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BreakingNews.ie
3 hours ago
- Sport
- BreakingNews.ie
Rory McIlroy trails by two as Scottie Scheffler holds share of lead
Rory McIlroy made an impressive start to the Travelers Championship to sit two shots off the lead before world number one Scottie Scheffler later laid down a marker to defend his title in Connecticut. Masters champion McIlroy had finished tied for 19th at the US Open over a punishing Oakmont course – but ended the weekend on a positive following a three-under-par final round, which was the joint best of the day. Advertisement The Northern Irishman – who saw his driver ruled as 'non-conforming' ahead of last month's PGA Championship before then missing the cut at the Canadian Open – had been looking to build some momentum at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell as focus turns towards the Open at Royal Portrush. Rory McIlroy made an impressive start in Cromwell (Jessica Hill/AP) World number two McIlroy landed a birdie at the second and then sank two more ahead of the turn at the final PGA Tour Signature Event of 2025. After picking up another couple, a further birdie at the 17th – from the best part of 30 feet having hit a fine recovery shot out of the rough and over the water onto the green – saw him finish six under with 64 to sit in a tie for second, two shots behind early clubhouse leader Austin Eckroat. American Eckroat hit a fine eight-under round, which included an eagle at the par-three 13th and a sixth birdie at the 18th. Advertisement Scottie joins Eckroat atop the leaderboard with a 62 (-8) of his own!👏 — TravelersChamp (@TravelersChamp) June 19, 2025 Scheffler was one of the late starters paired alongside newly-crowned US Open champion JJ Spaun – who unlike his playing partner endured a perhaps expected tough round to finish three-over following successive bogeys on the closing two holes. There was, though, no such trouble for Scheffler, who never looked back after three birdies from the opening four holes. The American – who landed a third major title with the PGA Championship crown at Quail Hollow during May – then picked up an eagle on the 13th and another birdie at 15, before a bogey at the 17th was the only blemish on his eight-under 62. McIlroy's playing partner Keegan Bradley is also at six-under, having dropped a shot at the 12th, alongside Wyndham Clark, the 2023 US Open champion. Advertisement Out of position? Not for Rory McIlroy. He is 6-under @TravelersChamp 👀 📺 @PGATOURLIVE on ESPN+ — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 19, 2025 'Overall it was a good start to the tournament, and I think when you're in a two-ball like that and we can sort of feed off one another a little bit too, that's nice as well,' McIlroy said after his opening round. 'I just want to see some good golf and see some better shots. I think if you concentrate on that and you are concentrating on your quality of golf and concentrating on just trying to play to the best of your ability, the result will take care of itself. 'There's no point in thinking about the result right now. I'm just trying to play as good as I can and make good swings, and if I do that enough, more than likely I'll find myself in a position to have a chance to win.' England's Tommy Fleetwood carded a first round of 66 to sit in a group tied for sixth. Advertisement Scotland's Robert MacIntyre, runner-up at Oakmont on Sunday, finished one over following a double-bogey six on the 17th. Jordan Spieth WD during the first round of the Travelers Championship with a neck/upper back injury. — PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) June 19, 2025 Jordan Spieth withdrew during his first round because of a neck/upper back injury. 'I may have just slept wrong and then something came along. I don't know what caused it,' he said. 'I think it was just a random one-off that unfortunately got worse and bad enough on a Thursday that I didn't feel like I could continue.' Advertisement
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Climate
- Arab News
Scheffler hits a perfect shot and plenty of great ones for a 62 to share lead at Travelers
