Travelers Championship Preview
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Course Description
Weather
Custom Model
Ownership
DFS Picks
Betting Picks
Travelers Championship
TPC River Highlands / Cromwell, CT
Tournament Preview
The 2025 Travelers Championship, a PGA TOUR Signature Event, is set to take place from June 18–22, 2025, at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. Below is a detailed description of the tournament and the golf course, based on available information.
Tournament Description
The Travelers Championship is a premier professional golf tournament on the PGA TOUR, established in 1952 as the Insurance City Open. It has been held at TPC River Highlands since 1984 and is managed by The Greater Hartford Community Foundation, with Travelers as the title sponsor since 2007. As one of eight Signature Events in 2025, it features a limited field of approximately 70 elite players, a $20 million purse, and no cut, ensuring all players compete over four days. The winner will earn $3.6 million and significant FedExCup points, with the event serving as a key stop in the FedExCup season, positioned the week after the U.S. Open and before The Open Championship qualifying.
The tournament is renowned for its rich history, attracting top talent like Scottie Scheffler (defending champion), Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, and past winners such as Jordan Spieth and Keegan Bradley. It is the only PGA TOUR event in the Northeast and the second-most attended annually, behind only the Waste Management Phoenix Open, with approximately 290,000 fans in 2017 and a record 400,000 in 2002. Notable moments include Jim Furyk’s PGA TOUR record 58 in 2016, Patrick Cantlay’s amateur-record 60 in 2011, and Harris English’s eight-hole playoff victory in 2021.
Course Description: TPC River Highlands
Overview: TPC River Highlands is a par-70, 6,844-yard private golf course located on a bluff overlooking the Connecticut River. Originally designed as Middletown Golf Club in 1928, it was redesigned by Pete Dye in 1982 and further refined by Bobby Weed in 1989, with input from PGA TOUR players Howard Twitty and Roger Maltbie. The course is part of the PGA TOUR’s TPC Network and is known for its scenic beauty, strategic design, and compact layout, making it one of the shortest courses on the PGA TOUR schedule.
Course Characteristics:
Design and Layout: A parkland-style course with narrow, tree-lined fairways (mature maple, oak, sycamore, and eastern white pine), Bentgrass tees, fairways, and greens, and bluegrass fescue roughs. It spans 148 acres and features rolling terrain, numerous lakes, and ponds. The course’s small greens (third smallest on TOUR in 2025, averaging 5,000 square feet) demand precision in approach play and shot-shaping, while its modest length favors players with strong iron play and putting over raw distance.
Scoring and Strategy: TPC River Highlands is known as a “birdie-fest” due to its relatively low scoring, with winning scores often in the double digits under par (Keegan Bradley’s -23 in 2023 set a tournament record). The course has yielded historic low rounds, including Furyk’s 58, Cameron Young’s 59 in 2024, and Cantlay’s 60 in 2011. However, its small greens and strategic hazards prevent players from consistently posting four low rounds, with 20-under or better winning only four times since 1984. Recent modifications (e.g., narrowing fairways, adding mounding, and adjusting tee boxes) aim to increase difficulty, but the course remains less challenging for modern pros due to its length and design, especially in soft conditions.
Signature Stretch: The Golden Triangle (Holes 15–17): This iconic sequence, winding around a four-acre lake, is among the most exciting finishing stretches on TOUR, often deciding the tournament’s outcome:
Hole 15 (Par 4, 296 yards): A drivable par-4 with water left and a rectangular, pedestal green. Players face a risk-reward decision: a driver can set up an eagle or birdie, but missing left risks water, and missing right leaves a tricky pitch or bunker shot. Scores range from 2 to 7.
Hole 16 (Par 3, 171 yards): A picturesque par-3 over a lake, with little margin for error due to a small green and sunken chipping areas behind. Avoiding the water is critical, and pin placement can make the hole particularly demanding.
Hole 17 (Par 4, 420 yards): A challenging par-4 with water left and a green that demands a precise approach over the lake. Described as “terrifying,” it tests players’ nerve under pressure.
Hole 18 (Par 4, 444 yards): A tough finishing par-4 requiring a precise drive and a mid-iron approach to a well-guarded green. Scottie Scheffler’s playoff victory in 2024 was decided here with a par,
Weather
With elevated events being smaller fields, it is usually unlikely that you see much of a weather edge given everyone goes out during a 2-3 hour window. With higher wind gusts expected this week, it seems fairly consistent across both Thursday and Friday. I don’t really think there is much to look at in that regard. Things gets considerably easier come the weekend where gusts barely peak in the low double digits. I expect this to be a full on birdie fest with scores likely getting past -20 if these conditions hold.
