JoePa's PGA TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP

[joepa66]

THE TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP

The PGA continues it's swing through the northeast at the TPC River Highlands in Connecticut this week!

HUNTER MAHAN 14/1 TO WIN OUTRIGHT - With horrible odds at 11/8 to place in the Top10 I'll have to side with Mahan to win outright! And, it doesn't make me feel too badly to have to do so. He's got 3 straight Top10s in 7 starts at the Traveler's with a T2nd in 2008, a WIN in 2007, and T2nd in 2006, so he's got wonderful course form. His recent form isn't bad either as he has made the cut in all 15 starts on the season, and has 9 Top25 finishes, more recently a T14th at The Memorial and T6th at the US Open last week just 4 strokes from first place. Mahan is also ranked in the top30 in GIR and birdie conversion!

STEVE MARINO 7/2 TO FINISH IN THE TOP 10 - Marino has finished in the Top25 in his last 3 starts on the season, and scored in the 60s in 9 of his last 12 rounds, and ranks 3rd on tour in most rounds in the 60s, is 8th in GIR, and 10th in par 4 scoring average. In his last two starts he finished T23rd at The Memorial, and finished 2nd by losing in a playoff at the Crowne Plaza. It's easy to see why he's among the favorites this week. His best finish at the Travelers was a T13th in 2007 which was his first appearance there.

DUSTIN JOHNSON 4/1 TO FINISH IN THE TOP 10 - Who? He's a 40/1 shot to get the outright win but just 4/1 to make the top 10! And, if ya hadn't noticed, he's also one of if not the hottest players on the PGA Tour of late. Johnson has finished in the Top25 in each of his last 4 starts, is ranked in the Top10 in driving distance, GIR, putting average and par breaking percentage. In his last 4 starts he's finished T24th at the Valero, T4th at the Byron Nelson, T14th at The Memorial, and T40th last week at the US Open. Last year was his debut at The Travelers and he finished T34th at -8 which was 10 strokes behind winner Stewart Cink.

VIJAY SINGH 13/5 TO FINISH IN THE TOP 10 - Course form is definitely in Vijay's favor here as he's managed 2 Top10s in a row with a 5th in 2008 and a 4th in 2007. Recent form has Vijay moving up on the official world of golf rankings to 9th position, no doubt a result of his recent finishes of T9th at The Players, T16th at the Byron Nelson, T6th at the Crowne Plaza and T27th at the US Open last week. He did miss the cut at The Memorial a couple of weeks ago but has been playing much better of late with 3 Top20s in his last 5 starts.

ANTHONY KIM 5/2 TO FINISH IN THE TOP 10 - Marks his first time at The Travelers with one of his most consistent rounds of the year last week at the US Open where he finished T16th with rounds of 71-71-71-70 = +3. It was by far his best finish of the season since a T17th at the WGC Accenture on March 1, 2009 and a T2nd at the Mercedes Benz back on January 11. Yet, he is still ranked 15th on the World of Golf Rankings by ranking 3rd in birdie average and 1st in birdie conversion percentage. He's a 25/1 shot to win the tournament outright!

[joepa66]

WINNER!
Hunter Mahan in Top 10 and Anthony Kim just missed finishing in a T11th!