{"id":728278,"date":"2026-06-27T01:17:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T01:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/728278\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T01:17:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T01:17:29","slug":"with-sub-60-watch-over-scottie-scheffler-heads-to-weekend-in-command-of-travelers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/728278\/","title":{"rendered":"With sub-60 watch over, Scottie Scheffler heads to weekend in command of Travelers"},"content":{"rendered":"

CROMWELL, Conn. \u2014 Like air slowly coming out of a balloon, there was a palpable sense of loss surrounding the 18th green at TPC River Highlands on Friday<\/a> as the realization sunk in among fans that witnessing a sub-60 round had slipped through their collective grasp.<\/p>\n

Among the dozens and dozens of immediate exclaims and sighs, there were a few whispers seeking confirmation that the quest had come up just short. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo, did he get 59?\u201d <\/p>\n

No, unfortunately, he did not. And the he in question is top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, who put on a show for the New England faithful during his second round <\/a>of the Travelers Championship.<\/p>\n

Scheffler, a 2024 winner here, took full advantage of favorable conditions and preferred lies teeing off early on Friday<\/a> with good friend Sam Burns to card a 10-under 60 \u2014 to go along with his opening-round 64. <\/a> At 16 under par, he is two clear of Viktory Hovland, who had a 61 himself.<\/p>\n

Friday, Scheffler birdied four consecutive holes twice in the round, once on the opening nine from Nos. 5 through 8 and then again on the back from Nos. 13 through 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to keep up that pace, obviously, but need to continue to execute and give myself looks,\u201d Scheffler told Golf Channel after the round when asked to look ahead to the next 36 holes. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss the second round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn.<\/p>\n

When Scheffler went off the first tee a quarter after 11 a.m. local time, it was to considerably lighter fanfare than he closed with Thursday in Cromwell \u2014 or even last weekend at Shinnecock Hills. A few belated \u201cHappy Birthday\u2019s\u201d \u2014 Scheffler turned 30 on Sunday \u2014 could be heard around the first tee box as storm clouds still hung above. <\/p>\n

Scheffler wound up with a birdie on that hole, with Burns saving par after finding his ball lodged in a puddle right of the fairway. <\/p>\n

Fans on that first hole gathered around as Burns worked his way out of the mud, seemingly fascinated by the early trouble. Aside from a bogey on the next hole, they never got such an experience with Scheffler who was dialed in off the tee at the par-4 third to set himself up for a quick birdie response.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always fun, any time you have the opportunity like that \u2014 especially in front of a great crowd like we have in Cromwell,\u201d Scheffler said. \u201cWe got out there early and it was a little cloudy and there wasn\u2019t as many people but as the sun came out the more people came out and were watching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murmurs of Furyk<\/p>\n

Fast-forward less than four hours, there was barely a cloud in the sky as Scheffler came down the 18th fairway. And puddles, muck and the like had long been forgotten. <\/p>\n

Now in favor? Jim Furyk. <\/p>\n

The 2026 Presidents Cup assistant captain<\/a> and Golf Channel color analyst\u2019s name was being passed around the fairway on 18 \u2014 as the man who Scheffler was in pursuit of coming off the tee. <\/p>\n

Furyk carded the lone 58 in PGA Tour history at this very course a decade ago. An eagle would have tied his score; a birdie would have given Scheffler his second career 59<\/a> (the first came at TPC Boston in 2020).<\/p>\n

It was all made possible thanks to a birdie putt on No. 16 \u2014 his last circle of the day but the hole that officially kickstarted the sub-60 watch.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight exactly where we wanted to put the ball,\u201d said Scheffler, who used his 7-iron get within 10 feet of the pin. <\/p>\n

The par 3 had stumped him a day prior and slowed his back-nine momentum, even if slightly, to fall one shot behind Eric Cole after 18 holes. Perhaps the biggest putt of Scheffler\u2019s second round came at the 409-yard 17th, where he saved par from 6 feet on one of the course\u2019s most difficult holes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t expect to have that putt for par being in the fairway but got a little gust going into the green,\u201d Scheffler explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad to putt one from pretty far off the green but was nice to hole that one for par despite it not being my best drive.\u201d <\/p>\n

As for his birdie effort from 26 feet on 18, Scheffler called the read \u201ctricky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt went right to start and then there was a ton of break right to left at the end,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It stayed to the right and left Scheffler with a 60 and a two-shot lead.<\/p>\n

With rounds of 64-60 and at 16-under 124, Scottie Scheffler sets the opening 36-hole scoring record at the Travelers Championship (previous: 125, Denny McCarthy & Keegan Bradley in 2023). <\/p>\n

Scheffler’s 124 equals his best opening 36-hole score on the PGA TOUR, set previously en\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) June 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Good to get this out of the way<\/p>\n

While shooting 60 is certainly exciting, the pervasive feeling around Scheffler before going into the clubhouse was relief.<\/p>\n

This tournament has hardly been won but Scheffler has put himself in a position he\u2019s rarely been at this year entering Saturday: On top of the leaderboard. <\/p>\n

In position to dictate the pace over the last 36 holes, Scheffler is primed to win for the second time in 2026. It hasn\u2019t come without multiple close calls \u2014 most recently the aforementioned U.S. Open, where he started Sunday in the final pairing with eventual winner Wyndham Clark<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say in golf the line is always pretty fine, I\u2019m sure if you looked at today\u2019s round versus yesterday\u2019s round, it\u2019s probably pretty similar from a ball-striking perspective \u2014 it\u2019s a matter of holing a few putts,\u201d said Scheffler, who has finished in second place three times since winning January\u2019s American Express in his 2026 debut<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome days they\u2019re kind of hanging on the edge and not quite going in, and then other days they\u2019re finding the bottom of the cup,\u201d Scheffler. \u201cToday was a day definitely which most of them were finding the bottom of the cup.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CROMWELL, Conn. \u2014 Like air slowly coming out of a balloon, there was a palpable sense of loss…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":728279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-728278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/728279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=728278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=728278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}