We wrote in our First Round Leader column on Wednesday that this year's Travelers Championship could turn into a "birdie-fest." Through 36 holes, it looks like we definitely have one on our hands. Rain and thundershowers were in the forecast for the Cromwell, Connecticut area for as far as the eye could see. Thankfully, it has not yet caused any interruption to the tournament but the soft conditions are being taken advantage of by the players.

Denny McCarthy was your first-round leader after blistering the golf course on Thursday, firing a 10-under 60. After a slow start on Friday, McCarthy turned it on late, going five under on the back nine to shoot a 65. It was a similar Friday for Keegan Bradley, who made five consecutive birdies on the back nine to shoot 63 and tie McCarthy for the 36-hole lead at 15 under. An impressive 102 of 153 players shot rounds under par on Friday. The cut line fell at four under with 67 players making it through to the weekend.

Former Travelers champ, Chez Reavie is in second place, two shots back at 13 under. Eric Cole is at 11 under with Zac Blair and Adam Scott in fifth place at 10 under. Min Woo Lee is one of three players at nine under and 12 players are tied for 10th place at eight under, including Rory McIlroy, Sungjae Im, Corey Conners, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele, and Alex Smalley - who shot a 62.

The forecast is calling for rain overnight on Friday and into Saturday morning. Again, even if this does not interrupt play, we will still have a soft and getable golf course for moving day and likely through Sunday's final round. Will we see a sub-60 round this week like we have here in the past? Prominent Las Vegas golf oddsmaker, Jeff Sherman, says, "If it is going to happen, it would probably be here at TPC River Highlands this week," but continues to say, "It is still unlikely and probably about +750 or +800 for it to happen."

And thus comes the challenge we are faced with here in this column. It is tough to "fade" anyone if the majority of the field is going low - and who do we select (as a Draw) to go the lowest?

Sitting in a tie for 22nd is Scottie Scheffler, eight shots off the pace. We have to back him, don't we? He's going to finish top five no matter what, correct?

DRAWS

Denny McCarthy (+250)

Honestly, I think you have to go with the frontrunners here. If we are correct in figuring this will be a track meet, it is a huge advantage for the leaders to have a two-shot head start. McCarthy had a chance to come back down to earth on Friday after going so low on Thursday - but he didn't. He started out that way but then caught fire again in the second half of his round. Putting is so often a statistic I look at in these situations but McCarthy being fourth in this field for SG: Putting is not an outlier. He's arguably the best putter in the field anyway, so the chances of his hot putter regressing are probably less than someone else's who is not up to his skills with the flat stick. McCarthy is also 10th in this field for SG: Approach, sixth in Driving Accuracy, and second in SG: Tee to Green. The whole game is firing right now and off of his disappointing finish recently at the Memorial, he should be ready for what lies ahead these next two days.

Keegan Bradley (+250)

And that brings us to Bradley - who is not someone with nearly the putting skills of McCarthy and yet ranks second in this field for SG: Putting through two rounds. He is certainly the more likely of the two to regress in this area in my opinion - but I believe he is going to be OK. He's No. 1 in the field for SG: Approach and fourth in SG: Tee to Green. Bradley too could have let down some on Friday after opening with a 62 on Thursday - but he didn't either. It is going to be difficult for both of these leaders to maintain such a torrid pace but I don't think the golf course will be so demanding that they can't keep their heads above water.

For the sake of argument, let's say 23 under par wins the 2023 Travelers Championship. That is eight shots under par from where the leaders currently reside, only roughly half of what Bradley and McCarthy have done already. How about Rory McIlroy's chances of catching the leaders, currently at eight under - is he going to shoot 15 under the next two days?

It's possible but If everyone is making their fair share of birdies, it will be very difficult to catch the leaders - and it may just take a sub-60 round if it were to happen - which has already been pointed out as being a bit of a long shot.

FADES

Min Woo Lee (+3300)

This is an up-and-coming player that you have to be excited about. He's really shown well in just a short period of time. His top five finish last week at the U.S. Open earned him a spot in this field this week. Looking at his scores this week, 66-65, I like the consistency - nothing too far off the map here one way or the other. However, when you dive into the numbers, you will see that his tee to green game has been shaky. He ranks 41st of the remaining 67 players for SG: Tee to Green, 59th in Driving Accuracy, and 42nd for Greens in Regulation. Also, here is a case where the putting could take a fall as this has been bailing him out, ranking sixth in the field for SG: Putting. Sitting at nine under for the championship, six shots off the pace, I would say his odds of winning the tournament are closer to +7500 versus the +3300 that is being offered. There are a total of 22 players within just one or two shots behind him and another eight players either tied with or ahead of him. That's 30 players he'll likely have to deal with over the weekend - most of whom will probably be going relatively low as well. That is too much to overcome in my opinion versus the price that is being posted.