Mackenzie Hughes, left, of Canada, is tied for second after the second round of the Travelers Championship Friday at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. Phil Mickelson is in the top spot.
CROMWELL, Conn. — Phil Mickelson figures age might be an asset.
Playing his first tournament since turning 50 this month, the five-time major champion shot a 7-under 63 in the Travelers Championship to take a one-stroke lead into the weekend.
Lefty said it was perhaps the wisdom of his age that helped him stay within himself instead of trying to go toe-to-toe with his long-hitting playing partners, top-ranked Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau.
“There’s some holes I can open it up and try to hit driver, but really I just want to get it in play on a lot of holes and let my wedges take over, and I’ve hit a lot of good wedge shots this week,” said Mickelson, the 2001 and 2002 tournament winner. Mickelson was at 13-under 127. First-round leader Mackenzie Hughes followed an opening 60 with a 68 to drop into a second-place tie with 23-year-old Will Gordon, who led most of the day after shooting an early 62.
Since winning at Pebble Beach early last year for his 44th PGA Tour title, Mickelson has mostly struggled, with far more missed cuts than good finishes.
On Friday at tree-lined TPC River Highlands, Mickelson made a bogey on his second hole before moving up the leader board. He made the first of his eight birdies from a green-side bunker on No. 5 and shot 30 on the back nine.
While Mickelson is making his 624th PGA Tour start, Gordon is in his eighth tour event on a sponsor’s exemption.
He had nine birdies and just missed a few others, including on the fourth hole where his 35-foot birdie putt came to rest on the edge of the cup.
The former Vanderbilt star is carrying on a long tradition of young players who received a break at TPC River Highlands. Since 1996, 77 of the tournament’s 98 unrestricted sponsor invitations have gone to players with fewer than 15 starts on the tour and those players have gone on to combine for 90 victories.
“I was supposed to play in three events that got canceled over COVID, so for those guys to take a chance on me and believe in me means the world,” Gordon said.
McIlroy followed his first-round 63 with a 68. He was tied for fourth, four strokes off the lead and happy to be in contention.
“I know what it feels like to go low out here, so I’ll need a couple of good ones over the weekend,” he said. “But the game feels in decent shape, and obviously get out early tomorrow and try to get back in the mix.
DeChambeau, the third member of the marquee trio, had the most entertaining round of the three. He was 8 under after a 67 that included the strangest bogey of the day.
His tee shot on the par-4 10th hole hit the cart path, rolled and rolled and ended up 428 yards from the tee and 48 yards from the hole.
But after pitching over the green, then chipping back well short of the hole, he missed a 7-foot putt.
“I tried to hit a 35-yard shot and it came out 50 yards, and I’m like, ‘What is going on?’” he said. There’s some things I’ve still got to work out and some stuff I clearly don’t understand yet with the wedging.”
Two more players withdrew because of the coronavirus — Denny McCarthy for a positive test, and Bud Cauley, who tested negative, but decided to pull out after playing with McCarthy on Thursday. There have been seven COVID-19-related withdrawals.
McCarthy, who shot an opening-round 67, said he began began feeling sick Thursday night and tested positive for the virus Friday morning.
“I woke up in the middle of the night with additional aches and soreness and sensed something was off,” he said. “I felt like the only thing to do was get tested at that point before I went to the course.”
Cauley, who opened with a 69, had two negative tests Friday. He withdrew “out of an abundance of caution for my peers and everyone involved with the tournament,” he said.