Travelers Championship Betting Preview: Chris Dell's Best Bets, Power Ratings & Stats to Know (THE MOTHER)

Lead golf betting analyst Chris Dell is now +40.4 units on all majors betting this season following another profitable weekend at the U.S. Open in our Betting Predators premium golf picks package. He breaks down his top six bonus best bets, picks and predictions - as well as top golfers to buy and fade - for the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in this FREE article below:

By Chris Dell
@MaddJournalist

Key stats and actionable data points for the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. All rankings below are adjusted for injuries and the current field.

• What: Travelers Championship, PGA Tour (Designated Event)
• Where: TPC River Highlands, Cromwell CT; Par 70 - 6,852 Yards
• When: June 22-25, 2023
• Previous Five Winners (2022-2018): Xander Schauffele (2022), Harris English (2021), Dustin Johnson (2020), Chez Reavie (2019), Bubba Watson (2018)

To formulate our power ratings, as well as top buys and top fades, we will simply tally up the number of “negative quality” traits and “positive quality” traits that shows up for each golfer below.

The net score of “positive trait - negative trait” will determine whether a golfer makes the list as a top buy or a top fade. Any golfer who scores between -1 to +1 will not be listed in the final power ratings. Therefore, we will only show top buys who score +2 or higher, and we will only show top fades who score -2 or lower. When it comes to the LIV, please note that there are far less stats/traits publicly available to track for these golfers.

Because of this, we will add our section for “LIV Top Buys” and “LIV Top Fades” below our main power ratings when these golfers are involved. If you have any questions on how we create these weekly consensus power ratings and how we use them to formulate a majority of our pre-tournament bets, message us on Twitter @BetPredators or send an email to bettingpredators@gmail.com.

Please note: these pre-tournament consensus power ratings below are different from our “in-tournament” live betting model, which you can access as part of our premium golf picks package, which also also includes all of my pre-tournament best bets and live bets, every round, every week.

• All “negative quality” traits for players below will be bolded/italicized
• All other mentions of player names will be considered as “positive quality” traits
• Golfers with an asterisk (*) means that they have both negative + positive quality traits

Abbreviation key

• SG: Strokes Gained
• L24: Last 24
• OWG: Official World Golf
• APP: Approach
• OTT: Off The Tee
• ARG: Around The Green
• PUTT: Putting
• BS: Ball Striking
• T2G: Tee To Green
• DG: Data Golf

Rory McIlroy, coming off a solo second at the U.S. Open, is in prime form for this weekend's Travelers Championship (Photo: PGA Tour)

Chris Dell's Free Picks & Bets

• Rory T20 @ Bet365 -130
• Cantlay T20 @ Bet365 -137
• Power 69th or better @ Bet365 -120

Round 1 Matchup Bets (18 Holes)

• Simpson > List @ Unibet -103

Tournament Matchup Bets

• Laird > Knox @ Bet365 -120 (Scotsman)
• Straka > Schwab @ Bet365 -250 (Austrian)
  

TOP BUYS - TIER 1
Scheffler +37
Rahm +32
Xander +31
Cantlay +27
Morikawa +26

TOP BUYS - TIER 2
*Rory +23
Henley +20
Hovland +18
Fleetwood +16
*Finau +16
*Clark +13

TOP BUYS - TIER 3
R. Moore +11
Si Woo Kim +10
*Fowler +10
*Hideki +10
Sungjae +9
McCarthy +9
Rai +9

TOP BUYS - TIER 4
T. Kim +7
*Homa +7
*Conners +7

TOP BUYS - TIER 5
Fitzpatrick +5
Hubbard +5
Harman +5
*Bradley +5
*Day +5
Lowry +4
Webb +4
B. Griffin +4
Streelman +4
*Putnam +4
*Theegala +4
Scott +3
Kitayama +3
Bennett +3
Martin +3
Grillo +3
Woodland +3
Eckroat +3
*JT +3
Hoge +2
Reavie +2
Herbert +2
Detry +2
Pan +2
D. Wu +2
Smalley +2
Willett +2
*Hoffman +2

