Sport
Travelers Championship preview: Rose to bring his Å-game
As the US Open champion heads back to LIV, the PGA Tour rolls on to Connecticut for its final Signature Event of the season, the Travelers Championship.
At the third time of asking, Bryson DeChambeau gave us our first Major-winning selection of the year, as he lifted the trophy at odds of 18/1.
With all eyes back on the PGA Tour, TPC River Highlands plays host to the Travelers Championship, as it has done every year since 1984.
Rory McIlroy is understandably having himself a week off, but the allure of Signature Event status has attracted a high-class field, from which we’ve picked out two whom we think could go well.
Ludvig Åberg 12/1
Ludvig Åberg is one of the most in-form players on the Tour at the moment and, despite only turning professional last year, has already established himself as one of the best.
He is an elite ball-striker and possesses a great short game, making him a threat round almost any course, especially one as low-scoring as TPC River Highlands. Strong putting has been a theme among previous victors here and the Swede gains strokes on the rest of the Tour with the flatstick, ranking 43rd in that department.
However, perhaps more important than anything else will be his ability to make birdies, with a strong approach game key to that. Åberg ranks 11th on the PGA Tour when it comes to strokes gained approaching the green, whilst he scores birdie or better on par-4s more than 20% of the time – only seven others do so more frequently.
The fact that this tournament comes off the back of a Major doesn’t look as though it’ll affect the unflappable Swede, having finished T10 and T5 in the tournaments following the previous two Majors this season.
That T5 at the Memorial Tournament was the third time he’s finished in the 6 places available with William Hill this season, and it would be no surprise to see him make it a fourth here.
That said, he will only have eyes for the top spot as he looks to make good on his 12/1 odds to land his second PGA Tour title, and his first in 2024.
Justin Rose 100/1
Justin Rose is our bigger-priced selection this week, providing a different angle to Åberg as he looks to use his wealth of experience to get one over on the competition here.
The key form which makes Rose a viable selection here at huge odds of 100/1 is that of the WGC Champions event, at which strong performances have indicated success here. Rose won there in 2017 and should’ve won here in 2010 before a final round of 75 scuppered his chances.
He has experience to spare and knows how to win on the PGA Tour, having done so on 11 occasions. He hasn’t lit up the Tour this year but did record a very respectable T6 finish at the PGA Championship, his only result inside the 6 places available with William Hill so far in 2024.
There is no doubting the class which the one-time Major winner and three-time runner-up brings, and at 100/1 we’re happy to take a chance on him being better than those who had a tough four days at Pinehurst.
