Bubba Watson posted a bogey-free 3-under-par 67 and maintained a two-stroke lead over Brian Harman, Brian Stuard and Carl Petterson of Sweden midway through the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn.
Watson, the two-time Masters champion who opened with a 62, started on the back nine and stayed out of trouble all day, posting birdies on the 14th, third and seventh holes.
“When I hit a bad shot or a shot that went just off the fairway, I played smart,” said Watson, who captured the 2010 Travelers for the first of his seven victories on the PGA Tour. “The wind was different than yesterday, so it made the golf course a lot longer. Made it tougher getting the ball close.
“So I just stayed patient and just kept playing steady. … It’s just a different golf course today than yesterday with the stronger winds. I left a couple birdies out there, but at the same time, didn’t make any bogeys, so I guess it equals out.”
Harman, like Bubba a left-hander, made his only bogey on the fourth hole and then collected six birdies the rest of the way to shoot 65, while Petterson birdied four of the last six holes while finishing a 66 on the front nine and Stuard birdied five of the first seven holes on the back nine en route to a 67.
Jason Gore of Valencia and Pepperdine birdied five of seven holes through No. 17 on his way to a 68 and was three shots back in a tie for fifth with Scott Brown and Chris Stroud, who both had 67s.
Nick Watney of Davis and Fresno State recorded a bogey-free 64 and was four strokes behind in a tie for eighth with Keegan Bradley (69), Nicholas Thompson (67), Scott Langley (68), Seung-Yul Noh (68) of South Korea, Danny Lee (67) of New Zealand, Graham DeLaet (66) of Canada and Francesco Molinari (66) of Italy.
Defending champion Kevin Streelman finished at 69-70–139 and missed the cut by one stroke.
