🏌‍♀US Open Sets New Record

Good Morning! The field for this week’s $20 million Travelers Championship is all set - Rory McIlroy is the only player to withdraw.

The pairings and tee times for Round 1 and 2 are out - click here to check them out.

Don’t forget to take a look at our top betting picks for the week.

Fun Fact: Phil Mickelson is the only player in history to win consecutive Travelers Championship titles - 2001 and 2002.

⛳ This day in history: On this date in 1955, major underdog Jack Fleck defeated Ben Hogan in an 18-hole playoff by three shots, at the Olympic Club Lake Course in San Francisco, thereby denying Hogan of a record fifth US Open victory.

ODDS AND PICKS
Our Top Picks For Travelers Championship

🚩 The Travelers Championship tees off tomorrow with PGA Tour stars assembling at TPC River Highlands to battle it out for the prestigious title.

💰 Purse: $20 million, winner takes home $3.6 million.

Here are our top picks we’re betting on:

🚀 Most Likely to Win: Ludvig Aberg's (+1400) performance at Pinehurst over the weekend was underwhelming but we anticipate a significant comeback for the young Swede at TPC River Highlands. Aberg has demonstrated impressive skills on short, strategic golf courses. In addition to his victory at Sea Island last fall, he also competed strongly this year at Pebble Beach, TPC Sawgrass, and Harbour Town—three notable courses that prioritize precise wedge play and putting over sheer driving distance.

🚀 Key Player in the Top 5: Patrick Cantlay (+333) delivered a well-rounded performance at the US Open last week, excelling in all four major categories and achieving his best-ever finish in a major tournament. Now, he's back at one of his favorite courses on tour, where he's consistently excelled, securing seven top-25 finishes in nine appearances, including a fourth-place finish last year. With his game peaking at the perfect moment, Cantlay is a strong contender to finish in the top five.

🚀 Key Player in the Top 10: Brian Harman (+250) has an impressive track record at TPC River Highlands, boasting six top-10 finishes in 12 appearances, including three consecutive top-10s. Recently, he secured a solid 21st-place finish at the US Open, and his best performance this season was at another short, strategic Pete Dye course, TPC Sawgrass. We anticipate another strong showing from the reigning Champion Golfer of the Year this week in Hartford.

🚀 Key Player in the Top 20: Sepp Straka (+105) recently delivered an impressive ball-striking performance at the US Open. Although his short game struggled at Pinehurst, he will find the conditions around the greens much more forgiving this week. At this course, Straka can rely heavily on his precise driving and excellent wedge play. His success at courses like TPC Deere Run, TPC Sawgrass, and Harbour Town suggests he is well-prepared for this type of challenge.

🚀 Underdog Likely to Emerge: JT Poston (+6600) has the perfect skill set for TPC River Highlands. Although his track record on this Pete Dye course has been inconsistent, he has achieved significant success on similar courses. Poston has secured victories at Sedgefield and TPC Deere Run, along with multiple top-10 finishes at Harbour Town and TPC Potomac. After finishing 32nd at the US Open, he is now entering a favorable part of the schedule for his style of play.

* All odds via BetMGM, at the time of publishing.

ALBATROSS
Tiger Gets Special Exemption For Lifetime

The PGA Tour has created a special sponsor exemption for 15-time major champion Tiger Woods based on his "exceptional lifetime achievement". This sponsor exemption would be available for Woods to compete in the eight signature events, which feature limited fields, increased prize money and FedEx Cup points.

Woods, an 82-time winner on the PGA Tour, wouldn't otherwise qualify for the signature events with $20 million purses because he isn't playing enough competitive golf after returning to the tour from serious injuries suffered in a car wreck in February 2021.

The PGA Tour policy board approved the special sponsor exemption during a joint meeting with the PGA Tour Enterprises board of directors in Hartford, Connecticut.

⛳️ Rory-Bryson Tussle Results In Viewership Record: The intense battle between PGA's Rory McIlroy and LIV Golf's Bryson DeChambeau at the US Open has given a huge boost to TV ratings.

