World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler won the first playoff hole with a par to capture the Travelers Championship on Sunday at Cromwell, Conn., defeating South Korea’s Tom Kim.
Scheffler and Kim finished at 22-under-par 258, two strokes clear of other contenders.
Scheffler won for the sixth time on the PGA Tour this year, all since the beginning of March. He prevailed for the second time in three weeks, capturing the Memorial Tournament prior to last week’s struggles at the U.S. Open.
Scheffler shot 5-under 65 in the final round, but Kim’s 66 with a 10-foot birdie putt on the last hole forced the extra golf. On the last hole of regulation, Scheffler left his approach on the left fringe and two-putted from there. Kim’s approach shot was within a couple of inches of the hole before rolling back before he converted the must-make putt to extend the tournament.
The duo played No. 18 again in the playoff, with Kim’s approach short and in a bunker. After blasting out, he couldn’t roll in a long par putt.
Tom Hoge (62) and Sungjae Im (66) shared third place at 20 under.
Scheffler had birdies on Nos. 13-15 before three pars.
As many as a dozen golfers made the turn at TPC River Highlands with a reasonable chance at winning the tournament. There were several golfers within three shots of the lead for stretches of the day, while four golfers were tied at one point on the backside.
Tee times were pushed up more than two hours after weather-related interruptions Friday and Saturday, so golfers played in threesomes.
Hoge, who tied his career low and was a co-leader when completing his round, made six birdies and one bogey on an eventful backside. Im was even for the day through 12 holes before four birdies across the final six holes.
Akshay Bhatia, who joined Scheffler and Kim in the final group, shot 69 for a fifth-place tie at 18 under. Tony Finau (66), Patrick Cantlay (65) and Justin Thomas (66) also finished at 18 under. Finau had taken the lead before his tee shot on the par-3 16th splashed into the water and he took a 5 on the hole.
Cameron Young, who shot 59 on Saturday, was off to a brilliant start with birdies on the first four holes in the final round and it looked like he might rise to the top. But he began the back side at 2 over through three holes, with a bogey on No. 10 and a double bogey at No. 12 before ending up with 66.
Young tied for ninth at 17 under with Shane Lowry of Ireland (67), Brian Harman (62) and Wyndham Clark (63).
Austria’s Sepp Straka had the day’s best score at 61, putting him at 12 under and tied for 23rd.
–Field Level Media
