Tom Kim Leads a Thursday Birdie Fest – 2024 Travelers Championship Round 1 | The First Cut Podcast

Kyle Porter and Greg DuCharme recap the opening round of the 2024 Travelers Championship.

0:00 Intro
1:57 Morning Wave: Akshay Bhatia, Rickie Fowler(!) and the Canadians
14:37 Afternoon Wave: Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Willy Z, Tom Kim & more
28:15 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.

[Music] freaking first cut golly welcome to the first cut podcast I’m Greg du with you this evening and this is your round one recap of The Travelers Championship joining me to break it all down is Kyle Porter Kyle good evening Greg I can’t believe they gave us the the keys to the to the vehicle uh ill advised I don’t know that we’ve yet gotten our driver’s licenses and uh Rick is just gallivanting about in Colorado and he’s probably goingon to rud the day that he he handed over his to us underage drivers yeah who knows what’s going to happen uh what that vehicle is going to look like when he gets back from Colorado but uh you know we’ll we’ll try to clean up after ourselves let’s just leave it at that but we got plenty of pizza money and plenty to get into totally this this round of golf today this uh first round of The Travelers has been U really a birdie barrage as you expect to see at The Travelers um you it’s not a very long golf course but I will say I was out there this week at at the uh at the proam and walk the whole golf course it’s not easy and these guys make it look easy they’re they’re the best players in the world it’s so exciting to see um it really after you get a chance to get out on this property it’s it’s just amazing but let’s get into some of the names here from the morning wave we saw the scores getting low early on and it started with OA baa Kyle he he got off to a great start made Birdie on three of his first six holes made the turn in 32 and then added an eagle at number 13 the par five and and another one right after that with another birdie at 14 and it ends up being a bogy free 64 for AA batia yeah it was really impressive you know I was kind of looking at some of his numbers after he posted the 64 and I don’t think I realize how good he’s been so far this year Greg um his progression as a pro has been uh pretty steady uh but he’s only 22 years old and he jumped from like being a three Strokes game per round guy to this year he’s like 1.1 like that’s that’s really good for it’s kind of I think with guys like him and sunjay you forget like oh yeah they’re so young just because they’ve been out there for so long right and I think I think his I think his not only his career progression but like his in season progression to where he he wins in Texas he’s been playing pretty good at the at the majors finished top 25 at the US Open last week uh yeah you see some of his his numbers right here he was t16 at the US Open made the cut at the Masters just some really solid golf so I think I think sort of the next step for him I don’t know if it’s contending for a major but maybe it’s contending to win one of these Signature Events as he kind of continues to progress in his early part of his career he he really seems to have that kind of Big Boy golf course style of play uh his his ball striking is phenomenal you know he he was third off the T in this round hit 11 of 14 Fairways his short game is good the real big Improvement has been with his putter this year all of a sudden that broomstick is paid off he was six in Strokes game put in uh today gaining 2.8 Strokes so it’s been fun to watch him and we’re gonna have a lot he’s only like you said 22 we’re gonna have time to follow a batia he’s he’s only got probably what 30 years left at his TGA tour career make like a billion dollars yeah I mean well we we’ll get into a little official money care official money in his career um but what you look at when we talk about Scotty sheffler in a little bit Scotty sheffler this year is basically he’s getting close to top 50 in alltime PGA tour earnings and so OE with all this time it’s a great time to get out on the PGA oh so good another player who’s had a relatively long career on the PGA tour and and has had some very very good seasons and some struggles as well is Ricky Fowler Ricky Fowler there it is Josh that coming Ricky Fowler 64 today bogey free his third bogey free round of the year goes out in 32 makes birdie at two and three adds another one at seven takes advantage of the par five 13th make it a birdie there and then H get 16 and 17 with water lurking so pretty good stuff out of Ricky Fowler and and his opening round yeah it’s you know I was thinking so him and OA were kind of co-leading until Tom Kim uh played really well late in the day and I