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One of the front-runners at Bethpage last week just happens to have a brilliant record at the venue for this week: Hunter Mahan.

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THIS WEEK (June 25-28)

Tournament: Travelers' Championship

Course: TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut

Purse: $6 million

Defending champion: Stewart Cink

A Group

Playing well the week after a Major is never an easy thing - and never more so than in the very short stint between US Open and Open Championship. But for Sergio Garcia, expect things to be different: he's had a very slow start to the year, but started to show his ball striking is back to its best at Bethpage Black. A course like River Highlands with its tricky, sloping greens will make everyone will struggle with the putter, not just the shaky El Nino - and it will make his ball superior striking all the more valuable.

If you're not convinced by Sergio, then defending champ Stewart Cink showed glimpses of form at Bethpage, and could be a smart move.

B Group

Pick of group B, without any doubt, is Hunter Mahan, who played out of his skin at Bethpage without suffering the traumatic, draining misery of a near miss - though if his approach off the pin on 16 had dropped instead of ricocheting, it all might have been very different. On top of that, he won this event in 2007 and was a shot off forcing a play-off here last year. He's nailed on.

Alongside Mahan, why not take a punt on Bubba Watson, who played well last week and must be itching to unleash a few big drives after the restrictiveness of US Open duty. That sense of freedom can do wonders for a player - and the big-hitting lefty is so overdue a win now that it's almost getting embarrassing.

C Group

One of the fantastic storylines to come out of the US Open was the number of amateur golfers to produce the goods - from early day-one front-runner Drew Weaver to birdie machine Nick Taylor. And if anything can kickstart Danny Lee's disappointing debut season it's seeing guys who he would have beaten for fun last year upstaging him on the biggest stage of all. The Korean-born Kiwi is true quality, and his first win in the US will come sooner rather than later.

Out of Bounds

US Open champ Lucas Glover is in the field and therefore a tempting pick - particularly since he seemed to be playing better and better as his final round went on, rather than tailing off. But for every player who converts an emotional high finish in a Major into success the next week - the way Bernhard Langer used to - there are 10 who just soak up the cheers of the crowd, shoot a couple of clunky rounds in the high 70s, then go back home to polish their new trophy again.

Toby Keel / Eurosport