The third major of the 2023 season is complete and now it is time for the golfers to get some rest before the Open Championship next month, right? Well, not so much… The PGA Tour will tee it up in Cromwell, Connecticut this week for the Travelers Championship. This is another elevated event. That means 37 of the top-50 golfers in the world will be playing this week. This will give us plenty of options to build some strong DFS lineups for the Travelers Championship. It should be another fun week to watch some golf, but this time on a much easier course.
Here is the recent form and course history for each golfer this week: History and Form 1
COURSE BREAKDOWN
The host course this week will be TPC River Highlands. It is a par 70 which plays 6,840 yards in length. Accuracy off the tee will be important, just like the other Pete Dye designed courses last week. The course is short, so Greens in Regulation will be the most important stat. The PGA Tour often tries to hide the pins at the TPC River Highlands so the golfers who are accurate off the tee, hit the greens in the proper tear and can scramble around the greens will be the golfers you will want in your lineups.
Click here to see the course: TPC River Highlands
KEY STATS FOR TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP
– Stroke Gained Approach
– Ball-Striking
– Par 4 Scoring 400 – 450 Yards
– Birdie or Better %
TOP 30 GOLFERS
TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP STRATEGY
The hardest thing to do in Fantasy Golf and DFS Golf is to forget what we just saw. We cannot build our lineups around what happened last week in the U.S. Open. The Travelers Championship is completely different and it is going to be a low scoring tournament. I plan to build my lineups around the golfers who have good course history at TPC River Highlands and who rank highly in the key stats.
My Cash Contest lineups will start with Scottie Scheffler. He is the most consistent golfer in the game and the safest pick to finish in the top-five Sunday. I really like the mid-$7K price range this week, so I will pair Scheffler with many of the golfers from that range.
I will have a lot of ownership of Scottie Scheffler in my Tournament Contest lineups too. He will likely be owned by 25% of the field so I will nearly double that and use Scheffler in 45% of my lineups.
This stat will blow your mind…… The golfers priced between $8,500 – $11,300 have two finishes in the top-10 at the Travelers Championship in the last decade!!! (Xander Schauffle won last year and Justin Thomas finished 3rd in 2016) That is incredible, so why pay up for these golfers? I will roll with Scheffler and pair him with a lot of golfers from the $7K price range.
CORE GOLFERS FOR TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST LINEUP
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER ($11,300): I like having a safe golfer at the top of my Cash Contest lineup and it doesn’t get much safer than Scheffler. He finished 3rd (U.S. Open), 3rd (Memorial), 3rd (Charles Schwab), 2nd (PGA Championship) and 5th (AT&T Byron Nelson) over the last two months. He ranks No. 1 in every key stat, except putting. If Scheffler ever learns to dial in the flat-stick, he will never lose. I will make the rest of the field beat me without Scheffler in their lineup this week.
TOM KIM ($8,100): I was all in with Kim at the beginning of the 2023 season, then he started to lose his game, then Kim fell in the mud and now he showed signs of life with his hot play at the U.S. Open. I know I wrote that I am going to forget what happened last week, but TPC River Highlands fits Kim’s game perfectly. This is a second-shot course and Kim ranks No. 10 in Shots Gained Approach. He should easily make the cut, with the upside to finish in the top-10 Sunday.
RUSSELL HENLEY ($7,800): The only reason why Henley is priced at $7,800 this week is because his name is Russell Henley. His stats and course history are better than most of the golfers in the $9K price range. Henley ranks No. 18 in Shots Gained Off-the-Tee, No. 3 in Shots Gained Approach, No. 11 in Ball-Striking and No. 13 overall in the key stats. Henley has a good chance to finish in the top-10 this week.
HARRIS ENGLISH ($7,700): English is another golfer who is a terrific value this week. His ball-striking stats are not as good as Russell Henley’s stats, but his course history is fantastic. English won this tournament in 2021 and came back and finished 19th last year. He has made six of his last seven cuts on the PGA Tour. English should make the cut and score well for all types of contests this week.
DENNY MCCARTHY ($7,600): The Travelers Championship often turns into a putting contest, because every golfer in the field has the length off-the-tee to hit these greens in regulation. McCarthy is the best putter on the PGA Tour, so I will take him in a putting contest. McCarthy just finished second at the Memorial (another elevated tournament) and 20th last week in the U.S. Open. He ranks No. 11 in the key stats, so McCarthy is a great pick for all types of contests this week.
AUSTIN ECKROAT ($7,300): Eckroat has some of the best form on the PGA Tour. He has made six cuts in a row. That includes a second-place finish at the Byron Nelson and a 10th-place finish last week at the U.S. Open. Eckroat ranks No. 10 in the key stats this week. He has only played the Travelers Championship once (He finished 47th in 2021). His form gives Eckroat the upside to finish in the top-15 this week.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER ($11,300): I know Scheffler is going to be highly owned, but he is almost a lock for a top-five finish Sunday. I will “eat the chalk” and be contrarian with the rest of this lineup. I really like a “stars and scrubs” lineup construction for Tournament Contests this week (with Scheffler at the top of most of these lineups).
TOMMY FLEETWOOD ($9,300): The narrative around Fleetwood in Fantasy Golf is that he cannot win in the United States. I do not need Fleetwood to win this week (although I will be betting him to win). I just need Fleetwood to continue doing what he has been doing over the last two weeks. Fleetwood lost in a playoff two weeks ago in the RBC Canadian Open and then he finished fifth last week at the U.S. Open. Fleetwood ranks No. 6 in the key stats, so I will give the Englishman a spot in the lineup this week.
