Travelers Championship notes: Rickie Fowler’s ‘good mojo,’ Olympians shine in scorching heat

CROMWELL – Rickie Fowler, No. 111 in the FedEx Cup standings, hasn’t had a great season on the PGA Tour.His history at the Travelers Championship, where he played in his final event as an amateur in 2009, hasn’t been particularly great either. He missed the cut that year, again in 2021 and 2022, and tied for 13th in each of his other three appearances (2010, 2013, 2023) at TPC River Highlands.But he had some “good mojo” working for him on Thursday.He made an eight-foot putt for par on No. 1 and birdied the next two holes to set the tone for the rest of his round. Three birdies on the front nine, the same on the back, Fowler finished 6-under par 64 for his best first-round score ever at the Travelers. It was only the second time he’s come off the TPC River Highlands course on a Thursday having shot under par.“Made a good par on the first and that kind of got me going. Good up-and-down and I made a nice putt just to kind of save par and get the round going. Sometimes I’d almost rather that than birdie the first hole, because then it’s all downhill from there,” Fowler said. “So I got off to a nice start, birdied the second, started to see some balls go in and making putts kind of frees up the rest of the game to where you don’t feel like you need to be perfect. Just kind of kept it fairly simple.”Fowler, No. 49 in the Official World Golf Rankings, had eight top-10 finishes during the 2023 season when he finished 16th in the FedEx Cup standings. His best finish on Tour this year came in the RBC Heritage tournament in April, when he tied for 18th.That was his only top-25 finish this season.He credited his putter for helping him off the course in a four-way tie for second, two strokes back of Tom Kim’s lead (8-under par 62) on Thursday.“Putting was something that I could rely on last year, something I’ve tried to get back to where I was,” he said. “You’re not seeing putts go in and it kind of adds some extra stress to having to hit greens or hit it closer, chip it close, that circle gets quite a bit bigger once you see some go in. That’s a big part.”The work on the greens wasn’t the only reason Fowler excelled in Cromwell, but it certainly helped him take advantage of the shots that got him there.Keegan Bradley reacts after missing a putt at the seventh hole during the first round of the 2024 Travelers Championship at the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell on Thursday, June 20, 2024. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)Facing the heatScottie Scheffler, born in New Jersey and raised in Dallas, said he was “a little chilly” Wednesday morning when he walked out to the course for a 7 a.m. pro-am tee time.It was a different story after his 10:30 a.m. start to the tournament on Thursday, the summer solstice, as temperatures rose about 10-degrees during his round and peaked at 94 around 3:30 p.m.“I wasn’t chilly this morning, I’m definitely not chilly now,” he said after finishing the first round 5-under par 65.“It affects you,” added Wyndham Clark, one stroke behind the world No. 1. “Fortunately, we train a lot and so we’re used to being in the heat, and we hydrate a ton before the round and then obviously during the round. I would be shocked to see many guys out practicing after the round just because of the heat. But, yeah, this is definitely some intense heat.”The weather is expected to cool down slightly for the second round Friday and the course could see some rainfall over the weekend, which would soften up the course and potentially produce some more birdies.Olympians shineScottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa, announced as the U.S. representatives for this summer’s Olympic games in Paris, showed why to start the Travelers tournament.Scheffler, the No. 1 golfer in the world, snapped his streak of five consecutive rounds at or over par, including all four at the U.S. Open last weekend. He and Schauffele finished 5–under par 65 on Thursday to lead their Olympic teammates, who combined for one eagle, 20 birdies and just four bogeys, one each.“The Ryder Cup in golf is kind of the biggest thing, but now that golf’s in the Olympics it’s probably even bigger than that, because you’re representing your country at such a bigger level,” Clark said. “Hopefully, all four of us can go and try to snag some podium spots and give medals to the U.S. to try to win that total medal count. But, yeah, it’s pretty awesome. This probably ranks as the coolest team I’ve ever made, for sure.”The men’s Olympic tournament, traditional format, begins on August 1 at Le Golf National. It will be only the fifth time golf is part of the Summer Olympics.Other notable scoresKeegan Bradley, a New Englander, shot 1-under 69 to begin the defense of his 2023 Travelers championship. He was 8-under 62 in the first round of the 2023 tournament, when he won with his final score at 23-under… Will Zalatoris, in his first Travelers Championship appearance, finished among the four tied for second at 6-under par 64… 2021 champion Harris English finished even on the day, tied for 46th on the leaderboard.

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