Travelers Championship 2021 Predictions, Betting Odds, Picks

• World No. 2 Dustin Johnson defends his title
• Bryson DeChambeau contests favoritism
• Popular TPC River Highlands plays host again

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The Travelers Championship Odds

Odds taken from BetMGM.

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The Travelers Championship Picks

Stewart Cink is the outright pick at +8000 with William Hill

Keegan Bradley can grab the first round lead at +5500 with Unibet

Back Abraham Ancer over Tony Finau in their matchbet at -120 with bet365

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How to Watch The Travelers Championship

The Travelers Championship Profile

When this tournament was held nearly 12 months ago Dustin Johnson was the World No. 6, but his stunning victory, fuelled by a third-round 61, was the first of five wins in 13 appearances that saw him first leap to the top of the rankings and then stay there.

Until Monday, that is.

It was then that Johnson’s inability to finish better than T10th since February, allied to the US Open triumph of Jon Rahm, saw the two men swap places.

This week, that ongoing sluggish form means that Johnson is not the outright favorite – instead, he and Bryson DeChambeau are fighting it out at the top of the market.

The two of them will take on a course that they hope will wilt in the face of their big-hitting, but it’s not always been that way.

True, Bubba Watson is a three-time winner, but more often than not the title is claimed by players who can take advantage of a shortish track.

Among those to have triumphed in the last 10 years by hitting short irons close and/or utilizing a smart scrambling game are Marc Leishman, Ken Duke, Kevin Streelman, Russell Knox, and Chez Reavie.

Above all, TPC River Highlands provides a fun test in the week after the grind of the US Open: it has wide fairways and accessible but tricky greens.

Winners tend to excel tee-to-green and most will do that by hitting those shorter than typical approach shots close to the pin.

They will also be competent at mopping up pars when they miss the putting surfaces and will need to go on a run of birdies at some point – the scoring will be a lot lower than last week.

Super Cink Can Contend Again

It’s been a spectacular 2020/21 season for the veteran Stewart Cink who claimed a first victory for 11 years at September’s Safeway Open, and then he made it two wins in the campaign with an even more stunning triumph in The Heritage the week after the Masters.

I’ve never played with the control I’m playing with right now. I’m loving playing golf. Life is in a good spot for me. I’m having a blast.

Stewart Clink after finishing T19th at Augusta National

A week later that went up a notch. He’d said in the past that he plays good golf in the week after a major and he did exactly that, grabbing a five-shot halfway lead and never looking like giving it away.

The key that week was that he had superb form at Harbour Town (two wins) and the track was also short enough to allow him to contend.

Guess what? He’s made every cut since that win, including last week in the US Open.

Can post-major lightning strike twice? Why not, because his record at TPC River Highlands is eerily similar to that at Harbour Town (with two wins).

There’s no doubt that expecting the win might be a little optimistic, but we claimed top prize last week with our outright tip of US Open champion Jon Rahm.

We can aim high at a big price, especially given that William Hill offer him at +8000 with the ‘each way’ option paying a generous eight places.

Take Bradley to Jump From the Blocks

It’s been a good start to the summer for Keegan Bradley, with second place in the Valspar Championship followed by top 20s in the Wells Fargo Championship and PGA Championship.

But all of those performances have been built on super-low scores on Thursday.

He found himself two clear of the field after a 64 at Innisbrook, tied second after an opening 66 at Quail Hollow, and tied second again following a 69 at Kiawah Island.

Now he finds himself preparing for a first-round at a course where he’s gone sub-70 in the first lap in his last nine visits.

Admittedly, on average, 50 players score in the 60s in round one of this event, but Bradley has recent experience of going really low and four of his last six scores on the course have been 67 or better.

Unibet are offering six places with their first-round market and Bradley is the pick at an attractive +5500.

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Abraham has the Ancer

Tony Finau makes so many top 10s that when he rocks up to a venue where he hasn’t landed one – in five attempts – we ought to take note.

The big friendly giant has recorded top 10s in 40% of his last 25 starts, in 40% of his last 50, and in 36% of his last 100 – that’s awesome consistency.

Compare and contrast with a River Highlands logbook that reads: T25th, T25th, T17th, missed cut, missed cut.

So if we’re going to take him on this week, who’s the man?

Brooks Koepka has been commonly matched up with him this week, but he admitted last week that he finds regular events difficult to concentrate on.

So step forward Abraham Ancer who has finished tied eighth and T11th in the last two renewals of the event and also leads Finau 4-1 in their last seven head-to-heads.

Back him at -120 with bet365 to make it five.