CROMWELL, Conn. — Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim gorged themselves on pizza to get their shared birthday celebration out of the best way earlier than turning their focus to golf this week.
Once they tee it up on the large day, they are going to be preventing for the lead on the Vacationers Championship.
Kim shot an 8-under-par 62 on Thursday within the first spherical on the TPC River Highlands, good for a 2-stroke lead within the closing restricted discipline, no-cut signature occasion on this 12 months’s PGA Tour schedule. Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 participant, was tied for sixth, 3 pictures again.
Kim will flip 22 on Friday, and Scheffler is precisely six years older. The Dallas-area residents marked the event upfront by heading about 30 miles south to Sally’s — a New Haven establishment.
“I had lots of pizza,” Kim mentioned. “I would not do this in a event, nevertheless it’s my birthday and it is type of a convention. Me, Scottie, we’ve the identical birthday, so we had an early birthday celebration.”
Kim birdied the final two holes to separate himself from the 4 gamers tied at minus-6 on the 6,835-yard, par-70 course: Rickie Fowler, Akshay Bhatia, Kurt Kitayama and Will Zalatoris.
Scheffler was amongst seven gamers at 5 underneath, wanting once more like the perfect participant on the earth per week after ending tied for forty first at Pinehurst No. 2, his worst efficiency of the 12 months. Wyndham Clark, who tied for 56th in his U.S. Open protection, was one other shot again at 4 underneath.
Scheffler has 5 wins already this 12 months and has missed the highest 10 solely twice, together with final week, when he posted his worst end in 9 majors since he missed the reduce on the 2022 PGA Championship.
“Positively really feel like I am swinging quite a bit higher than I did final week,” he mentioned. “It is good to get right here on some acquainted surfaces and hit some good putts and see some balls go in.”
Kim was even par and tied for ninth via 54 holes at Pinehurst earlier than closing with a 76 to complete tied for twenty sixth. On Thursday, with temperatures within the mid-90s and little wind, he had 5 birdies on the again 9 of a bogey-free spherical.
“Clearly a troublesome day on Sunday, nevertheless it wasn’t like I used to be taking part in horrible,” he mentioned. “It wasn’t a nasty week, however a nasty spherical value me the week. … That provides me confidence to exit and that really I’m taking part in effectively and simply making an attempt to maintain using this momentum.”
Kim’s stoop lasted for a single spherical. Scheffler’s could possibly be over after one week. Fowler is hoping to snap out of a season-long skid.
The six-time winner on the PGA Tour has only one top-25 end this 12 months and none within the prime 10. However he can console himself with the information that issues aren’t as unhealthy as they have been throughout a four-year winless drought that ended final 12 months in Detroit.
“I strive not to return to these instances an excessive amount of,” Fowler mentioned. “Positively not wherever as unhealthy because it was a couple of years again, however some similarities there. Having been via that and handled that and in the end coming again to taking part in effectively, I can take care of absolutely anything.”
Fowler saved par after hitting his drive into the tough on the primary gap, and he thinks that may have been the kick begin he wanted. He adopted that with back-to-back birdies in a bogey-free spherical.
“Generally, I’d nearly quite [do] that than birdie the primary gap, as a result of then it is type of downhill from there,” he mentioned. “So, yeah, obtained off to a pleasant begin. Began to see some balls go in, and making putts type of frees up the remainder of the sport to the place you do not really feel like you must be good.”
Zalatoris birdied 5 of the primary six holes on the again 9 — and eight in 10 holes making the flip — to make a short look at 7 underneath. He bogeyed the 157-yard, par-3 sixteenth, flying the inexperienced on his tee shot after which two-putting from 55 ft.
With an 8-footer for birdie and sole possession of the lead on No. 18, Zalatoris pushed it large proper.
