Travelers Championship Key Fantasy Stats

Travelers Championship

June 20th – 23rd, 2024

TPC River Highlands

Cromwell,, CT

Par: 70 / Yardage: 6,852

Purse: $20 million

with $4,000,000 to the winner

Defending Champion:
Keegan Bradley

by Sal Johnson

Founder, Chief Data Officer, GOLFstats

E-mail me at:
sal@golfstats.com

This is based on the most vital stats from TPC River Highlands, data from last year’s Travelers, and data from all the players in the field with stats from 2024.
The most important thing to realize about TPC River Highlands is that it’s a very forgiving course; you don’t kill many brain cells in getting your way around it, and if you drive it long and reasonably straight, you can win. Just look at the roll call of past champions, guys like Xander Schauffele, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, Kenny Perry, Phil Mickelson, Kevin Streelman, Marc Leishman, J.J. Henry, and defending champion Keegan Bradley. These guys hit it far and chase it for their next shot. This doesn’t eliminate short hitters; guys like 2021 winner Harris English, Brad Faxon, Woody Austin, Chez Reavie, and Olin Browne have won despite being short hitters. In 2016, Russell Knox won; he is classified as being in the middle, a person who can give it some stick but is in the middle of the pack (in 2016, he ranked 108th in driving distance). Last year’s winner, Keegan Bradley, is not known for being a big winner on tour, but when he does, it’s big tournaments like the PGA Championship in 2011, The WGC-Bridgestone in 2012, the BMW Championship in 2018 and the Zozo Championship at the end of 2022. The same was true for the 2022 winner, Xander Schauffele, who had won two months before, but that was the Zurich Team event. Before that, he won the 2021 Olympics, which isn’t a PGA Tour event. You had to return to Schauffele’s 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions for his last individual PGA Tour title. Still, Schauffele was playing well going into the Travelers, finishing T-14th at the U.S. Open the week before. He was hot; after winning the Zurich with partner Patrick Cantlay, Schauffele was in the top 20 in his four starts between the Zurich and Travelers. Harris English came into the Travelers on a high the previous year after finishing 3rd at the U.S. Open. He had won at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and was having a good year; with English winning the Travelers, he made his year great. In 2020, Dustin Johnson won by a shot. Johnson’s game was in flux due to injury. After the break from the pandemic, Johnson missed the cut at Charles Schwab and then was T-17th at Hilton Head. So it wasn’t shocking to see Johnson win, but after that, he had some problems with his game before that got fixed, and he finished up the year on a high. In 2019, Chez Reavie won by four shots. He was hot coming into the week; he was T-3rd at the U.S. Open at Pebble. Now, playing well may not be a clue when you consider that in 2018, Bubba Watson won the week before he missed the cut at the U.S. Open, shooting rounds of 77-74. The year before, in 2017, Jordan Spieth won; the week before, he finished T-35th at the U.S. Open. So it doesn’t matter how a player is coming into the Travelers, but like anything else, those playing well coming into the Travelers should do well.

