After a brutal U.S. Open test at Shinnecock Hills, the PGA Tour heads to Cromwell, Connecticut for the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. This is one of the shortest courses these players will see all season, playing as a par 70 at roughly 6,844 yards, but short does not mean simple.
TPC River Highlands is a Pete Dye influenced layout that rewards precision, patience, wedge control, and the ability to turn scoring chances into birdies. This is not a week where players can just overpower the golf course and move on. The winning score can get deep, but the course still has plenty of teeth if players get sloppy with angles, miss in the wrong spots, or fail to convert the easy chances. The two par fives, holes 6 and 13, are obvious scoring opportunities. The short par four 15th is another huge swing hole where players can make birdie or eagle, but water and poor execution can quickly turn aggression into disaster. The closing stretch from 15 through 18 has produced plenty of late drama, and that is where tournaments at River Highlands can flip in a hurry.
Last year, Keegan Bradley won the Travelers Championship with a birdie on the final hole, holding off Tommy Fleetwood and Russell Henley by one shot. Bradley has now won this event twice in the last three years, which tells us something important. This is not just a random birdie fest. Certain players clearly see this place well, and course comfort matters more here than it does at a lot of regular PGA Tour stops. That is why names like Keegan Bradley, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Brian Harman, Harris English, and Tommy Fleetwood immediately stand out when looking at course history. TPC River Highlands has a way of rewarding the same types of players year after year. Good iron players. Good wedge players. Smart course managers. Guys who understand when to attack and when to take their medicine.
Wyndham Clark survived Shinnecock Hills and won the U.S. Open by one shot over Sam Burns. It was not easy, and he made it much harder on himself late, especially after a bad tee shot into thick rough that could have completely changed the tournament. But Clark recovered, hit the green, two putted, and walked away with another major championship. Burns deserves a ton of credit. He nearly chased Clark down in difficult conditions and had real chances late to force the issue. A couple of putts on 17 and 18 easily could have changed the entire story. Instead of Burns stealing the tournament, Clark held on.
From a DFS perspective, that matters because both players come into Travelers with very different stories. Wyndham Clark is hotter than a Florida parking lot in July right now and will likely carry heavy ownership after winning the U.S. Open. Sam Burns is also playing excellent golf, but because he did not win, he may come in slightly less popular even though the actual gap between the two players might not be nearly as big as the field wants to believe. That is the exact kind of decision this slate is going to force. Do we chase the winner? Do we pivot to the guy who nearly caught him? Do we pay all the way up for Scottie Scheffler? Or do we attack the middle and value tiers where the roster construction starts to get much more interesting?
The Travelers Championship is not just about picking good golfers. It is about building lineups that can actually win a large field GPP. In a no cut event, every player gets four rounds, which means birdie makers can stay alive even after a slow start. But salary still matters. Ownership still matters. And paying for the wrong version of a good player can still bury a lineup. That is where this week gets fun.
Metrics That Matter
Let’s start with the obvious. Every week we are looking for golfers who are striking the ball well. SG Tee To Green, SG Approach, and SG Off The Tee are always among the first places I look because elite ball striking tends to travel from course to course. More importantly, I am not just looking at season long numbers. I want to know who is playing well right now. Golf is a game of confidence and rhythm, and recent form often tells us more than what a player was doing three or four months ago.
Once we identify the golfers who are consistently gaining strokes tee to green, the next step is figuring out what specifically TPC River Highlands demands. This is a short golf course by PGA Tour standards, which means players will be hitting a steady diet of wedges and short irons throughout the week. That makes Short Iron Play (100 To 125 Yards / 125 To 150 Yards) one of the most important statistics I will be looking at. Players who excel from these scoring ranges are going to give themselves far more birdie opportunities than the field.
That naturally leads us into Birdie Or Better Percentage and Opportunities Gained. This is a no cut event, which means every golfer receives four full rounds to attack the golf course. Birdies are king in DFS, and I want golfers who consistently put themselves in position to make them. Opportunities Gained helps identify the players who are repeatedly giving themselves realistic birdie looks, while Birdie Or Better Percentage tells us who is actually converting those chances. At a course where the winning score can push well beyond 20 under par, scoring matters.