TOP FADES - TIER 1
McGreevy -15
Watney -11
Brehm -11

TOP FADES - TIER 2
*Gay -8
Holmes -7
*Kisner -7
*Landry -7
Alexander -6
Dufner -5
Tway -5
Kraft -4
Schwab -4
Stegmaier -4
Streb -3
Pendrith -3
Tarren -3
List -3
*Knox -3
Walker -2
Taylor -2
Mullinax -2

Scottie Scheffler, the world's No. 1 ranked golfer, remains the betting favorite for this week's Travelers Championship (Photo: PGA Tour)

DataGolf Implied Win Probability

1. Scheffler 14.8%
2. Cantlay 8.0%
3. Rahm 6.4%
4. Xander 5.9%
5. Rory 5.8%
6. Hovland 4.1%
7. Morikawa 3.0%
8. Finau 2.5%
9. Henley 2.4%
10. Si Woo Kim 2.2%
11. Sungjae 2.1%
12. Fowler 1.9%
13. Fleetwood 1.9%
14. Day 1.5%
15. Clark 1.4%

NumberFire Win Simulation Model

1. Scheffler 14.0%
2. Rahm 8.1%
3. Cantlay 7.2%
4. Xander 5.9%
5. Rory 5.1%
6. Hovland 4.5%
7. Morikawa 3.9%
8. Finau 3.0%
9. Fowler 2.5%
10. Henley 2.3%
11. Sungjae 2.2%
12. Fleetwood 1.9%
13. Day 1.8%
14. Homa 1.7%
15. T. Kim 1.6%

DataGolf Rankings (Field-Adjusted)

1. Scheffler
2. Rahm
3. Rory
4. Xander
5. Cantlay
6. Hovland
7. Clark
8. Morikawa
9. Finau
10. Fowler
11. Fleetwood
12. Fitzpatrick
13. Henley
14. McCarthy
15. Homa
16. Sungjae
17. Hideki
18. Day
19. Si Woo Kim
20. Young
21. Bradley
22. Scott
23. Conners
24. T. Kim
25. Lowry

OWG Rankings (Field Adjusted)

1. Scheffler
2. Rahm
3. Rory
4. Cantlay
5. Hovland
6. Xander
7. Fitzpatrick
8. Homa
9. Clark
10. Finau
11. Young
12. JT
13. Morikawa
14. Fleetwood
15. Sungjae
16. T. Kim
17. Kitayama
18. Day
19. Theegala
20. Lowry
21. Hideki
22. Bradley
23. Henley
24. Conners
25. Si Woo Kim

Action Network’s Model Rankings

1. Scheffler
2. Xander
3. Henley
4. Rahm
5. Cantlay
6. Fleetwood
7. Rory
8. Finau
9. Hovland
10. Hideki

Betsperts Golf’s Model Rankings

1. Cantlay
2. Hovland
3. Xander
4. Scheffler
5. Rory
6. Fleetwood
7. Rahm
8. Si Woo Kim
9. Morikawa
10. Henley
11. Conners
12. Hideki
13. Lowry
14. Fowler
15. Cole
16. Finau
17. Day
18. Putnam
19. McCarthy
20. Hubbard

Wyndham Clark, fresh from his stunning U.S. Open victory, sets his sights on this week's Travelers Championship (Photo: Getty Images)

SG: APP L24 Rounds (Action Network)

1. Scottie Scheffler (+39.0)
2. Mark Hubbard (+31.0)
3. Collin Morikawa (+30.2)
4. Jon Rahm (+28.1)
5. Hideki Matsuyama (+25.7)

SG: Par-4’s L24 Rounds (Action Network)

1. Scottie Scheffler (+38.9)
2. Xander Schauffele (+36.4)
3. Adam Scott (+34.8)
4. Jon Rahm (+33.4)
5. Viktor Hovland (+32.8)

SG: Ball Striking L24 Rounds (Action Network)

