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Hello RotoBaller PGA crew! It's great to be back with you guys and I appreciate you joining us here at RotoBaller!
In this article we'll discuss some of the standout PGA DFS plays available on FanDuel for the 2021 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. While it's impossible to hit on every player, we'll touch on some different plays across all price ranges, breaking the groups down into "High", "Mid", and "Low" price options that are worth considering.
Like always, the purpose of this piece is to help you put together your optimal daily fantasy golf lineups for FanDuel, whether that be from a GPP perspective or a cash-game mentality. Be sure to also read all of our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS and betting articles to help you win big!
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2021 Travelers Championship - PGA DFS Overview
TPC River Highlands
6,841 Yards - Par 70 - Greens: Poa Annua /Bent Mix - Designer: Pete Dye
The Pete Dye hits keep on coming, as we seem to continuously run into the legendary architect's work on the PGA Tour schedule. TPC River Highlands is a course with Pete Dye's fingerprints all over it. Its most famous stretch of holes (#'s 15-17) are played AROUND a huge 4-acre lake.
While the course is tricky, we will still see plenty of birdies this week, as TPC River Highlands relinquished the only 58 in PGA Tour history to Jim Furyk a couple of years ago, and the last three winners have finished the week at 17-under par or better.
At just over 6,800 yards this is one of the shortest tracks on the schedule, but players won't necessarily be able to overpower this course, as the layout requires less than driver off the tee in multiple spots. As with basically every Dye layout, this is indeed a second-shot golf course. I'll be targeting sharp ball strikers that can pile up birdies this week.
For an in-depth breakdown of this week's course, check out RotoBaller's PGA Premium Course Breakdown by Josh Bennett!
Let's Look At The Stats
| Stat | TPC River Highlands | Tour Average |
| Driving Distance | 279 | 282 |
| Driving Accuracy | 69% | 62% |
| GIR Percentage | 67% | 65% |
| Scrambling Percentage | 57% | 57% |
| Average Three-Putts Per Round | 0.48 | 0.55 |
Key Stats
- Strokes Gained: Approach
- Strokes Gained: Ball Striking
- Fairways Gained
- Birdies or Better Gained
- Strokes Gained: Putting (Poa Annua)
- Proximity (125-150 Yards & 150-175 Yards)
- Par-4 Scoring
Fantasy Golf Lineup Picks for FanDuel (PGA DFS)
We have tons of great weekly PGA articles, DFS analysis, tools and DFS advice. Be sure to read our other fantastic articles regarding this week's event including DFS lineup picks for DraftKings/FanDuel, betting advice and DFS prop picks.
High-Priced FanDuel DFS Plays
Bryson DeChambeau ($12,300)
This week represents a true test of Bryson DeChambeau's mental toughness. DeChambeau was the 63-hole leader last week in the U.S. Open before an absolute implosion sent him tumbling down the leaderboard. Can he bounce back this week?
He has gained 35.22 strokes total at TPC River Highlands since 2016 en route to posting top-10 finishes in each of his last three Travelers starts. The Pete Dye layout doesn't seem like a natural fit for him - especially in his latest iteration - but the young bomber has repeatedly performed well on this track.
Dustin Johnson ($12,100)
This is the event where DJ turned his season around last year. Johnson took down the 2020 Travelers after appearing sluggish in several post-restart events. Can he do the same this year? It's been a very underwhelming season by Johnson's lofty standards, but there have been some signs that he's trending in the right direction, as he's gained strokes T2G, OTT, and on Approach in each of his last two starts, a T10 at Palmetto and a T19 last week in the U.S. Open. However, at this price point we need better than "ok", so rostering DJ is a bet that he's close to finding something.
Patrick Cantlay ($11,800)
Patrick Cantlay logged perhaps the quietest top-15 in history last week at the U.S. Open, as I never saw him hit a shot the entire week. A look at his stats shows that he lost just over a shot with his irons, not great, but also something that can happen on U.S. Open layouts. He'll attempt to regain the form with the irons that helped him to a "win" at Memorial (+6.1 SG: Approach) and a top-25 at the PGA Championship (+7.9 SG: Approach). This TPC River Highlands layout represents a nice fit for Cantlay and he's ran off three consecutive top-15 finishes in his last three Travelers starts.
Paul Casey ($11,400)
A "chalky" Paul Casey is always a little worrisome, but even though the Englishman will be a popular FanDuel play this week, his mix of course history & recent form is impossible to ignore.
The Englishman has been brilliant in previous trips to TPC River Highlands, highlighted by a T5-T2-T5 run between 2017 & '19. He's the leader of this week's field by a fairly wide margin in Strokes Gained: Total (+41.22) at the Connecticut layout since 2016.
In addition to the elite course history, Casey heads to this edition of the Travelers in sharp form. He's posted a top-five and a top-10 in his last two American starts (oh, by the way, those came at the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open!) and has gained strokes on Approach IN EVERY SINGLE START HE'S MADE IN AMERICA THIS YEAR!
