Mackenzie Hughes on Thursday lit up TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, firing 10 birdies in a 10-under 60 to seize a three-shot lead at the Travelers Championship.
The 29-year-old Canadian’s career-low round was the lowest in tournament history.
He came up short on a 40-foot birdie attempt at his final hole to miss out on a 59, but had a comfortable lead over world No. 1 Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland, who shared second place on seven-under 63.
Photo: AP
“It was pretty fun,” Hughes said. “The hole starts to look pretty big. You’re just thinking about making birdies. Unfortunately, I came up one short, but I beat my career best, so that made me feel pretty good.”
Hughes shined over the same layout where American Jim Furyk fired a PGA Tour record 12-under 58 in the 2016 final round.
Four-time major champion McIlroy of Northern Ireland had six birdies and an eagle against a lone bogey to make it first in the clubhouse on seven-under.
Schauffele and Hovland followed suit in the afternoon, Schauffele reaching eight-under through 15, before a bogey at the 17th dropped him back.
Hughes teed off on 10 and launched his birdie binge with a 30-footer from the fringe at 11. He birdied five straight to close the back nine.
“It was a slow build,” said Hughes, who rolled in a 31-foot birdie putt at 18. “I just convinced myself to keep the pedal down and keep making birdies.”
He followed a birdie at the second hole with three birdies in a row starting at the par-five sixth to give himself a chance to crack 60, draining a dramatic 30-footer at the par-three eighth.
McIlroy also opened on the back nine and rolled in an 11-foot eagle putt at the 13th.
He followed with birdies on 14 and 15, before missing the green for a bogey at 16.
McIlroy birdied four of his final nine holes as well, and said he was not concerned about having a hot start, despite the low scores typical at River Highlands.
“You get a little antsy and go a little quick if you start thinking that way,” McIlroy said. “As much as it’s low scores, you have to keep telling yourself to be patient.”
Schauffele was three-under through four holes before a bogey at the seventh hole.
He responded with four straight birdies from the eighth through the 11th — dropping three 18-foot birdie putts and one 17-footer.
Schauffele said that his decision not to attack the pins made his birdie run “kind of boring.”
“The fun part was making the long putts,” he said.
Hovland gained his share of second place with a birdie at 18.
The Norwegian had raced up the leaderboard with six straight threes on the back nine, a stretch that included a birdie at 12, an eagle at the par-five 13th, and birdies at 14 and 15 — in between pars at 11 and 16.
Taiwan’s Pan Cheng-tsung was tied for 138th place after carding a two-over 72.
The Travelers marks the third tournament since the PGA Tour returned earlier this month from a three-month COVID-19 hiatus.
Two caddies and one player tested positive for the virus before the event, prompting six players to withdraw, but McIlroy said that there was no cause for alarm.
“I saw a couple of calls to shut the tournament down, which is silly from my point of view,” McIlroy said. “As a whole it’s been going really well.”
Additional reporting by staff writer
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two
RSS