1. Scottie Scheffler (+67.7)
2. Rory McIlroy (+41.1)
3. Patrick Cantlay (+38.7)
4. Corey Conners (+37.4)
5. Collin Morikawa (+36.8)

Course History L36 Rounds (Action Network)

1. Brian Harman (+38.4)
2. Patrick Cantlay (+33.9)
3. Xander Schauffele (+33.7)
4. Ryan Moore (+33.6)
5. Kevin Streelman (+33.3)

SG: Total Pete Dye Designs L24 Rounds (Action Network)

1. Scottie Scheffler (+42.8)
2. Sungjae Im (+42.4)
3. Xander Schauffele (+41.0)
4. Corey Conners (+39.5)
5. Patrick Cantlay (+38.5)

SG: TOTAL AVG 2022-2023 (PGA Tour/NumberFire)

1. Scheffler
2. Rahm
3. Rory
4. Xander
5. Cantlay
6. Fleetwood
7. Homa
8. Finau
9. Fowler
10. Day
11. Hovland
12. Morikawa
13. Clark
14. Fitzpatrick
15. Sungjae
16. Si Woo Kim
17. Hideki
18. McCarthy

–
McGreevy
Kisner
Watney
Landry
Kraft
Brehm
Streb
Herman
Merritt
Dufner
Schwab

SG: APP AVG 2022-2023 (PGA Tour/NumberFire)

1. Scheffler
2. Morikawa
3. Rahm
4. Hoge

–
McGreevy
Landry

SG: OTT AVG 2022-2023 (PGA Tour/NumberFire)

1. Scheffler
2. Rory

–
Watney
Kisner

Driving Accuracy % 2022-2023 (PGA Tour/NumberFire)

1. Henley
2. R. Moore
3. T. Kim
4. Morikawa
5. Si Woo Kim
6. Harman
7. Rai
8. Cantlay

–
Cink
Streb
Alexander
Pendrith
Bramlett
B. An
Walker
Taylor
Malnati
Tway
Tarren
Brehm
Mullinax
Watney

SG: PUTT 2022-2023 (PGA Tour/NumberFire)

1. Ryder
2. McCarthy
3. Homa
4. Hall

–
List
Dufner
Glover
Streb
McGreevy
Hoffman
Woodland

BIRDIE OR BETTER % (PGA Tour/NumberFire)

1. Rahm
2. Cantlay
3. Scheffler
4. Finau
5. Homa

Player Decompositions - Baseline (DataGolf)

1. Scheffler
2. Rahm
3. Rory
4. Xander
5. Cantlay

–
Gay
McGreevy

Player Decompositions - Course History (DataGolf)

1. Harman
2. Streelman
3. R. Moore
4. Hoffman

Player Decompositions - Accuracy (DataGolf)

1. Henley
2. Rai
3. R. Moore

–
Brehm

Player Decompositions - Total Course Fit Adjustments (DataGolf)

1. R. Moore
2. Glover
3. Lingmerth
4. Bennett
5. Reavie
6. Rai
7. Landry
8. Herman

–
Rory
Tway
Min Woo Lee
Theegala
Clark

Player Decompositions - Final Course Fit Adjustments (DataGolf)

1. Scheffler
2. Cantlay
3. Rahm
4. Xander
5. Rory
6. Hovland
7. Morikawa
8. Finau
9. Henley
10. Si Woo Kim
11. Fleetwood
12. Fowler
13. Sungjae

–
Gay
Watney
Holmes
Svoboda
Brehm
McGreevy
Kisner

SKILL RATINGS: ACCURACY (DataGolf)

1. Henley
2. R. Moore
3. Rai

–
Brehm
Watney

SKILL RATINGS: SG TOTAL (DataGolf)

1. Scheffler
2. Rory
3. Rahm
4. Cantlay
5. Xander
6. Hovland

–
Gay
Watney

SKILL RATINGS: SG APP (DataGolf)

