Scottie Scheffler surged, J.J. Spaun stumbled, and Austin Eckroat broke through on a revealing Thursday at TPC River Highlands.
CROMWELL, Conn. — TPC River Highlands is never going to be confused for Oakmont Country Club, site of last week’s U.S. Open, but what the host venue of the Travelers Championship lacks in brutality, it makes up for in excitement and positive vibes. Players who qualify for this PGA Tour signature event love being at this no-cut, elevated FedEx Cup point event.
With ideal scoring conditions in the morning, players with early tee times took advantage of receptive greens and soft fairways to go low — and a few of them showed flashes that they could be around on Sunday.
When all the scorecards were signed, Scottie Scheffler and Austin Eckroat were atop the leaderboard at 8-under 62, two shots better than Wyndham Clark, Rory McIlroy and Keegan Bradley. Cameron Young shot an opening-round 65 and is in sixth, while eight golfers are tied for seventh at 4 under, including Viktor Hovland, Jason Day and Tommy Fleetwood.
Here’s five things we learned on Thursday in Cromwell:
Scheffler shrugs off U.S. Open frustrations with a dialed-in 62
Scottie Scheffler didn’t need to be perfect Thursday at TPC River Highlands — but on a few swings, he came awfully close.
The world No. 1 fired an 8-under-par 62 in gusty afternoon conditions, matching Austin Eckroat for the early lead at the Travelers Championship. It was methodical, controlled golf — the kind that has become Scheffler’s calling card. While others battled wind that kicked up just after lunch, Scheffler leaned on elite ball-striking and a tidy putting day to post his lowest round since winning at TPC Craig Ranch.
One shot stood out. A 3-iron into the par-4 13th — flat flight, barely right of the flag, exactly the number — was, in his words, “pretty much exactly what I was trying to do.”
“Very rarely throughout a tournament do you hit one exactly how you intend to,” he said. “That was one of the few.”
Scheffler showed no signs of lingering disappointment from last week’s U.S. Open, where a poor start had him grinding just to make the weekend. Instead, he said Oakmont gave him more confidence, not less, particularly for how he stayed engaged mentally.
“I’m not going to sit around and waste time with what-ifs,” Scheffler said. “I felt like last week was, oddly enough, as good as I’ve been mentally on the course throughout the season.”
That mindset, paired with another elite round, suggests the defending champion at the Travelers Championship may not done winning this summer.
Austin Eckroat found what he’s been searching for all season
Sometimes it’s a major swing overhaul. Sometimes it’s just one tiny tweak.
For Austin Eckroat, it turned out to be the latter — a slight adjustment to the position of his right hand on the grip — and the result was a career-best 62 that gave him the early lead.
Eckroat’s been dealing with a left miss that’s plagued him all year, but a pair of weeks at home, some input from friends and family, and a fresh look at his grip allowed him to feel like himself again. The confidence showed.
“I wasn’t fearing the left ball today, which is huge,” Eckroat said after posting eight birdies and an eagle. “It just felt really solid.”
Eckroat hit 10 of 14 fairways, 15 of 18 greens and finish the day ranked No. 1 in Strokes Gained: Putting (+3.337). That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you get it done on the PGA Tour.
It’s fitting that this happened at TPC River Highlands, the site of his first professional start back in 2021. Eckroat reflected on that when he talked with the media Thursday morning, noting that back then he was a college kid with no logos on his shirt and his professional career in front of him. Today, he’s a two-time PGA Tour winner looking to reassert himself—and he made a solid statement early.
Rory McIlroy regains form
Scoring chances at RBC Canadian Open and last week’s U.S. Open were few and far between, which is why Rory McIlroy said the Travelers Championship and TPC River Highlands is, “a nice tonic compared to last week.”
McIlroy took advantage of easier scoring conditions Thursday to shoot a bogey-free 64, and his game appeared to be back in the form that helped him win the Players Championship and the Masters earlier this season. He hit eight of 14 fairways, 15 of 18 greens and needed just 27 putts in the first round to card six birdies.
Asked what his approach was to this week, McIlroy said, “I just want to see some good golf and see some better shots. I think if you concentrate on that, and you’re 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.”
McIlroy’s 64 was his first sub-70 round since the second round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in May and ties his low-round of the year, another 64 he shot on Sunday at the Texas Children’s Houston Open in March. McIlroy and his partner at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Shane Lowry, did shoot 64 in the opening-round Fourball session.
Wake up: Davis Riley makes the most of his opportunity
Talk about making the most of a late call.
Davis Riley wasn’t sure he’d even be in the Travelers Championship field until early Thursday morning. But when he got the word that he was in, he quickly turned opportunity into action by firing a 4-under 66.
The Mississippi native has been on a heater, riding the wave of his victory with Keegan Bradley at the Zurich Classic and his strong showing at the U.S. Open. On Thursday, he kept the momentum going with a sharp, controlled round in the early wave.
There’s an ease to the way Riley is playing right now. The ball-striking is there, the putter’s behaving, and even the mental game — often a challenge for young pros — is trending in the right direction.
“It was kind of a perfect morning to go out and score,” he said. “Got the call, made the most of it.”
Whether he can keep riding this run remains to be seen, but Riley’s trending — and with that kind of trajectory, even a last-minute tee time can turn into something special.
The Hangover, J.J. Spaun edition
After draining a 64-foot bomb to win the U.S. Open on Sunday, J.J. Spaun’s life has been a blur. Morning TV hits, radio interviews, celebratory texts, congratulatory hugs — you name it, Spaun’s been part of it. What he hadn’t done before arriving at TPC River Highlands? Practice. Hit balls. Prepare.
That all caught up with him Thursday.
Spaun shot a 3-over-par 73 in the opening round of the Travelers, a score that landed him near the bottom of the leaderboard on a day when the field averaged just under 69.
The round included two birdies, three bogeys, and one double-bogey — a recipe for a gentle comedown after his career-defining high at Oakmont. But if the sluggish start surprised anyone, it probably wasn’t Spaun.
The good news? There’s no cut at the Travelers. So Spaun will have at least 54 more holes to decompress, settle back into a rhythm, and maybe pick up where he left off on Sunday night.
At the very least, he beat someone. Nick Dunlap brought up the rear with a 76.
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