PGA Tour Showdown: Three Players Tied for Lead After Second Round at 2025 Travelers Championship

Friday’s second round at the
2025 Travelers Championship
looked a lot different than Thursday’s first round.

Strong winds, with a constant breeze at 15 mph and gusts up to 40 mph, turned a course that typically yields a lot of birdies into a serious challenge for the world’s best. But still, there were several players who went low and vaulted themselves into contention, like Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood, who sit in a three-way tie at the top with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler heading into the weekend.

Read below for scores and highlights from Friday’s second round at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. For live updates from Saturday’s third round,
click here.

Travelers Championship 2025 live leaderboard

Keep up with the latest scores on our
USA TODAY Sports 2025 Travelers Championship leaderboard.
Here’s what the top of the board looked like at the conclusion of Friday’s second round:

Three tied at the top as second round wraps up

Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood, and Scottie Scheffler enter the weekend tied for the lead at 9 under par. Jason Day is not far behind — one shot back after a pair of 66s in the first two rounds. Austin Eckroat, who shared the lead with Scheffler after a 62 on Thursday, shot 71 Friday and fell back into a tie for fifth with Denny McCarthy at 7 under.

Rory McIlroy shoots 71, remains in contention heading into the weekend at the Travelers

An up-and-down day for the 2025 Masters champion ultimately culminated in a moderately disappointing but fairly respectable 1-over 71 on Friday at the Travelers Championship, where strong winds provided a stiff challenge for what is typically a birdie-fest at TPC River Highlands.

McIlroy started with three bogeys in his first four holes but got it back together on the inward nine, shooting 2-under 33 to get back into the top 10 entering the weekend. He’s tied for ninth at 5 under, four shots back of the three sharing the lead.

Rory McIlroy gets back to even on the day

It was a brutal start for the World No. 2 Friday, with three bogeys in his first four holes. But he shook it off and dialed in. Rory is 3 under through six holes on the back nine and is back to even par on the day, 6 under for the tournament and three shots off the lead as of 5:25 p.m. ET.

Tommy Fleetwood makes two eagles in three holes, ties for the lead

It’s baffling to think Tommy Fleetwood is still seeking his first win on the PGA Tour, but it’s true. Could he finally get that elusive victory this week?

He’s in a great position to do so.

Fleetwood was even par through 12 holes Friday before going eagle, par, eagle, birdie on Nos. 13-16. Five under in four holes? Not too shabby from the Englishman. He’s tied for the lead after closing out a 5-under 65, which included a 30 on the back nine.

Jason Day cards 66 to move within 1 shot of the lead

Jason Day is seeking his first win since 2023, and he’s in prime position to capture it after Friday. The 37-year-old from Australia shot 66 in each of the first two rounds at TPC River Highlands and sits in solo fourth, one back of the leaders.

Day, the 2015 PGA Champion, shot 31 on the back nine Friday, which included three straight birdies on holes 12-14 and another one on No. 18. It all came on a day where much of the field struggled to handle the gusty conditions.

“Dramatically different from yesterday. It was tough,” Day said in his post round presser. “I knew I had an afternoon tee time, and I’m sitting in my bus and the bus is moving. I’m like, that’s pretty strong wind to move the bus.”

Austin Eckroat dunks it from the sand

There were plenty of slam dunks in last night’s NBA Finals game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, but fans at TPC River Highlands on Friday got to see golf’s version of a dunk.

Quite the shot here from the beach on No. 15 by Eckroat, who needed a break like this to get back into the top 5. He shared the lead entering Friday after a 62 Thursday, but has fallen back a bit. He’s 1 over through 15 holes and in a tie for third as of 4:30 p.m. ET.

Wind causing lots of big numbers on Friday at TPC River Highlands

The contrast between Thursday and Friday at the Travelers Championship is quite shocking, and it’s all because of the wind. A steady breeze at 15-20 mph with gusts up to 40 mph is leaving players scratching their heads on a course that looked as easy as they come Thursday.

