CROMWELL, Conn. — The TPC River Highlands golf course returned to its regular operation for Saturday’s third round.

Consistent swirling wind on Friday with gusts over 30 mph contributed to the highest scoring average (70.686) at the Travelers Championship since the second round in 2017 – when there was still a cut and a player field more than double the size.

The wind slowed down and the temperature heated up on Saturday, getting up over 85 degrees in the early afternoon – perfect weather to draw out the birdies.

Adam Scott, who teed off in the fifth group at 9:15 a.m. ET, along with U.S. Open winner JJ Spaun, tied the third-lowest front nine score in the event’s history with a 29. After shooting 2-over 72 in each of the first two rounds, Scott made four birdies and an eagle through his first seven holes.

“The big difference was I putted nicely right out of the gate,” he said. “Made one on No. 1, freed up a little bit there. So, I believe I’m playing this well, but you’ve got to make some putts at the end of the day to shoot a number, so that was the difference between the first two days and today.”

On the back nine, Scott made birdie on No. 12 and No. 13 before his first slip-up of the afternoon — a missed putt from 4 feet that led to bogey on No. 17. He made up for it with a second shot on No. 18 that spun three feet from the hole and set up an easy birdie as he finished the round at 8-under 62 — matching his career-low, which most recently came at the Travelers in 2023.

Victor Hovland matched Scott’s 29 on the front nine with six birdies and went into the clubhouse with a 63 to get to 6-under through 54 holes. He and Kevin Yu, in the same pairing, combined for 15 birdies.

Taylor Pendrith, who followed a 68 in the first round with a 74 Friday, made eight birdies and four in a row on the back nine to finish the day with a bogey-free 8-under 62, moving to 6-under heading into Sunday’s final round.

“Honestly, yesterday I thought I hit some nice shots that we just kind of misjudged the wind gusts at times. I felt like I was hitting it pretty good and just didn’t get rewarded, it tested my patience there,” Pendrith said. “Today I hit a lot of really nice shots and rolled a lot of putts in. Feel like me and (caddie Mitch Theoret) kind of gauged the wind a little bit better. It obviously wasn’t blowing as much as yesterday, but still a little tricky at times. We did a good job of reading the wind.”

Welcome to the pros, Luke Clanton

The 21-year-old Luke Clanton, one of four sponsor’s exemptions at this year’s event, came out Saturday with four birdies on his first five holes. The Travelers is only the 14th event Clanton has played in and his second since he turned pro after competing in the NCAA golf championship for Florida State.

Clanton missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open earlier this month, his first professional event, after shooting 1-under 139 through 36 holes. He opened The Travelers with a 67 and stayed in contention with a 72 on the windy Friday before finishing with a 68 on Saturday.

“For me it’s just learning more and more every single week,” Clanton said earlier this week on the Rob Dibble Show. “Obviously I want to come out and win and come out and win multiple times, but I know it’s gonna take a learning experience just to kinda get to that moment. Having played now, this is my 14th event, I understand a little bit more the experiences of coming down that final stretch and coming down with a couple shots to the lead, or trying to make a cut to get in contention for the weekend.”

Notes

Scottie Scheffler’s 29th birthday didn’t exactly start with a celebration. He made a triple-bogey 7 on the first hole and quickly descended from the top of the leaderboard. It had been 300 days since his last triple bogey, which came in the final round at the 2024 BMW Championship. … Tommy Fleetwood capitalized on his co-leaders’ early struggles, making birdie on No. 3 to claim the sole lead and another with a 66-foot putt on No. 5 to get to 11-under for the tournament. … Rory McIlroy and Keegan Bradley each climbed back into contention after falling from third on the leaderboard to start Friday. Both made four birdies on the front nine.

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