Scheffler part of 3-way tie for
lead at Travelers with Fleetwood and Thomas
[June 21, 2025]
By DOUG FERGUSON
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler provided hope with a late
double bogey. Tommy Fleetwood charged through with two eagles in
three holes, and so did Justin Thomas with five straight birdies.
They wound up tied for the lead on a blustery Friday at the
Travelers Championship.
All it took was the fate of the wind, good or bad, to shape the
leaderboard going into the weekend at the TPC River Highlands, with
12 players separated by four shots.
Scheffler was comfortably in front when the left-to-right wind his
tee shot had been riding laid down, sending his ball into the
fairway bunker on the par-4 17th. He put the next one in the water,
barely reached the green with his fourth shot and made double bogey.
He wound up with a 1-under 69.
Fleetwood felt the wind going right-to-left, then slightly hurting,
then slightly helping on the par-5 13th. He had 240 yards to at
least cover the water, 264 yards to the hole, and he felt his 9-wood
would at least reach the green.
So much depended on the fickle wind that fooled so many players.
“I just sort of caught the right moment,” said Fleetwood, who also
chipped in for eagle on the reachable 15th and shot 65. "Came off
perfect and then beautiful putt.”
Thomas wished he could have hit the ball a little better off the
tee, but he stayed out of trouble, stayed patient and cashed in on
the back nine with his five straight birdies, two of them from the
25-foot range, that led to a 64.
They were at 9-under 131, one shot ahead of Jason Day (66).
Rory McIlroy was 3 over through four holes in gusts that topped 30
mph, at one point falling eight shots behind Scheffler, a daunting
prospect. But he kept in the game, found hope when Scheffler dropped
back to 9 under, and got a little luck on his own.
His second shot from a bunker on the 17th was so think that he took
one hand off the club and waited for the worse, mainly a splash. It
founded the water at such a low trajectory that it skipped out onto
the fairway.
He failed to get up-and-down, taking bogey, but felt it could have
been worse — the shot, and his position going into the weekend He
batted for a 71, leaving him only four back.
“The conditions today definitely bunched the entire field together
and should make for an exciting weekend," McIlroy said
The conditions — mainly the wind strong that was blowing hats off of
heads and sending unoccupied chairs tumbling away — was everything
in the second round.
The average score was 70.7, nearly two shots harder than the opening
round. It was the highest scoring average for a single round at the
Travelers since the second round in 2017.
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Tommy Fleetwood, center, of England, smiles as he approaches the
18th green during the second round of the Travelers Championship
golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, Friday, June 20, 2025, in
Cromwell, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
The toughest part for players was figuring out
which way it was blowing. Scheffler experienced that on the 17th.
“The tee shot, I hit exactly the way I wanted to,” Scheffler said.
"Somehow the wind either stops or goes back because the way my ball
was flying it should have basically gotten to the middle of the
fairway and I end up in the left bunker.
“Then I catch it a hair fat, and all of a sudden I’m dropping and
hitting my fourth shot, and I hit the shot exactly the way we wanted
to, and as the ball is flying, you get a gust into the wind, and all
of a sudden the ball is not on the green,” he said. “You can't get
every one correct. You just do your best to manage your way around
the golf course."
Day had his own version of a hat trick on the front nine — three
pars, three birdies, three bogeys — until hitting all the right
shots for a 31 on the back to get in the hunt.
Denny McCarthy (64) and Austin Eckroat (71) were at 7-under 133,
followed by Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley 70) and Nick Taylor
(68).
Patrick Cantlay had a 68 with a double bogey on the par-5 13th and
joined the large group at 135 that included McIlroy.
If the wind wasn't bad enough, Luke Clanton showed remarkable
patience in his second tournament as a pro. He had been playing with
Jordan Spieth, who had to withdraw with soreness in his upper back
on Thursday. Clanton was a single in the middle of the field, behind
Scheffler and U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, in front of Andrew
Novak and Jacob Bridgeman.
He waited on every shot and did well to post a 72, leaving him in
the middle of the pack
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