Top Names Chasing Unexpected Leader At Travelers Championship

CROMWELL, CT — As some high-profile golfers made big moves and others unexpectedly fell apart, a relative newcomer coming back from more than a year off due to knee surgery assumed a two-stroke advantage at the midpoint of the Travelers Championship.

Zack Sucher, playing in just his fourth event of the season after missing 13 months, followed his opening-round 64 with a 65 at TPC River Highlands, standing at 11-under par through 36 holes.

Chez Reavie, who tied for third at last week's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, and 2010
PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley each shot 66 Friday to tie for second at 9-under. Ryan Moore and Bronson Burgoon are tied for fourth at 8-under.

2015 PGA Championship titleholder Jason Day shot 63, the low round of the day, to improve to 7-under, along with six other players, including 2-time Travelers runner-up Paul Casey.

Five strokes off the lead at 6-under are 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed, 2010 British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen and 2014 Travelers champion Kevin Streelman.

Other major champions, past Travelers winners and players in the top 30 of the World Golf Rankings who made the 36-hole cut of 2-under par 138 include:

• -4: Justin Thomas, Marc Leishman, Patrick Cantlay
• -3: Brooks Koepka, Francesco Molinari
• -2: Russell Knox, Bryson DeChambeau

Chip McDaniel of Manchester, Ky. was the only Monday qualifier to make the cut, standing at 3-under par.

On the other side of the coin, two of the game's brightest stars will not be around for the weekend: 3-time major champion and 2017 Travelers winner Jordan Spieth (73-69-142) and World Golf Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson (67-76-143), the only back-to-back champion in tournament history (2001-2002).

Other notables failing to make the cut include major winners Padraig Harrington and Lucas Glover, and past Travelers titleholders J.J. Henry and Hunter Mahan.

Here are the starting times for Saturday's third round, as well as the current leaderboard.