Scottie Scheffler Is The Favorite to Win The Travelers Championship

Last week, Wyndham Clark shocked the golf world by winning his first career major championship at The Los Angeles Country Club (North Course) at+7000 odds – marking the fifth consecutive year that the event was won by a golfer who had not previously won a major championship. This week, Clark seeks to join Jon Rahm (four wins) as the only two men’s golfers with at least three wins this season at the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. The 13th of 17 Designated PGA Tour events in the 2022-23 season, the Travelers offers the winner $3.6M, 500 FedExCup points, 65 Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, and a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour including entry into the 2024 Masters Tournament, PGA Championship and Tournament of Champions. With so much at stake, many of the world’s best golfers, including the top eight in the OWGR, are in the field. Given the current odds being offered by sportsbooks, only five golfers have at least a five percent chance to win.

The Travelers Championship Odds

Scottie Scheffler won the 2022 PGA Tour Player of the Year after amassing four wins (including the Masters Tournament), four runner-ups (including the U.S. Open and Tour Championship), 11 tops 10s and 18 top 25s in 25 events played. Through 17 events played this season, the 26-year-old American has two wins (defending his title at the WM Phoenix Open and THE PLAYERS Championship) and one runner-up (PGA Championship). Scheffler has yet to miss a cut and has already exceeded last season’s top 10 tally with 13. The World No. 1 has not finished outside the top five of a PGA Tour event since the RBC Heritage in April (T11) and has recorded 16 consecutive top 12 finishes dating back to last November. Scheffler is hitting the ball better than any player in the world, currently ranking first on Tour in Strokes Gained: Total (2.616), Off-the-Tee (1.115), Tee-to-Green (2.808), and Approach the Green (1.239). Also ranking first in Greens in Regulation Percentage (73.52%), Scheffler has the best Scoring Average (68.34) on Tour this season. Putting continues to be the one area of concern in his game, though, ranking 138th in Strokes Gained Putting (-0.192) and 144th in One-Putt Percentage (38.54%). While Scheffler is one of only five men’s golfers with multiple wins on Tour this season, it must be noted that the pressure to win again is building as a narrative is forming that Scheffler cannot win after April. Both of his wins this season and all four of his wins last season occurred before the calendar turned to May. At +600, odds makers are assigning nearly a 15 percent chance for Scheffler to collect his seventh career Tour win. Not only would a win at TPC River Highlands this week change the narrative, it would be a great way for the American to celebrate his 27th birthday (June 21).

Scheffler’s 13 top 10s this season are the most on Tour. Tied for the second most at nine are FedExCup points leader Jon Rahm and 2022 Travelers Championship winner Xander Schauffele. While the seven-time PGA Tour winner is still searching for his first win of the 2022-23 season, Schauffele is in really good form – finishing in the top 10 in six of his previous eight starts, including a runner-up showing at the Wells Fargo Championship in May. The 29-year-old American ranks in the top 10 on Tour in Strokes Gained Total (2.022; 5th), Strokes Gained Approach to Green (0.916; 6th), Scoring Average (69.49; 7th) and Greens in Regulation Percentage (68.87%; 10th). His consistent play has him ranked No. 6 in the OWGR and No. 11 in the FedExCup points list. At +1200, Schauffele is among the top tier of contenders, and with a win this week, he would become just the eighth men’s golfer to win the Travelers multiple times.

Scheffler is the favorite this week, but Patrick Cantlay (+900), Rory McIlroy (+1000), Jon Rahm (+1000), and Schauffele (+1200) all have at least a five percent chance to win according to oddsmakers, and Viktor Hovland (+2000) is not far behind.

Last week, I wrote about Viktor Hovland for the first time this season, and the 25-year-old Norwegian played the U.S. Open at even par, finishing solo 19th. It was a good showing, but not up to Hovland’s standards in major championship golf recently: T4 at The 2022 Open Championship, T7 in this year’s Masters Tournament, and T2 in last month’s PGA Championship. Through 17 events played, Hovland has one win (the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday), seven top 10s, 13 top 25s, and zero missed cuts to go along with his runner-up at the PGA Championship. Ranked No. 5 in both the OWGR and FedExCup points list, oddsmakers are assigning nearly a five percent chance (+2000) for Hovland to earn his fifth career PGA Tour victory at the Travelers Championship.