"Tokyo Olympic Gold" Showple Leads by 5 Strokes... Lee Kyung-hoon Jumps to Tied 7th Place

Travelers Championship Day 2: 7-Under Surge, Cantlay and Defending Champ English Tied 2nd, 'Number 2' McIlroy Tied 7th

Xander Schauffele is teeing off on the 1st hole on the second day of the Travelers Championship. Cromwell, USA = Getty Images / Multivitz

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] Xander Schauffele (USA), the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist, takes the lead.

On the 25th (Korean time), at the Travelers Championship (total prize money $8.3 million) of the PGA Tour held at River Highlands TPC in Cromwell, Connecticut (par 70, 6,852 yards), Schauffele surged with a 7-under-par round on the second day to top the leaderboard at 14-under-par 126. Five players including 'Playoff (PO) champ' Patrick Cantlay, defending champion Harris English, Kevin Kisner, Nick Hardy (all USA), and Cameron Davis (Australia) are tied for second place at 9-under-par 131.

Starting one stroke behind in second place, Schauffele swept up seven birdies without a bogey. He made consecutive birdies on holes 2 and 3, and birdies on holes 5 and 8 to reduce four strokes in the front nine, then added three more birdies on holes 11, 14, and 17 in the back nine. His precise shots stood out with a fairway hit rate of 78.57% and a greens in regulation rate of 83.33%. His stroke gained putting was 3.411 strokes. Leading by five strokes, he is on course for his second season win in two months since the Zurich Classic 'two-man team battle' in April.

Schauffele joined the PGA Tour in 2017 and immediately won his first title at the Greenbrier Classic in July. He then caused a sensation by winning the Tour Championship, the final event of the 'PO 4th round' in September, and earned the Rookie of the Year title. Since then, he has collected three more trophies, totaling five career wins. The highlight was the Tokyo Olympics last July, where he edged out Rory Sabbatini (Slovakia) by one stroke to claim the gold medal.

'Number 2' Rory McIlroy is waiting for his putting turn on the 7th hole on the second day of the Travelers Championship. Cromwell, USA = Getty Images / Multibits

It is interesting that Cantlay, who teamed with Schauffele to win the Zurich Classic, is chasing in a tie for second place. Last season alone, he won four titles including the BMW Championship (PO 2nd round) and the Tour Championship (PO final 3rd round). Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), who was co-leader the previous day and ranked number 2, made seven birdies but also had one bogey, one double bogey, and one quadruple bogey. He failed to reduce his score and dropped to a tie for seventh place at 8-under-par 132.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA) added three under par to move up to a tie for 24th place at 5-under-par 135. From Korea, Lee Kyung-hoon (31), the AT&T Byron Nelson champion, recorded one eagle, five birdies, and one bogey, jumping an impressive 23 places to a tie for seventh. His putting average of 1.50 per hole was outstanding. On the other hand, Kim Si-woo (27) tied for 72nd place at 1-under-par 139, and Kang Sung-hoon (35) tied for 145th place at 7-over-par 147 were cut off.