CROMWELL, Conn. — Scottie Scheffler could not convert a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Friday at the Travelers Championship, narrowly missing out on a chance to join Jim Furyk as the only players in PGA Tour history with two sub-60 rounds.
Scheffler had to settle for a 10-under-par 60 on the rain-softened course at TPC River Highlands, setting an early target atop the scoreboard on a day of extreme low scoring at the final signature event of the regular season.
“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,” Scheffler said. “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.”
Scheffler was at 16-under 124 through 36 holes, two shots ahead of Norway’s Viktor Hovland.
“At the end of the day, I was very focused on just my execution out there,” said Scheffler, who has been No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking for three-plus years running and is coming off a tie for fourth Sunday in the U.S. Open at New York’s Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.
“Who knows what the lead is going to be after today? I’ve put myself in position now this week. Go home, get some rest, and get ready for tomorrow.”
Playing three groups in front of the four-time major champion, Hovland needed to birdie the final two holes for a 59. He settled for a pair of pars and a 61, matching his career best on tour.
“Certainly it was more gettable today than it was even yesterday,” Hovland said.
Akshay Bhatia had a 62 to match first-round leader Eric Cole at 12 under, tied for third on the leaderboard.
“I know how this golf course can play,” Bhatia said. “You’ve got to kind of keep making birdies and try and limit mistakes.”
Cole parred the final eight holes in a 65.
“Maybe just being tired or something and making some tired swings,” Cole said.
Bud Cauley, Matt Fitzpatrick and Ben Griffin were tied for fifth at 10 under, each shooting a 66. Six players were tied for eighth, and the group in 14th at 8 under included Wyndham Clark (64), who earned his second U.S Open title Sunday at Shinnecock Hills.
Also at 8 under was Harris English, who shot his second straight 66. English is one of two Baylor School graduates in the 72-player field. Keith Mitchell, who shared fourth place at the U.S. Open, was tied for 34th at 5 under after a 67.
Scheffler shot a 59 in his rookie season in 2020 in the second round of the Northern Trust tournament at TPC Boston, another rain-softened course that featured low scoring. Dustin Johnson was 11 under through 11 holes that day and had to settle for a 60.
“Some days they’re kind of hanging on the edge and not quite going in, and then other days they’re finding the bottom of the cup,” Scheffler said. “Today was a day definitely in which most of them were finding the bottom of the cup.”
Furyk shot his first sub-60 round in the second round of the 2013 BMW Championship at Conway Farms near Chicago, a 59 that included a bogey on his card. Three years later, he set the PGA Tour record at the Travelers Championship with a 58 in the final round at TPC River Highlands.
Furyk did not win either tournament.
“It was like, ‘It would be cool to shoot 59, but somebody has already shot 58 here, so it’s not even the course record,'” Scheffler said.
Scheffler, who won the Travelers Championship two years ago, came up empty at the U.S. Open in his first try to complete the career Grand Slam. His most recent victory was at the American Express tournament in the California desert in late January, his first start of the year.
Scheffler bogeyed the par-4 second hole Friday, leaving a wedge shot from the fairway well short and missing an eight-foot par try.