Keegan Bradley birdied five straight holes in a seven-under-par 63 on Friday to join Denny McCarthy atop the leaderboard at the Travelers Championship, where Rory McIlroy was among those in the mix.
McCarthy, who led by two after a 10-under-par first-round 60, followed up with a five-under-par 65 at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.
Bradley blistered the back nine to join him on 15-under-par 125 – a 36-hole course record – rolling in five straight birdies from the 12th through the 16th.
Bradley had kick-started his round with a 58-foot birdie putt at the 3rd hole and drained a 10-footer at 8. He sank a 34-foot birdie at the 12th to launch his back-nine surge.
“I felt like I could make every putt I looked at,” Bradley said. “I was just reading them really good. When you’re putting good everything feels easy and it’s automatic.”
McCarthy shook off a bogey at the 2nd hole, where he missed the green, carding six birdies the rest of the way.
That included a 43-foot birdie putt at the 10th and another from just inside 20 feet at 18.
McCarthy said it was “nice” to post the 36-hole scoring record for the course, but he remained focused on claiming a first PGA Tour title.
“Golf tournaments aren’t 36 holes unfortunately, so I know there is still a lot of golf left,” he said.
McCarthy and Bradley – who played through afternoon showers – were two strokes clear of Chez Reavie, who carded a 63 for 13-under 127. Eric Cole shot a 65 for 11-under 129 while Zac Blair and Adam Scott were tied at 10-under 130 as the course again yielded a bevy of low scores.
McIlroy was in a group on eight-under-par 132, climbing the leaderboard with an impressive display on the greens and despite a double-bogey disaster at his penultimate hole, the par-three 8th – the same hole he aced on Thursday.
“Other than that, it was a really good round of golf,” said McIlroy, whose tee shot was in the water.
“It just got hit by a little bit of wind,” McIlroy said. “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.”
The Northern Ireland star, coming off a runner-up finish to Wyndham Clark at the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club on Sunday, had eight birdies at that point, setting the tone with a 19-foot birdie putt at the 11th.
His five birdies in his first nine holes also included a 13-footer at the 14th and a 14-footer at 17. His three birdies coming in included a 25-footer at the third.
While low scores abounded, world No 1 Scottie Scheffler couldn’t join the birdie fest. He had two birdies and two bogeys in an even-par 70 that left him on seven-under 133.
World No 2 Jon Rahm couldn’t take advantage, firing a one-over 71 that left him at two under, two shots outside the cutline that came at four under par.
The three South Africans in the field – Christiaan Bezuidenhout (even par), Erik van Rooyen (five over) and Garrick Higgo (six over) – all missed the cut.
© Agence France-Presse
