Running with Rick: Travelers Championship the week to back Xander Schauffele

The PGA TOUR will stay in the Northeast with a quick jaunt from Shinnecock Hills to TPC River Highlands for this week’s Travelers Championship. Despite being only 50 miles apart as the crow flies, there won’t be too many similarities between this week and last week.

TPC River Highlands is a meager 6,844 yards on the scorecard and will promote the need for precision and accuracy over power. This is certainly unique by TOUR standards, where much of the defense comes in the form of making courses longer. TPC River Highlands falls into the same category as Harbour Town and Pebble Beach, where the test is much more about precision.

The cost of missing the fairways at TPC River Highlands remains high, one of the 10 biggest penalties on the TOUR schedule, so expect many players to opt for fairway woods or irons off the tee instead of driver. The greens feature plenty of undulation, which will certainly benefit experienced players, and that’s probably one of the reasons course history has been so “sticky” here over the years. Golfers who play well tend to do it year after year, and vice versa for those who have had trouble figuring it out.

Many of the players in this week’s Signature Event played last week in the U.S. Open. We can discuss whether that’s a positive, but it’s worth noting that this week is a no-cut event. Barring a withdrawal or disqualification, all players will get four guaranteed rounds.

As with any Signature Event, the field is stout. Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick are all at the top of the betting board. They aren’t alone, with countless stars lining up right behind them.

It’s been a frustrating year to be a backer of Xander Schauffele, but why stop now?! It’s been frustrating because his greatness is clear, and he seems like he’s on the verge of winning on a regular basis. Despite that assessment, he’s still looking for his first win of 2026.

His putter, the biggest problem in 2026, has started to show signs of life — despite still being inconsistent. His last three starts have been a roller coaster — he gained 7.5 strokes putting at the PGA Championship, lost 5.04 strokes at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, but picked up 3.83 last week at Shinnecock Hills. The fact that he’s capable of gaining 5-plus strokes putting across four rounds is an excellent sign! I’ll simply choose to ignore that it could go the other way.

He’s always been a dynamite putter at TPC River Highlands, where he’s gained 22.84 strokes to the field in his 26 career rounds. That club has spurred his five career top 20s, including his win here in 2022. His game has trended positively over the past few months. He has five top 10s in his last 10 starts, with all of them coming against the most difficult fields in golf.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: This is the week for Xander Schauffele, who is currently +1475 to win the Travelers.

You won’t find many players with a history at TPC River Highlands like Brian Harman. This week will be his 16th trip to Cromwell, and he almost always leaves with a smile on his face. During the previous 15 trips, he’s returned with eight top-10s. All of those top-10s have come in the last 11 starts, so the recent decade is even better than his overall results.

Those outcomes add up to a 1.54 strokes gained per round average, which is the fourth best all-time among players with at least 10 trips. It’s second-best, behind Patrick Cantlay, among players in the field this week.

Harman missed the cut at the Memorial but bounced back with a T32 finish last week at the U.S. Open. He’s driven the ball much better in recent weeks, and his putting is also trending in the right direction. I think it’s worth trying to deploy Harman in some higher-upside outcomes, like the top-five market. His current odds to finish top five are +1200.

It’s been an up-and-down year for Jacob Bridgeman, but he’s certainly trending more “up” than “down” right now. He played well at the Memorial, earning a T34, and then backed it up with a solid T11 at the RBC Canadian Open, where he finally unleashed the putter again — picking up more than three strokes to the field.

That solid putting continued last week at Shinnecock Hills, where Bridgeman gained 4.57 strokes putting and finished T39. This is an excellent sign, as Bridgeman’s success runs through his flatstick. That was the case early in the year, when Bridgeman was the TOUR’s best putter and picked up eight straight top-20s, including a win at Riviera.

When firing on all cylinders, Bridgeman has a low, straight ball flight that finds a lot of fairways and hits more than 65% of his greens in regulation, ranking inside the upper percentiles on the TOUR. He’s going to need to bring all his skills to TPC River Highlands. If he does, he has undeniable upside, which is why I’m looking for a solid return on my risk. I’m inspired by the +415 number on Bridgeman to finish inside the top 10.

Bud Cauley's win at the RBC Canadian Open was well-deserved, not only because he’d earned so many top-10s in his career before notching his first victory, but also because it came at the end of an impressive run of golf. In the nine events before the win, he had made the cut in each of them, with a few top 25s along the way. His best finish during that stretch was a T7 at Harbour Town, which certainly means a lot to me for this week.

On a statistical basis, Harbour Town is one of the most similar courses on TOUR to TPC River Highlands. Both courses level the playing field for the shorter hitters and reward a more exacting skill set. Cauley is no stranger to TPC River Highlands. He’s gained strokes on approach in each of his last five trips and finished T25 in last year’s edition. His top-20 number is the most reasonable, found at +184.

Never did I think, in the year 2026, that I would be writing up Brandt Snedeker in a Signature Event — but he deserves it. Snedeker is getting the most out of his game right now, as he’s cracked the top 40 in five of his last six starts. That stretch is, of course, highlighted by his win in Myrtle Beach.

During his last five starts, he’s gained strokes on approach in four of them, and his short game looks like vintage Snedeker. He’s not long enough off the tee to contend on a regular basis, but that’s not going to be a problem here. He’ll lean on his accuracy and approach play to separate himself. While I’m excited for Snedeker, it’s still prudent to manage expectations. I’m asking him to beat half the field and finish inside the top 20, which can currently be found at +610 on DraftKings Sportsbook.

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