Travelers Championship Round Two: Tom Kim celebrates turning 22 with the lead, while fellow birthday boy Scottie Scheffler also has cause to celebrate

Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim gorged on pizza together Wednesday in an early toast to their joint birthday but following the big day itself, they will both aiming to be the other's party-pooper come Sunday.

Kim revealed Thursday that his early birthday wish would have been a few more birdies during the opening round of The Travelers Championship. On Friday, that wish was granted.

Kim celebrated his birthday by sealing the 36-hole lead of 13-under at the final no-cut, 71-player signature event of the PGA Tour season. Not a bad way to turn 22 but the revelry could yet get grander, if he can keep the party raging through the weekend.

A second blemish-free trip around TPC River Highlands in the heat teed Kim up to unwrap the greatest gift of all come Sunday: A $3.6million check.

The Korean waltzed around TPC River Highlands with a confidence beyond his mere 22 years to the chorus of happy birthday from the New Englanders in the galleries.

He carded five birdies to add to his eight from Thursday to take his tally to 13 birdies to zero bogeys through 36 holes. 

It wasn’t quite his opening 62 but with three PGA Tour wins already under his belt before the age of 22, Kim could be poised to ring in his birthday with a fourth.

The Travelers is Kim’s eighth tournament in a row. He’s played 10 of the last 12 weeks. That exhaustive schedule is by design.

‘I think the big difference is it's just sharper and I'm more aware now,’ Kim said of his marathon of golf following Friday’s round.

‘I think the work I've been doing the past few months has been kind of like making sure I can feel confident out in the competition, not practice rounds. So I think this stretch is making me sharper and more ready and I think it's kind of time to show.’

And it has truly been on show in Connecticut. While both Scottie Scheffler, 28, and Collin Morikawa, 27, have spoken of mental fatigue this week, their younger peer credited the sharpness of his game to his relentless slog of the past three months. Youth, it’s one hell of a drug.

Or, perhaps the marathon man’s storming of New England has been fueled by his celebratory pizza with none other than the World No. 1. Kim revealed that for the past two years the pair have celebrated their joint birthday with a pizza party - a tradition that continued in Connecticut this week.

And, fellow birthday boy Scheffler had equal cause for celebration. The new dad, who was turning 28, congratulated his birthday buddy on the range before kickstarting his own fairway festivities. 

Scheffler's own on-course party was in full swing with his six birdies and lone bogey through 16 boosting him until the weather rained on his parade. 

He managed to squeeze in 16 holes of his second round before the klaxon sounded at 4:11pm ET. 

'Meredith and Bennett were there, so we just hung out, changed a diaper, and tried to get him to stop crying, but it was cold in there, so it was a little tough,' Scheffler said when asked how he spent the delay. 

However, even the three-hour storm delay and long-evacuated galleries couldn’t extinguish his revelry as one final birdie at the 18th closed the gap to the top to two. He edged into tied fourth alongside Morikawa and Akshay Bhatia, one shot ahead of PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele.

'After the delay I came out and hit some really nice shots,' he said. 'It was nice to birdie 18 to finish. Before that I feel like I played a lot of solid golf and did some good things, so overall it was I think a pretty solid day.'

Morikawa almost threatened to spoil the party for Kim earlier in the day. It wasn’t his birthday but Morikawa was more than happy to receive the birdie gifts TPC River Highlands offered up.

Tee times had been moved up an hour due to the looming threat of thunderstorms but Morikawa wouldn’t have minded dragging himself out of bed that bit earlier - not when he reached the turn in a six-under 29, matching his nine-hole scoring record.

With blue skies still blessing Connecticut Thursday morning, there were birdies to be had on the front nine and Morikawa’s sacrificed lie-in reaped that reward. He birdied an incredible six of the front nine to threaten to steal the spotlight on Kim’s special day.

Yet, the Californian’s foot slipped off the gas with just the sole birdie on his back nine and a missed chance on the last leaving him unable to dent Kim’s lead further and sat two back at 11-under, joined by Akshay Bhatia.

But the ravaging of TPC River Highlands may not be over. Last year, New England’s own Keegan Bradley won with 23-under and Morikawa warned Cromwell could witness a repeat.

‘Right now it's just all mental,’ he said. ‘I can't get lazy the next two days, the scores are going to keep getting lower, probably going to double from where we are right now, and the biggest thing for me if I want to stay in contention is just not letting my mind kind of wander. It's been a long stretch, it's hot, but I want to win and I'm going to stay as sharp as possible.’

Robert MacIntyre also shot a career record with his first eight-under 62 on the PGA Tour. It was a much needed boost for the Scotsman, who rocketed up the leaderboard following his opening even-par round to join Tony Finau and Tom Hoge in a share of ninth, five shots off Kim’s lead. 

But the marathon man still has a way to go before he can truly celebrate that lead. Kim won't be partying the night away Friday, he'll want to save his energy for Sunday. Birthday or not, any celebrations will be premature when there's a $3.6m gift on the line.