2024 Travelers Championship SUPER Preview | CBS Sports

Patrick McDonald and Kyle Porter join CBS Sports HQ to preview the Travelers Championship.

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[Music] the one thing you can guarantee at The Travelers Championship is entertainment not only is TPC River Highlands the side of our very own Chris hassel’s first Spike Seltzer yeah I’m glad you remember that it is where Keegan Bradley broke the tournament record last year with his win he went 62 63 64 68 over the course of 4 days finishing 23 under 257 beating the record by one shot and unlike the monster that was Pinehurst number two last week at the US Open we can expect birdie Fest this weekend taking a look at the past five Champions there uh there’s not been a back-to-back winner since Phil Mickelson did it in 2001 2002 somebody who’s never won it is world number one Scotty Sheffer and this year he’s going to rely heavily on his caddy who’s won it three times prior so yeah I think I lean pretty heavily on Ted week to week and um you know this is a golf course that he’s had a lot of success on and so if there’s a difference of opinion I’m probably going to lean towards him a little bit more than myself just just because you know I haven’t had the success on this golf course specifically you know a different tournament you know I may lean more to what I feel and think um whereas out here you know he really does a good job of managing around this golf course and um you know I think of another place or August is kind of like that where you know what whatever he says seems to kind of go for me in my head just because you know he’s had the success he has the pedigree he knows where where to put the ball and where not to put the ball and um you know especially when it comes to a lot of the course management stuff you know clubs that choose off the te’s what areas to play into um you know just cuz like you said he seen Bubba win here numerous times and he knows exactly I think how to kind of get me there if that makes sense let’s welcome in two guys from the first cut podcast we have Patrick McDonald here along with Kyle Porter uh listening to Scotty Sheffer there look the first thing Chris and I agree on is the Beards back and that’s good he didn’t have a last week of the US Open uh the first time since he has been on tour he finished every round over par Kyle what do you think about Scotty heading into this weekend and then with his caddy on his bag who’s had a lot of success here well I’m interested to see Madea how he plays a golf course that I think he’s more comfortable with than he was at Pinehurst in the US Open you know he talked uh and we talked a lot last week about how he just never seemed like he was truly comfortable off the tea and and even with some of his iron play at Pinehurst and listen Piner is a very different track than a TPC River Highlands or even at mirfield Village where he won the Memorial the week before the US Open and I think that you know one thing he talked about today was managing his misses knowing where to miss uh PGA Tour golf courses are historically just easier to kind of manage your way around than than US Open courses than Augusta National even uh then Open Championship courses so I think the bounceback is going to be big and I think that uh I think Scotty um you know it’s not really going out on a limb to say that he has a chance to win but I think some people might look at his US Open performance and say oh well maybe he’s kind of falling off off I don’t think that’s the case at all I think as long as his energy is high after uh kind of three grueling weeks I do think that he is uh G to be right there with a chance to win this this golf tournament at the end on Sunday yeah I’m glad you brought up those energy levels KP because it really is the dog days of summer going uh signature event major championship signature event Scotty Sheffer this is going to be his fifth tournament in the last six weeks you add in a home game at Colonial you add in the hoopla at the p Championship as well and he even said he was a little bit mentally fatigued as well and I think it really showed up not only with that decision making off the tea at Pinehurst getting Pinehurst in The Wire Grass there but also on the greens it was his worst putting performance since last year’s Memorial which was horrible to watch to tell you the truth but like KP said leaning on Ted Scott leaning on that decision- making that course management he should probably be inside the top five heading into Sunday with a chance to win right I think he entered the US Open leading the PJ tour in 50 statistical categories that might have dropped to 47 or something if if you have any concerns about Scotty sheffler but uh the way he’s hitting the golf ball and the way he’s putting it outside of Pinehurst you’d expect him to win this week Patrick he mentioned the weather there uh TPC River Highlands still in the middle of a heat advisory and it is supposed to be rainy uh so something for these golfers to take into consideration once they hit the weekend there somebody who will not be dealing with that weather is Rory mroy we saw that just crushing loss at the very end end of the US Open um and I was listening to First gu podcast and Kyle it was interesting because you and Mark imman R put out this statement saying I’m going to take a couple weeks off that this was one of the toughest days I’ve had in 17 years