2017 Travelers Championship: Ranking the contenders in a loaded field at TPC River Highlands

Maybe you can call the Travelers Championship the PGA Tour’s sixth major? OK, OK, we’re kidding.

Just days after Brooks Koepka took home his first major championship at the U.S. Open at Erin Hills, we’ll have the stars out once again when the Travelers Championship gets underway from TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. this week. Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth will make their first-ever trip to the Northeast’s first event of the year, while Jason Day, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed, and Justin Thomas fill in a stacked field at the classic stop in Hartford.

Why the bump in depth of field on a post-major week at one of the PGA Tour’s regular ol’ events? You can thank, in part, a new PGA Tour rule this season for that. In an effort to protect strength of field and promote the full schedule, a new policy enacted for the 2016-17 season requires players that made less than 25 starts the previous season to add a new event. The idea is to spread the stars out beyond the traditional events the players choose over a number of years, and Spieth and McIlroy will fulfill that here in Hartford this week.

The Travelers has a strong rep among the players and media, but still getting this kind of world-class group the week after the U.S. Open is impressive and a nice surprise for golf fans. Let’s power rank the top 10 ahead of Thursday’s first round at River Highlands.

Justin Thomas’ Alabama teammate has had a quiet, nice run of form in 2017 and feels like the type that could be next poised for a breakthrough win. At 27, he’s never won on the PGA Tour, but three top-10 finishes since April suggest one might be in the offing. Why not this week in Cromwell?

What’d Daniel Berger do after winning for the first time at TPC Southwind in Memphis last year? He came to the Travelers and lead by three entering the final round, only to throw it all away on Sunday. He’s already defended one title successfully in 2017. There’s demonstrable proof Berger can repeat success at certain tracks. He’s here to finish business this week — and perhaps add his third career win in two seasons and make it three straight victories for Talkin’ Bout The ’Noles.

Even amidst struggles, there’s nobody better at River Highlands than Bubba. He’s won here twice in his career, and perhaps he’s finally starting to peek his head out of the depths of the past year. There’s no place for him to break the skid better than at the spot where he got his first PGA Tour win. This is, perhaps, Bubba’s favorite non-Augusta spot on Tour.

What do we make of the Aussie star right now? Just as he seems to be progressing toward regaining his 2015 and 2016 form, he turns in a disastrous Thursday and Friday at Erin HIlls. Still, we’re in Cromwell. This isn’t Birkdale or Quail Hollow still to come this year. With a strong but top-heavy field, Day’s got a chance to win here just by showing up. We’ve seen signs of his world-class form and maybe this is the kind of track where he can forget about that U.S. Open mess. That could be a one-off on a course that just threw him off his visualization routine and didn’t fit his eye.

Did you know Captain America still doesn’t have a major championship top-10 finish? He got his nose into contention a bit with a nice Saturday round at Erin Hills, but fell off the pace once again on Sunday. But hey, no worries. Despite this strong field, Cromwell isn’t a major championship track — so maybe Reed’s got a shot this week. He’s someone who can post a super-low number here with his short game, which looked in top form last week as he missed several greens while staying in contention on the weekend.

Jordan Spieth takes are the new Rory takes, and we’re getting to a point where the Texan needs another win to shut up the prognosticators concern-trolling his game. His round of 69 to finish at Erin Hills on Sunday should be a positive sign he’ll have a bit of momentum coming to Connecticut. And at this event, a player of Spieth’s supposed stature should be able to power through to the top. Distance isn’t necessarily king here. The two-time major winner just needs to get his putter going again.

He’s been in the mix at both majors this year and Hoffman’s having a nice season on Tour. This week is a comfortable track for the 40-year-old Vegas native. He held a 2-shot lead late on the back nine here in 2012, but blew that possible win to Marc Leishman. Seems like he’s a prime candidate this week given all we’ve seen from him this year.

Too high? Maybe. But who in the world at the moment is playing better golf than Harman? Even though he didn’t grab the Nicklaus Medal at Erin Hills, a T-2 finish at a course thought to be far too long for a shorter hitter’s not bad at all. He could be this year’s Russell Knox in Hartford.

Fine. He missed the cut in Wisconsin in his return from injury — and maybe it’s too early post-layoff to expect a win. But River Highlands should set up well for McIlroy, and he’s a favorite at any regular-season PGA Tour event just by showing up. If he’s feeling 100 percent, and he said last week there’s no limitations on his swing, then there’s no reason why he can’t win this weekend.

Sure, sure: Brooks Koepka won the U.S. Open — but the memory from this weekend will be Thomas’ record-setting Saturday. If you’d like to pick a winner at River Highlands, JT’s your best bet. He’s clearly in form, shot 62 here last year in a tie for third, and is overdue for a win on the continental United States. He’s your favorite going in to the Travelers this week.