The PGA Tour will look very different in a few years with a relegation-style setup featuring the haves and the have-nots – AKA the Championship Series and Challenger Series. How that materializes remains influx, and the full changes won’t happen until 2028. But massive changes are coming. This week, we focus on a signature event that should be part of the Championship Series either way, the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. Outside of Rory McIlroy, all the Tour’s big names are here, including Scottie Scheffler, who is the heavy betting favorite at +450 at FanDuel, and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, who none of us were on last week. The SI Golf betting panel features SI Betting insider Iain MacMillan, Inside Sports Network Tap in Birdie podcast host Brian Kirschner, Betting analyst Brad Thomas, The Model Maniac Byron Lindeque, FanSided content director Cody Williams and, yours truly, Minute Media VP of Betting Content Brian Giuffra. Each Wednesday, we post our betting picks for outright and longshot winners, first-round leader, our favorite prop bet and a final score prediction.TPC River Highlands is a classic northeast parkland course. It measures under 7,000 yards, but offsets length with thick rough, dramatic doglegs and small greens. Think target golf with plenty of wedge shots into tight pins. This isn’t a birdie fest, but the winning score will likely be in the high teens. Scheffler, as mentioned, is the betting favorite. Lurking behind him are Tommy Fleetwood, Ludvig Åberg, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Young, Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Thomas. There are plenty of other big names. Let's get into our picks. OutrightIain MacMillan: Justin Thomas +3300 (DraftKings)Fresh off five straight top-20 finishes, it's time for Justin Thomas to truly contend for a win. TPC River Highlands seems like a good place for him to do it, considering he has posted three-straight top 10 finishes at this event. His style of golf fits this course well.Brian Kirschner: Justin Thomas +3300 (DrafKings)People have been looking to be on JTs first win in 2026 and I have to say that I am one of them. JT has really played some great golf after coming back from injury earlier this year. He has six straight top 25 finishes that include two great results at majors. JT has been great in Cromwell with three straight top 10 finishes. It's time for him to get back in the winner's circle this week.Brad Thomas: Collin Morikawa +3100 (DraftKings)It feels like a lifetime ago since Collin Morikawa won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. At the time, he was playing some of the best golf we had seen from him in a couple of years before the back injury slowed everything down. Since then, he has slowly started creeping back up leaderboards, putting together spike round after spike round, and he looks healthier every time he tees it up. +3100 is a very good price for him at this course. Byron Lindeque: Russell Henley +3400 (DraftKings)The immediate form is rather poor. But, the course fit is rich given the fact that he just won at the Charles Schwab a couple of weeks ago. Henley also finished 2nd here last year. The reason for the poor form is that he has lost around the green in three straight. I had to go back to 2021 to find the last time he did that. He should find his groove at a comfortable venue at a very reasonable price. Brian Giuffra: Xander Schauffele +1800 (FanDuel) It feels like it’s just a matter of time before Schauffele gets back in the winner’s circle. Why not this week at a place he’s won before? Schauffele has finished T12 or better in six of his last eight events, including a T11 at the U.S. Open. The 2022 Travelers winner is 9th in total shots gained on the PGA Tour, including 13th OTT and 29th in APP. He spikes when he plays multiple tournaments in a row (T7, 3rd, T4, T12 in four events so far) and this course suits his deliberate style. LongshotIain MacMillan: Sahith Theegala +7000 (DraftKings)Sahith Theegala led the entire field at the U.S. Open in strokes-gained tee to green, gaining +0.39 more strokes per round in that area than any other golfer, including the winner, Wyndham Clark. His putter ended up letting him down, leading to a T11 finish, but the ball-striking numbers are extremely promising moving forward. He now returns to an event that he finished as the runner-up at in 2022. It could be time to buy in on Theegala. Brian Kirschner: Sepp Straka +10000 (FanDuel)This two-time Ryder cupper has not had the best of seasons, but I think this week is the perfect time to get back on. Sepp is very accurate off the tee and a great iron player. I like the fact that he didn’t have to fight through four rounds at Shinnecock and I am willing to overlook a MC. He has shown that he can win if he gets into contention and I trust him to bounce back this week.Brad