CROMWELL, Conn. — From above the 18th green, Austin Eckroat was out of sight.

All that was visible from behind the scoreboard off to the left side of the fairway was the reflection of the sun on his club face. It was tight, but Eckroat was able to see the pin and managed to lift his second shot 128 yards onto the left side of the green. The putt – 17 feet, five inches – was no problem for the 26-year-old who also sunk a 35-footer for eagle on No. 13 and went into the clubhouse at 8-under-par 62, topping the leaderboard he was hidden behind.

“I was on that side-hill lie, it was kind of thick, I was afraid if the heel caught, I could hit (the scoreboard) and that was really all my question was. But to get relief it had to be more in my way,” he said. “Luckily it came out great, and I was able to make birdie.”

It completed the best round of Eckroat’s professional career, which began on a sponsor’s exemption at the Travelers in 2021.

Yet, it wasn’t enough to hold onto the lead by the end of Thursday’s opening round.

Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 golfer in the world defending his 2024 Travelers crown, matched Eckroat’s eagle on No. 13 to tie the lead and jumped into the top spot with a birdie on No. 15 about three and a half hours after Eckroat finished.

Scheffler hit from the rough, across the water and over the green on No. 17. His fourth shot on the par-4, a 16-foot putt, missed right of the hole and left him with bogey to drop back into a tie with Eckroat at 8-under. Still, it was Scheffler’s lowest-scoring round in five career appearances in Cromwell.

“I actually got a pretty good lie in the rough,” Scheffler said. “I got a lucky break and wasn’t able to take advantage of it, but overall, I hit a lot of good shots, gave myself a lot of looks. I got off to a good start, and like I said, it was challenging out there late in the day. The wind was blowing pretty hard, and I was able to hit some really nice shots to get some good looks.”

The temperature got up to around 87 degrees by the time Eckroat’s round finished and Scheffler’s started. The wind picked up with the passing storm later in the day as the bogey count rose to 150, 10 more than the first round last year. Despite the threat of thunderstorms throughout the afternoon, none reached the River Highlands.

There were 259 total birdies recorded, six less than the opening round in 2024, three eagles and 850 pars.

Eckroat, responsible for six birdies, came into the media tent smiling through sweat. Although he has two career wins, he has finished outside the top 25 in 13 consecutive events.

“It’s funny, a lot of Wednesdays I’ve felt really good going into the tournament and then Thursday comes around and it hasn’t been there,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s just the stress of playing in a PGA Tour event, but this one, it was nice to feel good on Wednesday and then actually take it into Thursday.”

Eckroat hit 10 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation on Thursday, crediting the success to a minor grip adjustment.

“It was just an easy fix, which is always annoying. You want it to be – in your mind it seems like it’s something crazy, but it really isn’t, it’s just something minor, which is nice, obviously. But it’s frustrating because it was just one piece away the whole time,” he said. “I just went a little weaker with my right hand and I was able to release the club properly at that point. I wouldn’t say it was weak, it had just gotten really strong, and I hadn’t paid attention to that. I was focusing on the other aspects of the golf swing, so just a little bit weaker, more on top of the club.”

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, 2023 Travelers champion Keegan Bradley and 2023 U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark will each enter Friday’s second round two strokes back at 6-under.

Cameron Young sits alone in sixth place after recovering from a double bogey on the first hole to shoot 5-under 65. He is followed by a group of eight players at 4-under: Davis Riley, Nick Taylor, Jason Day, Adam Hadwin, Max Greyserman, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland and Brian Harman.

Tom Kim, who tied Scheffler after 72 holes in last year’s tournament to force a playoff, received a sponsor’s exemption to play this year and shot 3-under 67.

The Travelers is the eighth and final PGA Tour Signature Event of the season. It has a $20 million purse with $3.6 million and 700 FedExCup points to the winner. Scheffler holds a lead of more than 1,000 points in the FedExCup standings ahead of McIlroy; Eckroat is 34th.

Scheffler will tee-off with U.S. Open winner JJ Spaun, who shot 3-over 73, Friday morning. Eckroat will hit off the first tee at 12:30 p.m. ET with Byeong Hun An.

“I felt confident, which it was nice to feel that this season,” Eckroat said. “It’s been a while.”

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