Travelers Championship TV Schedule, Tee Times, Odds: Can Bubba Watson Defend Despite His Recent Poor Results?
By Michael Shamburger
With all of the majors behind us already, we can now look forward to the FedExCup because really, who cares about the Olympics?
But first we have the Travelers Championship this week and the John Deere Classic next week during the Olympics.
Defending champion Bubba Watson, who won in a playoff last year over Paul Casey, is in the field and is the odds-on favorite to win; he also collected his first PGA Tour win at this event back in 2010. Watson is followed by Brooks Koepka and Branden Grace. Watson has not played well since winning the Northern Trust Open and finishing second at the WGC-Cadillac Championship in March. His highest finish in his next eight events came at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational where he finished T14.
Koepka is another favorite this week, and he very well could win, but he injured his ankle prior to The Open and we didn’t know the severity of the injury until after he finished tied for fourth at the PGA Championship. Koepka said after the PGA, “It hurts right now. It’s numb, dude. I don’t even feel my foot. The outside of it is pretty numb. We were probably 70-30 not playing, so to actually play 36 was pretty impressive.”
If Koepka’s ankle was only 70% healed and he still finished tied for fourth while playing 36 holes on Sunday, that’s pretty impressive. If his ankle is closer to 100%, which there’s no reason to assume it wouldn’t be, look out, because in his last four starts, not including the WGC-Bridgestone, he’s finished tied for fourth or better three times.
TV Schedule
Th – 3:00 – 6:00 PM ET – Golf Channel
Fr – 3:00 – 6:00 PM ET – Golf Channel
Sa – 1:00 – 2:30 PM ET – Golf Channel, 3:00 – 6:00 PM ET – CBS
Su – 1:00 – 2:30 PM ET – Golf Channel, 3:00 – 6:30 PM ET – CBS
Tee Times
1 – 7:00 AM – Boo Weekley, Steve Marino, Francesco Molinari
10 – 7:00 AM – Kyle Stanley, Heath Slocum, Kyle Reifers
1 – 7:10 AM – Brendon de Jonge, Greg Owen, D.H. Lee
10 – 7:10 AM – Chez Reavie, Morgan Hoffmann, Bronson Burgoon
1 – 7:20 AM – Jason Gore, Zac Blair, Sung Kang
10 – 7:20 AM – Freddie Jacobson, Daniel Summerhays, Michael Kim
1 – 7:30 AM – Ben Martin, Ben Crane, Scott Stallings
10 – 7:30 AM – Daniel Berger, Matt Jones, Justin Leonard
1 – 7:40 AM – Brian Gay, Ted Potter, Jr., Rory Sabbatini
10 – 7:40 AM – Russell Knox, ATroy Merritt, David Toms
1 – 7:50 AM – Billy Hurley III, Brian Stuard, Angel Cabrera
10 – 7:50 AM – Steven Bowditch, Nick Taylor, Camilo Villegas
1 – 8:00 AM – Greg Chalmers, Peter Malnati, Stuart Appleby
10 – 8:00 AM – J.J. Henry, Brooks Koepka, Kevin Streelman
1 – 8:10 AM – Vaughn Taylor, Russell Henley, Vijay Singh
10 – 8:10 AM – Keegan Bradley, Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen
1 – 8:20 AM – Marc Leishman, Will MacKenzie, Bud Cauley
10 – 8:20 AM – Michael Thompson, Adam Hadwin, Patrick Rodgers
1 – 8:30 AM – Chad Campbell, Jon Curran, Andrew Loupe
10 – 8:30 AM – Martin Laird, Ricky Barnes, Carlos Ortiz