Custom Model
TPC River Highlands is a shorter course with small greens that caters heavily to accuracy over distance. My model weighs heavily towards that category, wSG:Approach and wSG:Total. The small greens are a Poa Annua and Bentgrass blend so I did a small portion of my weights towards those grass types. The final things I looked at were SG:Short Courses, Course History at TPC River Highlands and Birdie or Better %.
Ownership and Picks
High Ownership Options (By Price Range):
$10,000+
a) Scottie Scheffler ($13,300)
b) Xander Schauffele ($10,800)
$9,000
a) Viktor Hovland ($9,000)
b) Justin Thomas ($9,300)
$8,000
a) Robert MacIntyre ($8,400)
b) Jordan Spieth ($8,200)
$7,000
a) Cameron Young ($7,800)
b) Brian Harman ($7,200)
$6,000
a) Bud Cauley ($6,800)
b) Tom Hoge ($6,800)
Favorite Golfers:
Scottie Scheffler ($13,300): This seems like a no brainer. Is there a chance he doesn’t win?.. Sure. However, his game is at an elite level right now rivaling that of last season where he picked up a ton of wins. He hasn’t finished outside of the top 10 since March and is gaining across the bag. There are enough low priced options this week that I think you can get Scottie in and still have a solid team that can contend for 1st. I am just not a big fan of where the rest of the $10,000+ range’s game is at.
Sepp Straka ($9,200): Yes he did miss the cut at the US Open last week, but it was much due to his poor putting and around the green game. He is all about accuracy which is what this course asks for and has a win and a top 3 in 2 of the last 4 tournaments. With this likely being a birdie fest, Straka being 6th in the field in Birdies or Better % will go a very long way.
Keegan Bradley ($8,500): I have a lot of hope for Keegan this week who is playing some very good golf this week. The US Open wasn’t the best to him, but I think it was much due to the rough being almost impossible to play out of. He gained in every other major SG category other than approach which is usually a strong suit of his. He has had some great success at this course, including being a former winner at TPC River Highlands along with a number of other top 10s. He is 3rd in my model and being one of the lower owned $8,000 range options has me very intrigued. Look for Keegan to contend this week.
Daniel Berger ($7,500): Just ahead of Keegan is Berger in my model which isn’t shocking at all. His game over the last month hasn’t been that great, but his putter was the main reason for that. It completely got away from him which has led to a lot of poor performances. Well guess who finally gained in that category last week? Yep… Daniel Berger. The rest of his game is still fine and should translate very well to this course. He is great on shorter courses, has good history at TPC River Highlands and a very accurate driver of the golf ball. As long as we didn’t just see a spike putting week and it really has gone cold for good, then I expect a lot from Berger this week.
Bud Cauley ($6,800): I hate taking chalk from the lower salary ranges, but Bud is one of the only guys I really like down there. He missed the cut last week at the US Open, but that was much due to his inaccuracies off of the tee which is usually something he is fairly good at. We haven’t really seen him spike yet this year in any strong field events other than the Players, but if there was a week I think he can do that it would be this one. Being top 20 over the last 36 rounds in all of wSG:Total, wSG:Approach and Birdie or Better % has me very excited for Cauley this week who is also top 25 in Driving Accuracy for this field.
Best Bets
All bets are based on odds from Draftkings Sportsbook
R1 Daniel Berger vs. Sam Stevens, Berger (-140): Berger sits 2nd in my model and Stevens is in the bottom 10. If this was closer to -200, I think I would be indifferent, but there is enough juice to squeeze here for me to be all over Berger in this Round 1 prop. He is good at short courses, an accurate driver and top 15 in both wSG:Approach and wSG:Total over his last 36 rounds. The numbers just don’t lie for Berger this week. I would take him in a H2H against a lot of this field and getting him against a lesser opponent has me licking my chops.
Russell Henley Top 20 (+125): He has had a bit of an up and down 2025 season, with a hot start grabbing the win at the API and a few other top 5s before having a cold spell up until about 2 weeks ago. He is coming off of a top 5 at the Memorial and a T10 at the US Open which are incredibly strong fields. He is gaining across the bag and with this being just a 70 man field with quite a few scrubs towards the bottom, I feel confident in his ability to get into the top 30% of this field. Being plus money is just the icing on the cake.
Outright Winner Bet: Keegan Bradley +3500
