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Travelers Championship: Four long shots to bet in the first-round leader market

Thursday's opening round is wide open, and there are a few big numbers worth backing in the FRL market.

Mackenzie Hughes of Canada plays his shot from the 12th tee during the second round of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 07, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Mackenzie Hughes of Canada plays his shot from the 12th tee during the second round of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 07, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)Read moreRoss Kinnaird / Getty Images
    by Michael Leboff, Action Network
    Published 

The opening round of the Travelers Championship begins Thursday morning at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn., and it could be a bit of a slog. The field for the tournament is absolutely loaded because of its status as a designated event, but that also means most of the favorites are traveling cross-country after playing the U.S. Open in Los Angeles last week.

That could make Thursday quite interesting, and opens the door for finding some big prices in the first-round leader (FRL) market.

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Here are a couple of longshots worth circling for Round 1:

K.H. Lee (+11000, FanDuel)

There’s something about TPC courses that works for K.H. Lee. Not only did his two PGA Tour wins come at one — he went back-to-back at TPC Craig Ranch — but he’s finished runner-up at TPC Scottsdale and had top-20 finishes at TPC Southwind in a WGC event in 2022 and was T19 at TPC River Highlands last year, too. Lee is no stranger to going low on Thursday and has a decent chance to do so again this week.

» READ MORE: Travelers Championship: Three players to back at this week’s PGA Tour event at TPC River Highlands

J.T. Poston (+13000, DraftKings)

With four missed cuts in his last six starts, it’s been a bit of a struggle for J.T. Poston over the past few months. That said, Poston should be confident about getting his game back on track at a course that fits his skillset more than the grueling tests we’ve seen between the Masters and U.S. Open. Poston finished T2 here in 2022 and can get white hot with his putter, which makes him a threat to go low without warning.

Chez Reavie (+13000, DraftKings)

This one is simple and it’s all about course history. Not only did Chez Reavie win here in 2019, but he’s finished T46-T25-T8 in his three trips to Cromwell since his victory. A player with that kind of success on one course is always worth a sprinkle in all markets at these kind of numbers.

» READ MORE: Three MLB futures bets we’re making right now, including Corbin Carroll for NL MVP

Mackenzie Hughes (+13000, DraftKings)

Like Poston, it’s been a rough few weeks for Mackenzie Hughes and also like Poston that shouldn’t matter much for this bet because Hughes has the ability to putt his way to the top of any leaderboard on a moment’s notice. Hughes has pretty good history at TPC River Highlands — he finished T3 here in 2020 and was T25 last year — and also owns some decent results on other TPC courses.

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