CROMWELL (Conn) – (Wire Service Report) – Scottie Scheffler bumped in a par putt at No. 18 for a second-round 60 to stand atop the leaderboard at 16 under through 36 holes of the Travelers Championship on Friday at the TPC River Highlands course, just south of Hartford, Connecticut.
Scheffler missed a long birdie by mere inches to the right on the par-4 18th before tapping in for the 10-under 60, one better than Norway’s Viktor Hovland (61 on Friday) and two better than Akshay Bhatia’s second-round 62.
Hovland is alone in second, two back of Scheffler at 14 under. Bhatia ended the day in a tie for third at 12 under with Eric Cole (65).
“After birdieing 15, I was kind of like, ‘Oh, yeah, maybe 9 under now. A few more, you could shoot 59,’” Scheffler said.
“At the end of the day, I was very focused on just my execution out there. … I’ve put myself in position now this week. Go home, get some rest, and get ready for tomorrow.”
Overnight rain led to soft greens and low scoring at TPC River Highlands on Friday, a common theme in the second round albeit nothing entirely novel at the event.
With a round of 60, Scheffler ties Patrick Cantlay (2011) and Tommy Bolt (1954) for the top second round. Jim Furyk (58 in 2016) holds the tournament single-round scoring record and Cameron Young posted a 59 in the third round two years ago.
“The conditions were really good this morning. Softer golf course, not as much wind,” Scheffler said. “Going out yesterday in the afternoon, when the greens get firm out here and the wind starts to blow, it can get tricky pretty quickly.
“Yeah, going out this morning, you definitely had a feeling the conditions were going to be easier, so you need to go out there and try and take advantage of it.”
After opening with a birdie Friday, Scheffler made a bogey 5 at the second. The missed 6-footer on the par-4 was arguably his last mistake Friday before shifting into overdrive. He had 10 birdies on his final 16 holes in the second round with matching scores of 30 on the front and back nine in his bid to win the event for the second time in three years.
Hovland was 9 under on Friday with a 30 on the front nine and a highlight eagle on the par-5 13th.
“It was awesome stuff today,” said Hovland, who tied his career-low round on tour. “Obviously been kind of battling some stuff. You know, my golf swing had not felt all that comfortable. But, you know, I felt like things stabilized a lot more today, and I was able to put the ball in the fairway, hit some great iron shots, and putter finally cooperated a little bit more today.”
Bhatia walked off the course earlier with the lead before Hovland and Scheffler closed out the round emphatically. He had four birdies on each nine in a bogey-free trip around River Highlands, including putts from outside 26 feet at Nos. 3 and 10.
“I feel like I’ve putted really good the whole year,” Bhatia said. “I went through a stretch where when the greens were as good or consistent, even though I hit good putts, they just weren’t going in. … I feel like I kind of showed up this week, you know, did my same stuff, and my speed has been really good this week. I’ve had pretty stress-free putts.”
Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick had a late-afternoon run undone by bogeys at Nos. 16 and 18. He settled for a 66 and a tie for fifth at 10 under with Bud Cauley and Ben Griffin, each of whom also posted 66.
There was no 36-hole cut at the 72-man signature event. Notables down the board include defending champion Keegan Bradley (65) and U.S. Open champ Wyndham Clark (64) at 8 under, PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai of England (68) at 7 under and Justin Thomas (66) at 6 under.
–Field Level Media
