Travelers Championship 2021: Jason Day Surges into Lead with 2nd-Round 62

Jason Day teed off at the Travelers Championship on Friday with his body feeling a little stiff and sore. He returned to the clubhouse with a season-best round of 62 that put him atop the leaderboard at nine under par. 

It appears the soreness only limited his ability to settle for bogeys. Day strung together eight birdies on the day, including five on the front nine, as he made par on every other hole to jump 44 spots in the standings.

In fact, Day notched the best round of any player through two days, besting 63s shot by Kevin Kisner, Justin Rose, Charley Hoffman, Kramer Hickok and Satoshi Kodaira over Thursday and Friday. 

"Sometimes when you do have sort of an injury or stiffness, even if you're sick, sometimes you can come out and play some good golf," Day told reporters. "I was fortunate enough to not really get in my own way today. Hit a lot of good quality drives and my tee to green was pretty solid, I thought. Then holed a lot of crucial putts out there."

Here's a look at who's chasing the 33-year-old Australian heading into the weekend at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut. 

     

Travelers Championship Friday Leaderboard

1. Jason Day (-9)

T-2. Bubba Watson (-8)

T-2. Kramer Hickok (-8)

T-4. Russell Henley (-7)

T-4. Kevin Kisner (-7)

T-4. Seamus Power (-7)

T-4. Justin Rose (-7)

T-4. K.H. Lee (-7)

T-4. Brice Garnett (-7)

T-4. Troy Merritt (-7)

Notables: T-11. Ian Poulter (-6), T-11. Patrick Cantlay (-6), T-20. Bryson DeChambeau (-5), T-20. Patrick Reed (-5), T-35. Brooks Koepka (-4), T-58. Phil Mickelson (-2), T-58. Dustin Johnson (-2)

Cut: Rafa Cabrera Bello (+1), Tony Finau (+3), Rickie Fowler (+4), Matthew Wolff (+5)

Full leaderboard available via PGA Tour's official website.

         

Recap

Day's began his round with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 1 and 2, followed by two more on 4 and 5. Amazingly, only one of his eight birdies came on a par five at No. 13.

He also picked up birdies on two par threes.

That was all a result of Day averaging 305.9 yards per drive while hitting 83.3 percent of his greens in regulation. He recorded 3.42 strokes gained putting as he surged up the leaderboard. 

One of the players trying to stop Day's run is three-time Travelers Championship winner Bubba Watson, who is in need of a new driver after a mishap on the second hole. 

As Watson went to tee off on No. 2, the head of his driver exploded off the shaft but not before launching the ball 295 yards down the fairway. Watson would finish off the first of his five birdies on the day as his caddie tried in vain to repair his club. 

"It's one of the things where the driver is travel, heat, cold, whatever it is, over time, overuse, my driver head popped off. It's the shaft right above the hosel," Watson said. "It's cracked, broke, whatever you want to call it. ... If I was going to hit anybody I was hoping it would be Brooks [Koepka]. But I missed him, though. Not that good of an aimer."

The loss of his driver only decreased Watson's driving distance from 298.9 yards Thursday to 287.9 yards Friday. Watson hit 72.2 percent of his greens in regulation and only bogeyed one hole, the par-four No. 9. 

Had the driver head found Koepka, it may have prevented one of the shots of the day.

After launching his tee shot 288 yards down the middle of the fairway on the par-four No. 18, the American went right for the flag on his second shot, sinking a chip from 159 yards out for an eagle to move to four-under. 

The shot ended up costing Justin Thomas some money despite the PGA Tour stalwart not even playing this week's tournament. Thomas and Koepka have a friendly wager dating back to 2019, with each hole-out over 50 yards being worth $1,000—a fact Koepka was all too happy to point out the moment his eagle dropped in the cup.

Now that Koepka is safely in the hunt for the weekend after making the two-under cut line, he can earn himself plenty more money this weekend, both from the Travelers and from Thomas, with the way his wedge is dialed in.