CROMWELL, Conn. _ It was just after he made the turn at TPC River Highlands when Mackenzie Hughes birdied his sixth out of the last seven holes and realized he was flirting with history.
Standing at 7-under with seven holes left in his first round at the Travelers Championship on Thursday, Hughes knew he was well within range of shooting a vaunted score of 59, a mark achieved just nine times in the history of the PGA Tour.
Hughes had his chance. He was at 10-under with one hole to go, but recorded a par on No. 9 (his 18th hole). He had to settle for a 10-under-par 60, the lowest score at TPC River Highlands since Jim Furyk shot a tour-record 58 in 2016. Hughes ended his day alone at the top of the leaderboard, three strokes better than World No. 1 Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele.
The moment, however, came with little fanfare _ just a few claps. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Travelers Championship is being played without fans in attendance and only those living in homes along the course were able to check out the action. Five players have withdrawn: Cameron Champ, who tested positive for the virus; Graeme McDowell after his caddie tested positive before traveling to Connecticut; Brooks Koepka after his caddie tested positive; Chase Koepka after playing a practice round with his brother and McDowell; and Webb Simpson as a precaution.
"To be honest, it doesn't really feel that strange," Hughes said after the round. "But the protocol is in place and what the Tour has done has been top notch and first class. The absence of fans really hurts. That would be a lot of fun to play a round like that with the gallery kind of getting into it, but yeah, the new normal is here, and we're all just going to try to adapt and do our best."
Rather than feeding off the fans, he was able to use the weather and course to his advantage.
"This morning the conditions were quite perfect," said Hughes, who birdied five holes in a row to wrap up his opening nine in 29 strokes. "Little to no wind and kind of got off to somewhat of just a slow start, nothing special. 1-under through 4, and then hit 14 and started to kind of get on a bit of a roll there, rolled in a couple 15-footers. Kind of got my round going."
Hughes, ranked 158th in the world, had recorded scores of 61 twice in competition before this, but never went as low as he did Thursday. He posted a bogey-free round, with six birdies on the back nine and four on the front. He was also tied for the lead last year after the first round before finishing 51st.
The native of Canada joins Patrick Cantlay (2011) and Tommy Bolt (1954) as the only golfers to shoot a 60 at this tournament. Bolt did it back when the tournament was known as the Insurance City Open and held at Wethersfield Country Club.
"I kind of joked walking off there that 59 wasn't even the record because Jim's 58," Hughes said. "I mean, it's probably not even that special around here. But for a personal milestone, it would have been really, really neat. You just don't get very many chances in your life to do it.
"You'd take 60 every day and run, and (I'm) just excited for the rest of the week."
Teeing off in the afternoon, Schauffele and Hovland made a late run at Hughes' throne. Schauffele posted five birdies on the front nine, and birdied four of the first six holes on the back nine to get to as low as 8-under. A bogey on hole No. 17 dropped him down to 7-under.
Schauffele, the world's No. 10 player, tied for third at the Charles Schwab Challenge two weeks ago. On the day, he had the fourth most strokes gained while putting at 2.764.
"It's sort of I made the putts at a pretty decent pace," he said. "All those putts I made were honestly, I think, 18 feet-ish, right around the same range. I was rolling them in, and I kept having 18-footers kind of uphill right to left, so it was almost like I hit the same putt three, four times in a row."
Hovland put together a strong run on the back nine to pull into a tie for second. He went birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie on holes 12-15, and answered a bogey on 17 with a birdie on 18 to remain at 7-under.
Hovland, 22, turned pro at last year's Travelers Championship. By the late afternoon, the greens had firmed up a bit. Some golfers _ like Hovland and Schauffele _ were able to take advantage of that.
"It's a little different when you know the course from before," Hovland said. "You don't have to spend as much time playing the course and knowing where to hit it. I feel like I kind of have a very good strategy for this course, and it's just about kind of figuring out your shots, just the pace of the greens and the firmness of the greens, just kind of getting into tournament golf."
McIlroy parred his first three holes before an eagle on 13 was followed by consecutive birdies. He shot a bogey-free front nine, with four birdies.
"Even after the first few holes where I had chances and didn't quite convert, you just have to keep telling yourself, so many more chances coming up," he said. "As much as there is low scores, you just have to keep telling yourself it's patient because inevitably you're going to go through maybe a nine-hole stretch where you only make a birdie or two. You're not going to keep shooting nine holes of 3- or 4-under all the time, so you have to remind yourself of that."
Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Louis Oosthuizen are part of a six-way tie for fifth at 6-under 64. Bryson DeChambeau, one of the hottest golfers on tour, shot a 5-under 65. Reigning champion Chez Reavie shot an even-par 70.
Mickelson, a two-time champion in Connecticut, played his first competitive round on Thursday since turning 50 years old. He posted a bogey-free scorecard, with three birdies on the front nine and three on the back.
"I love what I do. I love my job. I love trying to play and compete, and I really enjoy playing with guys like Rory and Bryson who are just tremendous talents and trying to compete with those guys," said Mickelson, who was paired with McIlroy and DeChambeau on Thursday. "Rory has got one of the most beautiful golf swings this game has ever seen, and Bryson has got a unique style of playing that is fascinating, and he plays at the highest level. I enjoy kind of watching and learning, but I also enjoy trying to play my game and compete regardless of age."
