Travelers Championship 2017: 5 groups to watch in Rounds 1 & 2

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Aug 7, 2016; Cromwell, CT, USA; Jim Furyk reacts after shooting a PGA tour record 58 after the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Jim Furyk, Brian Harman, Rory McIlroy

Round 1: 10th tee, 7:50 a.m.

Round 2: 1st tee, 12:50 p.m.

Normally, when discussing a group featuring these three players, one would usually start with the third-ranked player in the world that also happens to be a four-time major champion or the recent co-runner-up at the U.S. Open but seeing as this is the Travelers Championship, you have to start with “Mr. 58” himself, Jim Furyk. I mean, seriously, the guy’s last round at TPC River Highlands was the lowest score in PGA TOUR history. How am I not going to start there?

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Jim Furyk entered the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship at 1-over, a full 16 shots behind leader Daniel Berger, who shot a 62 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round. Furyk teed off at 8:41 a.m., well before the leaders got going and nobody knew that they were about to witness history. Furyk reeled off six birdies and an eagle to go out in 27 and then birdied the first three holes on the back nine before adding another at the 16th to get to 12-under for the day. There’s two things that stand out on that back nine. He made par on five of the last six holes and STILL shot a 58 and he just missed a putt on the 18th to shoot 57. Just incredible…and the Travelers isn’t even an event he normally plays. His most recent appearance before last year was in 2011 and he actually missed the cut. Golf is a crazy, crazy game, isn’t it? I, for one, can’t wait to see what he does on Thursday morning.

Now we can discuss Rory McIlroy, who dropped a spot in the OWGR this week after missing the cut at Erin Hills, his third missed cut at a major championship in his last five appearances. Of course, the two in which he did play all four rounds resulted in a tie for fifth at The Open Championship last year and a tie for seventh at this year’s Masters so let’s not get into a “what’s wrong with Rory” conversation just yet. Steve Elkington just tried something like that recently and it didn’t work out so well. McIlroy had been nursing a rib injury since THE PLAYERS and the rust showed in his first-round 78, a round that saw him take four bogeys and two doubles against an eagle. He looked much better in his second round, making five birdies en route to a 1-under 71 but it was too little too late and he sat home for the weekend. McIlroy is bound to be a contender at Royal Birkdale next month and is using the Travelers to get some more reps in. Don’t think a player of his caliber can’t get hot around this place.

Rounding out the group is 54-hole U.S. Open leader Brian Harman, who played magnificently at Erin Hills, going double-bogey free for 72 holes, something that most players couldn’t say following the second major of the year. He made just two bogeys over the first three days against 14 birdies but just couldn’t get enough birdie putts to drop on the final day and had to settle for a tie for second with Hideki Matsuyama. The finish did jump him 23 spots in the world rankings to No. 27 and he has three top 10s in his last five starts. The left-hander last played the Travelers Championship two years ago and finished in solo third.

Next: Travelers Championship Power Rankings

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