Bubba Watson tied his career-best score with an 8-under-par 62 and grabbed a two-stroke lead over five players after the first round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn.
Watson, who claimed the first of his seven PGA Tour victories in the 2010 Travelers, carded four birdies on the front nine and had five more on the last seven holes, with his only bogey coming at No. 16.
“Coming off the U.S. Open last week, you know you can score here if you hit some good shots and have a lot of wedges,” said Watson, a two-time Masters champion who missed the cut at Chambers Bay. “The weather was nice; there wasn’t a lot of wind.
“Last week doesn’t show if you’ve playing good or bad; there were a lot of good and bad bounces. I came here knowing I’m striking it good. It’s about playing steady, staying consistent. It’s about keeping the driver in play, hitting good wedges and making some putts.”
Keegan Bradley, the 2011 PGA champion, shot 64 and was tied for second with Jason Gore of Valencia and Pepperdine, who played bogey-free and birdied two of the last three holes, Harris English, Brian Stuard and Seung-Yul Noh of South Korea.
Zach Johnson made his only bogey on the first hole and had five birdies on the back nine in a 65 that left him tied for seventh with Scott Langley, Chris Stroud, Robert Garrigus, Tom Gillis, Scott Brown, Will MacKenzie and Carl Pettersson of Sweden..
