Jason Day of Australia posted the low round of the day, an 8-under 62, to grab the 36-hole lead Friday at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn.
Day, the former World No. 1 who has slipped to 71st in the Official World Golf Rankings, sank eight birdies without a bogey in his second round to reach 9 under for the event. Bubba Watson (66 Friday) and first-round co-leader Kramer Hickok (69) are one behind.
The highlight of Day’s round was a 36-foot, 5-inch birdie putt on the par-3 fifth hole at TPC River Highlands. It broke left to right and found the side of the cup, marking his seventh of eight birdies after he began on the back nine.
Day is searching for his first PGA Tour win since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship.
“It’s nice to be able to visualize a ball going in the hole again instead of thinking, Am I going to hole this putt?” Day said. “So nice to be able to do that.”
“The body is okay, just stiff. It’s sore to get onto the other side of the golf swing, so any time going left was a little bit sore,” said Day. “It is what it is. I haven’t had time to really rest it since I kind of put it out. I think having a couple weeks off was great, but you just need a little bit more time is what it is.
Meanwhile, Justin Rose “lit up” his scorecard with eight birdies as he charged into contention with a second-round 63 at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.
Rose arrived at TPC River Highlands on the back of a woeful performance at last week’s US Open, where rounds of 78 and 77 saw him miss the cut by a distance, but a hot putter lifted his spirits at TPC River Highlands.
The Englishman cruised to the turn in 30 and then holed from 25 feet at the 10th before adding further birdies from outside 30 feet at the 11th and 14th, although he then three-putted the 15th green to close two shots behind leader Jason Day.
“I putted great today,” said Rose, who has slipped to 44th in the world rankings having played only five events since withdrawing from the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a back problem in March. “I made a lot of mid- to long-range putts, which obviously got my scorecard lit up.
