It’s a Tom Kim (Birthday) Party! – 2024 Travelers Championship Round 2 | The First Cut Podcast

Patrick McDonald and Greg DuCharme recap the second round of the Travelers Championship.

0:00 Intro + a weather affected Friday
3:21 The birthday boy is moving! Tom Kim will take a lead into the weekend
6:06 Sungjae Im’s Friday 64 + Collin Morikawa’s front nine 29 and 2nd round 63
11:08 Xander Schauffele might’ve found the ball striking on Friday
15:30 Akshay Bhatia is doing the thing this week in Cromwell
19:00 Afternoon rounds stuck in limbo – Scheffler, Lowry, Thomas
29:09 Betting Favorites

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ABOUT THE SHOW: The First Cut brings you everything you need to know in the world of professional golf. Nearly every day Rick Gehman, Kyle Porter, Mark Immelman, Greg DuCharme, Sia Nejad and Patrick McDonald bring you the best analysis in the game. From DFS to betting previews, interviews and recaps… everything golf is on the table when you listen to The First Cut.

freaking first cut golly ladies and gentlemen boys and girls welcome to the first cut podcast this is your round two technically uh review and I’ve got the man of the hour Greg duch Greg how’s your Friday going oh so far so good Patrick uh happy to be here with you breakdown let’s just be safe we’ll call it day two recap of of The Travelers Championship one of my favorite tournaments of the year I was telling uh anybody who was watching last night that I was out there earlier in the week it’s a awesome golf course it’s beautiful um and you know it’s unbelievable that these guys tear it up the way they do because it’s it’s not as easy as they make it look little boots on the ground action what what were you uh doing little Michael breed show yes we have a show on Sunday course record it’s at uh at two o’clock on CBS and so we were filming some of that so we got some great interviews uh we got Adam shank and Harris English this week which is exciting we talk to Jake knp a little bit who’s unbelievable Taylor pendrith we had a we had a pretty good crew that we were uh talking with and Michael played in the proam and I and I was under the straps oh okay so I any AR out there yeah yeah we were under par shot now Michael is the Pro in the proam okay he’s not there’s no PGA Tour players which I thought we were GNA get two Pros to play with and We Came in Like 10th uh we were 10 under so not bad now you can’t make any worse than a net par which is a great rule um but but it was pretty good there weren’t many it wouldn’t really have helped us in any situation anyway except so none of the guys played in the pram this week no they did they all played like normal but there’s a like a celebrity Division if you will oh okay gotcha yeah so it was great but the point is the rough is really long it grows from green to tea you get some terrible lies uh and and it puts a real premium on putting the ball in the Fairway you know who has put the ball in the Fairway Greg through two rounds that is young Tom Morris the birthday boy the global Superstar backs up that bogey free eight under 62 with another bogey free effort on Friday five under 65 was rolling there early turns in four under grabs another one on the 10th kind of stalls doesn’t take advantage of a couple holes there on the back nine but Tom Kim in command two stroke lead heading into the weekend eyes on Victory number four here at TPC River Highlands and you know in a strange way Patrick uh for young Tom Kim it’s like a disappointing 65 right because he he’s 5 under through 10 and doesn’t get 13 doesn’t get uh 15 the driveable Par Four uh which is a little disappointing but you know the other thing is they’re all potential birdie holes especially when you put the ball in the Fairway and Tom Kim did he hit 13 Fairways in this round and it just gives you so many opportunities with short irons and wedges to attack these whole locations um and I I thought Tom Kim did a pretty good job of that left himself a lot of mid-range putts uh and was able to capitalize on them on the front nine then it did just stall out a little on the back but the he said this after his round as well um you know I wasn’t really trying to make birdies I was just trying to play my game plan and see how it all came came out and I think 65 is one that you’d be pretty happy with at the end of the day considering that um and and it’s the this highlights the benefit of shooting 62 in the first round it’s so much easier to just stick to your game plan uh when you’ve already gotten that many putts to go and you’re already eight under when you stand on the first te yeah he was awesome today some of those iron shots he hit um into the par three fifth that he didn’t take advantage of even the