New York (AFP) – Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and Norway’s Viktor Hovland will meet Monday morning in a playoff to decide the PGA Tour Travelers Championship after finishing deadlocked on Sunday after 72 holes. Scheffler sank a clutch par putt from just inside nine feet on the 18th hole to force a sudden-death playoff as both completed 72 holes on 21-under par 259 for 72 holes at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.
“You see why he is the number one player in the world, making that putt on the last,” Hovland said. “I’m going to have to bring it tomorrow.” Scheffler fired a two-under 68 in the final round while Hovland shot 69 after a late-afternoon storm halted play for 83 minutes to help force an extra day. “It’s nice to be able to hole those putts, keep myself in the tournament,” Scheffler said. “It’s more fun when you’re making the ones to win, but to keep yourself in it is also nice. I live another day until tomorrow and will be coming out in the morning and see what I can do.”
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American Collin Morikawa, who began the day nine strokes adrift, birdied the 18th hole in heavy rain to shoot a nine-under par 61 and finished third on 260. England’s Matt Fitzpatrick was fourth on 261 after a closing 64, with Wyndham Clark, who won last week’s US Open, and fellow American Akshay Bhatia sharing fifth on 262. Scheffler sank a four-foot birdie putt in a downpour at the par-five 13th to seize the lead on 21-under just before play was suspended. Course workers pushed away puddled rain to make the final five holes playable for the last groups on the rain-softened course.
Hovland was two adrift of playing partner Scheffler when golf resumed but sank a 15-foot birdie putt at 14 to reach 20-under while Scheffler made a tricky seven-foot par putt to stay one ahead. “Conditions were getting pretty tough, but doing what I could to stay in it,” Scheffler said. “After the delay, it was hard to predict how the ball was going to come out of the grass. It was pretty wet out there. Then it got dark pretty quick.”
– Stoked for playoff – Scheffler chipped over the green at 15 and sank a par putt from just inside eight feet to stay on 21-under, but moments later Hovland — with Norwegian World Cup supporters in the crowd cheering him on — made a three-foot putt for his third consecutive birdie to grab a share of the lead. At 17, Scheffler lipped out on a birdie putt from just inside 11 feet and went to 18 level with Hovland, who made a routine par at 18 and watched Scheffler go long on a 27-foot birdie effort before hitting the comeback putt.
“To start the day, I probably would have wanted to do a little better than one-under par,” Hovland said. “When we were sitting in the weather delay, I was pretty disappointed. Felt like things had to go my way to have a chance to win or get into a playoff so I’m pretty stoked to have a playoff…I just didn’t have it today.” Hovland seeks his eighth PGA Tour title and first since taking last year’s Valspar Championship. Four-time major winner Scheffler, an American seeking his 21st career PGA Tour title, took his season opener in the California desert but has not won since.
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