TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, CT

The U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club ended up being one of the biggest letdowns of the golf season thus far. The grueling conditions the golfers were supposed to be facing last week never came to fruition. Many record-scoring rounds were recorded, and the winning score was in double digits under par. The U.S. Open has long been regarded as being the toughest major, with courses set up in the most extremely difficult conditions. This was not the case at LACC, and whether it be the weather not cooperating with drying out the course or pins not being placed in the most difficult positions, the golfers flourished. Congratulations to Wyndham Clark on his Sunday stroll to victory and being able to hoist the U.S. Open trophy Sunday evening. His play on Sunday was aggressive and sharp at the same time, which set him apart from the chasers. A final point of concern regarding this year’s U.S. Open is the gallery. Having the tournament at such a prestigious & private venue should never eliminate the access of the people from their championship. Whoever oversaw agreeing with limiting spectators at a major of this magnitude should be reprimanded. Watching from home, it almost felt like watching a LIV event, where people were lackadaisically in attendance and had no idea what level of tournament they were watching. It was atrocious to witness.

The PGA Tour moves on to the Travelers Championship, the next elevated event designated for the 2023 season. A recap of what the elevated designation entails: the top 20 PGA golfers are required to play in the event and, in return, the prize purse is juiced compared to regular events. This week, the purse is $20 million, with $3.6 million going to the winner. The defending champion, Xander Schauffele, will be wanting to have a quick bounce back from an abysmal weekend in Los Angeles. The lowest round in the competition was shot at this venue by the man with the self-taught swing, Jim Furyk, who shot a 58 in 2016. The last year the winning score was over 270 (-10) was back in 1993, and it was 271. I feel a lot of golfers left LACC with a bad taste in their mouths and will look to take it out on TPC River Highlands this week.

The Field:

Since this is an elevated event, all the top PGA golfers will be in the 156-player field. There will be nine out of the ten top FedEx points owners and eight out of the top ten OWGR golfers in the field. Look for guys with good proximity and scoring from 150 yards and in this week for any DK lineups. Also, you’re going to want guys who can go low every round. This week, it will be important to put up rounds in the mid to low 60s to keep up with the top of the leaderboard. I feel a lot of the top golfers, like Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, and Hideki Matsuyama, will be looking to get back to the top of the leaderboard this week after not playing their best at LACC.

The Course:

TPC River Highlands was originally founded in 1928 as Middletown Golf Club. Then it became Edgewood Country Club in 1934. The PGA stepped in and purchased the track and let Pete Dye redesign it in 1984, when it reopened as TPC Connecticut. It was finally renamed once the final tweaks and renovations were made to the course by Pete Dye’s protégé, Bobby Weed, in 1989. The par 70 (35-35) is set up to play a lot shorter than the typical courses on tour at only 6,852 yards. In fact, the course is set up as the second shortest course on the PGA Tour schedule by the difference of a 24-yard chip shot. The course will have some protection from the power and technology of the players today. In true Pete Dye fashion, the course is riddled with hazards in the way of fairway bunkers, greenside bunkers, and water. The weather this week will be sticky with the chance of rain every day, but no threat as of right now for washout days.

TexHoss Top 5 (via BetOnline):

1. Tommy Fleetwood +2800

2. Tom Kim +3500

3. Jon Rahm +1100

4. Hideki Matsuyama +4500

5. Min Woo Lee +7000

Tournament Wagers:

• [WIN] Matchup: Russ Henley OVER Collin Morikawa (+100) [via Draft Kings]

• [LOSER] Matchup: Cameron Young OVER Justin Thomas (-120) [via Draft Kings]

• [WIN] Matchup: Patrick Cantlay OVER Xander Schauffele (-120) [via BetOnline]

• [LOSER] Top 20: K.H. Lee (+500) [via Draft Kings]

• [WIN] Top 20: Chez Reavie (+550) [via Draft Kings]

• [LOSER] Top 20: Harris English (+240) [via Draft Kings]

• [LOSER] Top 20: Kevin Streelman (+600) [via Draft Kings]

• [LOSER] Top 20: Austin Eckroat (+320) [via Draft Kings]

• [LOSER] Top 20: Saheeth Theegala (+275) [via BetOnline]

• [LOSER] Top 20: Eric Cole (+400) [via BetOnline]

• [WIN] Top 20: Brian Harman (+275) [via BetOnline]

• [LOSER] Top Asian: Tom Kim (+500) [via Draft Kings]

• [WIN] Top Australian: Min Woo Lee (+350) [via Draft Kings]

• [LOSER] Traveler’s Championship to Win: The Field OVER Keegan Bradley & Denny McCarthy (+113) [via BetOnline] {Added post Round 2}

• [LOSER] Top 20: Justin Suh (+280) [via Draft Kings] {Added post Round 2}

• [LOSER] Top 20: Kyle Reifers (+1200) [via Draft Kings] {Added post Round 2}

• [LOSER] Top 20: Viktor Hovland (+260) [via Draft Kings] {Added post Round 3}

• [LOSER] Top 20: Jason Day (+250) [via Draft Kings] {Added post Round 3}

• [LOSER] Top 20: Nick Hardy (+350) [via Draft Kings] {Added post Round 3}

1st Round Wagers: (+3.49 units)

• [WIN] Matchup: Brian Harman OVER Aaron Rai (-120) [via BetOnline]

• [WIN] Matchup: Justin Suh OVER Beau Hossler (+105) [via BetOnline]

• [WIN] Matchup: Keegan Bradley OVER Emiliano Grillo (-130) [via Draft Kings]

• [WIN] Matchup: Matt Fitzpatrick OVER Rickie Fowler (-120) [via Draft Kings]

2nd Round Wagers: (+0.65 units)

• [WIN] Matchup: Justin Suh OVER Beau Hossler (+105) [via BetOnline]

• [WIN] 3 Ball: Eric Cole OVER Mark Hubbard & CT Pan (+160) [via BetOnline]

• [LOSER] 3 Ball: Viktor Hovland OVER Rory McIlroy & Tom Kim (+160) [via BetOnline]

• [LOSER] 3 Ball: Kevin Streelman OVER SH Kim & Ryan Moore (+140) [via Draft Kings]

3rd Round Wagers: (-1.00 units)

• [LOSER] Matchup: Tom Kim OVER Xander Schauffele (+121) [via BetOnline]

• [PUSH] Matchup: Jason Day OVER Tony Finau (+109) [via BetOnline]

• [WINNER] Matchup: Sahith Theegala OVER Cameron Young (+100) [via BetOnline]

• [LOSER] Matchup: Justin Suh OVER Justin Thomas (+110) [via Draft Kings]

Final Round Wagers:

• [WIN] Matchup: Austin Eckroat OVER Jason Day (+113) [via BetOnline]

• [LOSER] Matchup: Patrick Cantlay OVER Scottie Scheffler (+113) [via BetOnline]

• [WIN] Matchup: Justin Thomas OVER Rickie Fowler (-110) [via BetOnline]

• [LOSER] Matchup: Min Woo Lee OVER Corey Conners (+105) [via Draft Kings]

• [LOSER] Matchup: Hideki Matsuyama OVER Rory McIlroy (+125) [via Draft Kings]

• [WIN] Matchup: Austin Eckroat OVER Tony Finau (+140) [via Draft Kings]