was thinking about both of them and and they’ve had very opposite Seasons right a has been I think really solid throughout and one and Ricky doesn’t have any top 10 and hasn’t really been close to winning since he won about this time last year at the rocket mortgage so it’s good to see him play well I I’m curious about just sort of what you think Greg about the top of this board because there was a lot of guy and you always see this in or almost always in round one anybody that’s in the top 10 in round one they probably are putting pretty well for the event right because it’s very difficult to be at the top of the board after 18 Holes without putting well but this one kind of like this this top 10 sort of particularly stood out to me as just a bunch of guys that got hot with the putter including Ricky is there anybody that stands out to you as like uh I don’t I don’t know if that’s if that can hold up over the next three days oh well um you know it’s a good it’s a really good point OE hit the ball so well and added a lot on the greens as well that I I do think that has a chance to hold up um will zorus hit it a whole lot better and put so good you know Kurt kyama would probably be the guy who will talk a little bit he did a lot of his work scrambling yeah and one of the things about this place Kyle is it it allows everybody to compete because it’s not very long right but the rough is really thick and and it’s it’s not only thick but it the grass is like mowed back towards the tea so you get some a aul lies and these guys are really good but if you look through these rounds up near the top when they missed Fairways almost everybody they’re missing in the intermediate cut they’re missing in Fairway bunkers they’re very seldom in the primary cut a rough and so you have to avoid that and and I think that brings a lot of players right back into the mix but someone like Ricky Fowler was able to avoid a lot of that heavy rough in in the open opening round and that gives you the chance to hit it to 15 feet and see if you can make it hit it 15t see if you can make it yeah and I think this is like he is sort of Ricky is part of the composition of the top of this board that I think is a really interesting comp composition I was just writing about this for CBS sports.com but you’ve got some young guys in Tom Cam and OE you’ve got some veterans and Ricky and and uh Kurt kyama you’ve got zot foris who’s been up and down you’ve got Sheffer up there fenal Xander there’s just a lot of like to me like sort of really interesting story lines if any of those guys won I think it would be incredibly intriguing to sort of like leading into to the the middle of the summer uh and and Fowler is near the top of that list for me it would be fascinating if he won this week after playing such bad golf for most of the year yeah and then it heads to Rocket mortgage next week to to defend a title right and a that will probably you know a lot of these guys are taking that week off given the schedule that we’ve had uh leading into this Travelers so I I agree with you the story lines are uh very interesting and it includes some Canadians who played some really good golf as well like Taylor pendrith who seems to be healthy um seems to be in much better form ever since that shoulder injury kind of came back to life for him and and he goes out and shoots a bogy free 65 in the opening round McKenzie Hughes as well goes out and shoots 65 and it put together another great round he made two Bogies but also an eagle at six so we got we got some Canadian players putting together some some pretty good golf as well Greg do you know how many Canadians are currently in the top 12 for the President’s Cup team so I believe is it three it is can you name them um I believe it’s Connor yep um I believe it’s McKenzie Hughes no no oh wow did pendrith get in there with his win no very interesting okay so um my boy Adam hadwin yeah yeah he’s in there and Nick Taylor yeah that’s right so I guess sort of the direction that I’m going with that is that is that pendrith and McKenzie Hughes are kind of on the outside looking in on a on a President’s Cup team that’s gonna go to Canada yeah producer Josh has it right there uh Nick pendrith is 13th actually so I I don’t I don’t remember how many captains picks there are for Mike weer oh six okay yeah but you I mean you have to think if Canadians in the top 12 he’s getting taken right yes especially if he showing any signs of form yeah so I think that’s actually a really interesting kind of substory I people don’t get super fired up about the the President’s Cup and I understand why but it’s a meaningful thing to play in Canada as a Canadian uh at at the President’s Cup in Montreal so I I think that you