Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim toasted their joint birthday with a pizza party before the Travelers Championship earlier this week. But on Sunday, it was the world No. 1 who ruined the party for his birthday buddy.
The final round of The Travelers Championship turned out to be more a test of will than skill. Luckily for Scheffler, he owns both.
Accustomed to resting over the weekend, the World No. 1 suffered a rude awakening at the US Open last week. But on Sunday he returned to his usual schedule. 11:15: Departure of the leading group. 4:50 p.m.: weekly trophy lifting.
It’s a routine he’s gone through six times this season, twice in three weeks and four times in a signature PGA Tour event. The only new addition to the program? A wild shootout in the playoffs against his close friend.
Scheffler has a knack for emerging from a group of contenders. It’s a story we’ve seen unfold at The Players Championship, The Masters and The Memorial already this year. And while he was teeing up the 18th hole with a one-stroke lead, The Travelers Championship was going to follow the same story, until Kim broke the script.
Scottie Scheffler won the PGA Tour Travelers Championship on Sunday afternoon
World No. 1 beat 54-hole leader Tom Kim in sudden-death playoff
Kim, who turned 22 on Friday, had led wire-to-wire through the first three rounds, but seemed to be struggling to keep up with Scheffler down the stretch. That is, until the 18th.
The rising star fired a dart three meters from the hole. It was a lifesaver, a last chance to tie Scheffler at 22 under and force a playoff. Even the climate protesters who stormed the green with paint bombs could only delay it, not prevent it.
Flustered by the disturbance, Kim made a birdie putt for a four-under 66, sending the world No. 1 into uncharted territory: back to the 18th tee.
A playoff, the definitive test of will. Scheffler passed, Kim failed. The 22-year-old couldn’t replicate his life-or-death miracle when he found the greenside bunker, while Scheffler found the green. From there, the sense of inevitability descended on TPC River Highlands and took away the thrill of a surprise.
With his ball stuck in the sand, Kim could only hit it 36 feet from the pin and couldn’t roll in the testy return par putt. Meanwhile, Scheffler made his 12-foot putt and a par was enough to cross the finish line of the golf marathon.
“It was a great finish,” Scheffler admitted. ‘This golf course produces a lot of those exciting things coming down the stretch. So it was nice to be out there competing.”
“It’s hard, because part of me wants (Kim) to miss the putt and another part wants him to make the putt, and then when I see him make a bogey on the playoff hole, it hurts because he’s my friend and “It’s not a great feeling,” he added about confronting his close friend.
Scottie Scheffler won the PGA Tour Travelers Championship on Sunday afternoon
The world No. 1 celebrated with his wife Meredith (right) and newborn Bennett
The two-time major winner is pictured with Meredith and his parents Diane and Scott.
“But he should remember that putt he made on 18 because it was very special and he is a great player and a great champion.” He has a habit of making those putts when it really matters.
“I think about such a young guy who’s already won three times here and that’s what he is in the Presidents Cup. He has the right attitude to play here for a long time and he’s only 22, which is crazy.”
The final signature event of the PGA Tour season was a box-office thriller Sunday afternoon, but when the curtain fell at TPC River Highlands, the ending that unfolded was ultimately all too familiar.
The howling Connecticut crowds filling the galleries demanded fireworks. Scheffler and Kim were happy to oblige. The duo engaged in a wild shootout, avoiding birdie after birdie before finishing at 22 under par.
However, it was the patience, effort and obvious talent of the world No. 1 that won out and Scheffler claimed his sixth victory of the PGA Tour season in sudden death.
It’s a victory that puts him in good company. The list of players with six wins in a season is short. Since 1983, only four people have done it nine times; Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Nick Price and now Scheffler.
It is also one that put him to the test. Playing alongside overnight leader Kim, he and Akshay Bhatia were a shot away. From there, he began the game of chess, TPC River Highlands on the board as they matched move by move, strategically plotting their path.
Who would advance first? Who would break first? It took 19 holes, but the New Englanders finally got their answer when 54-hole leader Kim finally blinked when he really mattered amid the grueling mental challenge.
The 22-year-old sank a birdie putt on the last to tie Scheffler at 22 under and force a playoff.
Protesters storm the 18th green during the final round of the Travelers Championship
The street invaders, who appeared to be wearing messages about climate change on their T-shirts, threw red, white and yellow dust onto the golf course.
After jumping from thread to thread for the first three rounds, a $3.6 million check would have been the perfect gift to close out Kim’s birthday weekend, but her close friend turned out to be the spoilsport.
“It’s my eighth week in a row and it’s nice to know that hard work really comes to life,” Kim said after her round. ‘Yes, it would have been very nice if I had won, but it still doesn’t change who I am.
“If I win, I will still go next week and prepare as best I can.” If I don’t win, tomorrow I will wake up and try to prepare as best I can for the next event. It doesn’t change me and I feel that this year has been a lot of learning.
‘I am who I am, 10 wins on the PGA Tour, zero wins on the PGA Tour, that’s not going to change me.
“I was very close to finishing wire-to-wire, that would have been amazing, but it wasn’t meant to be and I’ll have my chances.”
Meanwhile, after shooting a 59 in Saturday’s third round, Cameron Young admitted he needed to “shoot another cheap shot” if he wanted to hang on to the coattails of Kim and company. Through the front nine on Sunday, he seemed poised to do just that.
The 27-year-old scored four consecutive birdies in the first four holes, before coming into the round at five under par for the round with another on the ninth.
The duo started alongside Akshay Bhati, who finished tied for fifth at 18 under par.
Young was driving. The only drawback? Between ninth and tenth gear, he put the gear shift into reverse. Any hope of repeating his feat was extinguished in the tenth with a bogey. They died a death on the 12th with a double. And they spent a long time at his grave on the 16th with another blunder.
All good things must come to an end. For Young, that end came too soon and at too great a cost. He finished in ninth place, alongside Shane Lowry, Brian Harman and Wyndham Clark.
As he fell out of the competition, the three-way horse race at the top grew. The standings became more clustered as Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau and Tom Hoge joined the fray.
Worrying about 22-year-olds running out of steam may seem silly, but the Travelers marked Bhatia’s seventh-place finish and when the finish line came into view, it began to show.
While Scheffler and Kim advanced, Bhatia retreated. By the time the final group rounded TPC River Highlands Lake, he had fallen into a tie for fifth place at 18 under, finishing alongside Cantlay, Finau and Justin Thomas.