While this is certainly a birdie making venue, avoiding mistakes is still critical. Water comes into play on several holes, most notably during the closing stretch where tournaments can be won or lost in a matter of minutes. Add in strategically placed bunkers and some tricky green complexes, and suddenly a careless swing can turn a birdie opportunity into a bogey or worse. That is why I will also be paying close attention to Bogey Avoidance and Scrambling. The ability to recover after a missed green and keep big numbers off the card can be the difference between contending and simply making up the numbers.
Finally, we have Putting On Bentgrass And Bent/Poa Surfaces. Putting will always be one of the more volatile statistics in golf, but somebody still has to make the putts. TPC River Highlands features a Bentgrass and Poa Annua blend that shares some similarities with venues such as Harbour Town, home of the RBC Heritage. Looking at players who have putted well on these surfaces can provide another valuable piece of the puzzle. Golfers such as Jordan Spieth, Harris English, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, and Maverick McNealy all enjoyed strong putting performances at Harbour Town this season.
The key takeaway is that putting alone rarely wins golf tournaments. The players who consistently find themselves near the top of leaderboards are usually elite tee to green performers first. The putter simply determines whether a player finishes tenth, finishes second, or lifts the trophy on Sunday afternoon. That is exactly what we are trying to identify this week. Golfers who are striking the ball well, creating opportunities with their short irons, avoiding costly mistakes, and converting enough birdie chances to separate themselves from the field.
The Scottie Scheffler Conundrum
Scottie Scheffler’s pricing pisses me off. Before anybody gets upset, let me be clear. This is not an anti Scottie Scheffler take. Scottie is the best golfer in the world. He deserves to be the highest priced golfer on every slate he enters. The problem is not Scottie. The problem is the pricing. Since winning The American Express back in January, Scottie has continued to do Scottie things. He contends almost every week, piles up top 10 finishes, and remains one of the safest bets in professional golf. What drives me crazy is that DraftKings continues to price him like he is winning every other tournament. There is a difference between making somebody the highest priced golfer on the slate and creating an entirely separate pricing tier that only one golfer occupies. When Scottie starts approaching $14,000 in salary and sits nearly $4,000 above the next closest golfer, the pricing itself becomes the story.
The funny thing is that I am not even asking for Scottie to be cheap. I still want him to be the highest priced golfer. I still want him to be a difficult decision. I still want roster construction to require sacrifices. Personally, I think there should be a cap somewhere around $12,000 to $12,500. At that number, Scottie would still be the most expensive golfer in the field. He would still command significant ownership. He would still force difficult decisions. What it would do, however, is create more lineup possibilities. Right now, clicking Scottie’s name immediately pushes you toward stars and scrubs construction. You are living in the low $7,000 range, hunting for value, and trying to convince yourself that three or four cheap golfers are going to outperform their salary. The problem is not that Scottie lineups are impossible to build. The problem is that they all start looking the same. Instead of opening up creativity, the pricing funnels everyone toward the same roster constructions.
What I do not understand is why we are so afraid of ownership. If Scottie was priced at $12,500, ownership would rise. Good. Let it rise. The difference is that ownership would not be concentrated into the same handful of lineup builds. It would actually create more diversity. Suddenly you could pair Scottie with another upper tier golfer. You could leave salary on the table. You could take different paths through the mid range. You could build unique Scottie lineups without having to dumpster dive through the bottom of the player pool every single week. If Scottie wins, the people who played him should be rewarded. That is how DFS works. But there is a massive difference between rewarding Scottie owners and forcing Scottie owners into the same lineup construction over and over again. More flexibility would create more unique lineups, more game theory decisions, and frankly a more enjoyable slate. Some people will say that ownership on other golfers would suffer. My response is simple. So what? Scottie is the best golfer in the world. The rest of the PGA Tour has to deal with that reality every week. DFS players can handle it too.
