John Haslbauer pegged Nick Taylor as a contrarian GPP flyer whose dreadful course history (no top-40s in eight trips) will keep ownership suppressed. Taylor thrives in raucous environments—witness wins at the RBC Canadian Open and WM Phoenix Open—and has already claimed the 2025 Sony Open on another short, accuracy-centric track. He arrives with five top-25s in his last six starts, including a T23 at last week’s U.S. Open, suggesting his all-around game is peaking. Haslbauer prefers the fresh form over the negative history and recommends peppering Taylor in DFS pools and sprinkling a small outright at 125-1 or longer.

John Haslbauer endorsed Denny McCarthy as a longshot outright and GPP staple, arguing that the Travelers’ trend toward lower scoring elevates putting skill—McCarthy’s calling card. The Maryland native leads the field in SG: Putting and is enjoying his best overall statistical season, having not missed a cut since the 2024 Open and posting 10 top-25s in 20 starts. He improved ball-striking enough to contend on longer tracks like Quail Hollow and Torrey Pines, so a return to the tour’s second-shortest course should be an additional boon. After a career-best T7 here in 2023, Haslbauer believes McCarthy can convert at + odds while offering ceiling ownership leverage in DFS.

John Haslbauer highlighted Brian Harman as the safest value on the slate, noting six top-10 finishes in his last seven Travelers starts. TPC River Highlands rewards accuracy and tidy wedges—exactly the profile that helped Harman win the 2023 Open and finish T3 at the RBC Heritage, another short Pete Dye venue, earlier this season. Although his recent form looks merely average, he has made 7 of his last 8 cuts and already notched a win this year at the Valero Texas Open, giving him both floor and ceiling. Haslbauer views him as a plug-and-play cash-game anchor and a solid outright each-way at triple-digit odds.

John Haslbauer said Si Woo Kim is a buy-low tournament play and outright longshot at the Travelers Championship. Kim owns victories at Pete Dye tracks TPC Sawgrass and The Stadium Course and now gets another short, positional Dye setup that should accentuate his aggressive ball-striking. Despite no prior top-10s at TPC River Highlands, Kim enters with four top-15 finishes over his last eight starts and ranks top-10 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and in total strokes gained under easy-scoring conditions across his last 36 measured rounds. Haslbauer expects the combination of elite recent form and historically muted ownership (due to the quiet course history) to create leverage in DFS contests and juicy + odds in the outright market.

John Haslbauer circled Patrick Cantlay as a mis-priced contender whose skill set mirrors Oakmont’s demands. Cantlay tops the Tour in Approach Putting on fast greens and sits inside the top-10 for SG: Total at recent U.S. Opens, never missing the cut in the last five editions. He is one of only nine players ranking above average in Total Driving, Driving Accuracy, proximity from 100-150 yards, and Approach Putting—four stats Haslbauer weighted heavily. Oakmont’s 28-yard fairways and 8,500-sq-ft greens place a premium on lag putting and bogey avoidance; Cantlay checks both boxes, sitting top-5 in three-putt avoidance and SG: Total in major championships over the last five years. With a balanced tee-to-green profile and odds expected around +2500, Haslbauer views Cantlay as the best mid-tier outright and a rock-solid DFS core play for balanced builds.

Haslbauer plans to grab early Bryson DeChambeau tickets, arguing Oakmont accentuates the two-time champion’s edge. Bryson is one of only fourteen players to make every U.S. Open cut the last five years and sits top-3 in Haslbauer’s statistical model thanks to elite Total Driving, SG: Total in difficult scoring, and recent comp-course form. Although Oakmont’s fairway bunkers reduce ‘bomb-and-gouge’, Haslbauer stresses that DeChambeau still gains distance while ranking above-average in accuracy and SG: Off-the-Tee in difficult driving conditions. He dominated Winged Foot 2020 with the same strategy and arrives with "great momentum" after consecutive top-10 major finishes in 2025. Oakmont’s two reachable par-5s and sub-350-yard risk-reward 17th provide wedge opportunities that separate the longest hitters. Given that Bryson leads the field in Doubles Avoided and sits inside the top-10 for Approach Putting on fast greens, Haslbauer believes anything longer than +1400 represents value.

John Haslbauer spotlighted Viktor Hovland as his favorite early outright for Oakmont, arguing the course hides Hovland’s one weakness while showcasing his strengths. Hovland has gained strokes around-the-green in 12 of 19 career majors because thick USGA rough turns scrambling into a guessing game, neutralizing touch—exactly what Oakmont’s 5-inch bluegrass will do. The 27-year-old already owns 11 worldwide wins, a 2023 Tour Championship and four major top-10s since 2022. In 2025 he’s won the Valspar and logged five top-25s in ten starts. He ranks No. 1 in the field for SG: Ball-Striking on Difficult Courses, top-5 in SG: Approach over the last 36 rounds and top-7 in SG: Total at majors over the last five years. Haslbauer noted his T3 at Oak Hill 2023—another Hanse-restored, thick-rough track—as proof he thrives in this archetype. With Oakmont’s oversized Poa greens allowing safe bail-outs and two-putt pars, Haslbauer believes Hovland’s elite long-iron play and total driving profile give him his best chance yet to collect a first major at projected +2200 odds.