The Travelers Championship

Number 15 at the TPC is one of the most fun holes on the PGA Tour, for fans and pros.

It’s fun for pros because you can make an eagle and gain ground quickly.

It’s fun for fans because in addition to seeing eagles, they sometimes witness 8′s and 10′s.

Stewart Cink made a 10 at No. 15 a few years ago, and Will MacKenzie nearly matched that score Saturday.

MacKenzie, thanks to a drive right into the bushes that became a lost ball followed by a drive left that found the water, made an 8.

MacKenzie, his caddie, playing partner Chris DiMarco and the marshals in the area searched in vain for MacKenzie’s first drive but couldn’t find it on the hill next to the 15th. MacKenzie was then forced to play his provisional tee shot, which had gone into the water.

After a drop, his second penalty stroke, a pitch onto the green and three putts later, MacKenzie had his snowman.

He has made five birdies and no bogeys on his round before stepping to the 15th tee Saturday, and MacKenzie said the course will yield some low rounds today.

“It’s right there. It’s a course you need to shoot 4- to 6-under today to keep pace, and a great one is out there,” MacKenzie said. “I wasn’t necessarily going to shoot a great one, but I was going to shoot a good one.”

It may fun for some fans and media to watch pros struggling on a hole as they might do in the same spot, but MacKenzie’s miscue means more to him than just a score.

“I’ve been struggling this year. I was really hoping to shoot a good one and maybe shoot a good one tomorrow to make a decent paycheck,” MacKenzie said. “But it’s back to the drawing board for me.”

- Neill

Danbury’s Ken Green is playing in the second round of the Champions Tour Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, N.Y. and had parred his opening four holes.
Green, who had the lower part of his right leg amputated last June after a horrific RV accident, shot a 6-over 78 in the first round Friday, with a double and four bogeys in his last six holes.

J.J. Henry changed putters this week, going to a heavier, more mallet-like product from the same company he usually uses.

The result was nothing special. He went back to his old putter Saturday and made seven birdies.

“I wanted to change something up. It felt good Tuesday and Wednesday,” Henry said. “You always get back to what works.”

Henry was obviously happy — “any time you shoot 64 on Saturday, you feel good about yourself” — but he expected scoring to be good all day.

On the PGA Tour, Saturday is called “moving day” and J.J. Henry did a good job of moving up the Travelers Championship leadeboard with a 6-under 64 that pushed him to 8-under for the tournament.
Henry birdied 1, 2, 3, 5, 13, 15 and 18 with his lone bogey coming at 4. He moved himself up from T60 to T7 — with the leaders still waiting to tee off.
Still, a great third round for the former Fairfield High standout.

J.J. Henry is putting together a solid third round here at the Travelers Championship. He just tapped in for birdie at the short, par-4 15th for his sixth bird of the day. Henry, the former Fairfield High grad, has gotten to 7-under for the tournament. He started the round at T60 and is now T17.

If you’re planning to attend today’s third round of the Travelers Championship, here are some of the notable tee times.

Tim Petrovic and Scott Verplank — 11:19 a.m.

Padrig Harrington — 11:37 a.m.

Aaron Baddeley — 11:55 a.m.

Stewart Cink and Bo Van Pelt — 12:04 p.m.

Scott McCarron and Jay Williamson — 12:40 p.m.

Bubba Watson and Ben Curtis — 1 p.m.

Corey Pavin and Charlie Wi — 1:40 p.m.

Vijay Singh and Bill Lunde — 1:50 p.m.

Justin Rose and Kevin Sutherland — 2 p.m.

After that fast start when J.J. Henry birdied four of his first five holes to jump to 5-under for the tournament, the Fairfield High grad has flattened out slightly with four straight pars at 6, 7, 8 and 9 to make the turn at 3-under 32.
Henry missed a great birdie chance at the par-3 8th, just missing a 10-footer.

With 77 golfers making the cut at the Travelers, that left 38 twosomes and one golfer playing by himself. Brad Adamonis went off without a marker (partner) at 8:15 a.m. and breezed through his first nine holes in a little under an hour-and-a-half (9:35 a.m.), posting an even-par 35.