For example, Davis Riley shot 4-under 66 on Thursday and followed it with a 7-over 77 on Friday. But let’s not pick on Davis, because he’s certainly not the only one to suffer such a fate.

Taylor Pendrith, Rickie Fowler, Thomas Detry, Gary Woodland are all among players who started the day at even par or better and shot 74 or worse Friday.

It’s tough out there, folks.

Canadians creeping up the leaderboard in Connecticut

How about a little international flare at the top?

Americans Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler share the lead, but Canadian Nick Taylor shot a 68 Friday to follow up his 66 in the first round and finds himself three shots back of the co-leaders as of 3:40 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, Taylor’s fellow countryman, Adam Hadwin, is slowly but steadily putting together a really solid round amid gusty conditions Friday. He’s 2 under for the day and 6 under for the tournament, in a tie for fourth with Taylor and Australian Jason Day.

About half the field is done for the day at the 2025 Travelers Championship as they gear up for the weekend. Remember, there’s no cut at this tournament since it’s a signature event.

Scottie Scheffler cards 1-under 69 in the second round at the Travelers Championship

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is in the mix again.

He’s tied for the lead as of 3:10 p.m. ET after shooting 1-under 69 in the second round. Scheffler probably isn’t totally thrilled with that score, though, considering he was 3 under for the round and 11 under for the tournament before he made double bogey at the par-4 17th.

It was his first double bogey in 100 holes at TPC River Highlands. His last one came in the fourth round of the 2023 Travelers Championship.

All good streaks must come to an end, and still, Scheffler enters the weekend as a heavy favorite to defend his title in New England.

Justin Thomas shoots 64 in the second round, enters weekend in contention

A 6-under 64 on Friday is a whole lot more impressive than the 64s (and lower) we saw on Thursday.

Why? The wind. Blustery conditions with gusts up to 40 mph has players grinding through a course that seemed like an walk in the park pitch-and-putt in the opening round.

Justin Thomas was fantastic all day, especially during his back nine when he made five straight birdies on holes 11-15.

“I was very patient,” Thomas said in his post-round presser. “I hit a lot of really, really good iron shots. I felt like I was in good control. I didn’t feel like I drove it very well. I kept it in play and kept it in front of me, which is a big part of it, but I just kind of kept it out of trouble. I would much prefer to be hitting the middle of the club face and doing that, but it’s still a good sign on a really windy day like this

JT will look to carry that momentum into the weekend as he seeks his second victory of the year on the PGA Tour. He won the RBC Heritage in April and he has five top 10s including three runner-up finishes in 2025.

Rory McIlory off to a rough start Friday at the Travelers Championship

Rory McIlroy seemed to have a bit of a vibe change Thursday. He bounced back from a lackluster performance at the U.S. Open last week with a 6-under 64 in the first round at the Travelers Championship.

Those good vibes did not carry over into the opening stages of Friday’s round, though. The World No. 2 made bogey on the first three holes of his second round to drop back to 3 under for the tournament.

Justin Thomas is scorching-hot on the back nine at TPC River Highlands

Four birdies in a row on holes 11-14 has vaulted Justin Thomas into solo third as of 1:45 p.m. ET. He shot a bogey-free 33 on the front nine, made bogey on No. 10, then went nuclear on the next four holes to put himself firmly in contention on Friday afternoon.

Denny McCarthy surges up the leaderboard

Denny McCarthy is 6 under through 13 holes at the Travelers Championship. He made 6 birdies on the front nine en route to a 31, and then made two more birdie on Nos. 10 and 13. He’s in solo third, two shots back of co-leaders Scottie Scheffler and Austin Eckroat as of 1:15 p.m. ET.

Wind is changing the narrative at TPC River Highlands

There was a lot of talk entering this week about
TPC River Highlands’ ability to hold up against the best players in the world
during the 2025 Traveler’s Championship. When 14 players shot 66 or better Thursday, that conversation ramped up in online golf spheres.

