– The TPC River Highlands (Cromwell, Connecticut) was graced today by the stellar presence of the wind, and the Travelers Championship took several twists of difficulty (and excitement) on its second day. In the morning, when the first matches were about to start, there were gusts reaching 50 kilometres per hour, and by the end of the day, the course’s average score went from Thursday’s 68.8 to today’s 70.7, a very significant difference of almost two strokes. For instance, one of the two leaders at the end of the first day, Austin Eckroat (-7), played over par today, as did forty other players, more than half of the competitors.
– Justin Thomas (-9) is one of those who feel a pleasant tingling, a harbinger of good things, when he wakes up in the morning to find a windy day. He is convinced that he will be able to take advantage of such circumstances, and today he certainly did, as he signed an excellent card of 64 strokes, six under par for the day, to reach the co-lead alongside Scottie Scheffler (-9) and Tommy Fleetwood (-9). And that’s despite the fact that the Kentucky native endured the entire round with a lot of westerly wind, very gusty and almost always crosswind on every hole. Scheffler also felt more than satisfied with his game at the end of his round. The World Number One had actually reached a total of -11 but signed a double bogey on the 17th after sending the ball into the water with his second shot from a bunker. He was still on the verge of making it worse, hitting the fourth shot after dropping and just managing to reach dry land.
– On that same hole, and from the same fairway bunker, Rory McIlroy (-5) also went into the water, unable to beat the course with five bogeys and four birdies on his card today… The wind added real spice to the tournament, as the leaderboard is very tight, and with 36 holes to go, we could still include more than twenty players with reasonable chances of victory. Rory, of course, is one of them
– We’ve lost count of how many times Fleetwood has been in contention for victory, one way or another, in the nearly eight years he’s been successfully defending his playing rights on the PGA Tour (he has five runner-up finishes, another five third places, and 27 top 5s). But he still hasn’t achieved that first victory. Today he shot with eagles on holes 13 and 15, finishing with a 65. On the 13th, a par 5, he putted from less than three metres after hitting a superb second shot, a trademark fairway wood. And on the 15th, the short par 4, he holed out from off the green with great accuracy and a bit of luck, as the ball wasn’t struck as well as it should have been and would have rolled off the back of the green had it not found the hole. Anything goes. Especially if it’s for the Englishman to finally claim victory in the United States. He deserves it more than most, if only for sheer persistence.
– J. J. Spaun (+4) went from bad to better today after starting with a double bogey on the 1st hole and being four over in the first four holes… He simply wasn’t hitting a single clean shot. It smelled like a collapse and a small disaster, but the recent US Open winner found a way to react, just as he did on Sunday at Oakmont, and ended up delivering a more than respectable card of 71 strokes.
– On Saturday, the wind is not expected to blow as much, so it’s likely that scores will improve again. In this regard, and in many others, the star pairing of Scheffler and Thomas promises strong emotions. The pair just ahead of them, consisting of Fleetwood and Jason Day (-8, today a round of 66 strokes), is also quite impressive.
