Rory McIlroy, the No. 2 player in the world, had eight birdies and didn’t have a single bogey as he shot an 8-under-par 62 to share a piece of the lead after day one of the Travelers Championship at TPC-River Highlands in Cromwell on Thursday.
It was his lowest opening round score in his PGA career. He began the day with a birdie on his first hole (No. 10) and finishing his round with a monster 332-yard drive on the ninth hole as he cut the corner, nearly chipped in, then tapped in for his birdie.
J.T. Poston matched McIlroy’s 62 on the strength of six birdies over his first eight holes. Poston also played bogey-free. In fact, none of the top seven players on the leaderboard dropped a shot.
“Anytime you start with a 62, you’re going to take it,” McIlroy said. “I feel like the start I got off to was sort of slow in a way. I birdied the two holes on the back nine that you should, 13 and 15, and then made a nice one on 18 to turn in 3-under par. Then once I got going on the front side there, that’s when I started to really feel it and started to hole some putts and hit some quality shots.”
Poston was pleased with his opening round.
“It was nice to kind of finally put some good swings together, hit some good shots and make some putts,” Poston said. “I feel like my scores and my results may not have shown that the last few weeks or months, but I felt like I was getting close, and I’ve been working hard at it. I guess today was kind of one of those days where it finally clicked a little bit.”
Xander Schauffele and Martin Laird were a shot back at 7-under. One stroke behind them, in a three-way tie for fifth place, was Patrick Cantlay, Charles Howell lll and Webb Simpson.
The top-ranked player in the world, Scottie Scheffler, finished at 2-under after posting a 68.
In addition to some terrific shots at TPC River Highlands, Women’s Day returned after a two-year hiatus. The event brought together hundreds of women to raise money for local charities. This year’s special guests featured “Inside Edition” host Deborah Norville, UConn basketball star Paige Bueckers and CBS Sports broadcaster Amanda Renner.
The second round of tournament play will commence Friday, and after play concludes, the 36-hole cut will be the low 65 players and ties.
Notable:
Rory McIlroy holds 18-hole lead/co-lead for third time this season and 20th since joining the PGA Tour as a member in 2010
T. Poston fires first sub-30 nine-hole score of his PGA Tour career
McIlroy (2022 RBC Canadian Open) and Poston (2019 Wyndham Championship) won the last time they shot 62 on the tour
Xander Schauffele hits 18 of 18 greens in regulation in a single round on the PGA Tour for the first time in his career
Defending champion Harris English sits T10 after an opening-round 66
FedExCup leader and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (T30/-2) seeks his fifth victory this season