1 – 8:40 AM – Tim Wilkinson, Si Woo Kim, Brett Stegmaier
10 – 8:40 AM – Bryce Molder, Robert Allenby, Erik Compton
1 – 8:50 AM – Steve Wheatcroft, Darron Stiles, Soren Kjeldsen
10 – 8:50 AM – Rob Oppenheim, Dawie van der Walt, Jon Rahm
1 – 9:00 AM – Sam Saunders, Hiroshi Iwata, Jordan Niebrugge
10 – 9:00 AM – Tyler Aldridge, Derek Gillespie, Bryson DeChambeau
1 – 12:15 PM – John Huh, Tim Petrovic, Shawn Stefani
10 – 12:15 PM – Scott Brown, Chad Collins, Cameron Smith
1 – 12:25 PM – Brendan Steele, Hudson Swafford, Cameron Percy
10 – 12:25 PM – Jerry Kelly, Jamie Donaldson, Tyrone Van Aswegen
1 – 12:35 PM – Johnson Wagner, Jason Kokrak, Andres Gonzales
10 – 12:35 PM – George McNeill, Blayne Barber, Tom Hoge
1 – 12:45 PM – Shane Lowry, John Senden, Chesson Hadley
10 – 12:45 PM – Charley Hoffman, Seung-Yul Noh, Gary Woodland
1 – 12:55 PM – Smylie Kaufman, Geoff Ogilvy, Retief Goosen
10 – 12:55 PM – Aaron Baddeley, Ryan Moore, Kevin Chappell
1 – 1:05 PM – Alex Cejka, Padraig Harrington, Hunter Mahan
10 – 1:05 PM – James Hahn, Tony Finau, Brendon Todd
1 – 1:15 PM – Justin Thomas, Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk
10 – 1:15 PM – Branden Grace, J.B. Holmes, Luke Donald
1 – 1:25 PM – Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed, Matt Kuchar
10 – 1:25 PM – Brian Harman, Webb Simpson, Paul Casey
1 – 1:35 PM – Jonas Blixt, Ken Duke, Robert Garrigus
10 – 1:35 PM – Lucas Glover, Colt Knost, Jamie Lovemark
1 – 1:45 PM – Mark Wilson, Dicky Pride, Chris Stroud
10 – 1:45 PM – Sean O’Hair, Luke Guthrie, Whee Kim
1 – 1:55 PM – Rod Pampling, Spencer Levin, Derek Fathauer
10 – 1:55 PM – Derek Ernst, Scott Pinckney, Luke List
1 – 2:05 PM – Henrik Norlander, Andrew Landry, Lee McCoy
10 – 2:05 PM – Thomas Aiken, Miguel Angel Carballo, Robby Shelton
1 – 2:15 PM – Wes Roach, Abraham Ancer, Tyrrell Hatton
10 – 2:15 PM – Martin Piller, Kelly Kraft, Adam Rainaud
Odds
Bubba Watson – 14/1
Brooks Koepka – 16/1
Branden Grace – 18/1
Matt Kuchar – 20/1
Patrick Reed – 22/1
Zach Johnson – 22/1
Jon Rahm – 30/1
Paul Casey – 30/1
Webb Simpson – 30/1
J.B. Holmes – 35/1
Jim Furyk – 35/1
Daniel Berger – 40/1
Louis Oosthuizen – 40/1
Francesco Molinari – 45/1
Gary Woodland – 45/1
Russell Knox – 45/1
Brendan Steele – 50/1
Charley Hoffman – 50/1
Marc Leishman – 50/1
Justin Thomas – 55/1
Brian Harman – 60/1
Daniel Summerhays – 60/1
Keegan Bradley – 60/1
Kevin Chappell – 60/1
Martin Laird – 60/1
Padraig Harrington – 60/1
Ryan Moore – 60/1
Tony Finau – 65/1
Tyrell Hatton – 65/1
Aaron Baddeley – 70/1
Kevin Streelman – 70/1
Freddie Jacobson – 75/1
Soren Kjeldsen – 75/1
My Pick
I’m giving up. This season has been about as predictable as the weather.
With that being said, I’m picking Jon Rahm. He’s listed at 30/1 odds, but in the five events he’s started in 2016, he’s finished in the top three twice, and both were in the last two months. His last appearance came at the RBC Canadian Open where he finished tied for second. He also has finished T3 in June at the Quicken Loans National.