one into the next hole the par five he had an eagle chance from like 11 feet that he just missed out on really good putt um so it felt like even that front nine could have been lower than four under and then started to make a couple putts but couldn’t really get it going Greg this is his eighth week in a row 22 single no responsibilities living his life he’s got Paul Tori he’s lugging him along eight week in a row yeah Paul Tori um really got what he wished for I want to work a lot I don’t know this much yeah can we find something can we maybe do six out of eight eight in a row I mean he leaves Webb kind gonna take it easy and Paul wants to work a full schedule boy he got a full with this guy he did Tom Kim is slowly taking the title of Iron Man on the PGA tour forly belonging to Sun j m m is back in the mix yet again kind of coming off a neck injury early season finding his form slowly but surely really nice round today nines of 32 32 64 seven birdies intertwined there with one dropped shot the iron play Greg the iron play is huming for sunjay so far and and he’s looking for his first win in over two years right he was the Vegas winner before Tom Kim rattled off two in a row yes that’s his last one and you know the play hasn’t really been great for sunjay he’s he’s starting to show signs you know I thought heading into the US Open that he was showing us uh signs that things were turning in the right direction but really since that win it’s been a little up and down um you know not overly impressive but this was a a beautiful round today 6764 not good enough for the lead um but but I think a really impressive round he didn’t hit the number of greens that Tom Kim did you know he missed three of them Tom Kim’s only missed three for the entire week but when he missed greens he did a really nice job of scrambling he gave himself a lot of those mid-range putts that he was also able to capitalize on sun sunjay had a a very similar round to his opening round but he filled it up on the greens where round one he was wasn’t really able to capitalize and we should apologize Sun JM has won twice in Korea at the wuri Financial Group Championship the week before the PGA Championship backto back year so he does have that going for him and we talk about hitting Fairways yeah yeah which is nice we we talk about hitting Fairways in the need for it a man who hit all 14 today Greg probably to no one’s surprise given how he’s driving the golf ball this year Colin morawa 7 under 63 you want to talk about a potentially disappointing back nine finish to his round he turns in 29 six under he’s filling it up from everywhere and then only TS on one more birdie there on the back nine for that 63 two off the pace at the halfway point at 11 under Greg he has been red hot since the Masters playing some great golf are we finally going to see him back in the winter Circle you think well I’ll tell you this Patrick um it there has been an element of it that looked a little bit like he’s just kind of figuring it out but he’s not he doesn’t have it yet and this round he had it uh I mean you just watch his ball flight and everything’s a fade but it was it’s not it wasn’t curving nearly as much as it was since the match Masters you know there’s a period of time there where everything was fading but it was fading a lot and and now it seems like it’s a little tighter the contact is a little more solid but he still knows it’s going to move left to right so he’s able to aim at left flags and cut it in there um I mean there was one Patrick I can’t remember the whole um but he he took on a left flag aimed left of it cut it in there and it landed left of the flag and it probably moved you know 10 feet in the air it’s just a sign of a guy who’s really feeling it really seeing his shot shape um and and getting a lot of opportunities to work it because he’s in every Fairway yeah he he looks really good and I think even with that iron play looking awesome he missed only two greens today there’s still room for improvement like he he made it a ton of putts obviously but it felt like some of those approach shots known where colar has been and has shown flashes of during this run it feels like if he pieces it all together this weekend it could be a fun show to watch yeah I I could see after watching today I got to see a lot of what he did in this round um after watching that I could see that proximity number just start getting closer and closer and closer I think he’s just hitting better shots now so yeah I was very pleased with morawa um lot of 15ot opportunities and capitalized on him on the front nine it continued on the back nine he just didn’t capitalize on him which I’m sure you leave feeling a little disappointed but look Tom Kim set a really