PGA DFS: Top Cash Game Picks for the Travelers Championship

For the eighth and final Signature Event of the season, the Travelers Championship will be played at TPC River Highlands (par 70, 6,844 yards, Bentgrass/Poa greens) in Cromwell, Connecticut. Keegan Bradley (-15) won the Travelers by one shot a year ago, and TPC River Highlands has been the home of the Travelers since 1984. As a Signature Event, the Travelers features a limited field of 72 golfers competing for a $20 million purse, and there will be no cut.

The PGA DFS Breakdown offers data-driven analysis for each week’s slate, using the FantasyLabs Tools and metrics to highlight notable golfers.

I’ll be highlighting the best cash game/single-entry plays on the DraftKings main slate, but these players are often great options in any contest.

My analysis will frequently reference Strokes Gained, a set of proprietary metrics generated by the PGA TOUR using millions of data points to calculate how many shots, on average, it takes a player to get the ball in the hole from every distance and situation.

Strokes Gained is now available in the FantasyLabs PGA Models.

There are a variety of Strokes Gained-related metrics, but the six main categories you need to know include:

• Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (SG: Off-the-Tee)
• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: Approach)
• Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green (SG: Around-the-Green)
• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: Putting)
• Strokes Gained: Ball-Striking (SG: Ball-Striking), which is SG: Off-the-Tee + SG: Approach
• Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (SG: Tee-to-Green), which is SG: Ball-Striking + SG: Around-the-Green

Don’t forget to check out two key metrics in our models — Perfect% and SimLeverage. You can find an explainer on those metrics here.

The Cliffs Notes version is that you can use SimLeverage to quickly find leverage plays in tournaments, while Perfect% is great for finding the best price-considered plays for cash games.

And don’t forget to utilize our various PGA DFS tools like our Lineup Optimizer, Lineup Builder, PGA Correlation Dashboard, and our Trends tool.

The following players listed are based on DraftKings scoring and pricing.

PGA DFS Cash Game Thoughts

DraftKings $10,000 Range

Xander Schauffele ($10,200)

I wouldn’t fault anyone for going with Scottie Scheffler in cash games this week; I simply prefer builds that begin with Schauffele and a player from the $9,000 range, instead of foregoing that range completely if I roster Scheffler. Schauffele finished T11 at the U.S. Open last week while gaining strokes across the board at Shinnecock, marking his sixth top-12 finish in his last eight starts. Schauffele ranks top 30 in SG:APP, SG:OTT, and par-4 performance this season, and his resume at TPC River Highlands is excellent. Schauffele has finished inside the top 20 in 6 of 8 starts at this Pete Dye design, including a two-shot win in 2022. Schauffele has shot a 7-under 63 three times at TPC River Highlands, and he ranks sixth in this field in Strokes Gained per round at this course. Additionally, Schauffele ranks fourth in this field in Strokes Gained per round at venues in the Northeast.

Now available: our PGA DFS SimLabs Lineup Generator that creates advanced DFS lineups using the power of simulation.

DraftKings $9,000 Range

Wyndham Clark ($9,400)

While things got interesting in the final round, Clark still secured his second U.S. Open win at Shinnecock this past week. Clark opened the major with a tournament-low 6-under 64, and his last four starts now read first, third, T11, and first. When we compare this field’s last 24 rounds, Clark ranks first in SG:T2G, even ahead of Scheffler. His resume at TPC River Highlands isn’t eye-popping, but he has finished inside the top 17 in 3 of 8 starts here. Nonetheless, Clark is on an incredible run right now, and seeing him priced this low is surprising.

Justin Thomas ($9,100)

Thomas has found his groove after some mediocre play earlier this season, carding six straight top-25 finishes. The 33-year-old gained strokes on approach and with his putter during his T17 finish at Shinnecock last week, and he ranks fourth in SG:T2G when we compare this field’s last 24 rounds. Now, heading to TPC River Highlands, where he has been great in the past, Thomas is an awesome target at $9,100. The Alabama product has finished inside the top 10 in 4 of 10 starts at TPC River Highlands – three of which have come the last three years – and he has shot an 8-under 62 two times at this track.

