Power rankings: Travelers Championship
The PGA Tour moves from New Jersey into New England this week for the Travelers Championship. Typically played in June the week after the U.S. Open, the Hartford, Conn., area event made the move as part of the shuffling to accommodate golf’s return to the Olympics. Three of four American men heading to Rio next week are in the field here, including defending champion Bubba Watson, who won in a playoff over Paul Casey last year.
Here are our top five players for this week:
1. Bubba Watson – The Travelers is Bubba’s personal playground, winning twice, including last year in a playoff over Paul Casey.
2. Patrick Reed – Reed was a part of the story fairly early at the PGA Championship, but he faded in the end. Nonetheless, T-12 and T-13 in back-to-back major starts.
3. Zach Johnson – ZJ deserves a good look this week because he’s in overall solid form and he has a very consistent mark here at TPC River Highlands. Only missed two cuts in 10 starts with a slew of top-25 finishes.
4. Brooks Koepka – Koepka put on a gutsy performance at the PGA as he heals from a ligament injury in his right ankle. Conceivably, this is a course he can dominate if he can keep the ball in play.
5. Brendan Steele – Steele is a horse-for-course pick this week. He’s got three top-15 finishes here in the last five years. However, he’s missed the cut in his last two starts, the final majors of the year.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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