Scottie Scheffler's forgotten belt no problem thanks to opening-round 64 at Travelers Championship

Scottie Scheffler, who had Sam Burns bring him a belt after absent-mindedly forgetting it, fired a 6-under 64 at the Travelers Championship on Thursday and is just one shot back after the opening day.

“This was probably an all-time week to forget my belt, just in how convenient it is to get from the house to the course. So that might be part of the reason why I forgot it, just wasn't thinking when I left this morning,” said Scheffler.

He opened with four birdies in his first nine holes and added two more on Nos. 13 and 15 at TPC River Highlands. It was a very tidy effort from Scheffler, who, statistically, was near the top with all parts of his game and went through the opener without a bogey.

“Golf's pretty challenging and every day's different and today, yeah, I'm glad the stats lined up with that because I felt like I did a lot of stuff pretty well, definitely gave myself a lot of looks, which was nice around this golf course and was able to hole a couple of them as well,” Scheffler said.

In his first attempt at completing the career Grand Slam last week at the U.S. Open, Scheffler made it into the final group on Sunday alongside eventual winner Wyndham Clark but couldn’t get anything going in the finale, shooting a 1-over 71 and finishing four back and tied for fourth.

There are obvious differences between Shinnecock Hills and TPC River Highlands, but Scheffler said there is one common thread.

“No matter what, you’re still trying to hit good golf shots, and depending on the course, sometimes the reward is a bit different. No matter what, on last week’s course and this golf course, if you’re hitting good shots, you’re going to get rewarded,” Scheffler said.

Scheffler, who won the Travelers Championship in 2024 in a playoff, has eight top-five finishes so far this season, including a run of three runner-up results in a row. He won his first start of the year at The American Express.

There are 14 golfers within two shots of the lead after Thursday’s opener in Connecticut, and Scheffler said he was happy to be squarely in the mix.

“When the scoring is lower, it can be harder and harder to play catch-up. I feel like when you play a golf course where even par is going to be the winning score at the end of the week, there are always those days where somebody figures it out,” Scheffler said. “Sometimes here you get so far behind you can only shoot so low on some of these courses, so it’s important to keep pace.”

Funny enough, Scheffler played with Burns on Thursday, and the long-time pals both fed off each other, with Burns shooting a 4-under 66.

“We actually hadn’t played together in competition in quite a while. So, it was fun being out there today,” Scheffler said. “Sam played solid today as well, so hopefully we’ll keep the momentum going for tomorrow.”

But hopefully Burns can concentrate on his own game – and Scheffler can remember his own belt.