Scottie Scheffler shoots 60 at Travelers Championship, falls one shot shy of PGA TOUR history

Scottie Scheffler was inches away from history Friday at the Travelers Championship.

Instead, he’ll look to continue his fine play into the weekend and try to find the winner’s circle on the PGA TOUR for the 21st time.

Scheffler shot a 10-under 60, which included a bogey, in the second round at TPC River Highlands. He made four birdies in a row on his back nine from Nos. 13-16 before mishitting his approach on the par-4 17th and having to make a 6-footer for par. He then drove it into the fairway bunker on No. 18 and left his 26-foot attempt for birdie on the last just 8 inches from dropping.

Scheffler was 5 under for his first nine holes, including a bogey on the par-4 second. He came into the house with another 5-under effort on the back nine.

Scheffler gained almost five shots to the field with the putter on Friday, and that, he said, was the difference.

“I'd say in golf the line is always pretty fine. I'm sure if you looked at today's round versus yesterday's round, it's probably pretty similar from a ball-striking perspective. It's a matter of holing a few putts. Some days they're kind of hanging on the edge and not quite going in, and then other days they're finding the bottom of the cup,” Scheffler said. “Today was a day definitely which most of them were finding the bottom of the cup.”

Scheffler was looking to join Jim Furyk as the only player in PGA TOUR history with multiple sub-60 rounds. Scheffler shot a 59 at TPC Boston in 2020.

Furyk, who shot a 58 at TPC River Highlands in 2016, also shot a 59 in 2013 at the BMW Championship.

“It was kind of funny. It was like, ‘Yeah, it would be cool to shoot 59, but somebody has already shot 58 here, so it's not even the course record,'” Scheffler said with a smile. “You know, Jim kind of takes away a little bit of the ‘special 59’ when you are losing still.”

It was a day of low scores as Viktor Hovland tied his low career round on TOUR with a 61, while Akshay Bhatia shot a 62. Hovland is two shots back of Scheffler through 36 holes, while Bhatia is two shots further back. The conditions were ripe for someone to go low, and there were plenty who took advantage – but none better than the world’s No. 1-ranked player.

“The conditions were really good this morning. Softer golf course, not as much wind. Going out yesterday in the afternoon, when the greens get firm out here and the wind starts to blow, it can get tricky pretty quickly,” Scheffler said. “Going out this morning, you definitely had a feeling the conditions were going to be easier, so you need to go out there and try and take advantage of it.”

Scheffler won his first start of the year, The American Express. He has just the one victory so far, but has been as consistent as ever, with eight top-five finishes in 13 events. His worst finish was a tie for 24th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard.

While history was in his grasp Friday in Connecticut, Scheffler knows as well as anyone that there are still two more rounds to go as he looks at the bigger picture.

“At the end of the day, I was very focused on just my execution out there. Who knows what the lead is going to be after today? I've put myself in position now this week,” Scheffler said. “Go home, get some rest, and get ready for tomorrow.”