CROMWELL, Conn. — U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark is running on fumes.

He admitted that appearing at the Travelers Championship a week after claiming the second major of his career was challenging, mostly because of the celebration that followed. But TPC River Highlands is where he made his first career start in 2017, so he felt obligated to honor his commitment and play.

And play well.

Outside of the bunker he found on No. 12, which resulted in his lone bogey of the day, the five-time PGA Tour winner made six birdies to finish 5-under 65 on Saturday and move to 13-under for the tournament. He’s kept the leaders well within striking distance, but will be on the chase in this final round, rather than being the chased as he was last week.

Scottie Scheffler, the man everyone is coming after, was the last player to win on Tour the week after winning a major in 2024.

“This golf course can be frustrating sometimes, because you see guys taking it low, and you feel like if you’re not making birdies, you get behind. But, yeah, overall pretty solid. Kind of got myself in decent position. Going to have to shoot something low to get the win, but at least we’re in a good spot,” Clark said of his position.

His time in Cromwell has been a breath of fresh air after hearing boos last week at Shinnecock Hills.

And he’s proven, so far, that he can play good golf no matter the backing track.

“Honestly, just coming here the whole week, everyone has been polar opposite of last week. Everyone has been so nice. They’re rooting for me, cheering for me. Just a lot of, like, genuine pulling for me,” Clark said. “That’s probably been the nicest thing is just, you know, the reprieve or the difference between last week.”

Fitzpatrick feeling at home

Adam Fitzpatrick, younger brother of World No. 4 Matt Fitzpatrick, won his first PGA Tour event at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans earlier this year and shot 6-under 34 in the third round of his first Travelers Championship appearance on Saturday.

Fitzpatrick changed his putter after shooting 1-under in Thursday’s first round, and saw the results Saturday as he moved up on the leaderboard.

“I feel so comfortable out here now. I felt very comfortable very quickly, and I think that was part of how nice people were to me and how well I was treated. Coming out here and winning is, I guess, respected by your peers, and I think that was super cool to have,” the Englishman said. “So I think, yeah, my long game especially feels great, and tee to green I feel I’m as good as anyone when I’m really good. If I can get the putter going, I feel like that’s when my scores come. Hopefully I keep putter hot and see what happens.”

Making a run at it

Chris Gotterup was one of only 11 players over par after Thursday’s first round at the Travelers Championship.

He climbed into a tie for 38th place after shooting 5-under 65 in the second round, and, in a perfect example of the low-scoring TPC River Highlands course opening the door for quick ascension, the 26-year-old Rutgers alum found himself into a tie for 14th place heading into Sunday.

In an example of the small margins in Cromwell, Gotterup hit every green and had eight birdies on the day — five of which came on the front nine. Then he three-putted No. 17, missed a 12-foot chance for birdie on No. 18 and his round of 7-under 63 ended rather regular.

But his projected share of the $20 million purse looks a lot better now.

Jake Knapp, 4-over after the first round, and Adam Scott, 1-over, both shot 6-under on Saturday and find themselves at 5- and 4-under, respectively, ahead of the final round.

Keegan Bradley update

The highlight on an otherwise below average round for two-time Travelers champion Keegan Bradley came on No. 15, when the New Englander holed-out from 75 feet, 11 inches for eagle. He made bogey, his fourth of the day, on the very next hole and finished even-par.

Week to forget for Sepp Straka

Sepp Straka, No. 22 in the World Golf Rankings, seems to have been left out of the birdie party. The 33-year-old from Austria, playing in his eighth Travelers Championship, has been over par every day this week as the rest of the field leaves him in its dust.

Coming into Saturday’s third round at 5-over, Straka added six bogeys to his ledger to get to 13 for the tournament. He earned a few strokes back with three birdies — two on the final three holes — and will enter Sunday’s final round last in the field at 8-over 218.

Ben James

After posting his career-best round at the Travelers in three trips with his grandmother in attendance on Friday, Milford native Ben James made three birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey on No. 7 to go into the clubhouse at 1-over for the day. He is in the pack at 7-under for the tournament and still well on pace to have his best finish in the event.

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