Brian Harman ($11,100)
Harman's is comparatively a better value on DraftKings this week, but I'll still slot him into plenty of FanDuel lineups on this slate. Effective is a word that we can fairly use to describe Harman's history at the Travelers. The little lefty has posted finishes inside the top-eight in two of his last three trips to TPC River Highlands. He comes into this year's edition full of confidence, as he's had a legitimately great 2021 to this point that includes top-20 finishes in six of his last seven starts. Harman has been solid in all aspects of the game as of late and has averaged a SG: T2G mark of +3.8 over his last five tournaments.
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Mid-Priced FanDuel DFS Plays
Abraham Ancer ($11,000)
The Mexican heads to Connecticut fresh off a disappointing missed cut at last week's U.S. Open, but we can likely chalk it up to an ill course fit at Torrey Pines, as Ancer gained an impressive 5.2 strokes on Approach at Torrey. That sharp iron play - as well as his consistent accuracy off the tee - is why we're betting on a bounce-back and rostering him this week. Ancer grades out seventh in this Travelers field in both SG: OTT & Approach over the last 24 rounds. TPC River Highlands has been kind to him in the past, as he's went T11-T8 in his last two trips to Cromwell.
Joaquin Niemann ($10,900)
Despite a recent missed cut at the Memorial, Niemann has been one of the most reliable golfers on the planet this year, as the disappointment at Muirfield Village was his first missed cut of 2021. He rebounded to post a solid, if unspectacular, T31 in the U.S. Open, gaining an impressive 6.1 strokes T2G at Torrey Pines. Niemann grades out 10th in this Travelers field in SG: Ball Striking over the last 24 rounds and also has a T5 (2019) on his TPC River Highlands resume.
Kevin Streelman ($10,600)
Streels is a "substance over style" type of player that's been downright elite at TPC River Highlands over the years, posting a win at the 2014 Travelers and recording a runner-up finish last year.
We also have some extremely solid recent form with the veteran. He's coming off a T15 in last week's U.S. Open, his fourth consecutive top-20 finish. Streelman has gained strokes on Approach in each of his last seven starts and has made the cut in six of those outings. He ranks eighth in this stout Travelers field in SG: Approach over the last 24 rounds and checks in at seventh in the SG: T2G category. Substance over style.
Si Woo Kim ($9,900)
If we were making a list of "Pete Dye Specialists", Si Woo would land somewhere near the top. The Korean has been extremely successful on Dye layouts over the years, most recently winning the AmEx Championship earlier this year. Kim also has a win on the legendary TPC Sawgrass course and a playoff loss at Harbour Town on his "Dye resume". As for this TPC River Highlands layout? He logged a T11 in last year's Travelers with two additional top-26 finishes since 2016. Yes, there's always some volatility involved when rostering Si Woo, but I love the undeniable upside that he brings to GPP lineups.
Low-Priced FanDuel DFS Players
Rickie Fowler ($9,800)
Is Rickie finally turning things around? His last two starts - a T8 at the PGA Championship and a T11 at the Memorial - indicate that his game is trending in the right direction. Fowler gained 4.6 (PGA) & 4.2 (Memorial) strokes T2G in those outings, while also finishing with positive Approach splits. He brings that trending form to a golf course that's a nice fit...hit fairways, hit greens, get hot with the putter...and one where he posted a couple of top-15 results in his last Travelers appearances years ago.
Kyle Stanley ($9,700)
It's always a little gross when you pull the trigger on Kyle Stanley, but I'm nonetheless interested this week. Stanley has made the cut in his last four Travelers starts with a pair of top-25 results over those appearances. In addition to the course history, he's bringing solid form to TPC River Highlands. The American has made the cut in his last four starts and gained an average of 4.1 strokes T2G over his last five tournaments.
Stewart Cink ($9,100)
Nothing fancy here, but Stewart Cink fits the mold of what I'm looking for this week. A steady, experienced player that's great at hitting fairways and greens, Cink is a former Travelers winner (2008) and has made the cut in eight of his 11 career trips to TPC River Highlands. He grades out third in this week's field in SG: Approach over the last 24 rounds and scored a victory at the Pete Dye-designed Harbour Town Golf Links earlier this year.
Guido Migliozzi ($8,800)
I'm gonna stray from the gameplan a bit with our last selection of the week, Guido Migliozzi, a young player that has no course history and next-to-no experience in the United States. However, the Italian impressed in last week's U.S. Open, posting a T5 on the strength of gaining a MASSIVE 11.2 strokes T2G and 5.2 strokes on Approach at Torrey. He's a Euro Tour winner and has posted a couple of recent runner-up finishes internationally. It's a ride-the-hot-hand type of play, but as we saw with Garrick Higgo a couple of weeks ago, these young international players have some serious game.
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