tough Pace to keep up with and Colin has kept up with it yeah he looks great someone who uh has kind of been somewhat scratchy since that PGA Championship Greg has been Xander Schley didn’t really look great T green at Jack’s Place didn’t look great the first two rounds at the US Open scored unbelievably well found a little bit there on the weekend yesterday Tia green not his best effort a lot of putting but it seemed like he kind of took a step in that right direction today hit a lot better iron shots throughout the course of his round he backs up his five under 65 on Thursday with another on Friday he sits at 10 under despite a couple back nine bogey Xander the xan man going for a second Travelers championship title in the last three years and uh looking to put a stamp on a a really memorable season so far yeah it has been really memorable and he’s gotten himself right in the mix and I’m not sure there’s another player I mean I I think this is interesting I’m curious to get your thoughts I I look at this leaderboard and I I think that he is by far at least in of anybody inside the top 10 by far the most reliable putter in this field and you talk about how he’s been a little scrappy since the PGA and he’s been keeping it together with the putter the thing about about Xander is it it the putter doesn’t really leave him like it it it is reliable and I think that’s going to be a really big asset heading into this weekend when you have to just go fill it up with birdies um I you know I I trust Xander shley flat stick more than anybody’s more than anybody else is around the lead here I I totally agree I think the one person who could potentially keep Pace with him is Tom Kim but you look at these names inside the top 10 right now and it’s Shane Lowry that’s not he’s 29th in putting right now Justin Thomas I’m not trusting that sun JM hot hot or cold Scotty sheffler it comes and goes obviously oxe Kore Kawa the name like you said when it comes to putting is Xander shafley he’s he’s probably I know Scotty shuffler is definitely the best player in the world but I think the case could be made that Xander shafley is the most well-rounded yeah I I think you could make that case as well I I don’t think that Xander is as good a driver of the ball as Scotty but it’s close I don’t think he’s as good of an iron player as Scotty but it’s close he’s probably not quite as good with the short game but it’s really close uh and he’s a better putter pretty clearly yeah for a long period of time so yeah I I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that statement and with the major championship trophy you know sometimes these things sometimes you get in this position where you just start like Kyle says you fall into winds you just put keep putting yourself in the mix I think if Xander gets himself in the mix on the back nine on Sunday he’s going to have a little more belief that he can get it done and he’s a Gary got to play against if he has that belief yep and I mean he he did kind of fall into the win last time here with uh sah on the last hole doing great doing the whole dance uh in in the bunker okay um I believe Josh wants me to take a break now which is a buzz kill because we we’re rolling but we will be right back after a quick word [Music] Ladi [Music] [Applause] [Music] gentl all I know [Music] and we are back Commander buzzkill is feeling good right now but we have one last player from that morning wave to get to uh Greg he was the best player off the te on Friday he’s driving the ball like an absolute stallion another Young Gun in the mix potentially a fun little duel could happen between Tom Kim and OE batia the Texas open winner is at it again 5 under 65 to follow up that opening 64 he sits at 11 under alongside K morawa and we talk about Tom Kim and col morawa peppering Fairways OA batia is doing that as well but he’s doing it with a bit more pop off the te and the iron play looks good had it going on that front nine as well with only a couple or three pars intertwined there turnning four under bogy on the last felt like he could have potentially tied Tom Kim but instead he drops a shot heading into the weekend two back looking for a second win of the season third of his career yeah 65 that very easily could have been uh 63 I know that’s much easier said than done but he did hit it in the water at number 13 um which he he felt like he was just trying to get a little get it a little too close to the pin get a little too much out of the club there and then with a short shot into 18 he he dumps it in the bunker and makes another bogey there so those two situations are probably a little disappointing but all in all he’s he’s doing exactly what you said Patrick he’s putting the ball in the