know those guys pendra is hitting it good really good he actually he had some stretches at the US Open where he hit it very well also he had great US Open yeah and so I I think both those guys are pretty live to uh to win maybe especially pendrith I would say he finished t16 at the US Open he finished God he’s said three three top 35s in a row Miss at the PGA T10 at Wells Fargo and he and he won the Byron Nelson so excuse me the CJ cup Byron Nelson um so yeah really good golf from from those guys and they’ve got a just kind of a little bit extra to to to play for this weekend yeah and and for them and for everyone north of the border right that it’s it’s really important that they start to play well earn their way on this team you don’t want to put Mike we in a position where oh he’s just taking Canadians you know you want him to be well you have to take these Canadians Y and I think you know Corey Connor and a Taylor pendrith they they need a little Redemption after their performance at Quail Hollow which was uh quite weak and they were very popular heading in um also at six under KP Kurt kittama who had a interesting round of golf today but he gets in with one bogey H shoots 64 six under some really good stuff a little bit up and down with his ball striking but all in all a very good round today yeah it was he’s uh he’s so interesting because he pops up and wins Bay Hill was that last year or two years ago last year and you’re kind of thinking oh it’s kind of a one-off deal or whatever but he’s kind of hung around like it’s I think he’s been kind of impressive just in the way he’s hung in hung in hung in and played some good golf um I don’t I don’t know this is a tough ask right you’ve got Sheffer up there Xander final zorus who we haven’t even talked about not to mention Tom kimway out in front is Kurt Kama gonna win this golf tournament I don’t know but yeah I mean to scramble around to a 64 with a bogey in the first round is pretty impressive yeah he got you know he missed a lot of Fairways he had to get up and down he chipped in holed out from the bunker um early in his round and then it late in his round when he kind of filled it up with you know making those three birdies in a row 14 15 16 on that back nine he hit some really good iron shots so last last in uh driving accuracy yeah four of 14 Fairways not good that is it’s not a good recipe this week I mean normally at a PGA Tour event can get away with it right I don’t see players getting away with that this week so I’m a little I’m a little concerned with him he’s got to get the ball in play if he does yeah he’s got game but he tends to be a little inaccurate off the te yeah all right um KP we got some more Heavy Hitters to get into including world number one Scotty sheffler uh we got some other guys who seem to be making a little bit of a turnaround at least they did in in their opening round they were playing in the afternoon wave and we’ll get to that but first we’re going to take a quick break and hear a word from our [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] partners crazy cuz all I know is this time change [Music] and we’re back well if you had any worries after Pinehurst and the US Open for world number one Scotty sheffler many of them were erased in the opening route Scotty sheffler went out shoots five under 65 one bogey On a par five number six uh and he gets himself surprise surprise right back in the mix of another signature event yeah shocker uh I I do think there’s a little bit if if you delve into the numbers a little bit his approach play was not I mean Scotty’s the best uh iron player in the world right and it wasn’t great on Thursday now I’d have to I’d have to jump in here US Open he was okay it was still really good at the US Open he really sixth in the field yeah it was it was more putting and and there was some driving in there at the US Open so I don’t that’s probably not a cause for concern one round in uh and listen like number one play in the world you’re you’re nitpicking everything I mean it’s every shot every put everything is looked at that’s sort of the that sort of goes with the territory so I look I think I I said this on HQ I think Scotty gets back to sort of being able to manage a a more I would call it a standard PGA tour course you know it’s it’s it’s different than a colonial but in terms of the way that everything plays out those are more similar than they are to a Pinehurst like Pinehurst was the one-off out of a out of a group of of PGA Tour courses and I think that you’re gonna see Scotty manage his way around and and ball strike his way around to another top five finish whether he wins is going to depend on whether he putts but it’s pretty hard to see him finishing