The week after the U.S. Open is always a tough draw. Nevermind the type of historic U.S. Open we just witnessed with Rory McIlroy lapping the field. But this week the TOUR heads up to my neck of the woods in the northeast for the Travelers Championship. Last year, Bubba Watson made the TPC River Highlands the site of his first career win with an emotional playoff victory over Corey Pavin and Scott Verplank. Expect to see a lot of birdies this week as this course is always set up for low scoring.
I suppose another bit of patting myself on the back is in order again. Last week I picked up my 5th winner of the season with young Rory McIlroy. Ok, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way… on to this week’s picks! The A list is a bit of slim pickens, and it’s tough to avoid Nick Watney even with the MC last week. He has seven top 10s and his length will play to an advantage this week.
Webb Simpson fired a 3rd round 66 at Congressional last week, and ended up finishing T14. I’m looking for him to continue that momentum at the Travelers. He’s been close a few times this year and the kid is due sooner or later. Bo Van Pelt also finished with a T14 last week and is starting to get hot. He also has two top 10s at this event in the last four years.
Starting in my C group will be New England boy and potential rookie of the year, Keegan Bradley. I think he’ll have the hometown crowd behind him. He’s also coming in from a week off last week, so he should be well rested and ready to go. A solid backup will be Zach Johnson who ranks 8th in fairways hit, and also 8th in putting on TOUR this year.
Starting Foursome: Nick Watney, Bo Van Pelt, Webb Simpson, Keegan Bradley
Bench Players: Padraig Harrington, Bubba Watson, Ben Curtis, Zach Johnson
Web marketer, father, husband, and golf blogger continually searching for the golf game I used to have.
