The PGA Tour remains in the Northeast this week for the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. Long considered one of the most popular stops on the schedule among players, caddies and fans alike, the Travelers has become a fixture on the summer calendar thanks to its elite fields, tremendous atmosphere and consistently dramatic finishes. It is the final signature event of the 2026 season, featuring a limited-field, no-cut format and many of the best players in the world competing for a $20-million purse.
TPC River Highlands is a classic, tree-lined par 70 that rewards creativity and precision far more than brute force. The course underwent a significant redesign by Pete Dye in the 1980s before Bobby Weed later refined and modernized the layout, helping create the strategic test players face today. Many of Dye’s trademarks remain evident throughout the course, with preferred angles off the tee, subtle risk-reward decisions and an emphasis on shot-making over power. At just under 6,850 yards, it is one of the shortest venues on the PGA Tour schedule, yet it remains a complete test.
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- Best In State
TPC River Highlands has a long history hosting the annual Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour, dating back to 1984, when Pete Dye redesigned nine of the existing holes (formerly Edgewood Country Club). Then one of Dye’s former associates, Bobby Weed, returned in 1989 to not only renovate the existing course but add holes as part of a newly built home-development project, one of the first of its kind. Weed has continued to return to renovate the course over the years, including most recently a substantial bunker project in 2016. View Course
Players are asked to shape shots in both directions, work their way into proper angles off the tee and consistently attack with wedges and short irons into small, tiered green complexes. The rough is penal, the greens place a premium on distance control and subtle doglegs and changes in direction force players to think their way around the golf course rather than simply overpower it
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As the final signature event of the season, the Travelers Championship once again features one of the strongest fields of the year. Seventy-two players will tee it up at TPC River Highlands in the no-cut format, including 49 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking. The only notable absence is Rory McIlroy, who elected to skip a signature event for the third time this season.
Here are my favorite plays and fades in each price range for DraftKings contests for the 2026 Travelers Championship.
$9,000+ range Play: Collin Morikawa, $9,200 
Christian Petersen
It’s been a roller-coaster season for Morikawa, who has spent much of the year trying to rebound from a back injury suffered early in the campaign. After losing strokes ball-striking at both the Cadillac and PGA Championship, he’s trending upward again after a T-17 finish at last week’s U.S. Open, where he gained 5.3 strokes off the tee and on approach.
The encouraging development has been the putter. Long viewed as the one weakness in his game, Morikawa has gained strokes putting in six of his past eight starts and appears far more comfortable on the greens than he did earlier this season. If that trend continues, TPC River Highlands sets up as an ideal venue. The course rewards elite iron play, positional driving and wedge proficiency far more than raw power, all areas that have historically been strengths for Morikawa.
Despite back-to-back disappointing results in the majors, Henley is still flashing loads of upside in winning the Charles Schwab Challenge, finishing T-3 at the Masters and adding five other top-20 finishes in 2026.
This is the type of course that has historically brought out Henley’s best. Accuracy off the tee is prioritized over distance, wedge play is critical and scrambling becomes important whenever greens are missed. Those are all strengths of his game. He nearly broke through here last year with a runner-up finish and has added four other top-20 finishes at the Travelers Championship during his career. On a layout that rewards precision and patience, few players in this field fit the profile better than Henley.
Fade: Wyndham Clark, $9,400
Last week’s U.S. Open champion checks in at his highest salary in quite some time, and understandably so. Clark has now won twice in his past four starts and added a solo third-place finish during that stretch, putting together one of the strongest recent runs in the field.
The concern is whether TPC River Highlands is the ideal fit for his skill set. Much of Clark’s success comes from his ability to gain significant strokes with driver in hand, but this is a course where many players are forced to club down and prioritize positioning over power. On shorter, more positional layouts that emphasize accuracy and less-than-driver off the tee, his results have been far less impressive. Over his past 36 rounds on comparable courses, he is losing 0.34 strokes per round, per BetspertsGolf.com’s Rabbit Hole, the worst mark of any player in this price range.
Could he overcome that with his current form? Absolutely. But at a premium salary coming off an emotionally and physically draining major victory, there are enough course-fit concerns to look elsewhere in tournaments.
BetspertsGolf.com
Per the Rabbit Hole. SG average over the past 36 rounds on shorter, less than driver courses.
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$8,000+ range Play: Ben Griffin $8,200 
Kate McShane
I’m fully buying back into Griffin this week after it appears he has rediscovered the form that made him one of the breakout performers of 2025. He has multiple top-five finishes over the past six weeks and continued his strong run with a T-17 at the U.S. Open. More importantly, the ball-striking trends are moving in the right direction, as he has gained strokes on approach in each of his last three starts.
TPC River Highlands should be an excellent fit for his skill set. Griffin ranks third in this field in SG/total on shorter, positional courses over his past 36 rounds, gaining an impressive 1.46 strokes per round. From a leverage standpoint, with several bigger names surrounding him in this salary range, ownership should be very modest.
Fade: Viktor Hovland, $8,500
After missing back-to-back cuts in majors for just the second time in his career, Hovland arrives at TPC River Highlands with more questions than answers. He spent much of the weekend at Shinnecock Hills grinding on the range as he continues his ongoing pursuit of perfecting his swing, a process that has produced flashes of brilliance but very little consistency.
The iron play remains elite. Even during this recent stretch of disappointing results, Hovland has continued to gain strokes on approach at an impressive rate. The problems have come everywhere else. He has been erratic off the tee and continues to battle short-game issues, losing strokes either around the green or putting in all but three starts this season. Those concerns are magnified at TPC River Highlands, where a sharp short game is often needed to separate from the field. In 19 career rounds at this event, Hovland has lost 0.80 strokes per round combined around the green and putting.
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$7,000+ range Play: Hideki Matsuyama, $7,300 
Christian Petersen
It’s not often you see a player of Matsuyama’s ability priced this low. Though he hasn’t had a top-10 finish since February, I still have more confidence in his upside with four guaranteed rounds than anyone else in this range. Using the Rabbit Hole to search for performance on Pete Dye courses, Matsuyama ranks fourth in this field over the past five years. In his three career starts at TPC River Highlands, he has gained strokes across the board in each category, finishing inside the top 30 each time.
$6,000+ range Play: Sepp Straka, $6,800 
Icon Sportswire
Similar to Matsuyama, Straka profiles as a classic buy-low candidate this week. The recent results have been disappointing, with four consecutive underwhelming finishes, but the underlying iron play remains largely intact. He has gained strokes on approach in six of his past seven starts and continues to rank among the better wedge players in this field.
TPC River Highlands should provide an opportunity for a rebound. Straka has consistently performed well on shorter, positional layouts that place a premium on accuracy, wedge play and birdie conversion rather than power. Over his last nine starts on comparable courses, he has recorded six top-15 finishes, highlighted by a T-2 at Pebble Beach and a T-8 at The Players earlier this season.
Sign up for the industry’s leading data tool to make golf stats easy to decipher—head to BetspertsGolf.com now and get access to The Rabbit Hole for only $10 for your first month. Use promo code GD10 at sign up for this amazing deal!
Ron Klos (@PGASplits101 on X) is a PGA Tour data analyst for Betsperts Golf.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
