Akshay Bhatia reacts after sinking a putt on the eighth hole during the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on Sunday, June 23, 2024, in Cromwell, Conn.
AP photo
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Scottie Scheffler holds up his trophy after winning the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on Sunday in Cromwell, Conn.
AP photo
Scottie Scheffler, right, shakes hands with Tom Kim, of South Korea, after winning the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands on Sunday in Cromwell, Conn.
AP photo
CROMWELL, Conn. — Scottie Scheffler had to wait out a climate protest on the 18th green and Tom Kim’s tying birdie on the last hole of regulation.
Those events only delayed what seems to be inevitable on the PGA Tour this season: the best golfer in the world walking off with the trophy.
Shrugging off a protest that interrupted the tournament on the 72nd hole while the leaders were lining up their putts, Scheffler won the Travelers Championship on the first hole of sudden death on Sunday for his sixth win of the year, the most in one season on the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods had six in 2009.
“When something like that happens, you don’t really know what’s happening, So it can kind of rattle you a little bit,” Scheffler said.
“That can be a stressful situation, and you would hate for the tournament to end on something weird happening because of a situation like that,” he said. “Tom and I both tried to calm each other down so we could give it our best shot there on 18.”
Scheffler closed with a 5-under 65 and a 22-under 258 total at the TPC River Highlands, and Kim matched him with a final-round 66.
Tom Hoge and Sungjae Im tied for third, two shots back, with Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, Justin Thomas and Akshay Bhatia tied for fifth at 18 under. Bhatia was also in the final group that was disrupted by the protest.
“I was scared for my life,” he said. “I didn’t even really know what was happening. … But thankfully the cops were there and kept us safe, because that’s, you know, that’s just weird stuff.”
It was Scheffler’s fourth victory of the year in the tour’s $20 million, limited-field signature events, earning him a payday of $3.6 million. He also won the Masters and The Players Championship.
And Scheffler still has two months to go.
“As much as I love him, I would have loved to take that away from him,” said Kim, who shares a birthday and a friendship with Scheffler. “But I’m happy for him, and after I tapped out, after he tapped out, he said some really nice words and it meant a lot to me.”
Scheffler had a one-stroke lead heading to the 18th green on Sunday when six people stormed the course, waving smoke bombs that left a red and white powdery residue on the putting surface. Some wore white T-shirts with the words “NO GOLF ON A DEAD PLANET” in black lettering.
They were tackled by police and taken off.
The activist group Extinction Rebellion, which has a history of disrupting events around the world, claimed responsibility for the protest. In a statement emailed to The Associated Press, the group blamed climate change for an electrical storm that injured two people at a home near the course on Saturday.
After a delay of about five minutes, when tournament officials used towels and blowers to remove the powder and any other marks that might affect play, Scheffler left a 26-foot putt from the fringe on the edge of the cup and tapped in for par.
Kim then made a 10-foot birdie putt for a 66 to match Scheffler.
“Obviously it is a disruption and you don’t want it to happen, but for me it just kind of slowed things down,” Kim said. “It took the meaning of the putt away for a second. Because for the past 17 and a half holes all you’re thinking about is golf, and suddenly when that happens your mind goes into a complete — like, you’re almost not even playing golf anymore. I thought it was a dream for a second.”
The hole location on the 18th was moved for the playoff to avoid the parts of the green affected by the protesters.
Scheffler hit his approach in the playoff to 11 feet while Kim found a greenside bunker. Kim’s blast from a plugged lie ran 36 feet past the hole, leaving Scheffler with an easy two-putt par for the victory. Afterward, his wife, Meredith, met him on the green, carrying their 6-week-old son, Bennett.
“It’s fun competing against your friends,” Scheffler said. “But at the same time, it’s difficult. Because part of me wants him to miss the putt and part of me wants him to make the putt. … But he should remember that putt he made on 18, because it was pretty special. And he’s a great player and a great champion.”
Coming off a tie for 41st in the U.S. Open – by far his worst finish of the year — Scheffler trailed Kim by three strokes after the first round, by two after the second round and by one heading to the tee on Sunday.
Scheffler took a one-shot lead over Kim with three straight birdies on Nos. 13-15 — he had putts for eagle on two of them. While Hoge signed for a 62 to finish at 20 under, and Im joined him there, Scheffler and Kim matched pars over the next two holes to set up the surprising finish.
Scheffler and Kim share a June 21 birthday — Scheffler is six years older — and they celebrated with New Haven pizza before the tournament about 30 miles north. The Dallas-area residents played together in the final group on Sunday, chatting and joking around.