1. Scheffler
2. Rahm
3. Morikawa
4. Xander

–
Gay
Landry

Query Tool - Driving Accuracy L6 Months (DataGolf)

1. Svoboda
2. Henley
3. Bennett
4. R. Moore
5. Rai
6. Si Woo Kim
7. Glover

–
Stegmaier
Watney
Brehm
Tarren
Pendrith
Malnati

Query Tool - Driving Accuracy L3 Months (DataGolf)

1. Svoboda
2. Si Woo Kim
3. Bennett
4. Lingmerth
5. R. Moore
6. Henley
7. Glover
8. Rai
9. Ghim
10. Cantlay
11. Blair
12. Martin
13. Putnam
14. Landry

–
Watney
Holmes
Stegmaier
Tway
Brehm
Taylor
Pendrith
Malnati
Tarren
Thorbjornsen
Alexander

Query Tool - SG APP L6 Months (DataGolf)

1. Scheffler
2. Morikawa
3. Rahm
4. Xander
5. Finau

–
Landry
McGreevy
Gay
Kisner
Svoboda

Query Tool - SG APP L3 Months (DataGolf)

1. Scheffler
2. Morikawa
3. Xander
4. Henley
5. Rahm
6. Hideki

–
Gay
Kisner
McGreevy
Landry
Schwab
Yuan
Kraft
Svoboda

Query Tool - SG TOTAL L6 Months (DataGolf)

1. Scheffler
2. Rahm
3. Xander
4. Cantlay
5. Rory
6. Fowler
7. Hovland
8. Morikawa
9. Clark
10. Finau
11. Day
12. Homa
13. Henley
14. Sungjae

–
Stegmaier
Gay
Kisner
McGreevy
Watney
Holmes
Reifers
Landry
Brehm
Knox
Kraft
Alexander

Query Tool - SG TOTAL L3 Months (DataGolf)

1. Scheffler
2. Xander
3. Rory
4. Rahm
5. Cantlay
6. Clark
7. Henley
8. Fowler
9. Hovland
10. Fleetwood
11. Fitzpatrick
12. Morikawa
13. Finau
14. McCarthy

–
Stegmaier
Gay
Kisner
McGreevy
Holmes
Knox
Reifers
Thorbjornsen
Watney
Landry
Alexander
Laird
Herman
Kraft
Schwab

Query Tool - SG PUTT L3 Months (DataGolf)

1. Svoboda
2. Gay
3. Clark
4. McCarthy

–
Glover
McGreevy
Duncan
Mullinax
Dahmen
Sigg
Stallings
Dufner

Query Tool - SG PUTT L6 Months (DataGolf)

1. Svoboda
2. McCarthy
3. Gay
4. Homa

–
McGreevy
Glover
Knox
List
Dufner

Hideki Matsuyama, former Masters champion, is set to continue his solid form at the Travelers Championship (Photo: Andy Lyons)

True Strokes Gained - Course History & Recent Finishes (DataGolf)

1. Thorbjornsen
2. Xander
3. Theegala
4. Rory 19, 11, 12
5. Herbert
6. R. Moore
7. Cantlay 13, 13, 11, 15, 15
8. Fleetwood 46, 13
9. Hughes 25, 76, 3, 51, 42
10. Duncan 46, 54, 32, 43, 33
11. Putnam 46, 13, 57
12. Hubbard 46, 13, 37
13. Power 25, 19, 66, 36
14. Laird 13, 21, 61
15. Blaum 36, 12
16. Gordon 79, 3
17. Lashley 25, 76

–
Champ CUT, CUT
Piercy CUT, CUT
Blair
Walker
Lipsky CUT, CUT
M. Kim CUT, CUT, CUT, CUT
Palmer CUT, CUT, CUT
Schenk CUT, CUT, CUT, CUT, CUT
Homa CUT, CUT, CUT
Gay CUT, CUT, CUT
Higgo CUT, CUT
Fowler CUT, CUT
Conners CUT, CUT
Brehm CUT, CUT
Horschel CUT, CUT

