Best bets for PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship

Bubba Watson will be a popular pick to win the Travelers Championship, which tees off Thursday in Cromwell, Connecticut.

The left-hander is one of golf’s biggest hitters and has won the Travelers three times at TPC River Highlands, the second-shortest course on the PGA Tour behind Pebble Beach.

That explains why Watson is 30-1 at the Westgate to win the Travelers after he was a 100-1 long shot to win tournaments at narrow tracks the past two weeks.

“He’s a long hitter, but not exactly the most accurate hitter,” Westgate golf oddsmaker Jeff Sherman said. “It’s a short track, but it’s more forgiving for the long hitters. They don’t have to be as accurate as the last couple weeks.”

Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau are the 12-1 co-favorites at the Westgate.

Brian Harman, 90-1

While Watson has excellent course form, Sherman and golf handicapper Wes Reynolds recommend a play on another left-hander in Harman, 90-1 at Circa Sports.

“He had a couple top 25s recently and has good course history here,” Sherman said. “His game fits this course.”

Reynolds, co-host of VSiN’s “Long Shots” golf betting show, agrees.

“He’s certainly not the biggest hitter in the world, but he knows the lay of the land here and the angles he needs to attack the pins,” said Reynolds (@WesReynolds1). “Harman has three top-eight finishes at River Highlands in his last five years here.”

Collin Morikawa (35-1), Patrick Cantlay (25-1)

Sherman also likes Las Vegas resident Morikawa and Cantlay, who, Reynolds notes, shot 60 in the 2011 Travelers as a 19-year-old amateur.

“I like the young guys that can go out there and be aggressive on this course and try to get a low number like we saw last week,” Sherman said.

Here are the rest of Reynolds’ best bets:

Brooks Koepka, 25-1

At last week’s RBC Heritage, Koepka posted his best finish (seventh) since the Tour Championship (fourth) in August.

“This is the best my body’s felt in years,” Koepka told the Golf Channel.

Said Reynolds: “What’s probably more important than the solid finish last week was how Koepka is feeling both physically and mentally.

“I’m banking on the positive attitude regarding his improved health to provide him more motivation than usual in a nonmajor championship.”

Dustin Johnson, 28-1

“Also going with the other ‘Bash Brother’ and fellow Claude Harmon III pupil here with DJ,” Reynolds said. “Like his good buddy Koepka, DJ spoke last week of having confidence back in his game.

“The recent form is certainly not spectacular, but there are some solid angles this week in making a case for DJ. The return to putting on bentgrass/poa annua is our more consistent angle. Ten of DJ’s 20 PGA Tour wins have come on this surface, which substantially outpaces every other player on the tour.”

Marc Leishman, 60-1

Leishman won the 2012 Travelers.

“He has enough course knowledge as a former champion to shape shots around this track,” Reynolds said. “He looks to be a good ‘buy low’ candidate, as he did miss the cut at Colonial due to poor putting and took last week off.

“Like DJ, Leishman has an excellent record with bentgrass/poa annua greens.”

Sergio Garcia, 60-1

“There are very few better drivers of the golf ball than Sergio Garcia,” Reynolds said. “He isn’t a regular visitor to Hartford, but he has done well here before.”

Garcia tied for second at the 2014 Travelers.

Joel Dahmen, 80-1

“A third-round 63 had Dahmen just one stroke off the lead going into Sunday’s final round,” Reynolds said. “Before the pause in play, Dahmen had carded back-to-back top-five finishes.”

Max Homa, 125-1

“The pause in play probably came at the worst time for Homa. He had been playing the most consistent golf of his career,” Reynolds said. “A return to the bentgrass/poa annua might be what the doctor ordered.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.