Power Rankings: Travelers Championship

After a pair of challenging tests and to cap off the series of Signature Events, it’s perfect timing for the Travelers Championship.

A field of 71 is promised a scorable track in TPC River Highlands, four rounds on it and beefier FedExCup points. What it faces and what it embraces are below.

When the final FedExCup standings for the 2022-23 season were determined, the eligible among the top 50 were guaranteed tee times in all eight Signature Events in 2024. These stops have been the gifts that have kept on giving as five were devoid a 36-hole cut. The Travelers Championship is among the lot. The only qualifier who has opted not to peg it is Rory McIlroy. The U.S. Open runner-up withdrew on Monday.

The stock par 70 in Cromwell, Connecticut, about 10 miles south of Hartford, is just 6,835 yards when stretched out. And that’s down 17 yards thanks to a new tee on the par-4 ninth hole that limits it to 389 yards. Last year’s full field of 156 for what then was a Designated Event turned in a scoring average of 68.400. The fields at TPC River Highlands have been strong in recent years, but that was a tournament record for the course.

Therein lies the anticipation of the exhale in the wake of the last two weeks. After Muirfield Village Golf Club averaged 73.504 as a par 72 for the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday – third-highest in relation to par of 30 courses this season – Pinehurst No. 2 predictably went into the books as the hardest at 72.891. The host of the U.S. Open was a par 70.

So, this week’s champion will feel like a scorer again. He’ll also bank 700 FedExCup points. And he might cite confidence from (and display) residual sharpness on approach after the U.S. Open where greens were larger but played closer to the 5,000 square feet on average that TPC River Highlands features. Once on them this week, the Poa annua surfaces will be slower by comparison but still at a customary 12 feet on the Stimpmeter by PGA TOUR standards. The tallest of the rough is 4 inches against this year.

The days leading up to and covering the first two rounds will leave no doubt that astronomical summer officially arrives on Thursday. Temperatures will climb in the mid-90s until a system pushes in just before the weekend. Rain and storms are likely and could linger into Saturday. Daytime highs will drop into the upper 80s for the last two rounds during which the wind might be a factor. (Wednesday’s Golfbet Insider will revisit the forecast.)

ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE

MONDAY: Power Rankings
TUESDAY*: Sleepers
WEDNESDAY: Golfbet Insider
FRIDAY: Medical Extensions
SUNDAY: Points and Payouts; Qualifiers; Reshuffle

* Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.