Thomas: Akshay Bhatia +8000 (FanDuel)When I think about golfers who should excel on driver-wedge courses that require a great read on the greens, Akshay Bhatia is a name that comes to mind. Since winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational, his game has been all over the place, but the top-20 finish at the U.S. Open showed some promise. Not a bad long shot this week.Byron Lindeque: Aaron Rai +5500 (DraftKings)More like Aaron Rai not? The PGA Champion just finished T11 in a very under-the-radar U.S. Open performance. This golf course demands roughly 4 shots from 200+ (#37), which Rai struggles from, but, the 14 other shots come from two 50-yard buckets that he ranks 6th (100-150) and 7th (150-200). It wasn’t by design that I landed up with the two most accurate drivers in the field as outrights, it just so happens they do a lot of other things I like this week, along with accuracy off the tee. Brian Giuffra: Shane Lowry +7500 (Bet365) I’m not concerned about the MC at the U.S. Open. His approach and OTT numbers were solid. The putter was balky. Now he returns to a course where he has a T9 and T19 to his credit and has gained strokes on the greens in his last three tournaments here. This course is similar to PGA National and Lowry has generally been successful at TPC courses. That number was too good to pass up, as other books had him in the +6000 range. First-Round LeaderIain MacMillan: Xander Schauffele +2700 (FanDuel)I have to take a break from betting on Xander Schauffele to win events, but I think betting on him to be the first-round leader is the perfect spot for him this week. He’s first in the field in total strokes gained in first rounds of events over the past six months. He also won this event back in 2022, so he knows how to play this golf course.Brian Kirschner: Ryan Fox +6000 (Fanduel)Fox is coming off a great week at the U.S. Open, where he finished T23. He has hit his irons excellently in his last two starts and that is going to be very important this week. Fox goes out early Thursday morning and I think it’s a great chance for him to fast start in Cromwell. Brad Thomas: Sepp Straka +6200 (DraftKings)Straka is a fast starter who usually balls on courses that prioritize fairways. If his putter gets hot, he’s hard to stop. Byron Lindeque: Gary Woodland +5500 (BetRivers)Averaging 1.6 strokes in R1, Gary Woodland plays his best golf on Thursdays (+0.4 R2, -0.3 R3, +0.5 R4). It doesn’t hurt that GW gets an AM tee time in the FRL as the wind is looking to be absolutely breathless on Thursday morning, ramping up to a gentle breeze in the PM. Brian Giuffra: Ben Griffin +4100 (DraftKings) If you’re looking to catch lightning in a bottle, Griffin is definitely your man. His putter wasn’t hot at the U.S. Open and he still finished T17. It was at the Cadillac and Charles Schwab and he was 3rd both times. His approach game has been trending up the last three weeks and he remains a scoring threat on Par 5s with his prodigious power. He was T14 here last year and gained with the putter. Let’s see if it all comes together for one round. PropIain MacMillan: Aaron Rai Top 10 +345 (DraftKings)Let’s put some respect on the PGA Champion. He continues to play great golf, including posting a T11 finish at last week’s U.S. Open, which was at a course that didn’t fit his style of play. Now, he returns to a course that he finished T17 at last year. I think a top 10 finish at +345 is a great bet for Aaron Rai at TPC River Highlands.Brian Kirschner: Patrick Cantlay Top 20 +110 (FanDuel)Cantlay is amazing at this course. He has finished inside the top 20 in eight straight appearances so it’s a fairly straightforward play. Although not crazy long odds, it is still a great price for something that seems to happen every year.Brad Thomas: Sam Burns Top 20 incl. ties -125 (DraftKinhs)Sam Burns is hot right now. He’s in contention every week. He’s winning soon and I want a piece of him while he chases another title. Byron Lindeque: Aaron Rai Top 20 +138 (DraftKings)Aaron Rai is looking for his fifth Top 20 in six starts. He MC at the Canadian Open, but an 11th at the U.S. Open, 19th at the Memorial and 5th at the OneFlight are not the worst recent finishes for the current PGA Champion. Brian Giuffra: Gary Woodland Group F Winner +350 (DraftKings) I was looking for ways to fade Justin Rose and this was it. Rose leads this group at +235, but this is his fourth straight start. The last time he did that earlier this year he missed the cut at the Genesis. Adam Scott (+290), Kristoffer Reitan (+375) and Nicolai Hojgaard (+455) are also in this group, but none have played well recently. Woodland, meanwhile, is coming off a T7 at the U.S. Open with two Top 10s in his last three starts. Winning ScoreIain MacMillan: -19Brian Kirschner: -18Brad Thomas: -17Byron Lindeque: -20Brian Giuffra: -17 Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow