Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1 and 2024 Travelers Championship winner, fired a 10-under 60 on Friday at TPC River Highlands to move two shots clear of Viktor Hovland in the regular season’s final signature event. Scheffler’s 36-hole total of 16-under 124 set the tournament’s opening scoring record, breaking the 125 shared by Denny McCarthy and Keegan Bradley in 2023.

A 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole slid past, leaving Scheffler short of becoming the second player after Jim Furyk in PGA Tour history to record multiple sub-60 rounds. Scheffler shot 59 in the second round of The Northern Trust at TPC Boston during his rookie season in 2020.

“It would be cool to shoot 59, but somebody has already shot 58 here, so it’s not even the course record,” Scheffler said, referring to Furyk’s PGA Tour record 58 at the 2016 Travelers Championship.

His 60 equals the best round of the season:
• Andrew Putnam (The American Express/R2/T2)
• Blades Brown (The American Express/R2/T18)
• Si Woo Kim (The CJ Cup Byron Nelson/R2/2nd)
• Wyndham Clark The CJ Cup Byron Nelson/R4/won)

Scheffler holds the second-round lead/co-lead for the 21st time on Tour and is  9-for-20 in converting it into victory. He only won twice in his first 11 attempts with the 36-hole lead/co-lead (2022 Masters Tournament, 2023 WM Phoenix Open), but seven of nine since then, most recently at The American Express.

Soft Conditions Lower Scores

Rain-softened greens on the par-70, 6,844-yard course made birdies available, which Scheffler recognized from the moment he teed off Friday morning.

“Going out yesterday in the afternoon, when the greens get firm out here and the wind starts to blow, it can get tricky pretty quickly,” Scheffler said. “Going out this morning, you definitely had a feeling the conditions were going to be easier, so you need to go out there and try and take advantage of it.”

Following a bogey on the par-4 second, when a wedge from the fairway came up well short before he missed an 8-foot par putt, Scheffler made 11 birdies across his remaining 16 holes. He led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting in the second round at 4.841.

“Some days they’re kind of hanging on the edge and not quite going in, and then other days they’re finding the bottom of the cup,” Scheffler said. “Today was a day definitely in which most of them were finding the bottom of the cup.”

Hovland Posts Career-Best 61

Hovland, playing three groups ahead of Scheffler, needed birdies on the final two holes for his own 59. He made par on both and posted a 61, matching his career best on Tour.

“Certainly it was more gettable today than it was even yesterday,” Hovland said.

Akshay Bhatia shot a career-best-tying 62 to join first-round leader Eric Cole at 12-under, four back. Cole parred his final eight holes in a 65. Matt Fitzpatrick, Bud Cauley and Ben Griffin shared fifth at 10-under after rounds of 66.

Weekend Stakes

Scheffler is seeking his second win of 2026 after The American Express in January and comes in with eight top-10 finishes in 13 starts this season, including finishing T4 at the US Open. This is his 21st 36-hole lead or co-lead on Tour, and he has turned that position into a victory nine times in 20 previous chances, with seven of his last nine conversions ending in wins.

“I’ve put myself in position now this week,” Scheffler said. “Go home, get some rest, and get ready for tomorrow.”

Related: Jordan Spieth Tests L.A.B. VZN.1i Putter at Travelers Championship

The three-time major champion brought a black L.A.B. Golf mallet into Wednesday's pro-am at TPC River Highlands, a sharp departure from the blade putters that have defined his career.

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