TRUE SG: TOTAL 2023 (DataGolf)

1. Scheffler
2. Rahm
3. Rory
4. Xander
5. Cantlay
6. Hovland

–
McGreevy
Holmes
Brehm

TRUE SG: APP 2023 (DataGolf)

1. Scheffler
2. Morikawa
3. Xander
4. Rahm
5. Finau

–
Landry
McGreevy

TRUE SG: PUTT 2023 (DataGolf)

1. Dufner
2. List
3. Glover
4. McGreevy

Approach Skill 100-150 Yards (DataGolf)

1. Henley
2. JT
3. Morikawa
4. Scheffler
5. Xander
6. Griffin
7. T. Kim
8. Hideki
9. Conners

–
Alexander
Champ
Echavarria
Brehm
Tway

Approach Skill 150-200 Yards (DataGolf)

1. Rahm
2. Hovland
3. Morikawa
4. Scheffler
5. JT

–
Gay
Landry
Werenski
Min Woo Lee
Alexander
Schwab
Tway

Expected Wins PGA Tour (DataGolf)

1. Rahm
2. Scheffler
3. Homa
4. Finau
5. Hovland
6. Xander
7. Cantlay
8. Rory
9. Kitayama
10. Clark

Trend Index PGA Tour (DataGolf)

1. Scheffler
2. Clark
3. Rory
4. Hovland
5. Xander
6. Fleetwood
7. Rahm
8. Fowler

–
Kisner
McGreevy
Watney
Holmes
Knox

SG: APP L50 RDS (Betsperts)

1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Mark Hubbard
3. Collin Morikawa
4. Jon Rahm
5. Hideki Matsuyama
6. Russell Henley
7. Wyndham Clark
8. Tony Finau
9. Emiliano Grillo
10. Xander Schauffele

BIRDIES OR BETTER GAINED L50 RDS (Betsperts)

1. Adam Scott
2. Scottie Scheffler
3. Xander Schauffele
4. Rick Fowler
5. Jon Rahm
6. Wyndham Clark
7. Patrick Cantlay
8. Emiliano Grillo
9. Sahith Theegala
10. Eric Cole

GOOD DRIVES GAINED L50 RDS (Betsperts)

1. Matthew NeSmith
2. Austin Eckroat
3. Scottie Scheffler
4. Xander Schauffele
5. Jon Rahm
6. Denny McCarthy
7. Si Woo Kim
8. Chun-An Yu
9. Collin Morikawa
10. Lucas Glover

PETE DYE SPECIALISTS L50 RDS (Betsperts)

1. Sungjae Im
2. Patrick Cantlay
3. Scottie Scheffler
4. Brian Harman
5. Shane Lowry
6. Matt Fitzpatrick
7. Jon Rahm
8. Cameron Davis
9. Keegan Bradley
10. Tony Finau

COURSE FORM L50 RDS (Betsperts)

1. Ryan Moore
2. Brian Harman
3. Charley Hoffman
4. Xander Schauffele
5. Chez Reavie
6. Rory McIlroy
7. Patrick Cantlay
8. Keegan Bradley
9. Webb Simpson
10. Kevin Streelman

SG: SHORT PAR 70’s L50 RDS (Betsperts)

1. Rory McIlroy
2. Russell Henley
3. Xander Schauffele
4. Hideki Matsuyama
5. Kevin Kisner
6. Collin Morikawa
7. Scottie Scheffler
8. Corey Conners
9. Keegan Bradley
10. Ben An

PROXIMITY 125-150 YARDS L50 RDS (Betsperts)

1. Jon Rahm
2. Ben Martin
3. Charley Hoffman
4. Scottie Scheffler
5. Tom Kim
6. Keegan Bradley
7. Webb Simpson
8. Collin Morikawa
9. Thomas Detry
10. CT Pan

PROXIMITY 150-175 YARDS L50 RDS (Betsperts)

