2008 Travelers Championship
Written June 17, 2008 by Jason Lowry
What a weekend of golf at the US Open, as Tiger Woods needed 91 holes to take out Rocco Mediate in one of most dramatic finishes to a golf event in years. The US Open is the only tournament that requires golfers to play an additional 18 holes to decide the winner if they are tied after 72, and that wasn’t enough as they needed one more to figure out who was going to win. With the US Open being as tough as it is, many players will be taking a week off to relax and recover. Even with some of the big names taking the week off Jason Lowry is ready to make his 2008 Travelers Championship predictions. The tournament is set to get underway on Thursday June 19th and finish up like almost every other tournament on Sunday. The Travelers Championship is hosted annually in Cromwell, Connecticut at TPC River Highlands. Now with the US Open being played all the way out on the West coast, some players might have a little trouble adjusting to the time. Last year Hunter Mahan took his solid play at the US Open and was able to carry it over and win the trophy here. There is no doubt that Mahan could do it again, as he picked his game up again and performed well at this year’s US Open. Here is a look at 3 golfers we feel have a great shot at producing some low scores and a shot at winning come Sunday.
Favorite: Kenny Perry - 16/1 odds at Bodoglife.com
Perry is coming into the weekend fresh as he did not play at this year’s US Open. But the reason we got him as the guy to beat, is that he has been pretty hot over the last month or so. Just a few weeks ago he recorded his first win of the season at the Memorial Tournament, and a couple weeks before that he finished 2nd at the AT&T Classic. Perry is currently 6th on both the money list and the FedEx Cup point standings, and another win here could move him up even more. Perry has been great off the tee, as he is 16th in total driving, and a respectable 12th in greens in regulation. Look for Perry to come out strong and play good all weekend. With a week field compared to normal standards Perry is worth the risk.
Middle of the Pack: Carl Pettersson - 28/1 odds at Bodoglife.com
Pettersson is coming off a great performance at the US Open where he finished tied for 6th. With the great showing at the Open it made for consecutive top 10 finishes for Pettersson, as he finished 10th at the Memorial Tournament just a couple weeks before hand. Though Pettersson hasn’t won on tour since 2006, we really like his chances to come out firing this weekend. He doesn’t do anything that special, but if he has his game going then you better watch out as this guy can put up some low scores.
Long Shot: Woody Austin - 50/1 odds at Bodoglife.com
Woody Austin knows what its like to win here at TPC River Highlands, as he took home the championship back in 2004. Austin has only 1 other win that came last year, and he has yet to find the top 3 in any tournament this year. His best finish came at the Zurich Classic where he finished 4th, and he also has a 5th place finish at the Accenture Match Play Championship. Austin has the tools to be a pretty solid golfer, he just doesn’t seem to be able to put together 4 really good rounds in a weekend of play. Austin is one of the better iron strikers on the tour, as he comes in at 17th in greens in regulation. We feel like this will be a good weekend for Austin to come out and get a win.
If you are looking to place a bet on the tournament this weekend, be sure to head over to Bodoglife.com and get your picks in today. Also be sure to continue to check back as professional handicapper Jason Lowry will make his predictions for each upcoming golf event. If you are interested in the rest of the fields odds, check out the full list below.
Stewart Cink 14/1
Vijay Singh 14/1
Kenny Perry 16/1
Hunter Mahan 20/1
Justin Rose 25/1
Stuart Appleby 28/1
Ryan Moore 28/1
Rod Pampling 28/1
Carl Pettersson 28/1
Heath Slocum 28/1
Chad Campbell 28/1
Nick O’Hern 28/1
Pat Perez 30/1
David Toms 30/1
Briny Baird 40/1
Zach Johnson 40/1
Kevin Sutherland 40/1
Woody Austin 50/1
Steve Elkington 50/1
Nathan Green 50/1
J.B. Holmes 50/1
Jerry Kelly 50/1
D.J. Trahan 50/1
Steve Marino 66/1
Tom Pernice Jr. 66/1
Ben Curtis 80/1
Bill Haas 80/1
Dudley Hart 80/1
Matt Kuchar 80/1
John Mallinger 80/1
Kevin Na 80/1
Brett Quigley 80/1
Vaughn Taylor 80/1
Bo Van Pelt 80/1
Gavin Coles 100/1
Brian Gay 100/1
Lucas Glover 100/1
Tim Herron 100/1
Cliff Kresge 100/1
Peter Lonard 100/1
Billy Mayfair 100/1
Joe Ogilvie 100/1
Corey Pavin 100/1
Eric Axley 125/1
Ken Duke 125/1
Bob Estes 125/1
George Mcneill 125/1
John Rollins 125/1
Johnson Wagner 125/1
Bubba Watson 125/1
Charlie Wi 125/1
J.J. Henry 125/1
Brian Davis 150/1
Chris Dimarco 150/1
Fred Funk 150/1
Brandt Jobe 150/1
Frank Lickliter 150/1
Jeff Maggert 150/1
Shigeki Maruyama 150/1
Troy Matteson 150/1
Jeff Overton 150/1
Tim Petrovic 150/1
Michael H. Thompson150/1
Brett Wetterich 150/1
Jay Williamson 150/1
Tommy Armour lll 150/1
The Field ( Any Other Golfer) 5/2
