2009 Travelers Championship Predictions
Written June 23, 2009 by Jason Lowry
After a long weekend at the US Open, where play was suspended a number of times and golfers were forced to finish up their final rounds on Monday morning, the PGA Tour packs its bags and heads to Connecticut for the 2009 Travelers Championship. While Bethpage Black might have played easier than many expected, it was still a very difficult golf course to manage and par was a good score on most of the holes. That will all change this weekend when action gets underway at TPC at River Highland. Shooting in the 60’s is a near must if you want to win this tournament, just ask Stewart Cink who won this even by just one stroke after not shooting a round over 67 last year. So as long as the weather cooperates I think we will see some really low scoring again this weekend, and the thing that really makes this course interesting is it really doesn’t favor the long hitter or the short hitter, its just who can get the ball on the green and make birdies. With that here is a look at the 3 golfers I feel have the best shot at winning this weekend.
Hunter Mahan +1200 to win at Sportsbook.com: Not only is Mahan my pick to win this weekend, but the odds on favorite to win as well. Mahan has really played well at this event over the last three years, as he hasn’t finished outside of a tie for 2nd in his last three starts. Mahan did manage to win this event in 2007, and barely missed out defending his championship last season, as he fell just one shot behind Cink. Mahan is also coming off a very good showing at the US Open where he finished tied for 6th. Mahan actually has had a pretty darn good season to date, as he has yet to miss a cut in 15 starts. Mahan really does everything well, he is solid off the tee, comes in 28th in greens in regulation, and is a respectable 58th in putting. Because he has been able to play so well over and over at this course, I don’t think there is any reason to think this guy won’t be right in the thick of things come the final round on Sunday.
David Toms +2000 to win at Sportsbook.com: Toms started off with a very solid 69 in his first round of the US Open, but had a horrific second round that costed him a chance to play over the weekend and into Monday. Still I really like his chances of coming into the Travelers Championship and playing well this week. Toms has finished in the top 10 six times this season, including his second tie for 2nd two weeks ago at the St. Jude Classic. Toms isn’t exactly a real short hitter off the tee, but he is deadly accurate coming in ranked 1st in driving accuracy. Toms is also pretty good with the rest of his game, as he ranks 19th in greens in regulation and 16th in putts per hole. The one are Toms has struggled is out of the sand, as he is converting just 47% of his opportunities. One other thing that could sway you away from Toms this weekend is he has not won on the PGA Tour since winning the Sony Open in Hawaii back in 2006. Either way I think Toms will be right there with a chance to win if not secure the win on Sunday.
Bubba Watson +4000 to win at Sportsbook.com: Watson surprisingly played pretty well at the US Open last weekend, and while the course favored the long hitters, it was very unforgiving to those who missed the fairway. It is no secret this guy can rip the golf ball of the tee, as he comes in ranked 1st in driving distance, but is just 181st in driving accuracy, and that is where I thought his game would hurt him last week. Watson ended up finishing tied for 18th at the Open. This week Watson heads to a course where he has had some success, including a tie for 6th last year. Because of Watsons drives can get a little erratic at time, he is just 96th in greens in regulation, but makes up for some of his mistakes with the putter, where he is ranked 33rd in putts per hole. I think if Watson can keep the driver under control and finds the green in regulation with a little more regularity he is going to have a great shot at winning this weekend.
For those of you looking to do some PGA Tour betting this weekend, be sure to check out our expert golf picks and the latest PGA Tour odds at Betfirms.
If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:
- 2009 AT&T National Predictions
- 2009 Players Championship Predictions
- 2009 WGC-CA Championship Picks & Predictions
- 2009 Zurich Classic Predictions
- 2009 Byron Nelson Championship Predictions
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