McGirt 33rd in Hartford
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Jun. 25—CROMWELL, Conn. — Through 10 holes Friday, William McGirt's recent trend of second-round struggles appeared to potentially be happening again at the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship.
But a pair of birdies stabalized McGirt's round and led to an even-par 70 and a Saturday tee time for the Fairmont native.
McGirt is tied for 33rd at the tournament's halfway point at a 4-under-par total after a first round of 4-under 66 on Thursday. He is 10 strokes behind leader Xander Schauffele but just five strokes out of second place.
McGirt entered the Travelers after missed cuts in four of his last five starts; in three of those four starts, he shot 69 or better in the first round before shooting 73 or worse in the second round.
McGirt started on the back nine Friday and made bogeys at the 13th and 17th, turning in 2-over 37 before making par at hole No. 1. He made a 16-foot birdie putt at the second; after missing the green short and right at the par-4 fourth, McGirt holed out his chip shot from 97 feet for birdie, moving back to even par for the round. He made par of the final five holes.
Thursday, McGirt's tournament began with bogey on the first hole, which would ultimately be his only dropped shot of the round. His ball striking netted numerous birdie opportunities over the final 17 holes, starting at hole No. 2 when he hit his approach to just over two feet from the hole. He made a seven-foot birdie putt at the seventh and a 22-footer at the ninth to shoot a front nine score of 2-under 33, before making an 11-foot birdie putt at the 12th and finishing with a 13-footer at the 18th.
In Saturday's third round, McGirt will tee off at 10:05 a.m. paired with Chez Reavie.
McGirt is in the 25th start of a 29-event major medical extension on the Tour; he has earned 75 of the 375 FedExCup points required to maintain playing status at the completion of the extension.
Schauffele's five-shot lead comes after consecutive rounds of 7-under 63; Patrick Cantlay, Nick Hardy, Cam Davis, Kevin Kisner and defending champion Harris English are tied for second at 9 under.
Rory McIlroy is tied for seventh at 8 under, Webb Simpson is tied for 16th at 7 under and Scottie Scheffler is tied for 24th at 5 under.
Jordan Spieth is among the players who missed the cut.