CROMWELL, Connecticut: Scottie Scheffler had one of those rare rounds where he hit a shot so pure it makes his confidence soar. So many other shots were pretty good, too, and they added to an 8-under 62 to share the lead Thursday with Austin Eckroat in the Travelers Championship. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport The week after a rough-and-tumble US Open was a welcome break for so many at the TPC River Highlands, even with the rough just as long (but not quite as thick) as soaked Oakmont. Rory McIlroy played bogey-free for a 66 and didn't look to break too much of a sweat. 'This is a nice tonic compared to last week in terms of it's a slightly more benign golf course and the penalty for missing isn't quite as severe,' McIlroy said. Scheffler faced the hot afternoon when a refreshing breeze turned into a strong wind, and he wasted no time getting in the mix with four birdies in six holes and a 30 on the front nine. And then came the par-5 13th, 236 yards away into the wind, over a pond to a pin on the right. It was perfect — that's coming from golf's No. 1 player — and settled 10 feet away for birdie. 'That 3-iron I hit in there was really nice,' Scheffler said. 'It was pretty much exactly what I was trying to do. It was kind of one where I had to hit it really solid in order to get it there with the water short, and I just did pretty much exactly what I wanted to and it felt nice.' McIlroy was at 64 along with Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark. Another shot back was Cameron Young. He was in the mix late on Sunday at Oakmont, and started the Travelers Championship by going from the rough to the bunker, and then a three-putt from 25 feet for a double bogey. 'I managed to get around Oakmont for four days with no doubles and I made it zero holes here,' Young said. 'Typically that's not kind of what you expect around here.' Not to worry. He followed with eight birdies in a day with a new routine. His caddie went down with a stomach virus and the best option was to turn the bag over to his father, Dave Young, recently retired as the longtime pro at Sleepy Hollow. The surprise was Eckroat, already a two-time winner on the PGA Tour but struggling so much this year that he has only two finishes in the top 20 and eight missed cuts. The last two weeks served him well, however, as Eckroat said he figured out how to eliminate the miss to the left. He played the last six holes in 5-under par, starting with a 35-foot eagle putt on No. 13. 'I wasn't fearing the left ball today, which is huge, and then whenever you're feeling comfortable with other things, other things start to fall in line,' Eckroat said. 'Felt great over the putter, and just a really solid day, and I felt confident, which it was nice to feel that this season. It's been a while.' US Open champion J.J. Spaun felt the fatigue, and the steamy heat didn't help the cause. Playing along Scheffler, he was hanging in there until it took him two chips and two putts to cover 40 feet for a double bogey on No. 12, and a bogey-bogey finish for a 73. Jordan Spieth didn't even make it to the finish line. This was the first time Spieth didn't need a sponsor exemption for a $20 million signature event, and he only lasted 13 holes when his shoulder blade got tight on the range, spread across the back of his neck to the other side and left him no choice but to withdraw. Scheffler saying he hit a great shot is worth paying attention to because it doesn't happen very often. He rarely hits it offline. But this was something special. 'Hit it really solid and really straight, just barely right of the pin, and kept it nice flat flight, get it to go through the wind, and it was good,' he said. In fact, he could only recall two other shots in recent years — a 6-iron on the fifth hole in the final round at the 2022 Masters, a 9-iron he hit on the par-3 third hole in the final round of the 2023 Players Championship. 'Those are shots that kind of get lost in terms of the tournament,' he said. 'I'm not even sure if I birdied No. 3 at The Players, and I know I didn't birdie No. 5 during the Masters. But those are the shots when you're playing and you're in the moment, those are the ones that give me a lot of confidence.' It's hard to imagine him needing much more of that. He hasn't finished out of the top 10 since The Players in March, a stretch of eight tournaments. He didn't hit the ball very well for two days at the US Open and still had an outside chance on the back nine And in his 19th round at the TPC River Highlands, he posted his lowest score at 62.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Austin Eckroat's career-low round enough to match Scheffler after first day at Travelers Championship