you and Mark are somewhat on opposite sides when it comes to to Rory’s actions after this what do you think about him missing this one yeah well first of all Amanda I don’t know how much I want to hear about heat advisories in Connecticut uh you and I being being uh Dallas people that that’s you know the heat up there’s a little different than the heat here in Dallas but yeah Rory not playing this tournament you know I I thought that the way he handled the last hour and a half at Pinehurst both on the course and off the course was not great um you know Rory is uh I I think I wrote this he’s Grace personified he’s been um full of grace throughout his career he’s a very um gracious person with the media and and just the way he handles everything he didn’t handle everything very well uh at the very end there at the US Open I I don’t I don’t have a huge problem with him you know missing The Travelers championship and and and taking some time off before the Scottish open and Open Championship I honestly I think it speaks more to how crazy it is that there’s a signature event right before the US Open and right after the US Open I I feel like I need to take this week off Patrick probably feels like he needs to take this week off it’s it’s a it’s a grueling grueling time of year and um for Rory to withdraw from The Travelers championship and and kind of look ahead to July and and to getting over to Scotland I think is not really that that certainly is to me not a big deal and certainly not as big a deal is kind of the way he handled uh the very end of of the US open at Pinehurst so um yeah it’s a bummer for The Travelers right it it’s a great field gets just a little bit uh less good without a top three player in the world there but um I I I honestly think I’ve kind of been this take’s been percolating in my head I think he’s really going to bounce back with a vengeance in SC and have a really good kind of two we stretch there at the Scottish open and Open Championship so we’ll see that’s a long way away but I I do think the bounce back is going to be really good for Rory I I kind of wish he teed it up this week tried to play through it we heard Xander shafley kind of talk about how different guys experience losses different this is probably the most crushing defeat of Rory mckoy’s career right even worse than that 2011 Masters I think KP and I agree on that but he’s going to have this Cloud hang over his head for the next month now he’s going to be asked about it the week before the Open Championship in his defense at the Renaissance Club as well he’s going to be asked about it at the Open Championship as well I think this week would have been a chance to kind of put a little bit behind him I mean those putts are going to be viewed on YouTube and television for ever maybe potentially with with Rory mroy uh and so I think if he played this week try to play through it I know it would have been tough I know mentally he probably wouldn’t have been there I think it would have done a little little good for his mentals uh moving forward KP you want to guess what the the heat advisory is the temperatures oh it’s probably like 88 or something like that it’s 90 with a high of 90 to 94 in 68 during the day if you’re going to make fun of connetic Cutters for that you got to talk about the people over in in Britain that are complaining about 78 degree Heat Wave it’s insane what’s going on over there read up on this because it’s it’s terrible for society oh I mean thoughts and prayers for them over there across the pond I hope it gets better um by the time we get to the open let’s let’s move on here Xander shafley look he has been very complimentary of Rory uh saying look this guy’s under a microscope kind of speaking to what you were saying Kyle Xander shley now under a microscope since he won his first major this season here uh Patrick he’s had success here before what do you think about him heading into the weekend yeah you you gotta love his chances I’ve been really impressed with these last two weeks because Xander shafley really hasn’t had his best stuff right he hasn’t had the game that he had at quill Hollow for Valhalla but he’s still gotten around the golf course pretty effectively I thought it was shocking to tell you the truth that he was in red figure somehow through two rounds with the way he hit the golf ball at Pinehurst and then he kind of pieced it all together there on Sunday with a nice 200 under rounds so he obviously has a great history here he’s probably as well-rounded as they come he it seems like he makes just about everything from that 5 to 10 foot range now and he he’s going to love his chances I think going in this week so if the driver gets a little bit better he’s been a little w Wayward these past two weeks in that department if he’s able to hit Fairways with consistency I’d be shocked if he’s not in contention on Sunday yeah I agree I I think what Patrick said Is is spot on um he’s been really good on this golf course as well you know throughout throughout the course of his career so I think you have to you have to factor that in uh certainly as well um you know Xander’s been I would say a top three player in the world so far this year I think that’s kind of undeniable uh it’s him and Scotty and then you throw either Rory or Bryson in there probably in in that third spot and uh and those are your top three guys only two of those guys are at The Travelers Championship so I