With all of that being said, I am still going to play some Scottie this week. This is a no cut event. This is a birdie fest. He is the best golfer in the world and one of the most likely winners in the field. Completely fading him is a dangerous game. The question is not whether Scottie is a good play. Of course he is. The question is whether any golfer should carry a salary so large that a sixth place finish might not be enough, a tenth place finish might not be enough, and an excellent week can still fail to land him in the optimal lineup. This is not just a golf problem either. We see it in NASCAR when Kyle Larson drops into an Xfinity race. We see it whenever a dominant player enters a softer field. Price them the highest. Price them above everyone else. Just do not create an entirely separate zip code for one player. At some point, the pricing stops making the slate more interesting and starts making it less fun. That is the Scottie Scheffler conundrum. Every week we ask the same question. To Scottie or not to Scottie? And if the answer is yes, how much?
Elite Tier Pricing Targets
Tommy Fleetwood ($10,300) | Overweight
Fleetwood offers a massive $3,500 discount from Scottie while still carrying legitimate winning upside. He finished runner up here last year and has another top five finish at TPC River Highlands on his resume. Add in a T4 at the Memorial and strong recent form, and this feels like a spot where his complete game sets up perfectly. I expect to be overweight on Fleetwood this week.
Xander Schauffele ($10,200) | On Par
A former winner of this event, Schauffele enters the week off a T11 at the U.S. Open and remains one of the strongest tee to green players in the field. I expect ownership to be slightly higher than Fleetwood due to name value and course history, which is enough to keep me around the field rather than overweight.
Matt Fitzpatrick ($10,000) | On Par
Fitzpatrick continues to quietly stripe the ball, finishing second at the Canadian Open and T22 at the U.S. Open. The recent tee to green numbers have been excellent, and he fits the profile of golfers who traditionally succeed at TPC River Highlands. I could end up overweight by lineup lock, but for now I project to be right around the field.
Wyndham Clark ($9,400) | On Par
What’s left to say? Clark has two wins, a third place finish, and an eleventh over his last four starts while playing some of the best golf of his career. He has also finished T17 and T9 here the last two seasons. The ownership is going to be high, but fading an ultra confident golfer playing at this level feels unnecessary. I’ll stay around the field and take my chances.
Cam Young ($9,600) | Underweight
Young won at Trump National earlier this season and still possesses tremendous upside, but the recent form has cooled considerably. He has posted back to back mediocre finishes, the putter has gone cold, and a T25 at Harbour Town does not exactly inspire confidence on a comparable putting surface. I will have some exposure because the talent is undeniable, but I expect to come in underweight relative to the field.
Sam Burns ($9,300) | Overweight
Burns is shaping up to be one of my favorite leverage plays in this pricing range. While much of the attention will likely go to Wyndham Clark after his recent heater, Burns has quietly put together an impressive stretch of golf himself with two top five finishes and a T20 over his last three starts. He also finished T17 here last season and enters the week with a putter that remains one of the most dangerous weapons in the field. Even though he narrowly missed a couple of putts late on Sunday that could have forced a playoff, he still putted exceptionally well under pressure. What has me most encouraged, however, is the improvement in his ball striking. When Burns is gaining with his irons and off the tee while maintaining his usual putting upside, he possesses legitimate winning equity. I expect him to come in lower owned than Wyndham Clark, making him one of my favorite leverage spots in the upper tier. I will be slightly overweight on Burns this week.
Keegan Bradley ($8,400) | On Par
Talk about a horse for the course. Bradley has won this event twice in the last three years and clearly sees something at TPC River Highlands that fits his eye. The ownership is going to be high, and for good reason. He continues to strike the ball well, gaining across most of the key metrics despite a poor putting week at the U.S. Open. If the putter cooperates, there is no reason he cannot contend for a third title here. I am not looking to make a major stand either way, but I will absolutely have shares and expect to be right around the field.
Ben Griffin ($8,200) | Overweight
If you are looking for a pivot off the Keegan chalk, Ben Griffin is one of my favorite options in this range. Griffin finished T14 here last year, added a T17 at the U.S. Open, and has quietly put together a very strong run of golf that includes a pair of top three finishes and a top 10 over his last several starts. What stands out most is the ball striking. He has gained on approach three straight weeks and has gained off the tee in three of his last four events. If the putter heats back up, and we know it can, Griffin has the upside to find himself in the optimal lineup at a fraction of the ownership of some golfers around him.
