Niall Lyons has five selections as part of his Travelers Championship tips for the action in Connecticut.
Travelers Championship 2023
In the combined 22 appearances here of McIlroy, Scheffler, Cantlay and Thomas they have managed only one top 10 between them. TPC River Highlands remains a course where the best in the world find it very difficult to separate themselves from the field. That being said five of the last six winners had a starting SP of 40/1 or lower so it may pay be prudent not to get too carried away with finding potential big priced winners.
The course is extremely vulnerable to low scores, none more so than back in 2016 when Jim Furyk shot a 58 in the final round. The profile of winners here has been mixed also with plodders such as Streelman, Knox and Reavie winning in recent years whilst the more accurate of the longer hitters in the shape of Dustin, Bubba and Leishman have also tasted success.
Travelers Championship Tips
The prevalent club throughout winning performances has been the putter and although that is difficult to predict each week it remains a very important club around this track and it'll be difficult to win here without a top 20 ranking at the very least on the greens.
Scottie Scheffler has had recent woes with the putter and despite finishing 37th on the greens last week which represented an improvement, it was the same old story of opportunities missed. He'll do well to turn it around on a course that is so heavily weighted towards that club and he's somewhat of an uneasy favourite in my eyes as a result. In fact it's difficult to get involved with any of the sub 20/1 shots as little separates them and the majority have a sketchy record here for being the best players in the world.
Tom Kim at 45/1 (Eight Places)
For the first of my Travelers Championship tips, I'm going with Tom Kim who rediscovered some of his old fervour last week in Los Angeles and he looks worth chancing on his debut here in Connecticut. After a first round of 3 over par at LACC he recovered to shoot 7 under over the final three rounds, only beaten by Tommy Fleetwood who went one better having shot 7 under on the final day.
Ranking 49th in driving distance across the week LACC was always going to be a demanding test for the Korean but ranking 4th in the field of approach was the catalyst to success and he must be feared having had some joy with his short game for the first time in a while.
18th on the greens was a welcome return to form with the putter and with his long game never having been in too bad a shape despite poor results he remains a dangerous opponent to anyone in the field when in contention. He fits the bill as a plodder and should his putter hold up like it did last week in L.A then he has a huge chance of giving the market front runners plenty to worry about.
1.5pts each-way T.Kim 45/1 (1/5 8) Bet365 8 Place, Sky Bet
Hideki Matsuyama at 45/1 (Eight Places)
Hideki Matsuyama has yet to see this course but with a tendency for playing well in low scoring events must be backed around the 50/1 mark given what we seen last week at LACC. Matsuyama ranked 1st in strokes gained approach in the field whilst ranking last in the field on the greens of those who made the cut.
That's quite a feat and had we seen him perform well with the putter then it could have been a very different week for the former Masters Champion. Approach play and putting is key around here and I'm prepared to take the chance that he figures the latter part out. It has been the story of his season with solid ball striking throughout but no luck whatsoever on the greens.
It's a worrying trend and having improved with the flat stick in recent years he's still finding difficulty in finding those spiking weeks that can translate a top ten into a victory. Nevertheless his iron play stands out and these are not the trickiest greens on tour to putt on so 50/1 about such an accomplished iron player looks worth chancing given the lack of course form from those towards the top of the market.
1.25pts each-way H.Matsuyama 45/1 (1/5 8) Bet365 8 Place, Sky Bet
Cameron Young at 50/1 (Eight Places)
Another I'm prepared to back this week in the same price bracket is Cameron Young. Young has become somewhat unpopular in the market now having struggled to land his first win on tour and recent results look somewhat worse than what they actually are. It's just over two months since Young finished runner up in the Match Play and then 7th at the Masters in his next start.
Since then it has been somewhat of a struggle but the majority of that can be put down to a woeful short game. Missed cuts at the PGA and Memorial were down to absolute horror shows on the greens and whilst the irons deserted him next time out in Canada, his short game was nowhere to be seen once again.
Finally in California there were signs of improvement with a 32nd placed finish at the US Open and the first time gaining shots throughout the bag since the Masters. Last week was his best putting performance since the Masters also and that confidence should start to flow back into a game that was brimming with confidence this time 12 months ago.
It's important not to forget Young has two top three finishes and a further top 10 in his last six major starts and retains the ability to be a top 10 player in the world or even better. With plenty of positives last week the time looks right to take the plunge on him landing that so far elusive victory.
1.25pts each-way C.Young 50/1 (1/5 8) Sky Bet
Kevin Yu at 300/1 (Eight Places)
Kevin Yu has been sidelined since February but at a huge price is worth the risk given what he is capable of. The Taiwanese star had surgery a few months ago on his left knee and hasn't looked to rush his recovery on his rookie season on tour. That season had been going swimmingly prior to his layoff with a 3rd place in Bermuda posted as well as 7th at Pebble Beach, his last event on tour.
Yu ranked 4th on approach that week at Pebble and 1st off the tee and but for a better putting week could have gotten much closer to Justin Rose's winning target. Yu's ball striking was extremely eye catching in his first ten events this season and he was posting videos six weeks ago of him swinging seemingly pain free.
On that evidence he could possibly have made it back sooner but a jaunt to TPC River Highlands looks the perfect re-introduction with low scores on offer and should he return with a similar long game as to what he is displaying before the injury then he'll have plenty of chances.
0.75pt each-way K.Yu 300/1 (1/5 8) Sky Bet, WilliamHill
Thomas Detry at 200/1 (Eight Places)
Thomas Detry has been far from disgraced on his rookie season on the PGA Tour and looks worthy of support at 200/1 on a venue where he could score extremely well. With only two par 5s here par 4 scoring average is an important stat to look to.
Four of the top five in 2022 ranked inside the top five in par 4 scoring for the week, three of the top 3 in 2021 were inside the top five in the same stat whilst 2020 winner Dustin Johnson topped the par 4 scoring for the week. Detry has managed to birdie over 21% of the par 4s he has played this season and ranks 6th on tour in that category.
With one withdrawal so far he has only missed two cuts in his other sixteen pga tour events this season. It's a consistent run of form and I'd expect one or two peaking performances to come. He ranked 8th on approach last time out at the Memorial and if he can marry that with a good putting week then he could quite easily be in the mix at the weekend.
0.75pt each-way T.Detry 200/1 (1/5 8) Paddy Power, WilliamHill
