Travelers Championship 2023 Tips: Rickie Fowler headlines Bryan Nicholson’s selections

Last week’s US Open ended up crowning the fifth consecutive first-time winner as Wyndham Clark took down his maiden major just six weeks after his first tour win at Quail Hollow. 

He had to hold off several of the game’s biggest stars down the stretch, and many of those guys will be teeing it up again at TPC River Highlands as this week’s Travelers Championship is a designated event. The purse here is a rather enticing $20 million.

Circa 75% of the world's top 30 golfers will descend upon Hartford, including last week’s joint first-round leader Xander Schauffele (13.5 to win), who will bid to defend his title. The ‘big three’ all line up again - Scottie Scheffler unsurprisingly leads the market at 6.8.

The Course

TPC River Highlands is a gem of a course that incorporates elevation changes, risk/reward holes, plenty of water hazards, and greens with run-off areas. The rough is usually thick and scoring can differ dramatically from day-to-day, depending on wind conditions.

We have seen notable final round capitulations from Patrick Cantlay and even three-time winner of the event Bubba Watson in recent years. Cantlay shot 60 here as an amateur and low-scoring is a common theme, as proven by Jim Furyk’s 58 here! Birdies will needed to feature, but they will be achieved from the fairway on this short par 70 track.

The Contenders

Michael Thorbjornsen was in contention here as an amateur last year and eventually finished fourth. Ludvig Aberg is also a notable entry in the field having just turned professional after an excellent amateur career.

However, my first selection will be Sahith Theegala (65 to win, 6.8 to finish top 10) despite the fact that he grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory here last year. The positives are that he is showing progressive form (a rating of 8.4 in my model), culminating with a tied-27th at the US Open, and he ranks first in total birdies, eighth in birdie average and ninth in birdie or better conversion rates.

I also want to side with Rickie Fowler (32 to win, 4.7 to finish top 10), who looks handsomely priced given his obvious return to top form in the all-around department. His return to Butch Harmon has done wonders for his confidence, and his ball striking and putting is back on point. 

He's seventh in strokes gained approach, 11th in putting average and eighth in par breakers. There is no recent history here for Fowler except from two missed cuts, but he owns a course-fit score of 8.55 on my model.

Finally, Tom Kim (48 to win, 4.8 to finish top 10) is another who should love this type of course. He sits eighth in strokes gained approach and second in approaches from 125-150 yards. Fairways need to be found here and Kim ranks fourth in driving accuracy. 

Furthermore, he's 28th in proximity to the hole and seventh in Greens in regulation. The Korean is 30th in par breakers and shot 29 on the front nine on Saturday at the US open, which showed that a return to first gear is approaching.

Travelers Championship 2023 Tips

Rickie Fowler @ 32 (to win), 4.7 (to finish top 10)
Tom Kim @ 48 (to win), 4.8 (to finish top 10)
Sahith Theegala @ 65 (to win), 6.8 (to finish top 10)