outside the top five this week and I think he put a lot of pressure on his putter today um at least to make birdie because you look at those approach numbers which are down a little bit he’s middle of the pack 36th approaching the green but he hit 17 greens yeah it’s like you know how how much of his approach play was poor or is it just simply the strategy like he’s he’s in position in the Fairway and he’s not hitting wedges to eight feet and it’s losing Strokes to the field so it’s a curious thing to watch yeah and I would argue like I I don’t disagree with you but this is also a place you’re going to have to get to like 2200 to win yeah right and so he’s gonna have to either put the lights out or stay like get a little bit more aggressive and hit his spots a little better with those irons yes um or it continues to get really firm and really fast and more difficult for everybody and scoring doesn’t go the way that there is some weather coming in tomorrow so I tend to lean towards yeah you’re going to have to get into the low 20s if in order to win this tournament especially with the leaderboard we have um now uh not that Scotty hasn’t been struggling but he’s struggled at the US Open you have Ricky Fowler who’s been struggling who gets himself back into the mix Windham Clark who had just an amazing beginning portion of the year and was looking like the clear-cut second best player on the PGA tour has really fallen off his game um but he comes out in round one and shoots a really nice 4 underpar 66 I mean there were definitely some posit positive signs from wendam Clark today yeah I don’t I don’t know what to make of Windam Clark’s here right I think uh it it’s been really weird I mean he he wins Pebble but it was three rounds then he almost wins Bay Hill and players and then he’s bad at some of the majors and now he’s good get I I don’t know I I don’t totally know what to make of it but I mean it’s a good sign to get in the mix he was second in the field and driving distance behind only Victor hlin and yeah I mean we’ll see like you said it’s a place where you can get into trouble if you’re if you’re spraying it a little bit and his driver generally he has tendency to spray and he did again I don’t know what his I don’t know how many Fairways he hit it wasn’t a ton five five yeah not great but he made up for it so I don’t know we’ll see it’s uh he he’s he’s somebody that I I I have a hard time figuring out because he’s pretty inconsistent but he’s inconsistent in the right ways because he’ll either miss a cut badly or go in the tournament it’s a great point right if if it’s on his best is as good as anybody’s um but his worst is well it can be it can look really bad pretty bad yeah I mean he could have four wins this year yeah if been work for Scotty sheffler yeah you know I mean even with Scotty sheffler the putt on 18 at the at at uh TBC Saw Grass was ridiculous yeah so we’ll be interested to keep an eye on him he’s he’s one of those guys I that I worry about he’s got the strength to get out of the long rough um and handle that but I don’t think you can get into the low 20s if you’re playing out of the rough all day yeah it’s it’s kind of like kittama it’s exactly like kittama yeah he’s very talented Ed very strong just like will alores who’s had another kind of interesting year for a while we thought he was back missed the cut at Pinehurst said he got out to River Highlands early and has been just grinding on the Range and has been flushing it all week and it continued in round one with um an opening round 64 with two Bogies on the card some really good stuff out of Willie Z yeah it was and it was good to see you know I I I remember at Bay Hill he was playing great and I thought man this guy should be like second or third in terms of Master’s favorites or at the time maybe even first this was before Scotty really started winning and I think since I had that thought he’s been awful he did he did finish top 10 at the Masters he he was good at in spots there but uh pretty bad other than that at least by his standards so this is uh this is a good sign for him to to kind of get back to um playing his level of golf and I I think if you look at at the top of this board it’s kind of him and I would say I would say it’s ZZ Forest Scotty and phal that you you would say like kind of hit it like put it okay but are still up there and those are those are the kinds of guys that I like to watch for going into the the the second and third round right they didn’t lean on their putter at all they didn’t have their I mean he gained half a stroke he made 70 feet of putts right it was nothing special on the greens make the ones you’re supposed to um that gives you a chance because you stayed in it and shot 