2021 Travelers Championship leaderboard: Stars start slow as Kramer Hickok, Satoshi Kodaira share Round 1 lead

Round 1 produced an unlikely trio at or near the top of this board at TPC River Highlands

There seemed to be a bit of a U.S. Open-induced fog for most of the stars in the field at the Travelers Championship on Thursday in Round 1. None of the bigger names in the field went super low and most of them -- including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka labored toward something around even par just to try and set up a made cut Friday in Round 2. Satoshi Kodaira and Kramer Hickok co-lead after Round 1 (just like we all predicted), and both had one thing in common throughout their rounds. They putted the lights out. That likely won't last all week with several horses behind them picking up some steam over the next few days, but let's take a look at a nice Round 1 for both of them as well as where the stars sit going into Friday. T1. Satoshi Kodaira (-8): Jim Furyk's course record of 58 was never truly in jeopardy, but Kodaira ran it to 8 under early and was incredible despite finishing tepidly. And he did it all with basically nothing off the tee at a place where how you play off the tee matters more than most places. This is what happens, though, when you gain five strokes with a putter that won't stop smoking. Staying power, though? Maybe not at the top spot, but Kodaira has been hot of late with three top-20 finishes in his last three starts.