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Scottie Scheffler fired a 5-under 65 in the opening round of the Travelers Championship and was not far off the lead when he signed his scorecard on Thursday at TPC River Highlands.

For his 28th birthday on Friday, Scheffler hopes to build on matching his best first-round score this season by celebrating the 36-hole lead. But he’ll be pursuing another birthday boy Friday, 21-year-old Tom Kim, who wrapped up a 62 in the first round to assume the top spot on the leaderboard.

Scheffler, shooting for his sixth win this season, credited minor swing maintenance for getting him back on track after falling out of contention at the U.S. Open last week.

“I feel like I hit it nice,” Scheffler said Thursday after four birdies, an eagle and a bogey on the opening 18. “Found some stuff in my swing at the beginning of the week, and definitely feel like I’m swinging a lot better than I did last week.”

Nobody is swinging it better than Scheffler on the PGA Tour in 2024. The new dad and 11-time tour winner said he found a grip adjustment this week that helped him get back in the groove and post his first round in the 60s since the Memorial Tournament. The Thursday 65 ends a run of six rounds in the 70s in a row.

“It’s kind of hard to explain, to be honest with you,” Scheffler said. “But just really getting better feel coming at the top of my swing, making sure my grip’s kind of in the right position.”

Scheffler finished tied for fourth here in 2023 — in the midst of a run of seven consecutive top-5 finishes — with 63s in the first and third rounds and a cumulative score of 19 under.

His opening-round 65 on Thursday matches his best score in the first round this year (March 28, Houston Open).

He was in a tie at 2 under when he came to the par-5 13th, where he ripped a 3-wood from a fairway lie to within 8 feet and rolled in the eagle putt. He then followed that with his fourth birdie of the day on the par-4 14th.

“I hit two really great shots in there to give myself a look, and then I got a nice read off (playing partner Max Homa’s) putt and was able to knock that in,” Scheffler said.

–Field Level Media