64 when the putter gets hot you can catapult up the leaderboard yep so I I agree with you it’s a it’s a really good sign um but they’re all chasing you go shoot 64 and you’re trailing by two welcome to TPC River Highlands the man on top is the birthday boy well he turns 22 tomorrow and that’s Tom Kim Tom Kim shoots eight under 62 he’s bogey free eight birdies just fills it up on the on the back nine 32 332 going out and 5 under3 coming in Bird’s at 17 and 18 to close out just a a phenomenal round to 62 yeah I mean it was awesome and you know he he’s been kind of lowkey been playing good for like a year right he uh he had that that T2 at the Open Championship last year T4 the Canadian open uh it hasn’t been anything like you know winning or or like kind of in it on Sundays but it’s been really consistently pretty pretty solid maybe more solid than I thought it was going to be and uh yeah I mean this is this was a good spot for him right because it’s it’s you think about a Tom Cam he’s not crazy long it’s uh RBC Heritage it’s Sony Open it’s a place like this it it seems like those are the places yes where you can kind of lean on your approach play and if you make some putts then you know maybe you maybe you steal a win in there so it’s it’s good to see him play well he’s such a he’s a great character and it’d be fun if he kind of stayed in it all weekend yeah I I thought you’d like him in this because he is a precise player yep right he’s accurate off the te you give him get him in that 125 to 150 and he’s really good really precise with the wedges and and you get a whole bunch of them this week so I think that’s a that’s a really good sign and and to start off with a 62 um is is a great way to keep yourself in this tournament and and it’s the kind of bonus round that keeps you near the top of the leaderboard even with some marginal rounds uh on Friday and Saturday it’s very likely that Tom Kim’s in the mix heading into Sunday today because he did all this work today so great to see um but he’s got more work to do because they’re Heavy Hitters behind him it’s a signature event it’s exactly what you expect but it’s exactly what you got because Tony fow who we’ve made mention of a couple of times goes out and shoots 65 he makes six birdies on the day B Bogie’s number 15 he hit it in the water off the tea which was disappointing but big Tony is looking really strong especially with that iron play yeah Tony was my pick this week I I I was really excited about him coming off the US Open I I thought that you know he was the kind of guy at the US Open that he played great but he didn’t expend a ton of emotional energy which is kind of what you want going into the next event right and his iron play has been really good Greg like really really good he gained three and a half Strokes uh approach on Thursday but it’s not just that it’s it’s kind of throughout the year uh I’d have to look at the numbers I’ve got him right here he yeah this is he’s gaining almost a stroke on approach which is per round right per round which is right there with the best uh best year of his career second best right now and you know he hasn’t his putting has been down a little bit the worst putting year at least right now of his career not significantly it’s it’s a kind it’s it’s a kind of number that you look at and you’re like oh that that will correct like that’s not that does not seem like crazy it’ll probably correct by the end of the year and if it does Greg I really think he could win like a couple times before between now and and TOUR Championship yeah you think about 3M a place he’s won before in the mix this week obviously um he’s played well didn’t he play well at Carusi in in the uh in the open what was that 2018 18 uh he finished T9 yeah yeah he finished he finished uh fifth that was the US Open he finished fifth in the US Open right so and with the great finish at Pinehurst you know this is a this is starting to turn into a Tony Fen now year thought it was going to happen a little earlier it didn’t but it’s coming to fruition now I he made a change with his putter you know he started to get the toe much more in the ground he’s going with the claw grip and we’re starting to see some slow progression with him which is it it it doesn’t make it a we but it’s not a glaring weakness anymore and that’s what we’ve seen over the last two weeks and in in this opening round as well so good stuff from uh Tony feno also if you’re watching late on the coverage uh surprise surprise world number two Xander shawley has also gotten himself into the mix as he shoots five under 65 he’s had some pretty good runs here at TPC River Highlands uh six birdies just a one bogy at number 10 some really good stuff at a Xander as well