Britain’s Matthew Fitzpatrick, Aaron Rai, Justin Rose and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler got off to a strong start at the PGA Tour Travelers Championship as US Open champion Wyndham Clark’s progress was hampered by a triple bogey.
Clark, who won his second U.S. Open title in four years by beating Sam Burns by one stroke Sunday at Shinnecock Hills, was at 7 on the par-4 12th hole after an errant tee shot caused a drop and then picked a bunker before missing a 7-foot putt.
The 32-year-old had birdies on either side of the nightmare hole, building gains of 15 and 17 after six strokes earlier, and Clark shot a 2-under 68 to leave him five shots behind first-round leader Eric Cole. Eric Cole shot a flawless 7-under par 63, including an eagle at 13 when he chipped the green.
Clark later said: “I had one bad swing and made a triple. Other than that, we’d be in a good position at 5 under. I was really happy with my round and felt better than anything. It was just one bad swing.”
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Wyndham Clark wins for the second time in a highlight of the final round of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.
Fitzpatrick, who has won three times so far in 2026, solo at the Valspar Championship and RBC Heritage and with his brother Alex at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, shot a 6-under-par 64, making seven birdies around one bogey and missing just one fairway.
The former U.S. Open champion, in action with a new driver, is part of a group of six players one step ahead of Cole that also includes Scheffler, Ben Griffin, Kristoffer Reitan, Bud Cauley and Nicolas Echavarria.
“I played really solid, took advantage of the scoring holes there,” Fitzpatrick said.
Scheffler: It’s important to keep pace
Scheffler, tied for fourth at last week’s U.S. Open, shot a flawless 64 at TPC River Highlands on Thursday to leave four strokes behind Clark, gaining four strokes in the previous nine and two strokes back.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler went bogey-free Thursday in Connecticut.
Scheffler spoke after his lowest opening round since shooting a 63 at a tournament at American Express in January. “The lower your score, the more difficult it can be to catch up.
“It’s important to maintain your speed here because sometimes you can fall too far behind and on some golf courses you can only hit shots that are too low.”
Fitzpatrick’s teammates Rai and Rose doubled Cole’s 5-under-par rounds with Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Corey Conners and Brandt Snedeker.
Rory McIlroy is set to return to action at the Genesis Scottish Open from July 9 ahead of the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale a week later and will not play this week. Both events will be live. Sky Sports.
Watch Round 2 of the PGA Tour Travelers Championship live sky sports+ fFrom 12:45 PM on Friday. There is also coverage on sky sports mix From 5pm, Sky Sports Golf From 8pm Sky Sports Main Event From 10pm. Stream Sky Sports without a contract.
