Following the U.S. Open, the PGA Tour heads to TPC River Highlands (par 70, 6,852 yards, bentgrass greens with a slight poa mix) in Cromwell, Conn., for the Travelers Championship. TPC River Highlands has been the only venue to host this tournament since 1983, and Xander Schauffele is the defending champion, winning a year ago at -19. This is an elevated event with a massive purse of $20 million, and there will be a normal cut of top 65 and ties following the first two rounds. Let’s look at Stokastic’s Top Golfers Tool to find the best leverage PGA DFS picks for the Travelers Championship.
Leverage scores compare a golfer’s ownership to their salary-weighted odds to finish in the top 6 of the tournament. It is one of many metrics in Stokastic’s tools that use the fantasy point and ownership projections to find the top PGA DFS plays each week.
PGA DFS Picks & Leverage: Travelers Championship
TPC River Highlands was designed by Pete Dye and is a short, parkland course that features narrow fairways and tiny greens. While any length of golfer can contend at this venue, being in pristine form with irons and putter is essential for success at TPC River Highlands, with three of the past four winners at this track finishing the tournament top 10 in both strokes gained approach and strokes gained putting. Also, players who are efficient on 400- to 450-yard par 4’s will be a focus, as eight of the 12 par 4’s at TPC River Highlands land in this range. Of the last 10 Travelers victors, only one did not finish the event inside the top 10 in efficiency on the 400- to 450-yard par 4’s of TPC River Highlands.
Collin Morikawa
Stokastic PGA Optimizer Leverage Ranks: DraftKings: 2nd, FanDuel: 2nd
Hovering around 10% expected ownership on both DraftKings and FanDuel in Stokastic’s projections, Morikawa is the best high-end contrarian option on the board. On top of ranking second in strokes gained on approach this season, Morikawa is finally starting to find some life with his putter again, gaining strokes with his flat stick in three of his past four starts. If he can continue this trend and collectively gain strokes on approach and with his putter at TPC River Highlands, Morikawa should contend for a win this weekend. All five of Morikawa’s PGA Tour wins have come at courses with bentgrass greens, and he has five top-15 finishes in 12 starts at elevated events this season.
C.T. Pan
Stokastic PGA Optimizer Leverage Ranks: DraftKings: 35th, FanDuel: 40th
After an ugly start to the season, Pan has resurrected his game and looked incredible, finishing fourth at the AT&T Byron Nelson and third at the RBC Canadian Open in his last two starts. He gained strokes in every major category during both these finishes and shot under par in all eight of his rounds during this time, including a career-best, 9-under 62 to close out the Byron Nelson. These last two finishes alone have moved Pan up 171 spots in the world golf rankings, and he will now look to carry this momentum over to TPC River Highlands, where he has finished top 25 twice, including a tie for eighth in 2017.
Pan is criminally underpriced for his upside on both DraftKings and FanDuel and is a must-have for GPPs. Stokastic projects him for single-digit ownership on both sites.
Andrew Putnam
Stokastic PGA Optimizer Leverage Ranks: DraftKings: 22nd, FanDuel: 35th
Putnam has never missed a cut at TPC River Highlands in three tries, most notably with a 13th two years ago, and he returns as the maker of seven of his last nine cuts. Putnam has collectively gained strokes on approach and with his putter in three straight starts and has been terrific on bentgrass this season, making five of six cuts at venues with this green type. Plus, three of these finishes have been top-12 results.
Putnam is a great combination of current form and course history, and not only is he far too cheap for his upside, but he is also expected to come with low ownership on both DraftKings and FanDuel, according to Stokastic’s projections.
Ryan Moore
Stokastic PGA Optimizer Leverage Ranks: DraftKings: 22nd, FanDuel: 35th
Moore is worth rolling the dice on in GPPs, as he is priced near the minimum on both DraftKings and FanDuel and is forecasted for essentially no ownership in Stokastic’s projections. He is a true course horse at TPC River Highlands, making 11 of 14 cuts for his career and finishing top 20 eight times, including a pair of runner-ups. No player competing has gained more career strokes at TPC River Highlands than Moore, and he is fresh off a 25th at the RBC Canadian Open where he gained strokes in every major category except off the tee.
While no one should expect a high finish from Moore, he has the potential to pay off his cheap salaries with a made cut and helps you jam multiple studs into lineups.
