» HARMAN LEADS TRAVELERS AFTER 2 ROUNDS
CROMWELL, Conn. — Brian Harman isn’t the first southpaw to find success at TPC River Highlands.
Phil Mickelson won here twice — in 2001 and 2002 and Bubba Watson won in 2010 and 2015.
So for Harman to be leading at 10under, it’s not out of the ordinary for those who swing from the that side of the tee.
Matt Jones had a chance to tie Harman for the lead on the 18th hole, but missed a 20-foot putt for birdie by inches and had to settle for par. He ended his day at 9-under, tied with Russ Henley and Zach Johnson for second place. Paul Casey, Bryson DeChambeau and Beau Hossler are at 8-under.
Bubba Watson and Rory McIlroy aren’t far behind at 7-under. Defending champion Jordan Spieth, after a rough 3-over 73 is at 4-under.
“I wouldn’t know otherwise, I’ve never played it right-handed,” Harman said. “But yeah, Bubba and Phil have done well here. Hopefully the next lefty will be me.”
Friday was the cut day and the line was 2-under with 72 players making it through to what could be a wet weekend. Saturday and Sunday both call for rain in the forecast.
Harman entered Friday morning’s round at 6-under, but had an up-anddown back nine (his first nine) that was marred by three bogeys.
“Well, when we started this morning, the conditions were very difficult,” he said. “It was breezy and it was cool, and it took me a little while to warm up and settle down. I was just a little anxious and just a little uneasy the first few holes, but I settled down and started playing some good golf.”
His front-nine looked cleaner: Four birdies, five pars.
He said his putter has helped him thus far, and that he’ll look to stay aggressive heading into the weekend.
“The putter has been really good,” Harman said. “But I’ve been in position a lot. I’ve had a lot of good looks at it. I’m just able to put a little pressure on the course right now, which is nice.”
He finished his round as the clubhouse leader. But as we saw Thursday, what happens in the morning doesn’t always hold up into the afternoon. Zach Johnson finished 7-under as the morning leader, but Jordan Spieth came out later and shot a 7-under to share the lead.
“I won’t pay attention until Sunday afternoon,” Harman said.
Putting has been Jones’ problem for longer than just this tournament. He recorded 0.780 strokes gained via putting, compared to 1.421 strokes gained Thursday.
“I mean, if you look at my putting stats, I’ve done that and I’ve been doing that for three years now,” he said. “I’m in the position I’m in now because of the way I’ve been putting. But I made a few early on, so I’ll have to live with those birdies.”
Jones had four birdies on the front nine to move to 4-under. On the back nine, he was even with one birdie and one bogey.
Once again, it came down to his short game.
“I hit it good. Made a birdie on 10, missed an 8-footer on 11, tough par on 13,” he said. “Missed a 15-footer on 14, tough one on 15, and missed one on 17 and 18. I mean, it could have easily been 3 or 4-under as well. It’s just the difference between making a putt and not making a putt.”
Henley posted a blemish-free second round, as he entered 4-under and left 9-under, tied for second. He birdied five holes, and went 18-for-18 on hitting greens.
“I hit it well,” he said. “I felt like I hit it in the right spots all day. It was kind of a stress-free round and my ball striking was pretty good.”
The 13th hole was his most memorable. He broke out the 5-wood on the par five, and was able to convert his fifth and final birdie of the day.
“Hit it to about 30 feet,” he said. “It was a nice two-putt birdie. That was when the wind was kicking up. We were trying to be decisive on what club to hit over the water and I picked the right one. So that was a good shot to keep the round going in a good direction.”
DeChambeau was the opposite of Harman on Thursday — his front nine was spotless, as he shot 4-under, but recorded a bogey and a double-bogey on the 12th and 13th holes.
How did he not lose his focus? Simple. He’s been there before.
“In times past I would definitely be freaking out, not knowing what to do, trying to correct the golf swing rather than going, OK, you don’t have it right now. Let’s go,” he said. “Figure out something that can get it in the house. So I was able to hit a little bit of a cut shot, you know, and then just try to slow things down a little bit and that seemed to help control the club face a little bit.”