Xander Schauffele landed a fairway shot just under 10 feet from hole 17 at TPC River Highlands Friday. He tapped in the putt on his next stroke, recording his seventh and final birdie. His second round at the Travelers Championship was nearly complete.
His 7-under par 63 was identical to his score Thursday, combining to tie Justin Rose’s 2010 tournament record of 126 through 36 holes. At 14-under-par, his lead is five strokes heading into the weekend, tying the tournament record for largest 36-hole lead. Schauffele shares that mark with Tommy Bolt and Gene Littler, who did it 1954 and 1959, respectively. Both went on to win the tournament,
That lead, however, wasn’t granted until world No. 2 Rory McIlroy hit a speed bump. He started Friday with six birdies and a bogey through his first 11 holes. At 13-under he was pulling away from the pack. Fast.
Then he shanked his 12th tee shot to the right tree line out of bounds.
He took the penalty stoke and returned to the tee – this time sending the ball 234 yards into the primary rough. Eventually landing on the green after stops in a bunker and again in the rough, McIlroy clinched his sixth career quadruple bogey eight which dropped him momentarily to 9-under.
Three holes later, on 15, McIlroy quickly found himself encompassed by the crowd after another drive shanked right forced him to play off the hill. He landed another in the water two strokes later, eventually scrambling for a double-bogey six.
Carried by his strong front nine, McIlroy still finished that day at even-par and sits in a group of nine players tied for seventh at 8-under.
“We all said walking off 17, ‘How long have we were been out here?’ I’m exhausted,” Kevin Kisner, who was in McIlroy’s group, said. “It was a long round. You wait that whole back nine, and just thankful on the weekend we’ll play twos and move along a lot faster.”
Harris English, the defending champion, caught fire in the second round alongside his groupmate Patrick Cantlay. The two battled side-by-side to a morning tie atop the leaderboard at 9-under par after two rounds.
English shot 5-under 65 in Round Two while Cantlay shot 3-under 67, accelerating the pair into a five-way tie for second place entering the weekend.
“I have had some really good rounds here, and obviously winning last year is a huge boost when you step on the property. You’ve done it before and you know what to do around this place. I feel like the putter has heated up this week. I putted well last year, that was the strength of my game. Worked on putting a good bit the last few days and it’s showing,” English said.
Cantlay added, “I think I’m just a lot more comfortable and confident that I don’t have to do anything special or outside myself to play really good golf. This week is no different. I just have to stick to my game plan and keep hitting smart shots.”
Harold Varner III jumped 85 spots on the leaderboard with an impressive 7-under 63, tying him with Schauffele and for the best score of the day and saving him from the cut after he shot 2-over in the first round.
Eight different golfers shot 6-under on Friday, including Kisner, who enters the weekend tied for second alongside English and Cantlay at 9 under.
“I am a really good putter, and good putters need to hit greens, so that’s all I try to shoot for. If I get the putter rolling and get going I can shoot as low as anyone out here. Five shots is not insurmountable, but I’m going to need him (Schauffele) to slow down a little bit,” Kisner said.
The cut was set at 2-under, meaning 2021 second-place finisher Kramer Hickock (1-under), world No. 9 Sam Burns (even), world No. 11 Jordan Spieth (1-over) and the amateur from Milford, Ben James (1-over), among others, will miss the weekend.
“I learned a lot. Played all right. Again, so cool, and just so thankful to have the opportunity to play this event,” James said after shooting 1-under on Friday.
Heading into the third round on Saturday, the leaderboard is congested at the top behind Schauffele, who has finished in the top-20 in two of his three Travelers appearances. After making par on 18, Schauffele gave a small nod to his caddie and to the crowd before calmly walking off the course, eyes set straight on the weekend.
“It’s only Friday,” Schauffele said. “We’ve got 36 more holes and I need to stay aggressive. This is a course that’s giving up some birdies, and if you’re leading the pack and you get kind of comfortable, people are going to hunt you down.”
