Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood battled gusty winds with creativity to share the 36-hole lead at the Travelers Championship.
CROMWELL, Conn. — As gusty winds swirled across TPC River Highlands on Friday, Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler didn’t retreat into swing thoughts or technical fixes. They leaned into instinct.
Thomas shot 6-under 64 in the second round of the 2025 Travelers Championship and surged up the leaderboard despite hitting just 5 of 14 fairways. Scheffler, who started the day tied for the lead with Austin Eckroat at 8 under, followed up his opening-round 62 with a 69 to tie Thomas at 9 under.
Their approach to battling the wind was strikingly similar: less mechanics, more shot making.
“I have had some good rounds in conditions like this, because I can’t really play golf swing, I have to play more golf,” Thomas said.
Scheffler, talking with the media 20 minutes later, echoed that sentiment. “It’s not robotic,” he said. “You have to hit different types of shots, work it both ways, flight it down. Every shot’s different.”
The numbers show how both adapted successfully.
Thomas made up ground Friday with his irons and putter. He gained 3.07 strokes on approach, third-best in the field, and dramatically improved his proximity to the hole — from over 40 feet in the first round to just 32 feet, 5 inches on Friday. With winds swirling and often gusting to over 30 mph as he played, it was an impressive showing from the two-time PGA Championship winner.
Thomas also made putts, notching a Strokes Gained: Putting total of 3.63 shots on Friday. Added all together, he holed nearly 147 feet of putts. After two rounds at the Travelers Championship, he ranks No. 1 in overall Strokes Gained: Putting (5.36).
“It was really windy. I didn’t hit it that great off the tee, but I stayed patient and finally saw some go in,” Thomas said. “Even the tee shot on 17, I aimed way left and hit kind of a slap slice — just trying to keep it in play.”
Scheffler, meanwhile, didn’t have his best iron day but made up for it with consistency everywhere else. He drove the ball well, was solid around the greens and holed enough putts to overcome a bogey on No. 6 and a double-bogey on 17 that came after his perfectly-struck drive got knocked down by a gust and ended up in a fairway bunker on the left. Then a near-perfect wedge caught another gust and didn’t reach the green.
“I hit the shot exactly the way we [Scheffler and his caddie, Ted Scott] wanted to, and as the ball is flying, you get a gust into the wind, and all of a sudden the ball is not on the green,” Scheffler said. “If it hadn’t have gotten that gust, it lands a couple paces behind it, spins back right to it. So just little stuff like that. You can’t get every one correct. You just do your best to manage your way around the golf course.”
Thomas was asked whether there is an art to playing in windy conditions like Friday’s and without hesitation said there is. “There’s a science to it, sure. But it’s way more art. You have to create.”
Scheffler agreed: “You can’t just hit stock shots. You have to play golf.”
That’s exactly what both did on Friday, and they will be paired together Saturday in the third round of the Travelers Championship. The mutual respect was on full display Friday.
Thomas praised Scheffler’s ability to keep control when the conditions get chaotic. “Scottie hits the middle of the clubface just about every time,” he said. “That’s huge in the wind. He’s so solid.”
Scheffler returned the compliment, noting how Thomas is someone he’s admired for a long time.
“Justin’s always been incredibly disciplined. He prepares so well. That’s why he’s had success for so long,” the three-time major winner said.
Thomas and Scheffler, however, are not alone at the top of the leaderboard.
Tommy Fleetwood followed up a Thursday 66 with a 65 on Friday that was highlighted by two eagles and a birdie on the back nine.
On the par-5 13th, the Englishman’s approach shot from 264 yards out finished 9 feet from the hole, and he promptly drained the putt. Two holes later, on the 299-yard, par-4 15th, Fleetwood’s tee shot left him just short and right of the green. His low chip shot bounced, skipped over a ridge, then rolled into the flagstick and dropped into the hole to lower his score to 8 under.
Fleetwood made birdie on 16, parred 17, and then hit a tree on the left side of the 18th fairway — but the ball ricocheted back into the short grass. Using a 5-wood, his second shot pierced the air, landed on the green and stopped, setting up an 11-foot birdie chance. He missed the putt but ended the day tied with Thomas and Scheffler at 9 under.
“I’m very, very happy that it happened for me today, but it was one of those where you just had to keep hitting shots,” Fleetwood said. “[I was] definitely not looking for something like that on the back nine.”
Jason Day woke up in the bus he often brings to tournaments knowing Friday would be challenging.
“I knew I had an afternoon tee time, and I’m sitting in my bus and the bus is moving,” he said Friday evening. “I’m like, ‘That’s pretty strong wind to move the bus.’ Then you get out here, and I decide to check the weather, and it was 15 to 20 miles an hour but gusts of 40. That’s usually one where you’re like — you’re looking forward to it, but you also know it’s going to be a grind through the day.”
Rough as it was, Day overcame a slow start, went 4 under on the back nine and posted his second consecutive 66 to reach 8 under par. He will start Saturday one shot behind Thomas, Scheffler and Fleetwood.
Austin Eckroat, who started the day at 8 under and tied with Scheffler for the lead, shot a 1-over 71 to finish at 7 under, tied for fifth with Denny McCarthy (64).
Rory McIlroy shot 1-over 71 and is tied for ninth at 5 under.
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