GOLF PICK 'EM: TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHUP BREAKDOWNS
BY WILL GRAY
Golf Pick 'Em is back for another season of picks and prizes in the NBC Sports Predictor app.
The free-to-play game has returned in 2021 and continues this week with the Travelers Championship. Each week participants will choose between a series of head-to-head matchups, plus select an overall tournament champion and winning score.
Participants can compete for weekly cash prizes, with a $50,000 jackpot available for any participants who earn a perfect score (increasing up to $100,000 during some of the biggest events of the year). There will also be at least $1,000 awarded each week in cash and prizes, even if there is no player with a perfect score.
Last week featured a jackpot winner, as one user took home $100,200 after picking Jon Rahm to win the U.S. Open at 6 under and getting all 10 matchups correct.
Here's a look at some of the keys to this week's set of 10 matchups at TPC River Highlands, which is back in its usual slot following the U.S. Open and where players will face a far different test than Torrey Pines:
Dustin Johnson vs. Bryson DeChambeau
Keys: Last year Johnson broke free from the field in Connecticut, shooting a third-round 61 and eventually holding on for a one-shot win over Kevin Streelman. He returns as defending champ after a T-19 finish at Torrey, and he has ceded the world No. 1 rank back to Rahm for the first time since August. DeChambeau nearly went back-to-back at the U.S. Open before a back-nine implosion Sunday, and he has finished T-9 or better here three straight years while shooting 68 or lower in every weekend round.
Edge: DeChambeau
Brooks Koepka vs. Chase Koepka
Keys: Ah, brotherly love. The younger Koepka Monday qualified for this event last year before withdrawing as part of COVID-19 contact tracing policy. The tournament gave him a spot to return this year, and now he'll square off here with his older brother who once again put in a solid showing on a major stage. Brooks has one top-10 finish in four Travelers starts, but Chase got the better of the matchup the last time the two played the same Tour event at last year's 3M Open.
Edge: Brooks Koepka
Phil Mickelson vs. Patrick Reed
Keys: Mickelson was on the range Sunday at Torrey, congratulating friend and fellow Sun Devil Jon Rahm on his major breakthrough. Now he returns to Cromwell for just the third time since 2004, having finished T-24 last year. Reed had a solid week in San Diego, finishing T-19 for his fourth top-20 finish in five starts, and he has played this event every year since 2012 while finishing inside the top 30 four of the last five years.
Edge: Reed
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Matthew Wolff vs. Rickie Fowler
Keys: Two Oklahoma State Cowboys square off here, as Wolff burst back onto the scene in a big way at Torrey after a two-month hiatus. He ultimately finished T-15 in San Diego but has struggled at River Highlands, missing the cut last year and missing the 54-hole cut in 2019. Fowler failed to qualify for a major for the second time this year, but his game is showing signs of life with a T-8 finish at the PGA and T-11 at the Memorial. This is his first Travelers appearance since 2013, when he finished T-13.
Edge: Fowler
Keys: Rose made a surprisingly early exit at Torrey, missing the cut by a wide margin on a course where he had won two years prior. This is just his second Travelers start since 2014, but he does have four top-20s in his last six starts dating back to 2007. Casey both made the cut and made the Olympic team with his T-7 finish, going 67-70 over the weekend. This is the one that got away for him, as Casey has four top-5 finishes including a pair of runner-up results since 2015.
Edge: Casey
Jason Day vs. Adam Scott
Keys: The Aussies battle here, as Day returns after his consecutive majors played streak ended at Torrey Pines. He's down to 71st in the world ranking but has three top-20 finishes at this event, including a T-8 finish in 2019. Scott continues to put up solid but unspectacular results since the pandemic break, finishing T-35 at the U.S. Open, and his lone prior Travelers appearance ended in a missed cut back in 2010.
Edge: Day
Tony Finau vs. Patrick Cantlay
Keys: With Rahm getting his hands on the U.S. Open trophy, these are now two of the five highest-ranked players in the world without a major to their name. Finau ended his run of major top-10s with a missed cut at Torrey, and he'll look to bounce back on a course where he had three straight top-25s before missing the cut each of the last two years. Cantlay had his second straight solid major, finishing T-15 in the wake of his Memorial win. He shot a 60 here in 2011 as an amateur and has finished T-15 or better each of the last three years.
Edge: Cantlay
Stewart Cink vs. Marc Leishman
Keys: Two former champs, as Cink got his first Tour win here in 1997 and bagged another title in 2008 while Leishman got the first of six Tour wins here in 2012. Both men struggled over the weekend at Torrey but they've combined for three wins this season including two from Cink, who was a runner-up here in 2018. Leishman has made 10 appearances but just one other top-10 finish in addition to his win.
Edge: Cink
Russell Henley vs. Bubba Watson
Keys: Both former Georgia Bulldogs who contended at the halfway point last week before fading at Torrey. Henley still doesn't have a top-10 finish in a major, shooting 76 in the final group Sunday, while Watson dropped all the way to T-50 after closing with 77-76. Henley finished T-6 and T-11 in his first two trips here, but that pales in comparison to Watson's record which includes three wins, most recently in 2018.
Edge: Watson
Scottie Scheffler vs. Joaquin Niemann
Keys: It was another solid week for Scheffler, who finished T-7 at the U.S. Open with four straight rounds of 72 or better. He's still in search of his first Tour win and missed the cut last year in his Travelers debut. Niemann's consecutive made cuts streak is a thing of the past, but he did play the weekend at Torrey and finished T-5 at this event two years ago in his maiden appearance.
Edge: Niemann
