Scottie Scheffler drains clutch putt to force sudden-death Monday playoff with Viktor Hovland at Travelers

For astir nonrecreational golfers, a five-month spread betwixt PGA Tour victories hardly qualifies arsenic a drought.

For satellite No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, it’s agelong capable to marque radical wonderment if thing is wrong.

The Travelers Championship made that conception look beauteous silly, adjacent if Scheffler inactive has to hold until Monday greeting to spot if the drought ends.

Scheffler and Viktor Hovland finished regularisation tied astatine 21-under Sunday astatine TPC River Highlands, mounting up a uncommon Monday playoff astatine the Travelers Championship aft upwind and acheronian prevented the tourney from being decided earlier the extremity of the day.

Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler shingle hands with their caddies connected the 18th greenish aft finishing the last circular of the Travelers Championship astatine TPC River Highlands. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

The playoff is scheduled to statesman astatine 9 a.m. ET connected the par-4 18th hole. The Travelers Championship playoff format is abrupt death, meaning the subordinate with the little people connected a playoff spread wins. If Scheffler and Hovland necktie the hole, they support going until idiosyncratic yet separates.

For Scheffler, it means the winless streak is not implicit yet.

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For Hovland, it means 1 much accidental to instrumentality down the champion golfer connected the satellite aft refusing to fto Scheffler propulsion distant during a tense, rain-delayed last round.

Scheffler entered the Travelers with conscionable 1 triumph successful 2026, which came each the mode backmost successful January astatine The American Express. Of course, "just 1 victory" is doing a batch of enactment successful that sentence.

It's not similar Scheffler has played poorly this season. Quite the opposite, successful fact. The world's apical subordinate had 8 top-five finishes successful his archetypal 13 starts this season, including his triumph astatine The American Express and runner-up finishes astatine the Masters, RBC Heritage and Cadillac Championship. He finished 3rd astatine the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and tied for 4th astatine the U.S. Open past week.

Now, helium has different accidental to crook a adjacent telephone into a trophy.

But helium volition person to slumber connected it first.

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Scheffler started the last circular 1 changeable down Hovland aft a chaotic archetypal 3 days successful Connecticut. He opened with a 64, astir changeable a historical 59 connected Friday earlier settling for a 60, past posted a 67 connected Saturday that near him successful solo 2nd place, 1 backmost of Hovland.

From there, it looked similar Scheffler had a acquainted publication successful beforehand of him.

Scottie Scheffler of the United States acknowledges the assemblage aft making birdie connected the 10th greenish during the last circular of the Travelers Championship astatine TPC River Highlands successful Cromwell, Connecticut, connected June 28, 2026. (Jordan Bank/Getty Images)

The champion golfer connected the satellite had 18 holes to hunt down different trophy.

Instead, Hovland made definite the Travelers Championship would request much than 72 holes.

Scheffler, who seldom needs assistance from different players, got immoderate aboriginal assistance from Hovland. The Norwegian, who birdied 18 connected Saturday to station a 64 and instrumentality the pb from Scheffler heading into the last round, made bogey connected his archetypal spread Sunday to autumn backmost into a necktie with Scheffler.

Scheffler had a ho-hum beforehand nine, making 1 birdie and 1 bogey for an even-par 35. Hovland dropped a changeable connected the beforehand with a 36, which allowed a fig of players backmost into the tournament. Collin Morikawa changeable a 61 successful the last round, posting the clubhouse pb astatine 20-under respective hours earlier Scheffler and Hovland finished.

For a while, it looked similar Morikawa mightiness beryllium the subordinate Scheffler had to beat.

Then Hovland made his move.

Scheffler made birdies astatine Nos. 10 and 13 to determination to 21-under and instrumentality a one-shot pb implicit Morikawa’s clubhouse number. Hovland, who besides made birdie connected No. 13, and U.S. Open victor Wyndham Clark were inactive lurking 2 back, but Scheffler appeared to person power of the tourney erstwhile dense rainfall started hammering TPC River Highlands and forced a upwind delay.

Scottie Scheffler of the United States looks connected from the 13th greenish during the last circular of the Travelers Championship astatine TPC River Highlands successful Cromwell, Connecticut, connected June 28, 2026. (Jordan Bank/Getty Images)

After the delay, Hovland wholly reversed the momentum.

He birdied No. 14 to propulsion wrong one, past added different birdie astatine No. 15 to drawback a stock of the lead. Suddenly, Scheffler was nary longer coasting to his 21st PGA Tour victory. He was trying to past Hovland’s precocious charge.

Scheffler had his ain accidental to regain control, but his birdie putt connected No. 17 lipped out, leaving the 2 players tied heading to the 72nd hole.

Both players deed coagulated attack shots connected No. 18, but Scheffler recovered himself somewhat farther distant than Hovland. The American gave it excessively overmuch pace, sending it good past the spread and leaving himself 8 1/2 feet coming backmost for par.

It wouldn't person mattered if Hovland drained his 25-foot birdie putt, but it conscionable leaked wide of the spread astatine the end. That meant Scheffler would request to marque his putt to nonstop the brace to a playoff.

Is determination immoderate uncertainty what happened next? Scheffler drained the putt, gave an enthusiastic fist pump, and shook Hovland's manus arsenic the 2 astir surely exchanged "See ya tomorrows."

It volition beryllium the PGA Tour’s archetypal Monday playoff since Rory McIlroy defeated J.J. Spaun successful a three-hole aggregate playoff astatine the 2025 Players Championship past March. This 1 volition beryllium overmuch simpler. Scheffler and Hovland volition caput backmost to the 18th spread Monday morning, and the archetypal subordinate to triumph a playoff spread wins the tournament.

For Scheffler, the concern is acquainted successful 1 mode and antithetic successful another.

He has been present earlier astatine the Travelers. In 2024, Scheffler defeated his person Tom Kim successful a playoff for his archetypal triumph astatine TPC River Highlands. It lone took 1 spread for Scheffler to bushed Kim.

It's a people that has been affable to Scheffler aft a unsmooth start. After missing the chopped successful his archetypal travel to Connecticut successful 2020 and finishing 47th successful 2021, helium turned the lawsuit into 1 of his champion stops connected Tour.

Scheffler finished 13th successful 2022, 4th successful 2023, won successful 2024, finished sixth past twelvemonth and present has different accidental to triumph again successful 2026.

Pretty good.

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Still, the drought technically continues.

That's the unusual happening astir Scheffler close now.

His adust spells would beryllium career-best stretches for conscionable astir everyone else. He keeps putting himself adjacent the apical of leaderboards, keeps piling up top-five finishes and keeps making heavy Sunday runs astatine the biggest events successful golf.

But erstwhile the barroom is this high, adjacent is not enough.

Scheffler came to TPC River Highlands looking similar helium was acceptable to extremity immoderate speech of a adust spell earlier it got excessively loud. Instead, Hovland dragged him each the mode into Monday.

Now, 1 much hole, oregon possibly several, volition determine whether Scheffler’s drought yet ends oregon stretches into different week.

Either way, the larger constituent is beauteous clear.

Win oregon suffer Monday, determination is thing incorrect with Scottie Scheffler.