Tom Kim of South Korea celebrated his 22nd birthday on Friday by securing the halfway lead at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn.
Kim built upon his first-round 62 with a 5-under 65 on Friday to get to 13-under 127 through two rounds at TPC River Highlands. He is two shots clear of Collin Morikawa, Akshay Bhatia and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who had his 28th birthday on Friday.
Kim is bogey-free through 36 holes, but he did not grow his lead larger than two strokes as Morikawa fired a 63 with seven birdies and no miscues. Scheffler ended his round with a birdie to join the group at 11 under, while Bhatia was briefly 12 under for the tournament before a closing bogey.
PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele is in fifth at 10 under after his second straight 65.
Shane Lowry of Ireland and Robert MacIntyre of Scotland leapt into contention by posting rounds of 62. MacIntyre, the RBC Canadian Open winner earlier this month, had four birdies on each nine. Lowry, who teamed up with Rory McIlroy to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in the spring, had six birdies and an eagle before narrowly missing a birdie at No. 18 at day’s end that would have given him 61.
Lowry is tied at 9 under with Justin Thomas (63) and South Korea’s Sungjae Im (64), while MacIntyre shares 8 under with Tom Hoge (63) and Tony Finau (67).
–Field Level Media
