Scottie Scheffler bounces back from US Open frustration with opening 65 at Travelers Championship

World number one Scottie Scheffler rebounded from his US Open disappointment with an impressive start at the Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour. After a modest finish tied for 41st at the US Open, where he expressed his discontent with the course setup at Pinehurst No. 2, Scheffler turned things around with an excellent opening round of five-under 65 at TPC River Highlands.

Scheffler started strong with three consecutive birdies beginning on the second hole. Despite a bogey on the sixth, he maintained his momentum with six straight pars. His standout moment came at the 13th hole, where he executed a remarkable approach from 256 yards using a fairway wood, setting up a seven-foot eagle putt. Scheffler followed this with a birdie and completed his round with pars, finishing just one stroke behind a group of leaders at six-under. Reflecting on his performance, Scheffler commented, “I feel like I hit it nice. Found some swings or found some stuff in my swing at the beginning of the week and definitely feel like I’m swinging a lot better than I did last week.”

When asked about changes to his swing, Scheffler admitted, “It’s kind of hard to explain, to be honest with you. But [I am] just really getting better feel coming at the top of my swing, making sure my grip’s kind of in the right position.”

Among those leading at six-under with rounds of 64 were Akshay Bhatia, Rickie Fowler, Kurt Kitayama, and Will Zalatoris. Fowler’s presence near the top of the leaderboard might surprise some fans, given his recent struggles in 2024. Having endured a five-year winless streak on the PGA Tour, Fowler returned to coach Butch Harmon to revive his game. After his round, Fowler reflected on his journey, saying, “Having been through that and dealt with that and ultimately coming back to playing well, I can deal with just about anything. So, yeah, it’s not how we wanted to play this year or start out and continue to play poorly throughout the year, but I mean, it is what it is, we’ll continue to grind, and I think a big thing is always kind of trying to put things into perspective, family stuff, you know, with some of the guys we’ve lost part of the family out here on the Tour, yeah, it’s not that big of a deal, but we all kind of just continue to grind.”

Overall, the Travelers Championship is off to an exciting start, with top players like Scheffler and Fowler showing resilience and determination.