Fairway giving himself plenty of looks and he’s pouring them in the long putter has been a GameChanger for OA batia I mean he last year he was a very good ball Striker and a terrible Putter and it was always a concern that he could lose you six shots on the green and and going to this broomstick at the ripe old age of 22 years old has created a consistent putter which I think is very interesting you know like Adam Scott went to the long Putter and became a consistent putter but he was kind of past his Elite ball striking Prime and AE might not even well he’s not even in his ball striking Prime yet and and already potentially has a you know a consistent putter in play it could make him a real Factor not just this week but um going forward for a long for the next 30 years on the PGA tour oh gosh 30 years bunch of 22 year olds duking it out yeah I I think it takes a lot of uh guts to be 21 22 and making that switch a lot of guys you don’t want to at that age right you want to be able to think that you’re good enough and skilled enough to use a conventional putter maybe it just is a change in the grip or a change in the putter Style you know from like Scotty shuffler from a blade to a ma Mallet but uh to do it I think it takes a lot of guts and it’s cool that it’s it’s paying off for oxa yeah I mean why wouldn’t you do it if it’s G to work if it’s gonna help you like let’s address the issue now instead of you know toiling around and and wasting potentially really good strong performances just because of what you’re holding in your hands it’s made a big difference I mean h Josh has the exact stat here in the chat 183rd last year and strokes game putting up to 42nd this year and that’ll be a key recipe heading into the remaining three uh remaining two rounds of The Travelers yeah and I mean look these young guys Tom Kim’s not the only one playing a ton of golf this is seven in a row for oxe these 22 year olds are just like it’s summer time are you g to do yeah it’s summertime 22 I just want to golf with the boys well what would you rather play golf at home and not get paid or play golf out on tour and have a chance to win $4 million yeah it’s awesome three and a half million dollar it is awesome absurd I love that they’re doing this they’re just gonna play all summer yeah just keep on going just keep running maybe it’ll take a couple days off to travel to Scotland but we’ll play the Scottish open and the open yeah all right we got to get to the afternoon Wave headlined by world number one Scotty Sheffer the chef looking for win number six on the season uh had a little bit of some trouble yesterday on the par 56 but outside that played a pretty solid round had the putter rolling in the right direction looking good he gets to 10 under as well he has a few holes left two holes left per per the the stats in front of me but somewhat of a slow start on Friday even par through his first five holes exchanging an early birdie for an early bogey but then he kind of gets it going couple birdies there to close out his front half and then right before the rain delay Greg Birdie on 13 Birdie on 14 Birdie on 15 creeps inside the top five only a few back of Tom Kim still has a couple to play obvious viously but Scotty Sheffer shocker breaking news alert is in position to win a golf tournament yet again it’s a it’s a wonderful example of his style of play because he he doesn’t make mistakes so he’s not tight with his iron play right it’s it hasn’t been Elite Scotty sheffler so far this week but he puts the ball on the green and he gives himself some long birdie putts and then he hits a good shot and it’s a short birdie Putt and every time he puts a circle on the card he just moves himself closer and closer and closer takes advantage of number six today he didn’t yesterday gets um 13 the other par five that’s great 200 on the par fives for the day H gets 14 which is a little wedge if you hit the Fairway which he’s been hitting every Fairway it seems it’s just a little flip wedge in there and then 15 you know you’re right up by the green and one and and he capitalizes on another birdie so he’s five under through 16 holes 10 under for the tournament and it feels like he hasn’t done anything it does not feel like he’s played particularly well um he’s just continues to give himself makeable birdie putt after makeable birdie Putt and and enough of them are going in right now and he’s also Birthday Twins with Tom Kim Scotty sheffler turning not 48 but 28 today playing well on his birthday him and Tom Kim if Scotty can finish his Round In Time gonna eat some pizza together gonna celebrate their good times together yeah um I don’t think that’s gonna happen tonight I don’t either I they should just call them in man I don’t understand