🏌🏻Scheffler vs Schauffele @ Travelers

Good morning! Round 2 of the Travelers Championship is in progress at TPC River Highlands after tee times were moved up by an hour due to potential weather interruptions later on in the day - you can watch the action live on CBS and Golf Channel.

Switching over to the LPGA, it’s shaping up to be a fascinating battle between Lexi Thompson and Nelly Korda in the women’s PGA Championship. It’s Live on Peacock and Golf Channel.

Fun Fact: Round 1 leader Lexi Thompson started with three consecutive birdies at the Women's PGA Championship - first time ever she did so in a Major.

⛳ This day in history: On this date in 1965, South African Gary Player defeated Australian star Kel Nagle, 71-74, in a playoff at Bellerive Country Club west of St. Louis to win the US Open. The victory completed the career Grand Slam for Player at age 29.

ALBATROSS
Birthday Boy Tom Kim Leads Travelers

Tom Kim and Scottie Scheffler gorged themselves on pizza to get their shared birthday celebration out of the way before turning their focus to golf this week. While Kim shot a 62 to take the solo lead after Round 1, Scheffler trails by three.

Kim will turn 22 on Friday, and Scheffler is exactly six years older. The Dallas-area residents marked the occasion in advance by heading about 30 miles south to Sally’s — a New Haven institution, where "they had a lot of pizza".

🚀 Solo Leader: Tom Kim shot an 8-under-par 62 to take a two stroke lead at TPC River Highlands. Just behind him is a pack of four players comprising Akshay Bhatia, Kurt Kitayama, Rickie Fowler and Will Zalatoris.

🎯Stars In Contention: Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele are both tied for the sixth spot, very much in contention for a win. Scheffler hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation to bounce back strongly from his poor outing at the US Open.

📌 Fowler's Comeback: Rickie Fowler is outside the top 100 in every strokes gained category, ranks 111th in the Fed ExCup and has notched just one top-20 in 2024 but despite all of that, he was one of the most impressive performers in the opening round. He hit 14 greens and needed just 23 putts to record a bogey-free round of 6-under 64.

🌦️ Weather Watch: The second-round tee times have been moved up one hour as heavy rain is slated to hit Connecticut in the afternoon. Mornings forecast calls for isolated showers and thunderstorms while there is a 70% chance of rain post noon.

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Worth Mentioning

EAGLE
Rahm's $520,000 Watch In The Spotlight

The past few weeks have been tough for Jon Rahm. Scheduled to play in LIV Golf Houston, he had to withdraw due to a foot infection and later also missed the US Open as he hadn't recovered.

Rahm attended the US Open weekend at Pinehurst though, where he was spotted wearing a super rare watch - the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ‘Ruby’ 126599TRU in 18k white gold. And unsurprisingly, it has grabbed everyone's attention.

Part of Rolex's 2023 out-of-catalogue collection, the watch features a baguette-cut rubies bezel and a black dial with 11 baguette-cut ruby hour markers. Its retail price is $520,000.

💎 Unique Collection: Jon Rahm has been an ambassador for Rolex since 2019 and has an exclusive collection of premium watches.

Apart from the one he wore at Pinehurst, Rahm owns a two-tone Daytona Chronograph in yellow gold and steel, as well as a Rolex GMT-Master II “Meteorite” in 18k white gold with a meteorite dial and blue and red “Pepsi” bezel. While the former is worth about $19,500, the latter commands an even more impressive price of around $60,000.

🏌‍♀Set To Return: Rahm has recovered from his infection on the left foot and will compete this week at the LIV Golf event in Nashville.

He has had an underwhelming season so far in 2024, tying for 45th at the Masters, missing the cut at the PGA Championship and before missing the US Open due to injury.

He also hasn’t won on the LIV circuit, a year after he won four times worldwide and was consistently among the top three players in the world.

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LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news

Major Update: Lexi Thompson leads Nelly Korda and Patty Tavatanakit by one stroke after Round 1 of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.

An Withdraws: Byeong Hun An withdrew from the Travelers Championship during the first round on Thursday due to illness.

Olympics: The schedule for the men's and women's Golf events at the Paris 2024 Olympics has been released - click here to check it out.

Reed Returns: LIV Golf's Patrick Reed will return to DP World Tour action in July, joining Luke Donald to add a Ryder Cup flavor to the BMW International Open.

BIRDIE
These Are The 10 Best Male Golfers In The World Right Now

The OWGR has its limitations and it does not always reflect who is currently playing the best golf or has the greatest potential to win big events primarily because of its inability to award points to LIV Golfers.

Based on their form, ability, and results, these golfers are currently the best in the world.

🏌‍♀Scottie Scheffler: Scheffler had his run in with the law at the PGA Championship and he wasn’t able to show his best stuff at Pinehurst, but he’s had an astonishing year beyond those two events. He’s won five times (including his second to last outing at Memorial) and been second twice - undoubtedly the No 1.

🏌‍♀Rory McIlroy: When McIlroy is at the top of his game, he can outperform anyone. If not for two missed putts at Pinehurst and some bad breaks, he would have won the US Open easily.

Currently, in terms of consistent playing ability, he is just behind Scheffler.

🏌‍♀Bryson DeChambeau: DeChambeau was brilliant in his US Open win and he was runner-up at Valhalla. It’s incredibly harsh on Bryson to have him at number three, given he’s just won. Maybe a couple of more wins and he would be right up there.

🏌‍♀Xander Schauffele: Schauffele has been on a remarkable run, finishing as runner-up to Rory at the Wells Fargo before winning the PGA Championship. He also performed well in the US Open. Along with Scottie, Rory, and Bryson, this leading group shows remarkable consistency and contends in every event they enter. They are a class apart.

🏌‍♀Ludvig Aberg: The young Swede is hugely talented and has the most incredible potential. He has a swing that looks so repeatable. Yes, he faded a little at Pinehurst but he quite clearly has an exceptional game. If he fires on all cylinders, he’ll be tough to beat.

Read the full article.

DRIVING RANGE
Improve Your Hip Mobility

In today's video, we share three drills to help you gain more rotation, reduce the chances of lower back injury and improve your balance

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