Travelers Championship 2017 leaderboard: Jordan Spieth posts lowest first round of career in Hartford

Jordan Spieth didn’t have the kind of blow-up week at the U.S. Open like his colleagues Rory McIlroy and Jason Day. But it was still a mostly frustrating four days at Erin Hills, where Spieth struck the ball pretty well but could not make anything up on its perfect greens.

The Travelers Championship isn’t going to present the same kind of test as the U.S. Open, but it’s not some pitch-and-putt course. You still need to golf your ball around in order to post a good score, and we saw Jason Day penalized for his poor play on Thursday (and Andrew Loupe ejected completely with an 81, which is almost impressive). Spieth, however, started vibing early with five birdies in his first eight holes. We’ve seen a round of 58 at this place before so we know the numbers can get super low, and Spieth got those juices flowing on the front nine.

Spieth did not take it deep like that, but this was a pretty stress-free 7-under 63. Before the Travelers started, he said he could recall only one or two rounds where he felt he putted well this year. That was definitely the frustration at Erin Hills. At TPC River Highlands, he didn’t really need to rely on that club too much, striking seven approach shots inside 15 feet to set up a gaggle of birdie chances.

At the eighth hole, a stout 208-yard par-3, Spieth put to eight feet.

A bogey on the 9th put him out in 31 and stalking the early-morning lead of 6-under. He gave nothing back to the course on the back nine and came to the 18th with an approach shot from 136 yards, a nice little distance for the player who finished second in the field in strokes gained tee-to-green. Again, Spieth dropped a dart on top of the flag.

The 63 was Spieth’s lowest round since early March on the PGA Tour, and when he starts hot, he generally follows it up with three more good ones. And if the putter, which is always reputed as the best club in his bag, gets going, then watch out. He may run away in his debut at the Travelers.

After a strong U.S. Open close, this was a less stressful chance to get a win to start the summer. The Spieth team seems to be loving the setup in his first visit to Hartford. “I saw Michael [Greller, his caddie] on Tuesday before we played any holes and he said, ‘This course is tailor-made for you,’” Spieth said after the round.

Spieth is obviously the headliner and he’ll be back out early on Friday with a chance to add to his lead before much of the field has lunch. But some of the other headliners this week are also in the red and could post a similar 63 on Friday. McIlroy is 3-under after a 67 that included almost nothing from his putter. He missed three putts inside seven feet, which will never get it done at this level. Rory said the round could have been historic if he had anything going with the flatstick, but he’s still in much better shape to contend compared to last week’s mess.

Here’s your leaderboard with the final groups finishing up at TPC River Highlands: