Cromwell, Connecticut — It's hard to tell which event was more attractive on Friday in the second round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. ..
Xander Schauffeleshoots 7 under 63 twice in a row, becoming 14 under and threatening to escape and hide after taking the lead of 5 shots over the weekend. Did.
or ...
Rory McIlroy, one day removed from hisopening round 62 . In this round there were 8 birdies and no bogies. And the back nine double bogey fell from the contention, 6 shots behind Schauffele.
Schauffele, who hit 33 of the 36 greens with regulation, has cleared five 9-under five players with five shots: Patrick Cantlay, defending champion Harris English, Nick. Hardy, Cameron Davis, Kevin Kizner.
On the 12th and 15th holes, McIlroy seemed to have turned into a 20 handicap and played two holes with 6 overs. By the end of his nauseous roller coaster ride, he has shot an even par 70 and remains 8 under.
McIlroy's round contains seven birdies and is strange It wasn't something like that. He made a four-under turn for the round, then hit his tee shot out of bounds, and after getting more sloped from there, took that stunning snowman 12. He continued to double on the 15th of a short par 4, where he hit a greenside chip shot into the lake.
"It's golf," McIlroy said. "That was, in a way, unexpected. I haven't made such a big number or coupled such a big number for a long time. I put myself in a great position in this tournament. I put it, and then only three bad swings cost me some six shots.
"There's a four-hole stretch in the back nine and three fairway wood shots. It was costly because I lost it once, "continued McIlroy. "For some reason, I haven't been used to the fairway forest for the past few weeks. I hit three loose ones there. Two hits 12 and then one hits 15. The rest. Part played well.
"There are a lot of golf left in the last two rounds. I have all the work to make up for it over the weekend. At least I have time to do it. There is. "
Schauffele agreed.
"It's only Friday," he said. "There are 36 more holes and you have to stay aggressive. This is a course that gives up some birdies, and if you're leading the pack and you're a little more comfortable, people will hunt you down. Let's do it. "
22 year old from Little Silver, NJ Chris Gotterup shot 68 twice in a row on Friday and finished 33rd with a 4-under on the weekend. This is his fourth PGA Tour event in his career, cutting three of them, including last week's US Open.
"This is why I practice," Gotterup told The Post on Friday. "This is where I want to be."
He said the tournament was "bookmarked for a while because he knew he could play well on this course."
"I gave up, honestly, a lot of shots," he said. "But I'm comfortable and in a good place on the weekends. Hopefully I can move on the weekends. Hopefully I can launch fireworks this weekend."
