A strong post-major field including five of the world's top 10 players will tee off Thursday in the 2021 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands outside Hartford, Conn.   

William Hill Sportsbook lists Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau as the 12-1 co-favorites in its latest 2021 Travelers Championship odds, followed by Brooks Koepka at 14-1 and Paul Casey and Patrick Cantlay at 16-1

Before you lock in any 2021 Travelers Championship picks or PGA Tour predictions, you NEED to see who golf insider Sal Johnson is backing.

A media legend and consummate golf insider, Johnson has a strong feel for when a player's momentum will make a difference. Before last week's U.S. Open, he pegged Jon Rahm among his best bets to win and touted Louis Oosthuizen at 45-1 as his top long-shot candidate.  

"I think he is ready to finally win a big event," Johnson said of Rahm before the event, adding, "Torrey is right up his alley."

The result? Rahm and Oosthuizen took it down to the wire, with Rahm draining long, curling birdie putts on his final two holes to surge past Oosthuizen and win by a stroke at 6 under. 

Johnson also knows the layout at TPC River Highlands and has a strong history of picks there. In 2019, he pegged Chez Reavie as one of his long-shot contenders, citing the journeyman's accuracy off the tee and on approach. All he did was go out and win his second PGA Tour event by four strokes! 

In 2018, Johnson featured Bubba Watson in his best bets, noting Watson was 73 strokes below par in his previous 30 rounds on the course. The result: Watson rallied from a six-stroke deficit to win by three, at a whopping 17-under.

The golf guru also knows when surging players are poised for a breakthrough. He tabbed Sungjae Im as a top contender before his first Tour win at the Honda Classic last season, then touted Tyrrell Hatton before he got his first tour victory the following week. Anyone who has followed Johnson's advice has cashed in HUGE!  

Now Johnson, the first producer of "Inside the PGA Tour," a longtime ABC Sports golf producer who worked with Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Greg Norman, and the founder of the world's top golf stats database, has released his highly confident 2021 Travelers Championship picks, and they will surprise you.

Shockingly, the golf expert is fading Dustin Johnson, who is the co-favorite and defending champion. The 36-year-old has appeared to be working his way back from his slump and tied for 19th at the U.S. Open after a top-10 finish the previous week. But the golf expert says the reigning FedEx Cup champ is still struggling with his putter and is "looking good in places but not playing consistently well for 72 holes." He could break through again at River Highlands, but he isn't among Johnson's picks to win this week!

Instead, Johnson is touting a MAJOR  long shot who comes in at well over 40-1 odds! This forgotten veteran has been in an extended slump, but it looks like he's over the hump and he could pull off a massive victory this week! Anyone who backs this underdog could cash in HUGE.

Who wins the 2021 Travelers Championship? Where do Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka finish? And which MONSTER long shot is a MUST-BACK? ... Join SportsLine now to see Sal Johnson's full leaderboard and picks for the 2021 Travelers Championship, all from the insider who has a strong feel for how players' skills fit the courses and which players can keep up their momentum!