Of course, when looking at the characteristics of players who could win the Travelers, your first choice should be guys who have hit it a long way, guys who are playing well right now and showing some promise.
With the Travelers being the last of eight “signature events” this year and last year being a designated event, the field is the best it’s ever been. So, with this being a fun event, in past years, they have had massive crowds of 80,000 on the weekend, which has brought a lot of excitement.
In looking at our four categories, we have to go outside the box. Remember, this isn’t a tough course; it played to a 68.20 average last year, making it the 43rd hardest course (out of 58 on tour last year). Hitting it long is essential; the previous year, it ranked 17th on tour, with an average of all drives being 290.2. But you don’t have to be accurate; it ranked 38th on tour last year with a 62.48 of the drives into the fairway, so driving it straight is optional. Now, making birdies is essential, as 1,844 were made the previous year,
with only seven courses in 2023 making more birdies, which is suitable for a course with only two par 5s. To score low, you must play well on its 12 par 4s; last year, only nine other courses had a lower par 4 average of 3.94. So you can see what it takes to win at TPC River Highlands.
As we said, the scoring average of the TPC River Highlands field last year was 68.40, and it was the 43rd hardest course on the PGA Tour of the 58 courses charted in 2023. Going deeper since they have been keeping scoring averages in 1990, it is the easiest the course has ever played; the next easiest was in 2011 when it played to a 68.57 average. A lot had to do with that. First, it had the best players at the time in the field. The weather was perfect for scoring conditions, with light rain on Friday and Saturday, making the course play easier, along with low winds each day.
Here is a look at the scoring average at TPC River Highlands for the last few years:
*2022 – Average was 69.39, was the 22nd hardest of the 50 courses that year
*2021 – Average was 69.67; it was the 22nd hardest of the 51 courses that year
*2020 – Average was 68.63; it was the 32nd hardest of the 41 courses that year
*2019 – Average was 69.60, was 25th hardest of 49 courses that year. In the history of the PGA Tour, it’s one of the lowest-scoring averages for any event.
So, the course is the type that you have to think low and make a lot of birdies on. Look for super low scoring this week since the temperatures will be high, at around 90 each day. However, it will rain every day, keeping the course very soft, so you will not get in much trouble off the Tee, and the greens will be easy to hit and putt on.

So our first category is Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green because those that do well on the course do well in this stat and have a significant advantage. Last year, the field hit an average of 72.64% of the greens and ranked 46th (only 12 other courses hit more greens). At the same time, the course had an average of 62.48% of the fairways being hit, which ranked 38th (20 courses had more fairways hit). So this is important in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green, our top stats to look for. Last year’s winner, Keegan Bradley, ranked T-5th in Greens in Regulation, hitting 60 of 72 greens, and was T-29th in Fairways hit with 37 of 56 fairways hit. He was 7th for the week in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green, gaining 2.174 strokes per round.
Here is a look at the Greens in Regulation and fairways hit at TPC River Highlands and how it corresponds to the winners in the last few years in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green:
*2022 – TPC River Highlands ranked 38th in Greens in Regulation and 40th in Driving accuracy. Winner Xander Schauffele was 1st in Greens in Regulation, hitting 63 of 72 greens, and was T-9th in Fairways hit with 42 of 56 fairways hit. With that, he was 8th in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, picking up 2.112 shots per round.
*2021 – TPC River Highlands ranked 34th in Greens in Regulation and 32nd in Driving accuracy. Winner Harris English was T-15th in Greens in Regulation, hitting 54 of 72 greens, and was T-11th in Fairways hit with 42 of 56 fairways hit. With that, he was 3rd in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, picking up 2.007 shots per round.
*2020 – TPC River Highlands ranked 34th in Greens in Regulation and 29th in Driving accuracy. Winner Dustin Johnson was T-18th in Greens in Regulation, hitting 56 of 72 greens, and was T-47th in Fairways hit with 35 of 56 fairways hit. He was 6th in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, picking up 1.826 shots per round.
*2019 – TPC River Highlands ranked 27th in Greens in Regulation and 42nd in Driving accuracy. Winner Chez Reavie was T-7th in Greens in Regulation, hitting 54 of 72 greens, and was T-3rd in Fairways hit with 47 of 56 fairways hit. With that, he was 1st in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, picking up 2.865 shots per round.

Our 2nd category is Par Breakers because making eagles and birdies is significant. Last year at TPC River Highlands, 1,844 birdies were made, which ranked 51st in the number of birdies made for the event. There were 44 eagles made last year, which ranked T-47th. Thanks to this, 23.73% of the holes were played under par (par breakers) as the Travelers ranked 44th in par breakers. Winner Keegan Bradley was 1st with 27 birdies and no eagles. He was 1st in Par Breakers at 37.50%.

