Schauffele Races To Big Lead At Midpoint Of Travelers Championship

CROMWELL, CT — A scorecard containing three 2's and five 3's is usually indicative of a terrific round of golf. Such was the case Friday for Xander Schauffele, who posted his second straight 63 to open up a 5-stroke lead at the halfway mark of the Travelers Championship.

Schauffele, the 2020 Olympic gold medalist who began the day a stroke behind first round co-leaders Rory McIlroy and J.T. Poston, carded seven birdies in his bogey-free round, including a trio on par-3 holes. He reached the midpoint of the tournament at 14-under par 126, tying a record for the best opening 36-hole score set by Justin Rose in 2010.

"We've got 36 more holes, and I need to stay aggressive," Schauffele said following his round. "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."

Five players are tied for second at 9-under, including defending champion Harris English, Patrick Cantlay, Nick Hardy, Cam Davis and Kevin Kisner. McIlroy and Poston, who each opened with 62 on Thursday, shot even-par 70 to remain at 8-under, tied with seven other players.

McIlroy, a 4-time major champion ranked second in the world, got to 13-under after his sixth birdie of the day at 11, but made quadruple-bogey 8 on 12, then double-bogeyed 15.

"I had a four-hole stretch there on the back nine where I lost obviously two fairway - well, three fairway wood shots are what cost me," McIlroy said. "For whatever reason, I haven't been comfortable with my fairway woods the last couple weeks. You know, I just hit three loose ones there, two on 12 and then the one on 15."

A total of 71 players made the 36-hole cut of 2-under or better, including former major tournament winners Webb Simpson, Scottie Scheffler, Keegan Bradley and Lucas Glover, and past Travelers champions Chez Reavie, Stewart Cink and Kevin Streelman.

The full tournament scoreboard may be viewed here. Saturday starting times may be found here.