New York (AFP) – England’s Tommy Fleetwood made two eagles and a birdie in the last six holes Friday to grab a share of the lead with top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas at the PGA Travelers Championship. Thomas reeled off five consecutive birdies in firing a six-under par 64 while Fleetwood shot 65 and Scheffler fired a 69 to all stand on nine-under 131 for 36 holes at windy TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.
Paris Olympic runner-up Fleetwood, ranked 17th, matched his season-low round. He has seven European Tour wins but seeks his first PGA Tour victory. Fleetwood eagled the par-five 13th after reaching the green in two and sinking a putt from just inside 10 feet, then chipped in at the par-four 14th for eagle from the fairway from just inside 90 feet. “Would have been happy walking off with two birdies,” Fleetwood said. “But two eagles was a big bonus.” A 12-foot birdie putt at the par-three 16th gave him a share of the lead.
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“It happened really quick. You don’t expect two eagles in three holes,” he said. “You don’t really look for those things to happen. I played really well. Felt like I did a great job of scrapping on the front nine then played well on the back nine.” Fifth-ranked Thomas, a two-time major winner, opened the back nine with a bogey then birdied the next five holes. The last two in the run, at the 14th and 15th, were from just beyond 26 feet each.
“I was very patient. I hit a lot of really good iron shots. I felt like I was in good control,” Thomas said. “I didn’t feel like I drove it very well. I kept it in play and kept it in front of me, which is a big part of it, but I just kept it out of trouble. Finally made some putts on that back nine. It was nice.” Scheffler, who won his third major title at last month’s PGA Championship, stumbled back with a double bogey at 17, plunking his second shot into the water. “I played really nice,” Scheffler said. “Had a weird lie on the second shot and kind of chunked it. After that I hit each shot the way I wanted, just didn’t get the results from it. Outside of that, I felt like I played pretty well. It was very challenging out there with the wind gusts.”
Scheffler made a bogey at the par-five sixth after missing the green with his approach but responded with birdies at the seventh on a putt from just inside seven feet and the ninth from just inside 10 feet. At the par-five 13th, Scheffler reached the green in two and two-putted for birdie from 24 feet to grab the solo lead, then sank a birdie putt from just inside 17 feet.
– Day just one shot back – Australian Jason Day, the 2015 PGA Championship winner, made three birdies in a row on holes 12-14 — all on putts between four and eight feet — and closed with a 21-foot birdie putt to shoot 66 and take fourth on 132. “There’s 40-mph gusts out there,” Day said. “You had to hit on the right wind.” Americans Denny McCarthy and Austin Eckroat shared fifth on 133.
World number two Rory McIlroy made bogeys on three of the first four holes then made birdies on three of the first six on the back nine as he battled to a 71 to stand on 135. “I hit some good shots and held it together when it could have got away from me early in the round,” McIlroy said. “I felt like I battled back pretty well. To get it back somewhat close to even par for the day was good. The conditions definitely bunched the entire field together and should make for an exciting weekend.”
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