Gene Littler

Bubba Watson leads after 2 rounds of 2015 Travelers Championship

• Report rights infringement
• published: 28 Jun 2015
• views: 2854

Bubba Watson leads after 2 rounds of 2015 Travelers Championship CROMWELL, Conn. — The wind picked up Friday morning, but Bubba Watson continued to breeze through TPC River Highlands. The two-time Masters champion navigated through the golf course with a clean card that included three birdies and 15 pars on the way to shooting a 67 at the Travelers Championship. Watson enters the weekend at 11-under, two shots ahead of the field, and with just one bogey in 36 holes. "Today was a good day, no bogeys," said Watson, who joked about undergoing a drug test after the round because he was the leader. "Tougher conditions, tougher pin locations and the wind was in a different direction, so it made some of the holes on the golf course play tougher. ... It was just about playing steady." A crowded leaderboard is chasing the 2010 Travelers champ, and the threat of inclement weather — especially Sunday — could throw a wrinkle on the birdie-friendly course. "(If) it's raining, obviously it's going to change how you play," said Watson, who is trying to become the first wire-to-wire winner at the tournament since Tim Morris in 1982 (Gene Littler also did it in 1959). "You're going to have to be smarter, safer because water can make the ball go in different directions." Calmer conditions in the afternoon allowed a few players to make runs, but Brian Harman (5-under Friday), Brian Stuard (3-under) and Carl Pettersson (4-under) all enter Saturday at 9-under for the tournament. But while 15 players remain within four shots of the lead, the only other major winner in the mix is Keegan Bradley, who is tied with seven others at 7-under. "He can hit it so far, he's playing from some different places, but he's always making a lot of birdies," said Harman, a fellow Georgia Bulldog who will be paired with Watson in the third round. "Whenever you are paired with a guy, you want a guy who's making a lot of birdies that helps." Watson was a birdie machine in the opening round, picking up nine with one bogey to finish at 8-under. He extended that lead to 9-under after birdieing the 14th hole, then picked up two more shots with birdies on No. 3 and 7. "Right now I am thinking well, I'm staying in the moment," Watson said. "I'm hitting my driver well, controlling it pretty nice." When Watson won at TPC in 2010, which was his first PGA Tour victory, he never finished in the lead on the first three days. In 31 stroke-play events on Tour this year, only four first-round leaders have gone on to win, with Steven Bowditch the most recent at the AT&T; Byron Nelson in May. "I'm going to do exactly what I've been doing," Watson said. If Watson keeps that up, it might be hard to stop him. "There are a lot of good players up there, I think the scores are going to continue to go low," said Scott Brown, who is tied for fifth with Jason Gore and Chris Stroud at 8-under. "I think a 10-under weekend probably will be pretty good." Returning champion Kevin Streelman missed the cut, marking the first time that has happened to the defending champ since Stewart Cink in 2008. Also going home are Ernie Els, 2012 U.S. Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III, Patrick Reed and Padraig Harrington.