This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
Travelers Championship
Cromwell, Connecticut
TPC River Highlands - Par 70 - 6,841 yards
Field - 156 Entrants
Purse - $7.2M
The Preview
The PGA Tour will be posted up at TPC River Highlands for the Travelers Championship when the summer solstice takes place in the States this Friday. While summer is just officially starting, the revised Tour schedule means we have just one more major to look forward to after U.S. Open champ Gary Woodland pulled at the heart strings of America on Father's Day.
This week's event has been played in Cromwell, CT since the mid-1980s, and this year's full field of 156 entrants features nearly half of the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking, highlighted by No. 1 Brooks Koepka. Expect scattered showers on and off throughout Thursday's first round and into Friday morning, which could lend a slight advantage to a morning/afternoon tee time stack.
Recent Champions
2018 - Bubba Watson
2017 - Jordan Spieth
2016 - Russell Knox
2015 - Bubba Watson
2014 - Kevin Streelman
2013 - Ken Duke
2012 - Marc Leishman
2011 - Fredrik Jacobson
2010 - Bubba Watson
Key Stats to Victory
GIR percentage - Much like Pebble Beach last week, quality approaches are paramount into some of the smallest greens on Tour
SG: Putting - Players must putt well to scramble well on these quick poa surfaces that can run 12-plus on the stimpmeter
P4: 400-450 efficiency - TPC River Highlands' shorter-than-average layout is composed of eight holes within this range
Yahoo Value Picks - based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Patrick Cantlay - $45
Finishing outside the top 10 in a stroke-play event for the first time since mid-March at last week's U.S. Open, Cantlay still managed to break par in each of his final two rounds at Pebble Beach en route to a backdoor top-25. The eighth-ranked player in the world paces the field in scrambling and notched a T15, at 10-under, here last year.
Paul Casey - $44
The Englishman ranks top-10 among his peers in a slew of statistical categories over his last 12 rounds, including SG: Approach, SG: Tee-to-Green, GIR percentage and proximity as he comes in at eighth in the FedExCup standings. Casey's short game could use some fine tuning at TPC River Highlands, as he lost 1.63 strokes and ranked 65th in this area at the U.S. Open.
Bubba Watson - $41
The long-hitting lefty has won the Travelers Championship three times since 2010, collecting a total of six top-10s in 12 career appearances at the event. Expect inflated ownership for Watson, a horse for the course who also ranks second in SG: Off-the-Tee this season and 13th in putting from 5-10 feet on poa annua over his last 24 rounds.
Glue Guys
Chez Reavie - $34
A T3 performance at the U.S. Open allowed Reavie to rejoin the OWGR's top 50, and he's now finished top-30 in four of five starts dating back to the RBC Heritage. The Arizona State University product ranks fifth in P4: 400-450 efficiency over his last 12 rounds and scrambled at an elite rate of 76.92 percent last week at Pebble.
Charley Hoffman - $33
A missed cut at the Memorial Tournament marked the beginning of a multi-week absence for Hoffman, as the 42-year-old did not peg it at Pebble Beach and will be well-rested as a result of an extended break. Over his 12 last rounds, he paces his peers in P4: 400-450 efficiency and ranks top-20 in SG: Approach during that span as well. Hoffman has finished T26 or better in six consecutive Travelers Championship appearances.
Kevin Streelman - $31
Racking up a trio of top-6s in three of five showings from the Valero Texas Open to the Memorial Tournament, Streelman should be hungry to continue an attempt to prove he belonged in the field at the U.S. Open. Over his last 12 rounds, Streelman ranks second in SG: Approach, third in GIR percentage and fifth in proximity. He also owns a quartet of top-10s at the Travelers Championship, including a win back in 2014.
Bargain Bin
Viktor Hovland - $20
The 21-year-old Norwegian and Oklahoma State alum followed up his Low Amateur performance at the Masters in even better fashion last week at the U.S. Open, where he led the entire field in driving accuracy and ranked T3 in GIR percentage en route to a T12. Hovland gained a whopping 12.648 strokes from tee to green at Pebble Beach during just his second career major championship appearance.
Matthew Wolff - $20
We have another OSU Cowboy finally eligible for a slice of the prize pool at TPC River Highlands, as the college sensation with a quirky swing brings his talents to Connecticut for tournament No. 1 as a professional. Wolff won the individual portion of the NCAA Championships this year and also made the cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in early February.
Collin Morikawa - $20
Morikawa's professional debut came just a few weeks before the aforementioned duo of Hovland and Wolff, when the UC-Berkeley product tied for 14th at the RBC Canadian Open. He then posted a quality T35 last week at Pebble. Morikawa compiled six birdies on the back nine alone during Sunday's final round at the U.S. Open, so that momentous closing effort will be fresh in his mind.
Strategy Tips on Yahoo this week
TPC River Highlands has catered to several different playing styles as evidenced by Bubba Watson's placement on the list of recent champions next to much shorter hitters such as Russell Knox and Fredrik Jacobson. In terms of ownership projections near the top of the board this week, it would be a shock if Brooks Koepka doesn't run away as a hot commodity in studs-and-duds lineups with the similarly priced Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau enduring slumps.
