Sobel’s Travelers Championship Matchup Bets: Counting on Course History

Course history should always play a factor in pre-tournament analysis, but at the Travelers Championship, it tends to be more relevant than most others.

Maybe that’s because TPC-River Highlands just happens to suit certain players’ eyes. Maybe this placement in the early-summer schedule is a sweet spot for those gearing up for an important stretch.

Whatever the case, some guys seem to play well here every year, while others, well, probably stopped showing up if it didn’t work for them.

Let’s get into this week’s favorite matchup bets with three picks who have traditionally enjoyed some success here.

Charley Hoffman (Even) over Byeong-hun An

Way back in 2007, Hoffman made his first start at this event and missed the cut. Perhaps assuming it was a bad fit for his game, he skipped the next two editions.

Since then, he’s finished 27th, 43rd, 2nd, 7th, 26th, 25th, 3rd and 15th.

He’s also played pretty well lately, with a runner-up and a T-13 in his last half-dozen starts. Even though An’s relative consistency makes him tough in head-to-head bets, I like Hoff to continue his strong play this week and wind up on the winning end of this one.

Ryan Moore (-107) over Russell Knox

Am I already ditching my strategy by picking against a former champ? Not exactly. While Knox did win this tourney in 2016, he’s only managed finishes of T-38 and T-62 since then and he’s never had another top-10.

Meanwhile, Moore treats Central Connecticut as his personal ATM. In his last eight starts here, he’s finished 17th or better on six occasions. Expect him to be a popular addition to DFS lineups, but I also like him for top-10 wagers and, especially, in this matchup.

Brendan Steele (+105) over Cameron Tringale

It’s been a really nice recent stretch for Tringale, with finishes of 23rd or better in three of his last four starts. That hasn’t been the case for Steele, who started the year ranked 113th in the world and has dropped to 199th.

But I’ve got a suspicion that #SteeleSZN is starting soon. Simply put, he’s too talented to not bounce back from this. As a horse-for-the-course type of player, there aren’t many tracks which have been nicer to him over the years than TPCRH.

He missed the cut last year, but finished top-25 in six of the seven previous years — and as a bonus, his final-round scoring average is a fantastic 66.5.