Peak viewing numbers were recorded on NBC/Peacock between 6:15 pm ET and 6.30 pm ET, when 11.4 million tuned in, while 11.3 million watched between 6:30 pm ET and 6:45 pm ET – the highest in nine years across all US Opens.

The tournament was also NBC Sports' most-streamed golf event on record, while Sunday’s final round was Peacock’s most-streamed golf telecast of all time. Across all feeds, it was also NBC Sports’ most-streamed golf event in history, up 17% on 2023.

TWEET
Worth Mentioning

EAGLE
Spieth's DQ Leads To A PGA Tour Rule Change

The PGA Tour has made adjustments to its rule regarding scorecard disqualifications - here's how it works.

📌 If a player has left the scoring area and an error is identified before the scorecard is validated in the scoring system, he may return to correct the error within 15 minutes of the error being identified by the scoring official.

📌 If a player is in the scoring area when the 15 minutes expires, his scorecard is returned when he leaves the scoring area.

The rule change is going into effect immediately on all PGA Tour sanctioned circuits, as well as the DP World Tour.

🤔 Why the change in Rule? Disqualifications for incorrect scoring happen a few times each year, but an incident with Jordan Spieth at the Genesis Invitational may have spurred a rule amendment. Spieth was disqualified for signing a scorecard that incorrectly listed a 3 instead of a 4 on Riviera Country Club’s par-3 fourth hole.

He apologized on social media, taking full responsibility. It later emerged that Spieth, feeling sick, had rushed to the bathroom after his round and didn't have time to check his card.

The PGA Tour has made two more amendments - click here to check them out.

LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news

LPGA Tour: This year's KPMG Women’s PGA Championship purse has been increased to $10.4 million, a $400,000 increase from 2023. The bump raises total prize money for the 2024 season to $125 million, a record-breaking amount on the LPGA Tour.

Olympics: International Golf Federation announces 60 qualifiers for men's Olympic golf competition - click here to find out who made it.

Equipment: Callaway brings Opus wedges to the PGA Tour - check them out here.

Schedule Update: The Memorial Tournament is moving back to its traditional time slot - it will be played from May 26 to June 1 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in 2025.

Anniversary: This week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship marks 10 years since the audit, tax and advisory services firm signed on to title sponsor the women’s major.

BIRDIE
These Star Golfers Will Miss The 2024 Paris Olympics

Each country can only take a maximum of four men’s golfers to the games, and, thanks to having more than three players in the world’s top 15, the US will be the only one to take the maximum number of players.

We already know Bryson DeChambeau won't be a part of the field in Paris - take a look at the other big names who are missing out.

🏌‍♀Brooks Koepka: Koepka is one of a number of players to have withdrawn from consideration for this year's Games, even though his world ranking wouldn't have been enough to qualify.

🏌‍♀Dustin Johnson: As another LIV golfer, the former World No 1 was largely dependent on his form in Majors to give himself an outside chance of making the American team, but he’s not been nearly good enough in the three so far in 2024, with a T-48 at The Masters, a T-43 at the PGA Championship and a missed cut at the US Open putting paid to his chances.

🏌‍♀Patrick Cantlay: Cantlay can consider himself particularly unlucky not to make the US team. He is eighth in the world rankings, just below Morikawa, due to his excellent recent form, including T3 finishes at the RBC Heritage and the US Open. With only four US slots available, he narrowly misses out.

🏌‍♀Adam Scott: Scott is another player who misses out due to world ranking, but that is unlikely to be a concern for him as he had withdrawn himself from consideration. The Australian also opted out of the previous two Olympics in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 and has in the past said the field should be made up of amateurs.

🏌‍♀Sergio Garcia: Garcia played for Spain in the 2016 Olympics, but two other LIV golfers will play at this year’s edition – Jon Rahm and David Puig. Despite a strong season, including T12 at the US Open, Garcia’s world ranking of 310th falls almost 200 places short of Puig’s 113th.

Read the full article.

DRIVING RANGE
3 Best Chipping Drills

In today's video, we share three different chipping drills using nothing but a pen.

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