Paulie’s Picks: 2021 Travelers Championship

This week’s Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands will be a welcome reprieve from the tough scoring conditions at the U.S. Open. Players will have an abundance of wedges into greens and plenty of birdie opportunities, with an expected winning score around -18 on this par 70 course. Even though the course is under 6,900 yards, players can get aggressive off the tee on many holes if they want. As a result, gaining strokes off the tee will be paramount. Contenders will need to either bomb it and keep it somewhat in play or hit a lot of fairways. Either way, expect plenty of wedge approaches.

Here are a few guys to target for the Travelers Championship in your fantasy leagues:

DraftKings

Charley Hoffman $8,600

Hoffman leads the field on approach and is 11th off the tee. If he has any semblance of a putter this week, he will contend. He has gained at least 4.8 strokes on approach in eight of his past 13 events. Hoffman provides elite consistency at a reasonable salary, as he has missed the cut only once in his past 17 events. At TPC River Highlands, he has made eight of his past nine cuts, including five top-26 finishes (three of which were top sevens).

Keegan Bradley $7,900

In the Travelers Championship field, Bradley is third on approach and 12th off the tee, He has gained strokes ball-striking (Strokes Gained: Off the Tee plus SG: Approach) in 20 straight events. The only time during that stretch he lost strokes on approach was his last event, when he dropped all of 0.1 strokes in that category. Bradley provides upside as well as consistency: he has made nine of his past 10 cuts at this event and has finished in the top 30 in seven of his past eight events this year.

One-and-Done

Paul Casey

Casey has made all six of his cuts at the Travelers Championship and has finished in the top five four times. He has six top-seven finishes in his past 16 events, including in each of the past three events and the past two major championships. Finally, Casey has gained strokes on approach in each of his past nine tournaments, at an average of +4.1 per week.

Bubba Watson

Bubba is a feel player who performs best on courses that suit his eye. He has said multiple times during press conferences at the Travelers Championship that TPC River Highlands is one of his favorites on the PGA Tour, as it fits his right-to-left ball flight and allows him to attack and use his length to his advantage. Not surprisingly, he has five top-four finishes in his last 11 years at this event, including three wins. He has missed the cut only twice, and both times he just had bad days putting. Watson has been in good form, gaining strokes off the tee in 58 of his past 65 tournaments. I expect that to continue this week.