it there’s like eight guys left on the golf course call them in Scotty and Tom go get a little pizza you know take Scotty can take the young lad under his wing show him how to order good pizza how to you know how to hang out after a round of golf how to rest what’s uh what’s your pizza spot up there Sally is that right no I’m not that I’m not in New Haven so Sally’s uh I I prefer Frank peepy if I’m up there but I am very close right around the corner to another very well-known uh Connecticut Pizzeria called Colony Grill oh I’ve heard of that yeah oh have you really yeah very good it’s um different style right it’s a kind of a bar pizza it is a bar pizza if you go out with four people you’re GNA get four pizzas you can eat a whole pizza um but it’s phenomenal very close by to my house very cool you know who else could probably eat a whole pizza Greg Shane Lowry and that’s who we’re gonna be talking about next the Irishman still on the golf course four holes to play he is one two three four five six eight under so the magic number potentially in play here had the putter going four front nine birdies carries it over into the back nine one on 10 one on 11 eagle from 25 feet on 13 as well he has 15 feet for Birdie on the short par for 15th Shane Lowry nine under one behind Sheffer four behind Tom Kim looking to make a push finish this round and eat maybe one or or two pizzas this evening oh it’s a it’s a different experience when you’re driving the ship Patrick I’ll tell you that Josh goes what an insane transition that’s that’s insane oh but it’s hysterical look um Shane Lowry has been hitting the ball really well this year and it continued today he seems to have a affinity for H Holding Out for Eagle on the first hole and he he came within inches of doing that at number one today so he’s clearly feeling it with the irons he’s gained 2.4 Strokes approaching the green already through 14 holes I guess through 15 approach shots uh so he is he’s really grooving and the thing that has held us back Patrick you know what it is it’s the Putter and now all a sudden you’re seeing this dramatic variation like it used to be just earlier this year was just bad bad bad now all of a sudden we’re get he’ll gain nine Strokes in a round and then lose two and a half and then gain four like he’s done today gained three three Strokes approaching the green or um I’m sorry putting third and putting third approaching the green that’s a recipe for uh you know challenging 59 and getting out early in the morning or late tonight after the rain settles I know some of your momentum is cooled off but those conditions it could open some could open some things up to thr go throw another dart at 16 give yourself a wedge into 17 with a little back stop there throw another Dart and 18 will probably be a little longer after the light rain they had light that was horing so 18 will play a little longer won’t be quite as fast but it’ll still be a wedge in I I think having uh you know three birdies in a row to close is a real possibility and I mean it was getting pretty windy out there late before the the storm rolled in you saw the trees going going like Shane Lowry Lowry’s putting up and down side to side it’s kind of like GameStop roaring Kitty’s like all right we’re gonna buy today Shane Lowry gains five Strokes on the Green something that yep it’s unreal I don’t trust it for tomorrow but uh he might be able to put together a pretty special scorecard here all right and the man he is sitting alongside on the leaderboard and in his pair Justin Thomas fresh off his miscut at the US Open bit of a slow start to this tournament but got it going late on Thursday carried the Momo into Friday bows of turkey of birdies four five and six turns and three under adds one on 10 adds one on 12 from off the green the big bird lands on 13 just like Shane Lowry and just like Shane Lowry he sits at nine under on the green on 15 32 feet for birdie didn’t hit the best pitch from short of that green but Justin Thomas for the second straight year at TPC River Highlands seems to have brought his game yes um You’ think this would be a golf course that would suit him well he’s been a little bit difficult to figure out with the really high scores that he’s shot in major championships and and every time you watch that it leads you to think that he’s lost again um you know go putting a blade putter in play all of a sudden making these little changes it’s almost like he’s putting a little too much pressure on himself in Majors because he comes out in an event like this and and he looks like he knows what he’s doing you know he he’s got control of the golf ball uh his iron play has been very strong the one difference between JT and everybody else on this