairways and greens are among the easiest to hit. The layout is a Par 70 that stretches to 6,841 yards from the championship tees.

TPC River Highlands Scorecard

Hole	Par	Yards	Hole	Par	Yards
1	4	434	10	4	462
2	4	341	11	3	158
3	4	431	12	4	411
4	4	481	13	5	523
5	3	223	14	4	421
6	5	574	15	4	296
7	4	443	16	3	171
8	3	202	17	4	431
9	4	406	18	4	444
Out	35	3535	In	35	3317
			Par		70
			Total		6852

Par	#	Shortest	Longest	Average
3’s	4	158	223	189
4’s	12	296	481	417
5’s	2	523	574	549

Conclusion

To win at the Travelers Championship you need to finish in double digits under par so it is ‘go low or go home’. The average winning score since 2007 is just over -16.

In 2016, Jim Furyk made PGA Tour history by shooting a final round 58.

Course form, Strokes Gained Tee-To-Green and Bogey Avoidance are a good start when trying to profile an identikit winner. Veterans tend to do well and first time winners are not uncommon.

Travelers Championship Winning Formula

Last 6 Champions of the Travelers Championship

Year	Player	Country	Score	To par
2022	Xander Schauffele	United States	261	-19
2021	Harris English	United States	267	-13
2020	Dustin Johnson	United States	261	-19
2019	Chez Reavie	United States	263	-17
2018	Bubba Watson	United States	263	-17
2017	Jordan Spieth	United States	268	-12

The following table details the Average Strokes Gained in each of the key strokes gained categories for the past six champions of the Travelers Championship.

Last 6 Champions Strokes Gained Category	Average Strokes Gained	Average Finishing Position SG Category
SGOTT	1.720	30
SGAPR	4.035	12
SGARG	2.645	22
SGP	3.731	15
SGT2G	8.400	4

Graphing the above Average Strokes Gained gives a visual check on the likely key areas required for success at this week’s Travelers Championship.

Travelers Championship Tips 2023

Patrick Cantlay 12/1 (E/W) – sticking with the 31-year-old powerhouse again this week. Has finished inside the Top 15 in each of his last 5 visits to TPC River Highlands. Having a rock-solid season with 7-Top 10’s among 12-Top 25’s including a T14 in last week’s US Open at Los Angeles Country Club. The California native places 6^th in this week’s Stats Analysis, he is also 1^st on Tour for Total Driving and 2^nd for Birdie Average. By his lofty standards there is an expectation for more this season. Has shown flashes of brilliance recently that would suggest his ‘A-game‘ is not that far away. Best value at top end of market.

Tony Finau 28/1 (E/W) – also keeping faith with the Utah native again this week. A regular at the Travelers Championship, he finished T13 in last year’s edition of the tournament. A multiple winner on Tour this season he has landed victories in both the Houston Open and Mexico Open. A final round 74 in last week’s US Open put paid to his chances having positioned himself nicely after 54-holes. Features 3^rd in this week’s Stats Analysis, he is also 13^th on Tour for Bogey Avoidance and 3^rd for Birdie Average. Taking a holistic view of his game and form, gives a justified expectation for more. This week is a good fit for the 33-year-old and all things considered excellent value.