think that the um the the odds I think reflect that Xander is a top two guy in this field uh with along with Scotty Scotty is obviously the the big favorite but I think it’s deserving his game is so well-rounded I I agree with Patrick that he he kind of got around Pinehurst with nothing I mean he hit it really bad at times and was somehow kind of in the mix going into Saturday and I I think that he’s another guy that listen like these guys get so conditioned to the types of golf courses that they play on on the PGA tour and Xander just destroys those golf courses he just plays them so so well and it can be very difficult after you win a major championship wi the PGA to kind of maintain that level of play and I think he’s mostly doing that I guess we’ll see more this weekend and on into the summer but I I’m with Patrick I would be surprised if he was not at least somewhat in contention at some point on Saturday or Sunday Xander is the second Betty favorite sitting at plus 750 odd Scotty Sheffer is the favorite at plus 360 we’re going to go with a long shot pick here uh Kyle I like your guy he’s a lot of fun to watch but I’m a little disappointed you didn’t go with Patrick’s guy you like Jordan Speed Patrick is a long shot to win why yeah I think we just lost half the viewership when he said that with with the way Jordan Speed is playing but last week he finally showed something with the iron play right uh so far this year he is fourth in this field and strokes gained off the te which is crazy to think about with Jordan Speed you think about him being super erratic these heroic shots getting up and down uh from everywhere but really the base of his game so far in 2024 has been that driver and that should set up the iron play which was great last week it was his best since uh the 2022 RBC Heritage which is his last win as well so this is a golf course where he’s obviously won before in that playoff over Daniel burger with the with the shot we see on the screen and he he needs to get something going here we saw him just add the John Deere classic to his schedule returning there he’s outside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup which is crazy to think uh so I think he’s going to ride the momentum in from last week where he didn’t make a ton of putts he likes to use greens and uh carry that tto green game and and maybe surprise some people this week yeah I’ve got a I’ve got a general rule that I can’t attend amusement parks uh four weeks in a row so I have to stay away from from Jordan spe this week but Shane Lowry at 80 to1 Shane Low’s finished in the top 20 in his last two major championships had that great round at the PJ Championship on Saturday to kind of get in the mix and and was really solid throughout the US Open uh he’s playing some really good golf going into this summer I think he’s an interesting guy at Scottish open Open Championship here in a month and uh I I I to me this is a numbers play it’s it’s the 80 to1 number you know I would rather have Shane lar at 80 to1 than somebody like a spe at a 50 to1 so he he’s just to me playing more consistently good golf uh than somebody like a a Jordan spe going into this tournament if you don’t like roller coasters uh please avoid the Stanley Cup Final right now because that is one hell of a ride here that was your long shot pick to win let’s go with it your actual pick to win the tournament Kyle hoody like I love Tony feno you know we talk about or Scotty mentioned that Bubba Watson or that tdd Scott has won uh this tournament a few times well he was on Bubba Watson’s bag Bubba Watson is incredibly long off the tea fow’s much of the same he was awesome last week at the US Open uh but also I think it’s important I I love it when guys in in the week before play really good golf but they’re not necessarily truly In Contention because I think truly getting in contention like Rory and Bryson it takes a lot out of you emotionally I mean you’re just living and dying on every shot and and fenel was not really like that he played awesome and finished in the top five but he he never was really like in it in it on Sunday so I love that he’s playing good golf but isn’t kind of emotionally taxed going into this tournament so I’ve got feno at 33 to1 I love that number for him as the winner this weekend dang KP I thought you were going to go with our oneand done pick sep not JPI it’s actually ysf straa uh he’s probably been a top 10 player on the PGA tour over these last three months you look at the Signature Events he has three straight top 10 finishes in those you throw in the top five finish at Colonial as well and this is another golf course that’s going to be great for step draa I know he’s a big guy but he does not hit it very far but he hits it very straight he’s top five in this field in terms of driving accuracy the iron play has been red hot so this is a guy we’ve seen in the mix before at these type of golf courses like the John Deere classic and get the job done so I’m looking for a big week from sep and uh potentially that third win on the PGA tour and if you listen to The First Cut podcast you know that Patrick uh does think that his name should be jeppi instead of Jose which I think sounds better it’s all right guys thank you so much enjoy the tournament getting underway Thursday when it comes to the weekend Saturday and Sunday if you want to watch The Travelers Championship you can do so on CBS or stream it on Paramount Plus