The utter carnage of the US Open is sadly fading into our rear view mirror, but we don’t have to wait long until our next fix of top tier golfing action – next stop, TPC River Highlands.
Having immersed myself in an extensive pool of data and trends, in order to pick my 2025 Travelers Championship expert picks, I decided to dive a little deeper to find the best first round leader bets for this week’s PGA Tour signature event.
There is plenty of value in this market, with some great 100/1+ outsiders that initially caught my eye, but on a course where birdies come thick and fast I decided to listen to the numbers and side with a couple of dependable scoring machines…
Travelers Championship 2025: First Round Leader Picks
Before making a selection in any of the many betting markets on offer, I always start in the same place – the course.
TPC River Highlands is relatively short and has a track record of facilitating low scores for some of the game’s top talent, which is why backing someone with the ability to consistently go very low is important.
There is a lot of correlation between TPC River Highlands and courses like East Lake and TPC Deere Run, which are venues that my two picks have previously also gone low at in their opening rounds.
First round scoring average, the number of birdies made per round and total rounds in the 60s also factored heavily in my decision making process, but who do I fancy to lead after 18 holes?
Travelers Championship First Round Leader Best Bet: Scottie Scheffler @ +1100
Scheffler ranks highly in all the key metrics, so why not go for the obvious choice from time-to-time?
(Image credit: Getty Images)
This might sound like an obvious pick, and that’s because it is – just look at Scheffler’s 2025 prize money and tell me I’m wrong.
When a course requires a player who can take aim at pins, leave plenty of birdie putts and more importantly convert them, Scottie Scheffler is the first guy that comes to mind.
Scheffler ranks 1st for scoring average, 5th for birdie average, 3rd for round one scoring average and 12th for rounds in the 60s – making him the ultimate first round scoring machine.
His price might be shorter than I’d like, but when you consider that he is the defending champion who opened up at TPC River Highlands with a 65 last…
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