Scottie Scheffler calls conditions ‘challenging,’ shoots 62 anyway

Nothing quite cures the pain of a U.S. Open beatdown at Oakmont like TPC River Highlands.

This week’s Travelers Championship, held at the par-70 course in Cromwell, Conn., consistently produces some of the lowest 18- and 72-hole scores of the season, and Thursday’s opening round was no different.

Scottie Scheffler and Austin Eckroat both shot an eight-under 62 to grab the first-round lead in the final Signature Event of the season. Wyndham Clark, Rory McIlroy and Keegan Bradley all added 64s.

Eckroat got hot toward the end of his round, going eagle-birdie-birdie on Nos. 13-15 and finishing with a birdie on 18.

Scheffler, the World No. 1, looked as though he was bound to beat that number — and at one point 59 watch was in play — but Scheffler slowed at the finish.

After shooting a five-under 30 on the front, he went birdie-eagle-par-birdie on Nos. 12-15 and needed to play the final three holes in two under to shoot in the 50s, but he parred two of them and bogeyed 17.

On 17, Scheffler missed the fairway and then saw his approach roll off the back of the green. He putted up from the fringe but left himself 15 feet for par, which he missed on the right side. It was his only bogey of the day.

“I got hot pretty early in the round and got off to a nice start, and then I really kept the momentum through basically hole 15 and then I had one mess-up there on 17,” Scheffler said, “but overall it was a pretty good day.”

Despite putting up a 62 on the leaderboard — and improving his odds to -140 to win — Scheffler called the conditions difficult, mostly due to the high winds that at times gusted.

“The conditions were really challenging out there today,” he said. “I would be surprised to see what the scores were around kind of our [late] tee time wave, just because when I got out here to have breakfast this morning, it was very calm. When I came out to do my warmup, it was still pretty calm. By the time I got to the first tee, it was blowing 20 miles an hour, and it was sustained at that for most of our round.

“It maybe went down to 10, to 12 and then it would gust to 30. It was pretty challenging out there. I didn’t really let my mind wander too much. I just tried to stay out there and execute, and that was pretty much it.”

Although not every big-name player went low. Ludvig Aberg, Adam Scott and Robert MacIntyre, fresh off his runner-up finish at the U.S. Open, all failed to break par. Xander Schauffele was just one under, which puts him in a tie for 36th.

Too easy at TPC River Highlands? Scheffler would like to point you toward his comments from Wednesday. Last year, 22 under after 72 holes was good enough to get into a playoff at this tournament (eventually won by Scheffler). He was asked if this course was too easy, especially for a Signature Event.

“Sometimes, especially in this day and age, people get way too caught up in the winning score being what is a proper test. I think a proper test is good shots being rewarded and bad shots being punished. I think this is one of the best golf courses for that,” he said. “There’s opportunity out there, and there’s also punishment. You look at the closing stretch; 15, if you hit a good shot, you’ve got a birdie opportunity. If you try to bail out right, you’re going to be in a bunker short right of the green and have a 40-yard bunker shot, a hard shot.

“Sixteen, if you hit a good shot, you’re going to have a good look at birdie. If you bail out and go long, it’s a tough chip down the hill. Seventeen, you hit the fairway, you have a chance to hit in there close to the pin. If you hit it in the left rough, you probably can’t get to the green. That’s what we look for in golf courses, in terms of you want good shots to be rewarded and bad shots to be punished. It’s as simple as that.”

And on Thursday, Scheffler hit a lot of good shots. They were rewarded. He’s your co-leader heading into Friday.