CROMWELL – From above the 18th green, Austin Eckroat was out of sight. All that was visible from behind the scoreboard off to the left side of the fairway was the reflection of the sun on his club face. It was tight, but Eckroat was able to see the pin and managed to lift his second shot 128 yards onto the left side of the green. The putt – 17 feet, five inches – was no problem for the 26-year-old who also sunk a 35-footer for eagle on No. 13 and went into the clubhouse at 8-under-par 62, topping the leaderboard he was hidden behind. Advertisement 'I was on that side-hill lie, it was kind of thick, I was afraid if the heel caught, I could hit (the scoreboard) and that was really all my question was. But to get relief it had to be more in my way,' he said. 'Luckily it came out great, and I was able to make birdie.' It completed the best round of Eckroat's professional career, which began on a sponsor's exemption at the Travelers in 2021. Yet, it wasn't enough to hold onto the lead by the end of Thursday's opening round. Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 golfer in the world defending his 2024 Travelers crown, matched Eckroat's eagle on No. 13 to tie the lead and jumped into the top spot with a birdie on No. 15 about three and a half hours after Eckroat finished. Advertisement Scheffler hit from the rough, across the water and over the green on No. 17. His fourth shot on the par-4, a 16-foot putt, missed right of the hole and left him with bogey to drop back into a tie with Eckroat at 8-under. Still, it was Scheffler's lowest-scoring round in five career appearances in Cromwell. 'I actually got a pretty good lie in the rough,' Scheffler said. 'I got a lucky break and wasn't able to take advantage of it, but overall, I hit a lot of good shots, gave myself a lot of looks. I got off to a good start, and like I said, it was challenging out there late in the day. The wind was blowing pretty hard, and I was able to hit some really nice shots to get some good looks.' The temperature got up to around 87 degrees by the time Eckroat's round finished and Scheffler's started. The wind picked up with the passing storm later in the day as the bogey count rose to 150, 10 more than the first round last year. Despite the threat of thunderstorms throughout the afternoon, none reached the River Highlands. There were 259 total birdies recorded, six less than the opening round in 2024, three eagles and 850 pars. Advertisement Eckroat, responsible for six birdies, came into the media tent smiling through sweat. Although he has two career wins, he has finished outside the top 25 in 13 consecutive events. 'It's funny, a lot of Wednesdays I've felt really good going into the tournament and then Thursday comes around and it hasn't been there,' he said. 'I don't know if it's just the stress of playing in a PGA Tour event, but this one, it was nice to feel good on Wednesday and then actually take it into Thursday.' Eckroat hit 10 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation on Thursday, crediting the success to a minor grip adjustment. 'It was just an easy fix, which is always annoying. You want it to be – in your mind it seems like it's something crazy, but it really isn't, it's just something minor, which is nice, obviously. But it's frustrating because it was just one piece away the whole time,' he said. 'I just went a little weaker with my right hand and I was able to release the club properly at that point. I wouldn't say it was weak, it had just gotten really strong, and I hadn't paid attention to that. I was focusing on the other aspects of the golf swing, so just a little bit weaker, more on top of the club.' Advertisement World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, 2023 Travelers champion Keegan Bradley and 2023 U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark will each enter Friday's second round two strokes back at 6-under. Cameron Young sits alone in sixth place after recovering from a double bogey on the first hole to shoot 5-under 65. He is followed by a group of eight players at 4-under: Davis Riley, Nick Taylor, Jason Day, Adam Hadwin, Max Greyserman, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland and Brian Harman. Tom Kim, who tied Scheffler after 72 holes in last year's tournament to force a playoff, received a sponsor's exemption to play this year and shot 3-under 67. The Travelers is the eighth and final PGA Tour Signature Event of the season. It has a $20 million purse with $3.6 million and 700 FedExCup points to the winner. Scheffler holds a lead of more than 1,000 points in the FedExCup standings ahead of McIlroy; Eckroat is 34th. Advertisement Scheffler will tee-off with U.S. Open winner JJ Spaun, who shot 3-over 73, at 10:35 a.m. on Friday. Eckroat will hit off the first tee at 12:30 p.m. with Byeong Hun An. 'I felt confident, which it was nice to feel that this season,' Eckroat said. 'It's been a while.'
