Travelers Championship notebook: Stars get off to slow start in first round as Koepka, DeChambeau and Reed all tied for 46th
The Travelers Championship is known now to draw star-studded fields. This year’s tournament includes five of the top 10 golfers in the world, 25 of the top 50.
These are the players that draw fans to Cromwell by the thousands. On Thursday, however, none of them sprinted out of the gates during the opening round at TPC River Highlands.
Reigning champ and world No. 2 Dustin Johnson ended the day tied for 78th with an even-par 70. Bryson DeChambeau, the sixth-ranked golfer in the world, Brooks Koepka, No. 8, and No. 9 Patrick Reed were all tied for 46th at 1-under 69 heading into Friday.
Lesser knowns Satoshi Kodaira and Kramer Hickok set the pace at 7-under 63.
“Pretty poor the first couple holes,” Koepka said. “Couldn’t figure out speed of the greens. They’re a lot faster than the putting greens, so struggled with the speed. I mean, it’s pretty flat. Kind of how I feel.”
Koepka tied for fourth at the U.S. Open — a notoriously challenging and taxing tournament — last weekend in San Diego.
“I’m awful the week after a major, especially U.S. Open, because it takes so much out of you,” he said. “But still should have played better. No excuse. I mean, I’m kind of tired. I am going to enjoy getting to bed tonight.”
Patrick Cantlay, ranked seventh, posted the best finish among the higher-ranked players, tied for 25th at 2-under. Scottie Scheffler, fresh off of a seventh-place finish at the U.S. Open, shot 1-under, as did fan favorites Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler.
“I had a fun day,” Mickelson said. “I didn’t score as low as I wanted to, but didn’t hurt myself. I need to come out [Friday] and play a good round.”
Three-time champ Watson in top 10
While most stars were subdued Thursday, Bubba Watson pulled himself into the top 10. The three-time winner at TPC River Highlands shot 4-under, and is in a seven-way tie for ninth.
“You know the holes you can kind of ... I wouldn’t say attack,” Watson said. “Attack is the wrong word. But knowing what you can do. The history of the golf course, some other champions, what they’ve done; [Kevin] Streelman, seven birdies or whatever he did to finish. So you know it’s out there. It’s just can you find it or can you do it? The putter kept me going and made the round nice.”
Watson won the tournament in 2010, 2015 and 2018. He tied for 54th in 2019 and missed the cut last year.
McNealy surges in first start
No experience, no problem, for Maverick McNealy.
The 25-year-old Stanford alum shot 5-under and spent a chunk of the day as the clubhouse leader prior to the afternoon tee times. He earned his PGA Tour card before the 2019-20 season and has played regularly since, though this week was his first shot at TPC River Highlands.
“I think the front nine was playing a little more challenging,” McNealy said. “It was a little cooler, more breeze, and as the ball warmed up started going a little further. There was a few birdie opportunities on the back. I hit a couple really key shots. I think the tee shot on 15 with the 3-wood was really good. Almost made eagle there. And I really got in a groove with kind of three-quarter knock-down short irons and gave myself a lot of birdie looks.”
McNealy has two top-10 finishes this year, including a runner-up at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. He’s 58th in the FedEx Cup standings and ranked 109th.
“I’m just really proud of the body of work I put in, and like I said, the score catches up last,” he said. “It’s a lot of times the work you put in the last couple months prior to things working out where everything shows up.”
English carries strong U.S. Open play into Travelers
Harris English came as close as he’d ever been to hoisting a major championship trophy in San Diego last weekend. Spurred by a 3-under par final round, and birdies on three of his final four holes, the 31-year-old charged all the way up to third place at the U.S. Open, and finished three shots behind winner Jon Rahm.
English posted a similar performance on Thursday with a 3-under 67 in the first round.
“I felt like coming into this round I knew it was going to be tough to maintain the focus, tough to start out focused, but feel like I did a good job,” he said. “Got off to a great start ... felt like the game was good. I didn’t drive it quite as good as I wanted to, but my short game was on point, putting was on point again. So I’m going to hit a couple balls this afternoon, couple bunker shots, and then I’ll shut it down, get some rest, and come back ready to go.”
The Georgia alum has found moderate success in Cromwell before. He finished tied for seventh in 2014 after being tied for second after the first round.
“I’ve played here a lot over the years, so I feel like I know where the pins are going to be,” English said. “Kind of played this course in my mind. Coming out here I know where to hit all the shots. It’s just about focusing and pulling it off.”
Shawn McFarland can be reached at smcfarland@courant.com.
