Travelers turns into birdie bash with Mccarthy, Bradley on top at 15 under

CROMWELL — A singular lesson has emerged over the first two days of the Travelers Championship. It’s not unlike the one previous editions of this event at TPC River Highlands has revealed.

It’s going to take low scores — really low scores — to have a chance to win this thing.

How do you know? Denny Mccarthy actually looked a little disappointed after shooting a second-round 65. That’s what happens a day after you shoot 60.

He’s at 15 under and tied for the lead with Keegan Bradley.

“It was a tough day early,” said Mccarthy, who shot even par on his opening nine Friday morning. “But there was no need to panic.

“I just stayed really patient until I found a nice groove there in the middle in the back nine.”

Mccarthy blitzed the back nine for a second consecutive day, producing another 5-under 30 on that stretch. His 15-under total of 125 set the 36-hole scoring record at the Travelers.

“It’s probably my favorite nine holes on Tour because there is such a variety of holes, and it’s fun and entertaining for us players and the fans,” Mccarthy said of the back nine at TPC River Highlands.

And that scoring record? Mccarthy held it alone for about three hours.

Bradley, who grew up in Vermont and has a house in Massachusetts, also blazed through the back nine. He rattled off five straight birdies, beginning at the 12th to shoot 30 on the back. He was greeted with another hug by his family after following up his opening-round 62 with a bogeyfree 63.

“All of a sudden I made the long putt on 12 and everything just clicked in,” he said. “I started hitting every shot where I was looking and every putt was going

down my line. On a course like this especially, you can really get it going.”

They'll have company on the weekend at the Travelers, a designated event on the PGA Tour with a $20 million purse and $3.6 million payday for the winner.

With bad weather in the forecast, the tournament moved up tee times for Saturday's third round. Players will go off both tees in threesomes; the original plan was twosomes with everyone starting on the first hole.

Play will begin around 10:45 a.m., with the leaders going off around 12:45 p.m. Gates for fans will open at 9:30 a.m.

“Sometimes tournaments that are very difficult and there is not that many birdies are difficult,” Bradley said. “But when you're playing tournaments that you've got to make a million birdies, it's a different feel and it can be difficult. I know I have to go out there and keep the pedal down and make a lot of birdies.”

No player threatened to go sub-60 on Friday. Three players — Bradley, Mccarthy and Adam Scott — had legitimate shots to post a 50-something Thursday, but there were 600 more birdies Friday.

Before this week, only three times all season on the PGA Tour had there been a round with more than 600 birdies. It's happened both days so far at this Travelers.

So if your number wasn't in the mid-60s, you were on the right side of the road watching the rest of the field speed by.

With an early 7:25 a.m. tee time, Rory Mcilroy gave the massive galleries a wake-up call.

Starting on the 10th hole, he birdied four of the last five on that side to shoot — you guessed it — 30. He added three more in his first six holes on the front side.

He finished at 8-under and is in a tie for 10th.

“It's sort of go-time right out of gate, especially how both nines set up,” Mcilroy said. “The front nine you've got 1, 2, 3 are good birdie looks; 4 and 5 are tough. Then on the back nine — 10 is a tough hole, but then you have 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

“So you have to get off to a fast start here. That's pretty important.”

He did that, for sure. And given how he played the eighth and ninth holes the day before, a special round was certainly a possibility.

On Thursday Mcilroy aced the eighth for his first hole-in-one on the PGA Tour. Then he stuffed one close on No. 9. But while the eighth was his best moment Thursday, it was his worst Friday.

His 8-iron hit the front of the green and tumbled back into the pond. An ace Thursday; a double bogey Friday.

“It just got hit by a little bit of wind,” Mcilroy said, who finished with a 64 and is seven behind Mccarthy. “The wind just sort of switched on us.

“[I] hit a pretty good shot. I just misjudged the wind a little bit and it came up short — the one place you couldn't miss today on that hole. Other than that it was a really good round of golf.”

And to stay within shouting distance of the lead, you had to have a pretty good round of golf. Mccarthy and Bradley both have made 16 birdies in two rounds. Chez Reavie, who is alone in third at 13 under, has 12 and an eagle.

Eric Cole, a tour rookie, has made 12 birdies in two days. Zac Blair, like Cole another player seeking his first victory, didn't make a bogey in his second round as he matched his opening-round 65 with another Friday. He prepped for this birdie-fest by playing some tough East Coast courses.

“This week kind of went on a little bit of a heater,” Blair said. “Played Eastward Ho! before we came in and Fishers Island on Tuesday, and then played Winged Foot on Wednesday.

“I just love playing golf, and love seeing cool places, so it's been fun to do something like that.”

Winged Foot, which has hosted the U.S. Open six times, is often cited when a discussion turns to the most difficult golf courses on the planet. TPC River Highlands has yielded entertaining golf, but it has not been difficult.

“It's a great golf course because it's not the longest golf course and you can get after it and make a lot of birdies,” said Viktor Hovland after a second-round 65 nudged him into the top 10 heading into the weekend.

“It kind of sneaks you into playing super aggressive to go after some of those birdies. If you have a conservative game plan, it should be very difficult to shoot over par.”

Not everyone took advantage of all the red numbers out there to be had. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler followed his 7-under 63 with an even-par 70 that dropped him into a tie for 21st, eight shots behind Mccarthy and Bradley.

Jon Rahm, ranked second in the world, is gone. He missed the cut after shooting 67-71.