yeah listen to his last uh I think it’s like 12 starts so going back to Genesis T4 at Riv T25 T2 T5 e t18 t23 that was Zurich team event second win the PGA T8 t7 I mean everything’s a top 25 so it’s just to me it’s it’s automatic that it’s going to be a top 25 and if he putts it well this week then he’s going to have a chance to win on Sunday yeah and he putts well every week it seems he’s he’s one of those guys that can lead the field and strokes game putting and I don’t feel like it’s going to catch up to him because he just he makes the mid-rangers so regularly he he’s he’s really impressive um you know and if it weren’t for Scotty sheffler he’s the number one player in the world and right now they’re tied with three rounds to go so it’s going to be fascinating to watch the last three rounds of The Travelers this week because there are so many interesting storylines as you as you outline KP um but let’s take a look at some of these uh these betting lines because this is a curious one with Tom Kim leading you got Scotty right there in the mix yeah what did ludig shoot 60 ludvig I believe shot 67 he was that three under okay you’re right I was thinking 66 but it was 6 yeah 300 so he’s a t18 he was bogey free in the opening round okay but at 18 to one mean five shots back I don’t know is this enough respect for Tom Kim at plus 650 uh yeah I mean look like when you don’t like his contention has been so you know few and far between that I think that it it looks weird because he’s behind two guys but I think that number is actually a very fair number I the two that I love Greg are phenow at 18 and oxa at 22 Yeah OA at 22 22 years old and Tom Kim will be 22 tomorrow interesting I I’m with the on F now I mean I looked through a lot of these rounds checked out where guys hit it off the T and most of them even if they were missing Fairways they were either scrambling like Kurt kittama or um or hitting it into like Fairway bunkers and in the intermediate cut they’re not in the heavy rough more than you know once or twice fow was in the heavy rough a bunch and was able to hit it on the green and hold it on the green and I I I didn’t see a lot of that you know most of the guys if they could get it to the green it’s rolling through the green you got to go away from bunkers you got to play wide like they’re T they’re paying a lot of respect to the rough but fow seems like doesn’t affect it doesn’t affect him I think that strength is going to be really really uh beneficial over these next couple rounds yeah I think it’s crazy that Scotty is three down and not even in the top five and he’s still plus two I think his odds dropped I think they dropped too that’s wild I mean it’s it’s it’s not unwarranted it’s just I think it’s emblematic of the kind of year he’s having yeah and you just know that he’s GNA repeat this again tomorrow and you question if Tom Kim can exactly yeah that’s right so it it it’s gonna be fun to watch we’ll get a chance to see Scotty sheffler tomorrow in the afternoon uh Xander Schley will be out early so it’ll be it’ll be fun to watch these guys battle it out on a beautiful Golf Course um also before we get going here KP weather expected to roll in tomorrow we’ll get some popup thunderstorms so tea times are they’ve been moved an hour up an hour earlier than originally expected so we’ll keep our eye on it and we’ll be back with you tomorrow night for a round two recap we’ll be back with you Saturday night for a round three recap and of course Sunday we’ll um we’ll wrap it all up put a bow on The Travelers championship and congratulate a winner um anything else before we before we get going here KP no that’s it it’s a it’s a I was not super pumped about the golf coming in just coming off that US Open and uh this leaderboard has got me more into it it’s it’s a it’s a good board it’s kind of an Eclectic board in some ways and I think that’s exciting going into the last three days yeah I expect it to stay that way it’s um an awesome Golf Course kind of a home game for me so I I really do enjoy this event and I think you will too so hopefully you get a chance to watch but big thanks to Kyle you can find him on X at Kyle Porter CB Kyle Porter CBS Josh mullinex all of his hard work behind the scenes putting this show together corralling us all um Rick gaimon we wish you uh you’re safe and fun trip and hopefully we get the car back in the garage unscathed the car the car is yeah I think the car is fine might need gas but I think it’s fine otherwise yeah we we held it together pretty good we used we used all the money for pizza set of all right all right that’s all we got for you tonight again we’ll be back tomorrow uh enjoy the rest of the Travelers Championship we’re out of here [Music]