But that’s nothing a stiff breeze can’t fix, right?

Westerly winds are blowing at a steady 15 mph with gusts north of 30 mph, and it’s keeping players from making the second round another birdie-fest. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was even through eight holes Friday after an 8-under 62 in the first round.

J.J. Spaun experiencing ‘major hangover’ at the Travelers Championship

The 2025 U.S. Open Champion is struggling at TPC River Highlands. J.J. Spaun spent all week giving interviews and touring the nation with his new trophy, so it’s not a huge surprise that he’s not on his A-game in Connecticut.

Rickie Fowler hits a textbook shank

This one will make you cringe.
Rickie Fowler hit a picture-perfect shank
on his first approach shot of the day, leading to a double bogey on No. 1 and eventually a 7-over 42 on the outward nine.

Rough start for Rick.

Patrick Cantlay needed just 9 putts to shoot 32 on the front nine Friday

There’s hot, and then there’s whatever Patrick Cantlay’s flatstick is right now. The 33-year-old from Long Beach hit just nine putts on the entire front nine at TPC River Highlands on Friday during the second round of the Travelers Championship.

He went out in 3-under 32, and made another birdie on the par-4 11th to get to 7 under for the tournament, just one back of co-leaders Scottie Scheffler and Austin Eckroat as of 11:45 a.m. ET.

Winds are picking up at TPC River Highlands

Although TPC River Highlands is known for yielding low scores, a strong breeze might change that on Friday.

Travelers Championship 2025 Friday second round tee times

8:00 AM

– Daniel Berger, Sam Stevens
8:10 AM

– Jhonattan Vegas, Gary Woodland
8:20 AM

– Rickie Fowler, Michael Kim
8:30 AM

– Maverick McNealy, Ryan Gerard
8:40 AM

– Russell Henley, Nick Dunlap
8:50 AM

– Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im
9:00 AM

– Cam Davis, Alex Noren
9:10 AM

– Taylor Pendrith, Eric Cole
9:20 AM

– Thomas Detry, Si Woo Kim
9:35 AM

– Brian Harman, Akshay Bhatia
9:45 AM

– Sepp Straka, Aaron Rai
9:55 AM

– Shane Lowry, Denny McCarthy
10:05 AM

– J.T. Poston, Matt Fitzpatrick
10:15 AM

– Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama
10:25 AM

– Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa
10:35 AM

– J.J. Spaun, Scottie Scheffler
10:45 AM

– Luke Clanton
10:55 AM

– Andrew Novak, Jacob Bridgeman
11:10 AM

– Davis Riley, Bud Cauley
11:20 AM

– Nick Taylor, Kevin Yu
11:30 AM

– Joe Highsmith, Tom Kim
11:40 AM

– Min Woo Lee, Harry Hall
11:50 AM

– Mackenzie Hughes, Matti Schmid
12:00 PM

– Tony Finau, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
12:10 PM

– Wyndham Clark, Matthieu Pavon
12:20 PM

– Jason Day, Max Homa
12:30 PM

– Austin Eckroat, Byeong Hun An
12:45 PM

– Davis Thompson, Stephan Jaeger
12:55 PM

– Adam Hadwin, Max Greyserman
1:05 PM

– Tom Hoge, Tommy Fleetwood
1:15 PM

– Adam Scott, Cameron Young
1:25 PM

– Viktor Hovland, Robert MacIntyre
1:35 PM

– Ludvig Åberg, Sam Burns
1:45 PM

– Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley
1:55 PM

– Ryan Fox, Ben Griffin
2:05 PM

– Harris English, Lucas Glover

Day 2 hole locations for TPC River Highlands

Here are the hole locations for the second round.

How to watch the 2025 Travelers Championship

This is the TV channel, streaming and radio schedule, with Golf Channel, CBS, ESPN+, Paramount+ and PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM all teaming up for the coverage. All times listed are ET.