Viktor Hovland watched Scottie Scheffler post a second-round 60 at the Travelers Championship on Friday, and the number came with one shot of history. Scheffler needed a birdie on either of his last two holes, but he closed with pars and settled for the seventh 60 or lower in the 15-year history of the event.
That left him tied to one of the rarest scoring lines in the Travelers Championship's short run at TPC River Highlands, where the course has now produced the most rounds of 60 or lower of any TOUR stop since 1997. The event has hosted only since 2011, yet it has already produced two rounds of 59 or lower.
Scottie Scheffler at TPC River Highlands
Scheffler's 60 was built on the greens. He gained 4.78 strokes putting in the second round, which topped his previous best of 4.18 strokes in the first round of the 2021 U.S. Open.
That puts the round in a narrow band of elite scoring and steady control. Jim Furyk's 58 at the Travelers Championship a decade ago still stands as the lowest round in TOUR history, and Scheffler stayed just outside that range by failing to birdie either of his last two holes.
Akshay Bhatia and the U.S. Team
Akshay Bhatia also stayed in the frame with a 63 on Friday. He is 24 years old, a three-time TOUR winner, sixth this season in Strokes Gained: Putting, 14th on the U.S. points list and 16th among Americans in the Official World Golf Ranking.
His rise matters because the U.S. Team discussion is already turning toward the 2026 Presidents Cup, and the age profile from the 2023 Ryder Cup points in one direction. Europe selected Ludvig Åberg in 2023, and last year's Ryder Cup did not have a single player under the age of 28.
Scheffler's 60 keeps him in the hunt for the Travelers Championship lead, but the final two pars also showed how little margin separates a record chase from an ordinary finish. For a scorer capable of a round like this, the question is whether he can keep the same putting pace and finish the week the way he started Friday.
