Tom Kim shoots 62 to lead Travelers Championship, Scottie Scheffler 3 back

Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim gorged themselves on pizza to get their shared birthday celebration out of the way before turning their focus to golf this week.

When they tee it up on the big day, they’ll be fighting for the lead at the Travelers Championship.

Kim shot an 8-under-par 62 on Thursday in the first round at the TPC River Highlands, good for a two-stroke lead in the final limited field, no-cut signature event on this year’s PGA Tour schedule. Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player, was tied for sixth, three shots back.

Kim will turn 22 on Friday, and Scheffler is exactly six years older. The Dallas-area residents marked the occasion in advance by heading about 30 miles south to Sally’s — a New Haven institution.

I had a lot of pizza,” Kim said. “I wouldn’t do that in a tournament, but it’s my birthday and it’s kind of a tradition. Me, Scottie, we have the same birthday, so we had an early birthday celebration.”

Kim birdied the last two holes to separate himself from the four players tied at minus-6 on the 6,835-yard, par-70 course: Rickie Fowler, Akshay Bhatia, Kurt Kitayama and Will Zalatoris.

Scheffler was among seven players at 5 under, looking again like the best player in the world a week after finishing tied for 41st at Pinehurst No. 2 — his worst performance of the year. Wyndham Clark, who tied for 56th in his U.S. Open defense, was another shot back at 4 under.