Fresh off a 25th-place finish at the U.S. Open, Justin Thomas is the 2018 Travelers Championship favorite at 12-1. TPC River Highlands in Connecticut will play host to the PGA Tour stop on Thursday. Behind Thomas on the 2018 Travelers Championship odds board are Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieith, and back-to-back U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka, who are all going off at 14-1 after opening at 12-1. Spieth won this tournament in a playoff over Daniel Berger last year.
Before you make any bets or enter a daily fantasy golf tournament on DraftKings or FanDuel, you'll want to hear what the team at SportsLine has to say.
SportsLine's prediction model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, nailed the 2018 Masters, predicting the career-defining victory for Reed entering the weekend. It also nailed the Masters and U.S. Open last year, calling wins for Sergio Garcia and Koepka entering the weekend. Then, it was all over Spieth at the 2017 British Open from the start and called his third major victory with three rounds to play.
Now that the 2018 Travelers Championship field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising.
One huge surprise the model is calling for at the Travelers Championship this year: Ryan Moore, a 30-1 long shot, makes a serious run at the title. He's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday.
Moore has finished 16th or better in three of his last five starts on the PGA Tour. His 71.78 driving accuracy percentage ranks fourth on Tour and will allow him to be aggressive this week at TPC River Highlands. Moore also ranks in the top 25 with a 70.079 scoring average.
Another surprise: Jordan Spieth, one of the top Vegas favorites, barely cracks the top five. He's a golfer to steer clear of this week at the Travelers Championship 2018.
Spieth was cut from the U.S. Open after firing a 9-over in the first two rounds and didn't make the cut at the Memorial Tournament the week before. The last time he finished in the top five was back in April at the Masters, when he finished third. Spieth is just 73rd on the PGA Tour in driving distance at 297.9 yards and 93rd in driving accuracy percentage at 62.11. There are far better values than the 14-1 premium you'll need to pay for Spieth this week.
Also, the model says three additional golfers with odds of 20-1 or longer will make a deep run at the Travelers Championship title. Anyone who bets on these underdogs could hit it big.
So who wins the Travelers Championship? And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the odds below and visit SportsLine now to see the full Travelers Championship projected leaderboard from the model that's nailed four of the last six majors heading into the weekend.
Justin Thomas 12-1
Brooks Koepka 14-1
Jordan Spieth 14-1
Rory McIlroy 14-1
Patrick Reed 16-1
Jason Day 16-1
Paul Casey 16-1
Webb Simpson 20-1
Bryson DeChambeau 25-1
Bubba Watson 25-1
Marc Leishman 25-1
Daniel Berger 25-1
Ryan Moore 30-1
Patrick Cantlay 30-1
Xander Schauffele 30-1
Louis Oosthuizen 33-1
Charley Hoffman 40-1
