The 2019 Travelers Championship gets underway on Thursday and there are several must-see groups teeing off at TPC River Highlands. Phil Mickelson, a two-time winner of this event, will be paired with two former Travelers Championship victors: Jordan Spieth (2017) and Marc Leishman (2012). Mickelson begins at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday, one of the latest 2019 Travelers Championship tee times. Bryson DeChambeau and Jason Day will be playing alongside Paul Casey, who's finished in the top five three times in four Travelers Championship starts. Meanwhile, Tony Finau and Brooks Koepka, the favorite in the current 2019 Travelers Championship odds at 15-2, join defending champion and three-time winner Bubba Watson for the first two rounds. Watson tees off bright and early at 7:45 a.m. ET. Before locking in any 2019 Travelers Championship picks on these pros or any others, you need to see the PGA predictions from the proven golf model at SportsLine.
SportsLine's prediction model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has nailed the last two majors entering the weekend. It predicted Gary Woodland's first career major championship at the U.S. Open even though he wasn't the favorite entering the weekend. The result: Woodland held off a late charge from Koepka and won by a resounding three strokes. In fact, Woodland at 85-1 to win was one of the model's top picks. The model also called Koepka's historic victory at the 2019 PGA Championship, predicting he'd hold his lead in the home stretch. In all, their advanced computer model has nailed a whopping six majors entering the weekend, and anyone who has followed it is way up.
Now that the 2019 Travelers Championship field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times and the results were surprising. One huge shocker the model is calling for: Spieth, the 2017 champion and one of the top Vegas favorites, doesn't even crack the top 10.
Spieth is coming off a disappointing performance at the U.S. Open where he finished 65th after shooting three rounds over par. Despite his poor performance at Pebble Beach, the 11-time PGA Tour winner has had success at TPC River Highlands in recent years and will enter the Travelers Championship 2019 full of confidence after finishing in the top 10 in three of his last four starts on the PGA Tour.
However, the 25-year-old has failed to win a tournament since his triumph at the 2017 Open Championship, and he's finished outside the top 25 in all but five of his 17 starts this season. His troubles can be directly attributed to his inability to find the fairway off the tee. He enters the Travelers 2019 ranked 197th in driving accuracy percentage (53.64), which could cause plenty of trouble at TPC River Highlands. He's not a strong pick to win it all and there are far better values in this loaded 2019 Travelers Championship field.
Another surprise: Louis Oosthuizen, a 31-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the title. He's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday.
Boasting an Official World Golf Ranking just outside the top 20, the 36-year-old South African comes to TPC River Highlands playing extremely well after finishing seventh at the U.S. Open last week.
Oosthuizen's strong finish at Pebble Beach should come as no surprise. In fact, Oosthuizen has recorded four top-10 finishes this season already. His driving accuracy percentage is what makes him a strong play this week at TPC River Highlands. He currently ranks 21st on the PGA Tour in that department, hitting almost 70 percent of fairways off the tee. That's helped him reach 65 percent of greens in regulation, which results in more birdie opportunities. He's a long shot with the potential to move up the 2019 Travelers Championship leaderboard in short order.
Also, the model says six other golfers with 2019 Travelers Championship odds of 20-1 or longer will make a strong run at the title. Anyone who backs these underdogs could hit it big.
So who wins the 2019 Travelers Championship? And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the latest 2019 Travelers Championship odds below and visit SportsLine now to see the full Travelers Championship projected leaderboard from the model that's nailed two straight golf majors, and find out.
Brooks Koepka 15-2
Patrick Cantlay 12-1
Jordan Spieth 14-1
Francesco Molinari 18-1
Paul Casey 18-1
Bubba Watson 20-1
Jason Day 20-1
Justin Thomas 20-1
Bryson DeChambeau 27-1
Tony Finau 27-1
Tommy Fleetwood 29-1
Louis Oosthuizen 31-1
Marc Leishman 37-1
Patrick Reed 37-1
Phil Mickelson 37-1
Brandt Snedeker 41-1
Byeong Hun An 50-1
Charley Hoffman 50-1
