BettingPros PGA Show: 2026 Travelers Championship Best Bets, Picks & Predictions

Welcome back to the BettingPros PGA podcast.

Today, we have a betting preview of the Travelers Championship.

It’s a signature event and birdies should be easier to come by than they were at Shinnecock Hills last week for the U.S. Open.

Travelers Championship Preview

We now enter the final signature event of the PGA Tour season, the Travelers Championship.

The field will consist of 72 players, and like the other signature events, there will be no cut. Most of the game’s biggest stars will be in attendance, although Rory McIlroy is sitting this one out.

The Travelers Championship will once again be played at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, a longtime staple of the PGA Tour schedule.

TPC River Highlands is one of the shortest courses on Tour, a par 70 measuring just 6,844 yards. The Pete Dye design presents a very different challenge than what players faced last week at Shinnecock Hills.

The fairways are tighter than the ones players saw at the U.S. Open, and after a week of links-style golf, players will once again have to contend with trees lining many of the holes.

That said, let’s not make the mistake of assuming TPC River Highlands is tougher than Shinnecock Hills. Conditions should be considerably easier this week, and scoring is expected to reflect that.

There are several holes where longer hitters can take an aggressive bomb-and-gouge approach, while others force players to lay back off the tee and play more strategically.

One of the most entertaining holes on the course is the drivable  Par 4 15th. At just 296 yards, players have a decision to make. The green is reachable, but water guards the left side while a large hill protects the right. It’s exactly the type of risk-reward hole that can create dramatic swings on Sunday afternoon.

Missing greens isn’t always a simple recovery, either. The putting surfaces at TPC River Highlands are relatively small by PGA Tour standards, and getting up and down can be challenging. The greens are a mix of bentgrass and poa annua.

Another part of the course’s charm is its elevation change. Players will encounter several doglegs that require them to shape shots both left-to-right and right-to-left, rewarding creativity and shot-making throughout the week.

The atmosphere is also one of the best on Tour. TPC River Highlands consistently draws large, energetic crowds, with attendance trailing only the WM Phoenix Open annually.

Keegan Bradley enters the week as the defending champion after producing one of the most memorable finishes of last season. Bradley arrived at the 72nd hole trailing Tommy Fleetwood by one shot, then watched a two-shot swing unfold when he birdied the final hole and Fleetwood made bogey. Bradley finished at 15-under to claim the title.

Bradley also won this event in 2023 at 23-under. Scottie Scheffler captured the championship in 2024 at 22-under, defeating Tom Kim in a playoff, while Xander Schauffele won in 2022 at 19-under. Those winning scores provide a good indication of what players are likely facing this week.

Weather should cooperate for most of the tournament. There isn’t much wind in the forecast, and while a few showers are possible on Friday and Sunday, conditions are expected to remain largely favorable. Temperatures should sit in the upper 70s to low 80s throughout the week.

With birdies likely to be much easier to find than they were at the U.S. Open, the Travelers Championship should provide a very different type of test as the PGA Tour wraps up its signature event schedule.

Bo McBrayer on TPC River Highlands

TPC River Highlands is your standard Pete Dye directional, plan-your-way-around, shot-by-shot type of course. You have to be able to hit your spots. You have to be consistent when it comes to ball placement.

At its core, it’s a simple question: Can you hit the ball where you intend to hit it?

It’s not an easy test, although scoring will likely push toward the 20-under range. That’s easier than average by PGA Tour standards, but mainly because of the course’s length. There just isn’t much defense here other than wayward shots.

Even though it’s a Pete Dye design, it’s kind of the easier version of Pete Dye. You get less of the sadism that he’s famous for and more of the creativity.

You’ll still find those classic Dye elements. Maybe you can curve a shot around a tree. Maybe you can challenge a pond guarding a green perched on a narrow piece of land. Those strategic decisions are still part of the equation, but they’re presented in a way that feels more fun than punishing.

That’s one of the reasons I enjoy this tournament so much.

I’m really looking forward to seeing whether some of these favorites can finally show why they’re the favorites. We’ve seen a lot of long shots breaking through lately, and this feels like the type of venue where the elite players should have an opportunity to separate themselves.

With a no-cut field, plenty of birdie chances and a course that rewards precision more than survival, this week sets up differently than what we just watched at the U.S. Open. It’ll be interesting to see whether the stars take advantage of it.

Hard Rock Best Bets of the Week

And now it’s time for the Hard Rock Best Bets of the Week, presented by Hard Rock Bet.

Pat Fitzmaurice’s Best Bet

My Hard Rock Best Bet of the Week is Collin Morikawa at 30-1.

Pat Fitzmaurice’s Travelers Championship Picks

• Hard Rock Best Bet: Collin Morikawa (+3000)
• Russell Henley (+3300)
• Brian Harman Top 10 (+390)
• Jacob Bridgeman (+7800)
• Akshay Bhatia (+8200)

That’s going to do it for this edition of the BettingPros PGA Podcast.

Be sure to join us again next week when we’ll be back to preview the John Deere Classic and break down the betting board for another week on the PGA Tour.

Until then, so long, everyone.