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rory McIlroy Makes Exciting Admission Ahead of Travelers Championship
Rory McIlroy Makes Exciting Admission Ahead of Travelers Championship originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Since winning the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam, Rory McIlroy has been candid about his struggles to find motivation and recapture the competitive drive that fueled his rise on the PGA Tour—and it's shown in his recent performances. Advertisement After missing the cut at the RBC Canadian Open, McIlroy struggled again at Oakmont in the U.S. Open. However, he bounced back with a solid final round on Sunday, shooting a 67 to climb the leaderboard and finish 19th overall at 7-over par. That Sunday surge may have been exactly what he needed to regain some momentum heading into the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, which begins Thursday. The course is known for being birdie-friendly—something McIlroy highlighted in an encouraging admission on Wednesday. 'I missed this event last year, licking my wounds from Pinehurst, but I made a commitment to Travelers to be back this year. I'm excited to be back,' McIlroy said. 'After a week like I had at Oakmont last week, where you're not quite in the mix but feel like you've found something in your game, you're excited to come back and play again.' He continued, 'Yeah, looking forward to the week. This is the perfect sort of chaser for what Oakmont was last week, and it's nice to get out on a golf course where you feel like you can make quite a few birdies.' Rory McIlroy plays his shot from the first tee during the third round of the U.S. Open golf LeClaire-Imagn Images McIlroy has never won the Travelers, but he's put himself in contention on multiple occasions—something he'll hope to rediscover after several weeks of being largely out of the mix by the weekend. Advertisement He began his 2025 campaign on a tear, carrying that momentum into Augusta National for the Masters, where he was playing with confidence and firing on all cylinders in every facet of his game. He picked up wins at both the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Players Championship before capturing his first green jacket. Related: Rory McIlroy Admits He Ghosted Tiger Woods' Text After U.S. Open Heartbreak This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fever-Sun postgame brawl draws fines from WNBA
The post Fever-Sun postgame brawl draws fines from WNBA appeared first on ClutchPoints. Tuesday night's contest between the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun turned plenty of heads for how chippy it was throughout. Everything boiled over late in the fourth quarter after Sophie Cunningham defended Caitlin Clark in the closing seconds. The WNBA announced fines for several players involved. Advertisement Reports indicate that Sun guard Marina Mabrey's flagrant one call was upgraded to a flagrant two, and she is being given a standard fine, according to Alexa Philippou of ESPN. Cunningham was also slapped with a fine for her hard foul on Jacy Sheldon, who got in a tiff with Clark several times throughout the game. 'Marina Mabrey's technical from last night's Fever-Sun game has been upgraded to a flagrant 2, the league told ESPN. A flagrant 2 comes from a standard fine. Additionally, Sophie Cunningham was fined separately for her hard foul with 46 seconds to play. No players will be suspended.' Philippou also reports that neither head coach of either team were given a fine for openly criticizing referees after the game. The only individuals to receive fines from the WNBA are Marina Mabrey and Sophie Cunningham. The Fever's Stephanie White was quick to critique the refs shortly after the game. 'And to this point, neither coach has been fined for their postgame criticism over the officiating.' Advertisement Mabrey was the player who shoved Caitlin Clark to the ground shortly after the Fever guard retaliated for getting hit in the face by Sheldon. Despite the chaos that ensued, Indiana got the last laugh after winning the contest in an 88-71 blowout. Since the postgame brawl, Sophie Cunningham has become a fan favorite amongst social media users. It came to light that the 28-year-old guard has a black belt in Taekwondo, which she achieved at the age of six. Cunningham ended Tuesday night's game with five points of her own, along with seven rebounds and an assist. We can expect the full Fever roster back in action on Thursday when they take on the Golden State Valkyries. Related: Tennis legend Chris Evert, adult star come to Fever's Caitlin Clark's defense Related: Sophie Cunningham, Marina Mabrey avoid suspensions after Fever-Sun clash