1. Aaron Rai
2. Ryan Moore
3. Russell Knox
4. Sepp Straka
5. Viktor Hovland
6. Ben Martin
7. Jim Herman
8. Brandon Wu
9. Tom Hoge
10. Emiliano Grillo

RECENT FORM L50 RDS (Betsperts)

1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Wyndham Clark
3. Rory McIlory
4. Tommy Fleetwood
5. Rickie Fowler
6. Viktor Hovland
7. CT Pan
8. Patrick Cantlay
9. Mark Hubbard
10. Xander Schauffele

PAR 4 SCORING 400-450 YARDS L50 RDS (Betsperts)

1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Aaron Rai
3. Kurt Kitayama
4. Denny McCarthy
5. Thomas Detry
6. Collin Morikawa
7. Wyndham Clark
8. Rickie Fowler
9. Patrick Cantlay
10. Stephan Jaeger

SAND SAVES GAINED L50 RDS (Betsperts)

1. Andrew Putnam
2. Ben Griffin
3. Peter Malnati
4. Alex Smalley
5. Danny Willett
6. Adam Schenk
7. Dylan Wu
8. Matt Kuchar
9. Tommy Fleetwood
10. Lanto Griffin

BENTGRASS PUTTING L50 RDS (Betsperts)

1. Andrew Putnam
2. Ben Griffin
3. Peter Malnati
4. Alex Smalley
5. Danny Willett
6. Dylan Wu
7. Adam Schenk
8. Tommy Fleetwood
9. Matt Kuchar
10. Lanto Griffin

PEAKING AND FADING RECENT FORM L50 RDS (Betsperts)

1. Aaron Rai
2. Russell Henley
3. Wyndham Clark
4. Christiaan Bezuidenhout
5. Michael Kim

–
Tony Finau
Jason Day
Max Homa
Justin Thomas
Cam Young

SG AVG: Short Courses (Betsperts)

1. Cantlay
2. Rahm
3. Rory
4. Webb
5. JT
6. Webb
7. Herbert

–
Young

Strokes Gained Scores - U.S. Open RD4 2023 (Betting Predators)

1. Fleetwood
2. Rory
3. Theegala
4. Woodland
5. Morikawa
6. Stevens
7. Rahm
8. T. Kim
9. Eckroat

–
Putnam
English
Fowler
Cole
Horschel

Strokes Gained Scores - U.S. Open RDS 1-4 2023 (Betting Predators)

1. Hideki
2. Conners
3. Fleetwood
4. Woodland
5. Rory
6. Eckroat
7. Scheffler
8. Henley
9. Streelman
10. Finau
11. Morikawa
12. T. Kim
13. Rahm
14. Theegala
15. Xander

–
Carson Young
Bradley
D. Thompson
JT
M. Kim
Power
Poston
Day

INJURY REPORT (Establish The Run/Underdog Network)
Hideki (Neck)
Day (Wrist)
Yu (Knee)
Todd (Shoulder)
Lingmerth (Back)
Holmes (Back)

Resources used for this week's article:

• DataGolf

• Official World Golf Rankings

• PGA Tour Stats

• Establish The Run's Golf Injury Report

• Strokes Gained Scores & Live Betting/Putting Regression Model (Chris Dell/Betting Predators)

• Action Network’s Weekly PGA Tour Model Rankings (Matt Vincenzi/Action Network)

• PGA Tour Weekly Course Preview & Key Tournament Stats (Ron Klos/Betsperts)

• PGA Tour Weekly Research and Key Stat Model (Pat James/Betsperts)

• PGA Tour Injury News & Player Notes (Nick DeMott/Underdog Network)

• NumberFire’s PGA Tour Course Key Stats and Win Simulations (Brandon Gdula/NumberFire)

Chris Dell is a lifelong sports journalist and editor who been published in The New York Times, New York Daily News, ESPN, and Yahoo, among other publications. He’s also the co-founder and director of fantasy football/player props content for The Betting Predators. For more of Chris’ sports content, which includes NFL fantasy rankings, player prop analysis, golf betting, and more, follow Chris on Twitter @MaddJournalist