Christiaan Bezuidenhout opened with a four-under-par 66 on Thursday in the first round of the PGA Tour’s Signature Event, the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.
It was a bogey-free start for the top-ranked South African, with gains on the fourth, the 13th, 14th and 17th putting him in a share of 13th.
Up front, it was Tom Kim of Korea who led the way with a superb eight-under-par 62 giving him a two-stroke edge over Will Zalatoris, Ahshay Bhatia, Rickie Fowler and Kurt Kitayama, all of the United States.
There were seven players on five-under 65, and Bezuidenhout shared 13th with JT Poston, Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark of the United States, as well as former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama of Japan.
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.
“I had a lot of pizza,” Kim said. “I wouldn’t do that in a tournament, but it’s my birthday and it’s kind of a tradition. Me, Scottie, we have the same birthday, so we had an early birthday celebration.”
Kim birdied the last two holes to separate himself from the four players tied at six-under on the 6,835-yard, par-70 course.