Justin Rose ($7,900) | Underweight
Rose reminded everyone at the U.S. Open that he can still show up on the biggest stages, but this feels like a very different test. While he has flashed upside in majors and elite field events this season, his history at TPC River Highlands is underwhelming compared to several golfers around him, and this type of birdie fest has not traditionally been where I look to invest heavily in Rose. I will have some exposure because the talent is undeniable, but I expect to come in underweight relative to the field.
Brian Harman ($7,800) | Slightly Overweight
There may not be a more reliable course history play in this pricing range. Harman has posted five consecutive top 10 finishes at TPC River Highlands, including two top fives, and at $7,800 that type of consistency is impossible to ignore. The recent approach numbers have dipped slightly, but I actually think this course helps him. The shorter iron approach shots fit his precision style perfectly, and he has been driving the ball better than people realize. If the approach game rebounds and the putter does what it has historically done here, another top 10 finish is firmly in play. I expect to be at least around the field and likely a little overweight.
Akshay Bhatia ($7,400) | Slightly Overweight
Bhatia is shaping up as one of my favorite leverage plays in the lower mid range. A T17 at the U.S. Open was encouraging, particularly because he struck the ball so well against a much tougher setup than what he will see this week. His recent results have been inconsistent, but the approach game has improved in two of his last three starts, and we know how dangerous he can be when the putter gets rolling. If he can continue to gain with the irons and give himself plenty of birdie looks from these shorter approach distances, a top 10 finish is absolutely within reach. I expect to come in slightly overweight on Bhatia this week.
DFS Outsider Plays
Jacob Bridgeman ($7,200) | Overweight
Bridgeman is one of my favorite value plays on the entire slate. The recent finishes may not jump off the page, but when you dig into the underlying metrics, I think we are starting to see signs of life again. The approach game is trending in the right direction, the putter has looked much better over the last couple of starts, and this is a golf course that should play directly into one of his biggest strengths. Bridgeman has been exceptional from 100 to 150 yards this season, a range that should be heavily featured at TPC River Highlands. I am betting that the driver gets back on track, the recent ball striking improvements continue, and we start seeing more green than red across the stat sheet. I expect to be overweight on Bridgeman this week.
Alex Smalley ($6,800) | DFS Outsider Dart Play of the Week
This is the exact type of spot where I want to get ahead of the field. Smalley finished ninth here in 2023 and was playing arguably the best golf of his career before running into back to back missed cuts at the Memorial and U.S. Open. Prior to that stretch, he posted finishes of T2, T7, T17, T2, and T3 while gaining strokes all over the golf course. The Memorial can expose even elite ball strikers, and the U.S. Open was hardly an ideal bounce back opportunity. This week feels completely different. The no cut format removes some of the pressure, the course fit is significantly better, and the salary has dropped to a point where the upside far outweighs the risk. Could he still struggle? Absolutely. But I would rather be a week early than a week late on a golfer who has already shown this type of ceiling. Smalley is my DFS Outsider Dart Play of the Week and one of my favorite tournament leverage plays on the board.
Corey Conners ($7,300) | DFS Outsider Dart Play
This is a simple bet on ball striking. Conners showed signs of life at the U.S. Open, gaining significantly tee to green and reminding everyone why he has always been one of the better pure ball strikers on Tour. The problem, as always, is the putter. If he can bring the same level of ball striking to TPC River Highlands and simply have an average week on the greens, a top 20 finish is absolutely within reach. We know he can create opportunities. The question is whether he can finally convert enough of them. At what should be modest ownership, I think Conners is worth a shot.
Ryan Fox ($7,000) | DFS Outsider Dart Play
Ryan Fox continues to be one of the more interesting golfers in this field. Most people still think of him as a bomber, but the recent form has shown a much more complete player. He finished T17 here last year and has quietly put together a string of quality results, including a top 10 and several other strong finishes over the last couple of months. What stands out most is that I am seeing more green than red across the stat sheet. The putter has come back to life after a rough stretch, the ball striking has been solid, and he gained across the board last week. If the current form continues, Fox has significantly more upside than his salary suggests.
