The second round of the 2026 Travelers Championship gets underway on Friday at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, CT.
Eric Cole holds a one-stroke lead over the rest of the field at 7-under par after the opening round. But the tournament remains wide open with three days remaining.
Here are my picks and Travelers Championship Round 2 best bets.
Travelers Championship Round 2 Best Bets
Aaron Rai Top-20 (-140 at DraftKings)
Aaron Rai put together a tremendous opening round. He enters Friday at T8 at five-under par, and at -142, he is worth backing to record his fifth top-20 finish over his past six tournaments.
With TPC River Highlands measuring under 6,900 yards, this event turns into a mid-iron and putting contest. Last season, 25.6% of approach shots came from the 150-175-yard range, which was six percentage points higher than any other 25-yard grouping.
This setup makes Rai a strong option this week. Rai is one of the best iron players in the world, gaining true strokes on approach in each of his past eight tournaments.
Entering this week, he ranks in the 93rd percentile in strokes gained: approach and in the 92nd percentile in strokes gained: approach from 150-200 yards.
Tommy Fleetwood Top-20 (-148 at DraftKings)
Another golfer worth targeting in this market is Tommy Fleetwood. After a difficult opening nine, Fleetwood roared back with a back-nine 30 to catapult into a tie for 20th.
At -148, it's worth backing Fleetwood to ride that momentum into Friday.
Like Rai, Fleetwood fits this course well.
Entering this week, he ranks in the 92nd percentile on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: approach and in the 91st percentile in strokes gained: approach from 150-200 yards. Fleetwood also enters this event in good form, having posted three consecutive top-11 finishes.
As noted, the ease of hitting greens turns this week into a putting contest. Last year, each of the top eight finishers ranked inside the top 27 in the field in strokes gained: putting.
No other strokes-gained category showed a similar trend.
Fleetwood has proven capable on the greens, ranking in the 91st percentile on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: putting. He performs well across all key putting ranges (2-5 feet, 5-30 feet and 30-plus feet), ranking in the top quarter of the Tour in each.
