Scheffler makes clutch putt to force Monday playoff

Scheffler forces – Scottie Scheffler’s 8-foot par putt on the 18th capped a dramatic rain-delayed final round and forced a Monday sudden-death playoff against Viktor Hovland at the Travelers Championship after storms halted play and officials deemed there wasn’t enough daylight.

CROMWELL, Conn. — Scottie Scheffler pumped his fist more than he had all day after rolling in an 8-foot par putt on the 18th. It wasn’t celebration for the moment; it was the kind of relief that comes when the last swing matters again tomorrow.

Storms stopped the final round for 90 minutes at the TPC River Highlands. and officials decided there wasn’t enough daylight to start an extra hole even once. The result: Scheffler and Viktor Hovland will play a sudden-death playoff on Monday at 9 a.m. the first time a PGA Tour event has gone to an extra day since The Players Championship last year.

“It’s more fun when you’re making the ones to win,” Scheffler said. “But to keep yourself in it is also nice. Like I said, I live another day until tomorrow, and will be coming out in the morning and see what I can do.”

Scheffler and Hovland both had birdie chances to finish regulation. Scheffler, after a 30-foot putt, rammed it to within 8 feet of the hole and then made the par putt that kept him alive. Hovland, on a 25-foot attempt, missed by inches and tapped in for a 69.

They finished tied at 21-under 259. Scheffler made his third big par putt for a 68 to match Hovland.

Collin Morikawa closed with a 61 that briefly put pressure on the top group. He finished one shot back at 20-under 260, though it never felt as if his surge would be enough.

The pair’s final moments carried the fingerprints of a round interrupted and reshaped by weather. Hovland went into the last Sunday stretch with a one-shot lead over Scheffler. only for them both to end up two shots back when play was halted by pounding rain and lightning in the area. At the stoppage, both were in the fairway on the 14th hole.

When they resumed, Hovland poured in a 15-foot birdie putt from just off the green to get within one shot. Scheffler answered with a 6-foot par putt to stay ahead.

On the reachable par-4 15th. Scheffler’s pitch from the collar of rough — wet grass might have saved his tee shot from going into the water — raced toward the pin on the top shelf. hopped over the back. and down a slope. He chipped just onto the green. then made another big par putt with Hovland in tight for a third straight birdie. That sequence left them tied.

Scheffler then missed a 10-foot birdie chance on the 17th, a putt that spun off the left edge of the cup. On the 18th, he did well to hammer a shot from the wet rough right of the fairway to just inside 30 feet, setting up the par that forced the playoff.

Scheffler and Hovland arrived at the extra hole differently. Scheffler’s finish featured three birdies against one bogey. Hovland’s run included a 10-hole stretch in the middle of his round with just two pars.

After Hovland fell behind by two early, there was a two-shot swing on No. 7. Scheffler gained with a two-shot swing to start the back nine, then Hovland made up ground with three straight birdies, the final two coming after rain changed course conditions. The swing helped settle him.

“It was nice to just get completely off the golf course and reset and I felt a lot better coming back,” Hovland said. “So sometimes that’s all you need. I hit some good shots and then some bad shots and I just couldn’t quite get a flow in.”

Morikawa finished strong in his own way, posting his ninth birdie of the round after a shot out of wet sand in the bunker on the 18th rolled to just inside 10 feet. His 20-under 260 was enough for second, but he still had to wait some three hours — including the delay — before leaving the course.

“The thought of actually having a chance, waiting it out, didn’t really cross my mind,” Morikawa said. “But I told my wife earlier this morning, ‘Let’s shoot 61 and end the three-week stretch on a good note.’ And sometimes the way you manifest things works out.”

Matt Fitzpatrick shot 64 to finish alone in fourth, followed by Wyndham Clark. Clark, the U.S. Open champion, finished with a 65 after a draining week at Shinnecock Hills, but stayed in the hunt only until a shot into the water for bogey on the 17th left him three shots back.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., finished in a three-way tie for seventh at 17 under. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., finished in a five-way tie for 25th at 12 under. Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., finished 61st at 5 under.

Travelers Championship Scottie Scheffler Viktor Hovland PGA Tour playoff Sunday finish rain delay TPC River Highlands sudden death