Fantasy Golf: Draftkings Selections for the 2019 Travelers Championship

This week, the PGA Tour travels to Cromwell, Connecticut for the Travelers Championship. This tournament’s field will obviously not be as strong as last week’s U.S. Open. However, the Draftkings community will be presented with a decent field of players that will be headlined by world number one Brooks Koepka.

The Travelers Championship is played at the TPC River Highlands. The event has been played on this course every year since 1984. TPC River Highlands is a short tree lined par 70 course that measures approximately 6,841 yards. There are plenty to choose from on Draftkings to take advantage of the course.

This golf course will present a vastly different test than last week’s United States Open which was played at Pebble Beach Golf Links. We should see far better scoring at TPC River Highlands than we did at Pebble.

Let me point to a few facts to illustrate my point. Last week, only 31 players finished the tournament under par. I reviewed the results from the 2018 Travelers Championship and observed that 66 players finished that tournament under par. That is a significant difference in scoring.

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TPC River Highlands was designed by famed golf course designer Pete Dye. One trend you may want to look at as you compose your Draftkings player pools for the Travelers Championship is to evaluate how golfers have performed on Pete Dye courses previously.

For me personally, I won’t place a great deal of emphasis on past performances on Dye designed courses. However, if I have two players that are tied in my model for selection into my Draftkings player pool for the week I will use the Dye course performance statistic as a tie breaker.

A few examples of PGA Tour events that are played on Pete Dye courses annually are The Players (TPC Sawgrass), The Zurich Classic (TPC Louisiana), and the RBC Heritage (Harbour Town Golf Links).

I am focusing on the following statistics this week: par 4 scoring, scoring tee to green, and strokes gained approach.

Now let’s get to my Draftkings Selections for the Travelers Championship!

Bubba Watson (8,900) Bubba is a golfer that prefers specific tracks on the PGA Tour. If you look at his results through the years he always seems to play well at specific events. Bubba actually has 8 tournament wins at 3 different tournaments. Watson has won The Genesis at Riviera three times, The Travelers three times, and of course the Masters at Augusta National three times.

Mr. Watson certainly fits the narrative for course horse when it comes to TPC River Highlands. Bubba’s previous results at this event are outstanding. Here are some of Bubba’s results at the Travelers Championship that popped off the page for me: 2018-Won, 2016-25th, 2015-Won, 2013-4th, 2012-2nd, 2010-Won, 2009-14th, and 2008-6th.

In 12 appearances at The Travelers Championship Bubba has a career scoring average of 67.48 at this golf course. That is impressive.

Bubba currently ranks 2nd on the PGA Tour in strokes gained off the tee and 29th in strokes gained tee to green.

I recognize that Bubba just missed the cut at the U.S. Open. Some may argue that his current form is a concern. That is fine. They are entitled to that opinion. For me, it is not a concern. That is classic Bubba Watson.

I also think Watson presents great value with a DraftKings price of only $8,900.

Jason Kokrak (8,300) Kokrak has performed at a high level the majority of 2019. He has made an impressive 16 of 16 cuts this year. His consistency of making cuts brings reliability to your DraftKings lineups.

Additionally, I like the fact that Kokrak performed well at The RBC Heritage earlier this year, placing 16th. The RBC Heritage is played at Harbour Town Golf Links which is another short tree lined classical golf course that I think correlates well to this week’s track.

Kokrak currently ranks 11th in strokes gained approach and 20th scoring tee to green on the PGA Tour. I also like the fact the Kokrak did not play the U.S. Open last week. He should be well rested.

Kevin Streelman (8,200) In my opinion, Streelman’s game fits this golf course perfectly. Kevin is a relatively short accurate hitter of the golf ball that does not rely on power to succeed.

Streelman’s past performance at the Travelers Championship appears to support my opinion. Here are a few of Kevin’s outstanding results at the Travelers in the past: Winner-2014, 8th-2017, and 6th in 2011.

As far as current form goes, Kevin certainly checks that box. Streelman has made the cut in his last five events on Tour. Additionally, of those last five events played, Streelman has three top six finishes!

Charley Hoffman (8,100) Hoffman is another PGA Tour player that appears to love playing specific events that are always played on the same course each year.

Hoffman has made the cut in his last 8 attempts at this event. He also has some outstanding previous results at the Travelers Championship. Since 2012, Hoffman has compiled 6 top 25 finishes at the Travelers.

As I reviewed Hoffman’s tournament results for 2019 a few popped for me. Charley finished 2nd at the Valspar Championship in March and 13th at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May. Both of those events are played on golf courses that, in my opinion, correlate quite well with TPC River Highland.

*It should be noted that none of my Draftkings selections for this week are in the top tier. I think fading the top players this week is an excellent strategy to win Draftkings contests. Fading the top players and starting your lineup with Bubba at $8,900 allows you to have more overall quality talent.

If you are looking for additional lower cost players to complete your lineups that I like to make the cut and possibly top 20:

Danny Lee (7,500)

Matt Jones (6,900)

Peter Malnati (6,900)

dark. Next. Viktor Hovland: An Amateur Breaking records at the U.S. Open

As always, good luck! Enjoy the Travelers Championship!

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