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK ($9,000): I really like Fitzpatrick this week. He won the elevated event at the RBC Heritage earlier this year. That tournament was played at Harbour Town Golf Links, which is another Pete Dye course (very similar to TPC River Highlands). Fitzpatrick ranks No. 14 in the key stats, so this course fits his game well. Pair Tommy Fleetwood and Matthew Fitzpatrick with Scottie Scheffler at the top of this “stars and scrubs” lineup gives us a good chance to get three of the top-five golfers into the lineup this week.
LEE HODGES ($6,900): I really wanted to fit Sam Bennett into this lineup, but I was $100 short. We are not going to get many opportunities to play Bennett at $7K, so I will have a lot of ownership with him this week. Lee Hodges will be my pivot from Bennett this week. Hodges has made four cuts in a row. He ranks No. 24 in Shots Gained Tee-to-Green, No. 26 in Shots Gained Approach, No. 22 in Ball-Striking and No. 31 overall in the key stats. Hodges finished 25th at the Travelers Championship last year. I just need another top-25 finish from Hodges this week.
DOUG GHIM ($6,900): Mark Hubbard is going to be the chalk play from the $6K range. He is way underpriced this week, so I will have some ownership of Hubbard, but I will pivot to Doug Ghim in this lineup. Ghim ranks No. 19 in Shots Gained Tee-to-Green, No. 36 in Shots Gained Approach, No. 29 in Ball-Striking, No. 9 in Scrambling and No. 28 overall in the key stats. He has only missed one cut over the last two months. TPC River Highlands is a good course for Ghim’s game.
ANDREW NOVAK ($6,600): Novak is not my favorite golfer in the field this week, but I just need a golfer who is cheap and has a good chance to make the cut. Novak checks those boxes. He has not missed a cut since early March (seven in a row). He also made the cut last year in this tournament (Novak finished 46th). Novak ranks No. 42 in the key stats, so he should make the cut and score us some points over the weekend.
Here are my lineups for Multi-Entry Tournament Contest: (FantasyRacingTips)
FANDUEL CASH CONTEST LINEUP
FANDUEL TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
PGATOUR.COM FANTASY PICKS
* This is the third tournament of Segment 4. This is the toughest Segment to navigate because there are two majors (U.S. Open and the Open Championship), one elevated event (Travelers Championship) and four FedEx Playoff Tournaments). Use your golfers wisely.
** TPC River Highlands is such a short course that it brings a lot of golfers into play. For that reason, I am not going to use my studs this week (Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm). Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay have had a lot of success in this tournament so I will use these two golfers and pair them with Matthew Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood.
FANTASY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP ONE & DONE PICK: SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER (TRAVELERS)
* The winner of the Travelers Championship earns the same as the winner of the U.S. Open. That is why I save Scottie Scheffler for this week’s tournament. It will be much easier for Scheffler to win this week, than it was at the U.S. Open.
Players in Fantasy Golf Championship One & Done so far: Brooks Koepka (17th), Justin Rose (8th), Patrick Cantlay (30TH) (Memorial), Tommy Fleetwood (MC), Jon Rahm (50th), Adam Scott (8th), Viktor Hovland (43rd), Tony Finau (Win), Sungjae Im (7TH), Jordan Spieth (4th), Si Woo Kim (39th), Tyrrell Hatton (60th), Adam Hadwin (MC), Rory McIlroy (MC), Will Zalatoris (53rd), Matt Kuchar (MC), Tony Finau (20), Xander Schauffele (10th), Seamus Power (15th), Max Homa (1st), Brian Harman (MC), and Corey Conners (12th)
SEASON LONG ONE & DONE PICK: SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER (TRAVELERS)
Players Used This Season in One & Done: Dustin Johnson (10th), Justin Rose (8TH), Patrick Cantlay (30TH), Tommy Fleetwood (MC), Brooks Koepka (Win), K-H Lee (50th), Cameron Young (59th), Tony Finau (Win), Keith Mitchell (6th), Tom Kim (MC), Brooks Koepka (2nd), Matt Kuchar (3rd), Wyndham Clark (6th), Adam Hadwin (MC), Rory McIlroy (MC), Will Zallatoris (53rd), Sungjae Im (42nd), Max Homa (2), Xander Schauffele (10th), Jordan Spieth (63rd), Jon Rahm (7th), Taylor Montgomery (5th), Russell Henley (32nd), Seamus Power (25th), Brian Harman (2nd), Maverick McNealy (27th), Emiliano Grillo (42nd), Nick Hardy (28th), Terrell Hatton (13TH) Christian Bezuidenhout (29th), Cameron Davis (37th), Denny McCarthy (39th), Brendon Steele (CUT)
BEST BETS FOR TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP
XANDER SCHAUFFELE (14-1)
TOMMY FLEETWOOD (25-1)
RUSSELL HENLEY (35-1)
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK (40-1)
HARRIS ENGLISH (65-1)
DENNY MCCARTHY (70-1)
SAM BENNETT (180-1)
* I am betting a lot of golfers this week because I do not need to wager a lot to win a lot with these odds. A $10 bet on Fleetwood, Henley, Fitzpatrick, English, McCarthy and Bennett gives you a nice return on your investment.
Good Luck This Week!!!!
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