Here is a look at the Par Breakers of the Travelers winners in recent years:
*2022 – Made 1,625 birdies (37th hardest) and 25 eagles (T-17th) as 20.33% of holes were under par, making it the 21st hardest of the 50 courses that year.
Winner Xander Schauffele made 22 birdies (T-3rd) and no eagles, as 30.56% of the holes played were under par, and he ranked 4th in Par Breakers.
*2021 – Made 1,608 birdies (40th hardest) and 26 eagles (T-16th) as 19.31% of holes played were under par, making it the 19th hardest of the 51 courses that year.
Winner Harris English made 18 birdies (T-9th) and no eagles as 25.00% of the holes played were under par, ranking him T-10th in Par Breakers.
*2020 – Made 1,774 birdies (37th hardest) and 28 eagles (T-16th) with 22.45% of holes played under par, making it the 15th hardest of the 41 courses that year.
Winner Dustin Johnson made 25 birdies (T-2nd) and no eagles as 34.72% of the holes played were under par, ranking him T-2nd in Par Breakers.
*2019 – Made 1,579 birdies (36th hardest) and 28 eagles (T-19th) as 19.24% of holes played were under par, making it the 15th hardest of the 49 courses this year.
Winner Chez Reavie made 20 birdies (T-4th) and no eagles as 27.78% of the holes played were under par, ranking him T-5th in Par Breakers.
So the winner has to make a lot of birdies and eagles.

Our third important stat is scrambling, and you can see why. Since the course is compatible with low scoring, you can see that if you miss a lot of greens, you better get it up and down to play well. Last year, TPC River Highlands ranked 19th out of 58 courses in scrambling, getting it up and down 57.33% of the time. Winner Keegan Bradley ranked T-22nd, getting up and down on 8 of the 12 greens he missed.
Here is a look at the scrambling of Travelers winners in recent years:
*2022 – TPC River Highlands ranked 16th in scrambling out of the 50 courses that tracked scrambling for the year, getting it up and down 56.19% of the time.
Winner Xander Schauffele was T20th, getting it up and down 6 of the 9 greens he missed.
*2021 – TPC River Highlands ranked 20th in scrambling out of 51 courses that tracked scrambling for the year, getting it up and down 57.64% of the time.
Winner Harris English was T-2nd, getting it up and down on 14 of the 18 greens he missed.
*2020 – TPC River Highlands finished 20th in scrambling out of the 41 courses that tracked scrambling this year, getting it up and down 58.37% of the time.
Winner Dustin Johnson was T-33rd, getting it up and down 10 of the 16 greens he missed.
*2019 – TPC River Highlands was ranked 21st in scrambling out of the 49 courses that tracked scrambling for the year, getting it up and down 58.57% of the time.
Winner Chez Reavie ranked 2nd, getting it up and down 15 of the 18 greens he missed.
The winner has to do a great job of getting it up and down on the greens he misses.

Our final category is the par 4 average; this is the heart and soul of low scoring at TPC River Highlands since there are 12 of them, and we can see how to score low: you have to attack the par 4s. Last year, TPC River Highlands was T-49th ( out of 58th courses)in this stat, playing the par 4s to an average of 3.94. Winner Keegan Bradley was 16 under on the par 4s and was T-1st.
Here is a look at the playing the par 4s of Travelers winners in recent years:
*2022 – TPC River Highlands ranked T-32nd in Par 4 average out of the 50 courses with an average of 3.99. Winner Xander Schauffele was 10 under on the par 4s and was T-4th.
*2021 – TPC River Highlands ranked T-32nd in Par 4 average out of 51 courses with an average of 4.00. Winner Harris English was 7 under on the par 4s and was 6th.
*2020 – TPC River Highlands ranked T-34th in Par 4 average out of 41 courses with an average of 3.95. Winner Dustin Johnson was 14 under on the par 4s and was 1st.
*2019 – TPC River Highlands ranked T-24th in Par 4 average out of 49 courses with an average of 4.02. Winner Chez Reavie was 13 under on the par 4s and was 1st.
The winner has to do a great job of getting it up and down on the greens he misses.

So you can see, going low will be very important in winning this week.

*Strokes Gained Tee-to-green: The combination of distance off the tee, accuracy, and the ability to hit greens in regulation.

*Par Breakers: Who makes the most birdies and eagles per round.

*Scrambling: The percent of time a player misses the green in regulation, but still makes par or better.

*Par 4 averages: Players that do the best on par 4s.

Of the 70 players in the field, 72 have stats on the PGA Tour for 2024.  Rory McIlroy has withdrawn.

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