Keegan Bradley, Denny McCarthy share the Travelers lead at tournament-record 15 under
Published 6:47 pm Friday, June 23, 2023
- Keegan Bradley hits off the 10th fairway during the second round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highland on Friday.
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Keegan Bradley and Denny McCarthy shared the Travelers Championship lead Friday at a tournament-record 15-under 125.
McCarthy followed his first-round 60 with a 65 in the morning at TPC River Highlands. A few hours later, Bradley shot a 63 to go with his opening 62.
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Chez Reavie, the 2019 winner, was two strokes back after a 63. Eric Cole had a 65 to get to 11 under.
McCarthy and Bradley broke the 36-hole mark of 14 under set by Justin Rose in 2010 and matched last year by Xander Schauffele in his run to the title.
“It’s nice, but golf tournaments aren’t 36 holes unfortunately,” McCarthy said. “I know there’s still a lot of golf left and I’m playing some really nice golf, so I’m looking forward to having fun this weekend.”
The 30-year-old from Maryland started slowly, bogeying the second hole. But that was the only blemish on a round that included six birdies, five on the back nine.
McCarthy, who lost in a playoff at the Memorial this month, is trying to become the 18th player to pick up his first PGA Tour victory in Connecticut. Ken Duke was the last in 2013.
Bradley also had a blistering back nine, making five birdies in a row between the 12th and 16th holes. He had just under 174 feet of made putts and after every big make, he held his putter in front of him with two fingers and bowed before handing it to his caddie.
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“We just pay our respects,” said the Vermont player, who holed about a 60-footer on No. 3 for his first birdie. “If the putter is working, we’ll do whatever just to keep it going. We just bow and say, ‘Thank you.’”
Cole is the son of former tour players Laura Baugh and Bobby Cole. His father played River Highlands just once professionally, finishing 50th in 1987, but his son didn’t get to see that.
“I was born in ‘88, so it would’ve been before me,” the younger Cole said.
Rory McIlroy was tied for 10th at 8 under after a 64. He had a double bogey on the par-3 eighth, the hole he aced Thursday for his first hole-in-one on the PGA Tour. This time, McIlroy put his tee shot in the water.
“I hit a pretty good shot, I just misjudged the wind a little bit and it came up short in the one place you couldn’t miss today,” he said. “But, other than that, it was a really good round of golf.”
McIlroy got a break on his last hole when his tee shot landed on a cable trench behind a tree on the ninth hole. He was given relief by a tournament official, but hit a limb on his approach shot, which still landed just short of the green, where he managed to get up and down for par.
Schauffele also was 8 under after a 64. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler reached 7 under with a 70.
Wyndham Clark, the U.S. Open champion Sunday in Los Angeles who arrived here Wednesday, had a 67 to get to 5 under. He spent the first part of the week in New York, appearing on numerous talk shows.
A light rain left the greens soft, helping keep the scores low. The cut line was at 4 under, with Masters champion Jon Rahm dropping out with round of 67 and 71.
On Saturday, with heavy rain expected in the morning, the players will start at 9:45 a.m. (Central) in threesomes off both Nos. 1 and 10.
KMPG Women’s PGA
SPRINGFIELD, N.J. (AP) — Leona Maguire of Ireland birdied four of her final six holes for a 3-under 68 and a one-shot lead over three players Friday at the halfway point of the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol.
The winner Sunday in Michigan for her second LPGA Tour title, the 28-year Maguire had five birdies and two bogeys in shooting her seventh straight round in the 60s, dating to the final round at the Mizuho Americas Open.
At 5-under 137 at Baltusrol, Maguire had her first halfway lead in a major. The former Duke star is ranked 12th in the world.
Mel Reid (67) of England, Xiyu Lin (71) of China and rookie Celine Borge (69) of Norway were tied for second, a shot ahead of first-round leader Lee-Anne Pace (73) of South Africa and fifth-ranked Minjee Lee of Australia, who pushed herself into the hunt for the second major with a 67.
The Lower Course at Baltusrol has been the big winner this week. Through two rounds there were only 15 players under par and some of the biggest names in women’s golf won’t be around for the weekend, missing the cut at 5 over.
Still in contention are first-time winner Ruoning Yin of China at 2 under, two-time major winner Brooke Henderson of Canada and top-ranked Jin Young Ko of South Korea and Celine Boutier of France, along with Americans Gina Kim, Allisen Corpuz Mina Harigae, all at 1 under.
Rose Zhang, who burst onto the women’s golf scene with a win at Mizuho in her first event as a professional, struggled and needed a birdie on her last hole to finish with a 74 and a 2-over score.
Among those who missed the cut were No. 2 Nelly Korda, No. 4 Lilia Vu, No. 6 Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand and No. 9 Georgia Hall of England. Lexi Thompson, ranked No. 9, needed four straight birdies late in her round to get to 4 over.
BMW International Open
MUNICH (AP) — Daniel Hillier took a one-shot lead in the second round of the BMW International Open ahead of a player making his debut on the European tour on Friday.
New Zealander Hillier shot a 5-under 67 with five birdies — three of them on consecutive holes — and no bogeys in windy conditions to move into the lead.
“It helps when you come from Wellington, playing in the wind all your life, so you learn to navigate your way around it,” Hillier said.
He was at 9 under overall in Munich.
In second place was Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, a Danish golfer who was at his first European tour event thanks to an invite. He finished his American college career at Oklahoma State last month and also recorded a round of 67 on Friday to total 8 under.
Joost Luiten was two strokes off the lead after carding the best round of the day, 66, in a five-way tie of players on 6 under for the tournament.
Ryder Cup vice-captain Edoardo Molinari started the day with a share of the first-round lead but shot a 2-over 74 and fell five shots off Hillier.