Travelers Championship 2026 FRL Tips: Bhatia to start fast on Thursday

The Travelers Championship begins tomorrow, and with conditions expected to be bright and calm, we should be in for a low-scoring race for the first-round lead at TPC River Highlands.

Our resident golf tipster Jamie Worsley is here with three picks he fancies to take advantage in his Travelers Championship 2026 FRL Betting Tips, which you can check out below...

You can read Jamie's full Travelers Championship Preview here..

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Play begins at 8.15am on Thursday, after which the 72-man field (split into 36 pairs) will tee off in 10 or 15-minute intervals. The sun is forecast to shine from the start, accompanied by 19°C temperatures that will climb steadily to 27°C by midday.

Wind will be a non-factor early doors, and though it is predicted to rise to around 9mph in the afternoon, that should not be enough to cause a significant bias. With that, we can pick freely across the tee-times, and I’ve selected three players to hit the front on day one.

1 pt Akshay Bhatia each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 45/1

Start time: 12.30pm

Akshay Bhatia had been struggling for form prior to last week’s U.S. Open, but he took an encouraging step forward at Shinnecock, recording a 17^th-place finish. He’s gone well at River Highlands before and, having fired many a low round on similarly diminutive layouts, this strong short-iron player is primed to go low on Thursday.

Following finishes of 3^rd at the Phoenix Open and 6^th at Pebble Beach, Bhatia capped his fine start to the season with a victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He picked up three top-25s in five immediately after that success, though he had been a little underwhelming prior to his trip to New York.

His U.S. Open result was driven by quality approach play, as he ranked 8^th in the category. This is an area in which he’s 39^th season-long, appearing particularly effective with his short irons, sitting 9^th in approaches from 125-150 yards. Considered alongside placings of 9^th in SG: Putting and 13^th in birdie-or-better %, he has the scoring power to make plenty of birdies here.

Bhatia’s birdie-making ability was well on show on his debut in 2024, as he opened with a six-under 64 to sit 2^nd after round one, backing it up with scores of 65, 64 and 69 to finish 5^th. During a year in which he’s fired a 63 at fellow Dye-design, Harbour Town Golf Links, a 64 and a 65 at Pebble Beach, and a recent 65 at Colonial, Bhatia is clearly suited to these scoring conditions.

0.75 pts Nick Taylor each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 66/1

Start time: 10.10am

Before being derailed by a double-bogey on the par-5 7^th, Nick Taylor was well placed to land a first-round leader win for us three starts ago at the Memorial Tournament. He’s not fully recovered from that as yet, but as a player who typically excels on short, scoreable courses, he can put it right on Thursday.

Taylor has only missed two of 17 cuts this year, recording four top-25 finishes of 9^th at the Cadillac Championship, 13^th at the Sony Open, 14^th at the Truist Championship, and 24^th at Pebble Beach. He’s shown quality throughout the bag, though it’s his ranking of 14^th in SG: Putting over the last two months, alongside standing 32^nd in proximity from 125-150 yards, that really appeals in this market.

In addition, the Canadian ranks as the fourth-best first-round performer in this field. That stuttering effort at Muirfield Village still saw him sit 5^th after round one and, preceding that, he fired a five-under 66 at the Truist Championship and a six-under 66 at the Cadillac Championship, to finish 3^rd and 4^th, respectively.

Taylor had produced a best of 64^th in his first seven visits to River Highlands, but he’s started to get the hang of it in recent renewals, finishing 42^nd in 2024 and 17^th in 2025.

As a player whose best start of the season came at the similarly short and birdie-heavy Sony Open, where he opened with a 62 to share the first-round lead, I’m confident he now has the confidence to repeat that effort around this venue.

0.75 pts Tom Hoge each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 100/1

Start time: 8.25am

Although Tom Hoge didn’t quite do the business in this market at the Canadian Open two weeks ago, I’m happy to give him another shot at the price. He played superbly here in 2024 and, with his short-to-mid iron play remaining a strength, he can fly out of the blocks in round one.

Hoge started 2026 in promising fashion, finishing 8^th at The AmEx and 14^th at Pebble Beach. He’s missed five cuts since then whilst consistently failing to crack the top 50, but he again came alive when scoring was low at the Byron Nelson, shooting a 10-under 62 in round two on his way to a 6^th-place finish.

He putted well there, and whilst his performances on the greens have dipped in recent outings, he has gained strokes putting on his last three starts in this event. Ranked 8^th in proximity from 125-150 yards, he also has the arsenal to create plenty of chances around here.

Hoge left an underwhelming record in this event well behind in 2024, firing a second-round 63 and a fourth-round 62 to finish 3^rd. He jointly holds the course record at one of Pete Dye’s most famous courses, shooting a 62 at TPC Sawgrass in 2023, which strengthens my belief that he’s worth chancing at this three-figure price.

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