No Shortage of Star Power
PGA Tour players are uniting for the Travelers Championship, which boasts an incredibly-talented field in 2022.
It has often been a tournament that offered the lesser-known players a chance to win, but with the likes of Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas in the field, it’s red-hot.
Golf odds have those three players at the top of the market and it could come down to the final few holes on Sunday at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn.
Scheffler Eyes No. 5
Scottie Scheffler is the hottest golfer on the PGA Tour and he eyes his fifth win this season.
The American had every chance to win the U.S. Open last week but came up one shot short. However, he won’t let that get him down and we thought he would be the favorite for the Travelers Championship.
He’s currently on the second line of betting at +1000 behind McIlroy and we think Scheffler has a much better chance to win. McIlroy is playing well but he’s not capping off his fast starts, whereas Scheffler is playing the more consistent golf.
He has already broken the season record for total earnings at $12.89 million, which surpassed Jordan Spieth’s previous record. There are still 10 tournaments left on the schedule, so he’s in new territory.
We expect his odds to firm to +900 with the sportsbook, so he’s worth locking in.
Burns on Fire
Sam Burns is another hot golfer after winning three tournaments this season and four in the last 13 months.
The 25-year-old American won the Sanderson Farms Championship, Valspar Championship, and the Charles Schwab Challenge, so he’s a golfer worth following.
He shot +6 in the final round on Sunday to finish T27, but he was right in contention after three rounds. Burns had to be disappointed to see his name slide down the leaderboard but it was still a good week.
He got the better of Scheffler in a playoff at Colonial, and having wins over the best player in the world holds him in good stead.
“I can assure you, he wanted to beat me more than anybody else and I wanted to beat him more than anybody else,” Burns told Sports Illustrated. “It’s going to be a fun story that we’ll get to have for the rest of our careers, and fortunately I got the better end of it this time. But hopefully we’re at the beginning of these situations.”
Burns is +1800 with golf betting markets and we’re not leaving him out of selections.
Riley Seeking Maiden Win
Davis Riley has shown glimpses of excellent form in his fledgling career, including losing the Valspar Championship to Burns in a playoff.
The Alabama alumnus has two wins on the Korn Ferry Tour and he also posted solid finishes at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open. He finished T13 at the PGA and he comes off a tidy effort for T31 last week.
We don’t think he’s far off breaking into the top 50 and a strong performance at the Travelers Championship could see it happen.
Riley is always respected in betting markets, which opened him at +3300. He’s ahead of Tommy Fleetwood, Brooks Koepka and Jason Day in the betting, so the sportsbook expect a big performance sooner rather than later.
He is worth backing for Top American and Top 20 markets on an each-way basis. TPC River Highlands is a course that should suit his game, and despite facing an awfully tough field, he has shown an ability to cope with the pressure.
