Travellers championship Suspended

Scottie Scheffler was on a hot streak at the Travelers Championship, birdieing three consecutive holes at TPC River Highlands when play was abruptly halted at 4:11 p.m. due to nearby lightning. At that point, Shane Lowry had just eagled the 13th hole, pushing his round to 8-under for the day, while his playing partner, Justin Thomas, also eagled to bring his score to 7-under. Both were making significant moves up the leaderboard on the back nine when the horn sounded, signaling a suspension of play.

The pause left seven groups, comprising 14 players, still out on the course. It was announced that practice facilities would reopen at 7 p.m., with play scheduled to resume at 7:25 p.m. that same evening.

Tom Kim, who led after an impressive 8-under 62 in the first round on Thursday, remained at the top of the leaderboard. Shane Lowry and Justin Thomas, both at 9-under for the tournament with four holes remaining, were just one stroke behind Scheffler, who was at 10-under with two holes left. The course was on track for a historically low second-round scoring average of 68.107, potentially breaking the 2011 record of 68.176. The weather, although disruptive, could soften the course, possibly leading to even lower scores once play resumes.

Friday’s play was moved up by an hour to avoid forecasted thunderstorms. The day’s round was marked by scorching temperatures, peaking at 93 degrees around 1 p.m., coinciding with the last groups starting their round. Light rain began around 3 p.m., followed by thunder an hour later, prompting the suspension.

Celebrating his 22nd birthday, which he shares with Scheffler, Tom Kim managed to hold the lead at 13-under. Kim started strong, birdieing five of his first six holes despite the challenging conditions and maintaining his lead by parring the remaining holes. “I’ve been playing really, really solid,” he remarked.

Collin Morikawa, tied for second at 11-under 129, equaled his personal best with a front-nine 6-under 29 and added a birdie on the back nine to stay within two shots of Kim’s lead. Akshay Bhatia, who was two shots off the lead entering the day, got within one stroke on the 17th hole but a bogey on the 18th left him tied with Morikawa.

“I hit a lot of quality shots. I got up-and-down when I needed to, other than 18, but other than that I played good. The wind was supposed to be out of the south and it was northeast the majority of the day, so it was pretty interesting how that came about,” Bhatia said.

Xander Schauffele moved to 10-under after consecutive 65s in the first two rounds. Sungjae Im, Lowry, and Thomas are tied for sixth at 9-under. Behind them, Tony Finau, Robert MacIntyre, and Tom Hoge are tied at 8-under, with three more players at 7-under.

Both MacIntyre and Lowry, whose round would conclude later Friday evening, had walked off the course tied for the day’s best second-round score at 8-under 62.