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Travelers Championship: Power rankings at TPC River Highlands

By Mike Randleman

CROMWELL, CT - AUGUST 5: A Traveler's umbrella is seen during the second round of the Travelers Championship at the TPC River Highlands on August 5, 2016 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Michael Cohen/Getty Images)
CROMWELL, CT - AUGUST 5: A Traveler's umbrella is seen during the second round of the Travelers Championship at the TPC River Highlands on August 5, 2016 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Michael Cohen/Getty Images) /
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For its spot on the schedule the week after a major, The Travelers Championship continues to attract strong fields.

Get your red umbrellas handy. The PGA Tour goes coast to coast from last week’s U.S. Open on the Pacific Ocean to this week’s Travelers Championship in Hartford, Connecticut.

The tournament is building a reputation as a hospitable stop on Tour. Attendance numbers are always high and event organizers seem to go above and beyond to make players feel welcome. It’s hard to get the top players to pencil in this event EVERY year, but many feel obligated to at least make it every so often.

World No. 1 Brooks Koepka headlines this week’s field of 156 players in a standard Tour event with a 36-hole cut to top 70 and ties.

They’ll all be attacking another short course in TPC River Highlands. This is a week where bettors and DFS players can lean on course history as its hosted the Travelers Championship since 1984. The tournament began in 1952.

The Pete Dye design is 6,844 yards measuring to a par 70. Ten of 12 par-4s measure under 450 yards.

Players who played at Pebble Beach last week will get another week on Poa Annua greens.

Winning score has been 12-under or lower every year this decade and low numbers are to be had here. Just ask Jim Furyk who shot 58 (and lost!) in 2016.

But, like any Pete Dye design, getting around this course requires good course management and the ability to handle blind shots and tough recoveries.

There’s a lot of rain in the forecast through Friday. That bodes well for bigger hitters who would love to see this short track play soft.

There are some great young players getting spots in the field: Collin Morikawa, Victor Hovland, Matthew Wolff, just to name a few.

Hovland broke Jack Nicklaus’ U.S. Open amateur scoring record to finish T-12 (-4). His teammate, Wolff, is even better. He ravaged the field at the NCAA Championship and was absolutely dominating in his last season before going pro.

I came THIS close to pulling the trigger at Wolff at 10th, but I couldn’t. Still, keep an eye on these guys to round out your lineup at good values.

Here’s this week’s top 10:

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