Jackson Suber ($6,300) | DFS Outsider Dart Play
I am probably a bigger Jackson Suber fan than most people, but this feels like a spot where he can surprise. The U.S. Open was not his best performance, but before that he had gained strokes both off the tee and on approach in four consecutive starts. That is the type of profile I want to target at TPC River Highlands. We know he can get hot with the putter, he is very good with his short irons, and this course should provide plenty of opportunities from the scoring ranges where he does his best work. At just $6,300, Suber offers the type of upside that can make a stars and scrubs build work if he puts everything together for four rounds.
Tom Hoge ($6,200) | DFS Outsider Dart Play
Tom Hoge is one of those golfers who can look completely lost one week and then pop up on the first page of the leaderboard the next. The reason I keep coming back to him is the course fit. TPC River Highlands is the type of place where elite iron play can overcome a lot of shortcomings, and Hoge has shown throughout his career that he can get scorching hot with his approach game. At this salary, I am not asking for perfection. I am simply looking for a golfer who can outperform his price tag and sneak his way into a top 20 finish. Hoge has that type of upside.
Nicolás Echavarría ($6,100) | DFS Outsider Dart Play
Echavarría is exactly the type of salary relief play that makes stars and scrubs builds work. At $6,100, expectations are obviously low, but there are enough encouraging signs to take a chance. The putter has been solid, he has gained off the tee in three straight starts, and while the approach game remains inconsistent, it would not take much improvement to produce a respectable finish at this price. Let’s be honest, this is a golfer who could finish near the bottom of the leaderboard and nobody would be surprised. He could also sneak into the top 20 and become one of the most important values on the slate. If you are looking to jam in Scottie Scheffler or multiple upper tier golfers, Echavarría is one of the more interesting punts available.
Frankie’s Fade of the Week: Bryson DeChambeau
Hey meatballs, Frankie here.
Frankie, Bryson ain’t even in the tournament.
Exactly. That’s how hard I’m fading him.
I thought Bryson was gonna show up at the U.S. Open launching missiles with that new driver and bullying the field. Instead, he looked like he should’ve been teeing it up with the amateurs on Thursday and Friday. And can somebody explain to me who the hell changes drivers the week before a major championship? Not a month before. Not during the offseason. The week before. What are we doing, meatball?
The only guy that should be changing drivers is Tiger Woods, and we ain’t talking about the same kind of driver. Bryson rolled in with a brand new toy, and instead of bombing it past everybody, he found himself all over the golf course in the thick stuff, fighting his golf swing. This is starting to become a trend, this bad play in the big moments, and Frankie don’t want nothing to do with it. Capisce?
Final Thoughts
This feels like one of those tournaments where course history is going to matter, but not enough to blindly build lineups around it. Yes, there are some golfers who have absolutely crushed TPC River Highlands over the years, and yes, that information should factor into your decision making process. Just do not fall into the trap of building the exact same lineups as everyone else. In a 71-player no cut field, ownership condenses quickly, and if you simply jam all of the obvious course history plays together, chances are thousands of other people will arrive at the same lineup construction.
Instead, start with the golfers you genuinely believe check the most boxes. Build around the core pieces you trust. Build around the golfers whose recent form, course fit, ball striking, and scoring upside all align this week. From there, start looking for leverage. Look for golfers coming off a rough stretch who may be turning the corner. Look for golfers who have flashed upside but may not be getting the attention they deserve. Look for opportunities to get different without sacrificing upside. Those are often the decisions that separate a good week from a great one.
One thing I plan on doing this week is building from multiple angles. Some lineups will start at the top. Some will start in the middle. Some will lean into the value range and allow for a different roster construction altogether. The goal is not to force one specific build. The goal is to identify a pool of golfers you believe can realistically contend and then create unique combinations around those convictions. There are plenty of viable paths this week, which is what makes this tournament so much fun.
At the end of the day, this is a small field event with plenty of volatility and more than enough opportunities to get different. Trust your research. Trust your process. Find your leverage spots. Most importantly, trust the golfers you have conviction on and do not be afraid to be overweight when you believe you have found an edge. Let’s go make some noise this week and hopefully bring home something big.
It only takes one
