Soren Kjeldsen, Ricardo Gonzalez share lead in PGA Tour Champions major at Firestone
After beginning the Travelers Championship with an 8-under 62, Scottie Scheffler says his swing is feeling better than it did at Oakmont and talks about why he finds TPC River Highlands to be a good test.
AKRON, Ohio — Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark and Ricardo Gonzalez of Argentina each shot 3-under 67 on Firestone South to share the lead Thursday after the opening round of the Kaulig Companies Championship, the third major of the year on the PGA Tour Champions.
Gonzalez opened with eight pars, took bogey on No. 18 and then played the front nine with five birdies to offset one bogey
Stewart Cink, who lost in a four-hole playoff to Tiger Woods at Firestone in 2006 at a World Golf Championship, was poised to take the lead until two bogeys on his final three holes.
He was at 68 along with Retief Goosen and Steven Alker.
Angel Cabrera, who already has captured two majors at the Regions Tradition and the Senior PGA Championship at Congressional, opened with a 71.
The winner of the tournaments earns a spot in The Players Championship at the TPC Sawgrass next month.
Firestone South previously hosted the World Series of Golf and then a World Golf Championship. It's a strong test for players who next go to the U.S. Senior Open in Colorado.
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Petrovic, Alker and Gonzalez share lead at Firestone in PGA Tour Champions major
AKRON, Ohio — Tim Petrovic shot a 4-under 66 on Friday for a share of second-round lead with Steven Alker and Ricardo Gonzalez in the Kaulig Companies Championship, the third major of the year on the PGA Tour Champions. Petrovic closed with a birdie on the par-4 ninth to match Alker and Gonzalez at 5-under 135 at Firestone South. Alker, from New Zealand, had a 66. Gonzalez, the Argentine player who shared the first-round lead with Soren Kjeldsen, shot 68. Miguel Angel Jimenez was a stroke back after a 66. Freddie Jacobson was 3 under after a 67. Angel Cabrera, who already has won two majors this year at the Regions Tradition and the Senior PGA Championship at Congressional, was 1 under after a 68. The winner of the tournaments gets a spot in The Players Championship at the TPC Sawgrass next year. Firestone South previously hosted the World Series of Golf and then a World Golf Championship. It's a strong test for players who next go to the U.S. Senior Open in Colorado.
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It's a star-studded leaderboard so far at the Travelers Championship, with Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas teeing off at 2:25 p.m. ET — right after Jason Day and the third co-leader in Tommy Fleetwood — on moving day in the final signature event of the PGA Tour season. Here are all the third-round pairings and tee times Saturday at TPC River Highlands. Golf Channel Staff, Sam Stevens Nick Dunlap Rickie Fowler Tony Finau Matti Schmid Christiaan Bezuidenhout Sepp Straka Shane Lowry J.J. Spaun Adam Scott Cam Davis Thomas Detry Davis Riley Mackenzie Hughes Tom Hoge Matt Fitzpatrick Min Woo Lee Matthieu Pavon Taylor Pendrith Jacob Bridgeman Daniel Berger Gary Woodland Kevin Yu Viktor Hovland Xander Schauffele Andrew Novak Ryan Gerard Aaron Rai Ryan Fox Jhonattan Vegas Bud Cauley Ludvig Åberg Akshay Bhatia J.T. Poston Maverick McNealy Sungjae Im Tom Kim Max Homa Michael Kim Luke Clanton Robert MacIntyre Sam Burns Max Greyserman Cameron Young Davis Thompson Stephan Jaeger Hideki Matsuyama Collin Morikawa Adam Hadwin Ben Griffin Harry Hall Byeong Hun An Brian Harman Joe Highsmith Lucas Glover Alex Noren Russell Henley Wyndham Clark Rory McIlroy Harris English Patrick Cantlay Eric Cole Nick Taylor Keegan Bradley Denny McCarthy Austin Eckroat Tommy Fleetwood Jason Day Justin Thomas Scottie Scheffler
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Scheffler part of 3-way tie for lead at Travelers with Fleetwood and Thomas
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler provided hope with a late double bogey. Tommy Fleetwood charged through with two eagles in three holes, and so did Justin Thomas with five straight birdies. They wound up tied for the lead on a blustery Friday at the Travelers Championship. All it took was the fate of the wind, good or bad, to shape the leaderboard going into the weekend at the TPC River Highlands, with 12 players separated by four shots. Scheffler was comfortably in front when the left-to-right wind his tee shot had been riding laid down, sending his ball into the fairway bunker on the par-4 17th. He put the next one in the water, barely reached the green with his fourth shot and made double bogey. He wound up with a 1-under 69. Fleetwood felt the wind going right-to-left, then slightly hurting, then slightly helping on the par-5 13th. He had 240 yards to at least cover the water, 264 yards to the hole, and he felt his 9-wood would at least reach the green. So much depended on the fickle wind that fooled so many players. 'I just sort of caught the right moment,' said Fleetwood, who also chipped in for eagle on the reachable 15th and shot 65. "Came off perfect and then beautiful putt.' Thomas wished he could have hit the ball a little better off the tee, but he stayed out of trouble, stayed patient and cashed in on the back nine with his five straight birdies, two of them from the 25-foot range, that led to a 64. They were at 9-under 131, one shot ahead of Jason Day (66). Rory McIlroy was 3 over through four holes in gusts that topped 30 mph, at one point falling eight shots behind Scheffler, a daunting prospect. But he kept in the game, found hope when Scheffler dropped back to 9 under, and got a little luck on his own. His second shot from a bunker on the 17th was so think that he took one hand off the club and waited for the worse, mainly a splash. It founded the water at such a low trajectory that it skipped out onto the fairway. He failed to get up-and-down, taking bogey, but felt it could have been worse — the shot, and his position going into the weekend He batted for a 71, leaving him only four back. 'The conditions today definitely bunched the entire field together and should make for an exciting weekend," McIlroy said The conditions — mainly the wind strong that was blowing hats off of heads and sending unoccupied chairs tumbling away — was everything in the second round. The average score was 70.7, nearly two shots harder than the opening round. It was the highest scoring average for a single round at the Travelers since the second round in 2017. The toughest part for players was figuring out which way it was blowing. Scheffler experienced that on the 17th. 'The tee shot, I hit exactly the way I wanted to,' Scheffler said. "Somehow the wind either stops or goes back because the way my ball was flying it should have basically gotten to the middle of the fairway and I end up in the left bunker. 'Then I catch it a hair fat, and all of a sudden I'm dropping and hitting my fourth shot, and I hit the shot exactly the way we wanted to, and as the ball is flying, you get a gust into the wind, and all of a sudden the ball is not on the green,' he said. 'You can't get every one correct. You just do your best to manage your way around the golf course." Day had his own version of a hat trick on the front nine — three pars, three birdies, three bogeys — until hitting all the right shots for a 31 on the back to get in the hunt. Denny McCarthy (64) and Austin Eckroat (71) were at 7-under 133, followed by Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley 70) and Nick Taylor (68). Patrick Cantlay had a 68 with a double bogey on the par-5 13th and joined the large group at 135 that included McIlroy. If the wind wasn't bad enough, Luke Clanton showed remarkable patience in his second tournament as a pro. He had been playing with Jordan Spieth, who had to withdraw with soreness in his upper back on Thursday. Clanton was a single in the middle of the field, behind Scheffler and U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, in front of Andrew Novak and Jacob Bridgeman. ___