DraftKings $8,000 Range

Keegan Bradley ($8,400)

Hailing from Vermont and only about 2.5 hours north of TPC River Highlands, Bradley considers the Travelers his home event and takes it very seriously. Not only did he win at TPC River Highlands last season, Bradley won here in 2023 as well. He hasn’t missed this event since 2011, and he has produced seven top-25 finishes in 15 starts at TPC River Highlands. Bradley ranks fourth in this field in Strokes Gained per round at the par 70, and he is in compelling form right now, missing only one cut in his last 10 starts and posting four top-20 finishes during this span.

Aaron Rai ($8,000)

Rai has improved in each of his first three starts at TPC River Highlands, finishing T40, T24, and T17 and playing the best golf of his career right now; the Englishman should once again post a career-best finish at this venue. Rai has finished T19 or better in four of his last five starts, including his three-shot win at the PGA Championship and a T11 at the U.S. Open last week. Rai gained strokes in every major category, and he shot under par in 2 of 4 rounds at the grueling Shinnecock. Rai ranks second in this field in Strokes Gained per round at Northeast courses, and he is severely underpriced at just $8,000.

DraftKings $7,000 Range

Brian Harman ($7,800)

Harman has made 13 of 16 cuts this season with four top-25 finishes, and he just finished a respectable T32 at the U.S. Open last week. The main sell here, though, is Harman’s tremendous resume at TPC River Highlands. The veteran has finished inside the top 10 in seven of his past eight starts at the par 70, and Harman ranks second only to Scheffler in Strokes Gained per round at TPC River Highlands. Harman posted an 8-under 62 at this track just two years ago, and him tallying another top-10 finish at the Travelers this week would surprise no one.

Alex Fitzpatrick ($7,700)

Fitzpatrick has never competed at TPC River Highlands before, but the Englishman is playing very well right now and is tough to ignore at this price tag. Fitzpatrick won the Hero Indian Open in March and then earned his PGA Tour status in his next start by winning the team-based Zurich Classic with his brother Matt. Including this victory, Fitzpatrick has carded seven top-25 finishes in eight starts on the PGA Tour. Just last week, he finished T23 in his U.S. Open debut. Fitzpatrick hasn’t played enough events to rank officially on the PGA Tour, but his 1.38 Strokes Gained per round is the fifth-best average on the circuit this season.

Hideki Matsuyama ($7,300)

Matsuyama has finished inside the top 30 in all three of his starts at TPC River Highlands while shooting under par in all but one of his 12 rounds at the track. The former Masters champion ranks ninth in this field in Strokes Gained per round at TPC River Highlands, and he has been rock solid this season, missing no cuts in 15 starts and posting seven top-25 finishes. Matsuyama’s irons have been strong, ranking 27th in SG:APP, and he also ranks 16th in proximity to the hole on approach shots from 150–175 yards, which bodes very well for TPC River Highlands. 28.1% of the approach shots at this course over the last five years have come from 150–175 yards, compared to the PGA Tour average of 20%.

DraftKings $6,000 Range

Eric Cole ($6,800)

Cole is coming off a missed cut at the RBC Canadian Open, but this was a product of just one bad round. Cole sat in a tie for first after a 6-under 64 in the first round at TPC Toronto, but then he blew up with a 6-over 76 in the second round. Cole was on fire before this, and forgetting about this one round is the right move this week with him priced so low. Cole had made seven straight cuts before the RBC Canadian Open with four top-10 finishes during this span, including the playoff loss to Russell Henley at the Charles Schwab Challenge last month. Cole ranks third in SG:T2G when we compare this field’s last 24 rounds, and in his three starts at TPC River Highlands, Cole has finished T24, T48, and WD. The WD came last year and was very unfortunate, as Cole withdrew prior to the final round when he sat in 14th place on the leaderboard. Cole has shot under par in 9 of 11 rounds at TPC River Highlands, including four rounds of 65 or lower, so he clearly knows how to get around this Dye design well.

Ryan Fox ($6,600)

Fox finished T17 in his Travelers debut last season, and his strong season continued at the U.S. Open last week, finishing T23, including a closing-round 2-under 68. Fox gained strokes in every major category at Shinnecock, and for the season, he has now made 11 of 13 cuts and finished inside the top 30 nine times. Fox would have been viable with a $7,000 salary this week, and the underrated veteran is one of the best values on the slate at only $6,600.

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Pictured: Alex Fitzpatrick
Photo credit: Imagn