leaderboard is the driver has been a little erratic uh and this is in incredible what he’s done today because he’s you know seven under on his round and at the same time he’s only hit four of 11 Fairways that being said Patrick uh only one birdie he made birdie at 12 after missing the Fairway all his other birdies and the Eagle at 13 all came from the Fairway so it’s there’s definitely a premium on Fairways and JT is not hitting very many but taking advantage when he does he is it it’d be cool to see him uh intend get in the mix over the weekend just to uh see him play probably a little bit of a different style than some of the other guys on the leaderboard like a morawa or or a Tom Kim all right shall we get into the betting odds Greg are you ready I’m all right producer Josh Commander buzkill do you have the odds for us dun dun he does and I cannot see them because I was not full screen here we go Scotty sheffler plus 230 Tom Kim four to one colum morawa four to one Xander shley five and a half to one batia 12 JT 20 with holes to play lar Lowry 28 with holes to play sunj 30 and a guy we didn’t even talk about hunky tone big tone Tony fenale 35 to one Greg when you see this odds board who sticks out it’s uh well it’s fascinating because you got four guys that are all you know five and a half to one or shorter which I think is somewhat alarming so OE batia would be the number on the board at 12 that’s very attractive to me uh Justin Thomas at 20 given that he’s still on the golf course potentially has some really soft conditions whether it’s early tomorrow morning or uh or later this evening uh good opportunity to work his way up the board as well I I think it’s kind of hard to get into the morawa Sheffer Tom Kim situation at this point just because of those odds and the number of players at that number so it doesn’t feel like there’s a real easy pathway here um and I I I’m interested in feno as well he’s been cool he’s been cool with the putter but he’s sitting there at 8 under 65 67 he’s been hitting it well enough to put together a really low one yeah he is I uh I think ultimately Tom Kim is gonna win this golf tournament but like you said 4 to one with the cluster at the top there’s going to be a lot of movement you would think probably not a great time to jump in I think uh I think sunj is pretty interesting hitting his irons pretty well at 30 to1 proven winner there in Korea at the warri Financial Group championship of course of course of course and like you said I I think Tony F now is live as well looking at at uh the statistics today oh my gosh Chris got her up what a Madman sorry four and a half on approach losing one putting shot 5 under um yeah and then hogi can’t like Bobby Mack I’m not I’m not interested in them I I think I’d go sunjay or Tony feno yeah I think that’s kind of I go OE over sunj OE is playing great he is yeah the way he’s driving the golf ball is going to be such a weapon especially if it if it’s with Colin or Tom Kim just pushing it past them so what what do you think when you look at this tournament really low scores I mean it’s begging for a comeback right I I just see somebody going out tomorrow and shooting 62 and completely changing this and for Tom Kim another 65 you get to 18 does Tony feno go shoot 62 get within two you know I I think there’s a lot of opportunity for guys to make moves over the weekend okay who who are your 62 candidates tomorrow um okay well Tom hogi and McIntyre shot 62 and 63 today so they’re out they’re off the board uh I think Patrick Klay is a 62 candidate I think in a strange way I think Danny McCarthy is a 62 candidate you’re taking all the guys off name yeah y um I I think OE is a 62 candidate even though he shot 6465 already interesting and Tony feno interesting no one El no one other than those guys will shoot 62 I’ll give you one more Russell Henley Thomas Fleetwood oh okay six under that push him to 14 that would make that would be a big move yeah keep an eye on Fleetwood and then he drifts on Sunday T5 finish boom sign it up lock it up sign yeah lock it in okay you got uh I think that’s it Greg you got anything else you want to get off your chest before uh we wrap up this show no I gotta go get some pizza maybe I’ll run into Tom Kim and Scotty Sheffer they’re too far maybe well I do know someone who you will run into if you do decide to get pizza it’s going to be Shane Lowry not to throw under a bus again oh again sorry he’s he’s an easy target he’s an easy target we’re friends we’re friends we know each other sort of we talked a couple times once all right for producer Josh thank you very much for Greg duch you can find him at the real FG I am Patrick McDonald this was the first cut podcast we will catch you guys tomorrow [Music]