But only one of them could hold the trophy at the end.
And just like it’s been so often, it was Scheffler.
Kim said being in a pack of leaders with his birthday buddy allowed him to focus on his own game.
“You don’t need to worry about him, because he’s going to play well,” Kim said. “Obviously he’s a phenomenal player, world No. 1, all those titles. But at the same time for me he’s just Scottie Scheffler, he’s just a good friend.
“To come down with someone that I play a lot of golf with, who beats me a lot at home — and, unfortunately, he beat me in the playoff too,” Kim said. “But it definitely made it a lot more enjoyable out there.”
LIV GOLF LEAGUE
COLLEGE GROVE, Tenn. — Tyrrell Hatton won the inaugural LIV Golf Nashville on Sunday, easily holding off Jon Rahm and two-time U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau for the Englishman’s first victory since January 2021 at Abu Dhabi.
Hatton took a three-stroke lead into the round, and shot a 6-under 65 to polish off a six-stroke win over Sam Horsfield at The Grove.
This was Hatton’s ninth event since joining LIV Golf, and a tie for fourth had been his best finish. His lone PGA Tour victory was the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational. With captain Rahm shooting a 68, Hatton helped Legion XIII also win its third team title.
Rahm played his first event since an infection on his left foot kept him out of the U.S. Open after withdrawing from LIV Golf Houston during the second round. He tied for third with DeChambeau (68), Joaquin Niemann (62) and Lee Westwood (66).
EUROPEAN TOUR
AMSTERDAM — Guido Migliozzi of Italy holed a 7-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th and then birdied it twice more in sudden death to win the KLM Open in a three-man playoff on Sunday.
Migliozzi birdied two of his last three holes for a 1-under 70, joining Marcus Kinhult of Sweden and Joe Dean of England, who earlier birdied the 18th and each posted a 68.
All three players birdied the 18th on the first playoff hole, but the Italian was the only player who managed birdie on the second extra hole, two-putting from about 60 feet for his first European tour victory in nearly two years.
Migliozzi and Dean earned the two spots available for the British Open next month at Royal Troon through the Open Qualifying Series. Dean earned the exemption over Kinhult based on a better world ranking.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
ENDICOTT, N.Y. — Padraig Harrington won the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open for the third consecutive year on Sunday, making a key par save on the par-3 17th to hold on for a 4-under 68 and a one-shot victory over Mike Weir.
Weir was playing two groups ahead of Harrington and closed within one shot by making birdie on the 17th hole. Harrington missed the green to the right and faced a difficult lie, with the ball sitting down on a slight slope.
He chipped it about 8 feet past the hole and made the par putt, and then closed out with a par on the 18th at En-Joie Golf Club to finish at 15-under 201.
The victory comes one week after Harrington was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame during the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
Weir closed with a 67. Ken Duke (68), Mark Hensby (66) and Ken Tanigawa (70) tied for third, two shots behind. Tanigawa was part of a three-way tie for the 36-hole lead with Harrington and Stephen Ames.
KORN FERRY TOUR
NORMAN, Okla. — John Pak capped off his first Korn Ferry Tour victory on Sunday when he closed with a 2-under 70 for a three-shot victory in the inaugural Compliance Solutions Championship.
Pak had a seven-shot lead going into the final round thanks to a 65 on Saturday. He responded to an early bogey with a birdie, played the front nine of the Jimmie Austin OU course even, and played bogey-free on the back nine with birdies on both the par 5s.
Jackson Suber, the alternate who replaced an injured Jon Rahm at the U.S. Open and then made the cut, closed with a 63 to finish alone in second and move to No. 22 on the points list.
Steven Fish (67) finished alone in third.
Pak, who swept all the college awards in 2021 as a senior at Florida State, finished at 23-under 265 and moved from No. 51 to No. 9 on the points list.
OTHER TOURS
Soo Bin Joo shot 3-under 69 on Sunday and won the Island Resort Championship in an Epson Tour event that was reduced to 36 holes because of rain. Former LSU star Ingrid Lindblad had a 66 and was among five players who tied for second. … Ryo Ishikawa closed with a 4-under 68 for a one-shot victory in the Japan Players Championship, his 19th career victory on the Japan Golf Tour. … Minkyu Kim won the Kolon Korea Open for the second time with a 5-under 66, giving him a three-shot victory over Younghan Song. Kim and Song each earned a spot in the British Open through the Open Qualifying Series. … Frederik Kjettrup of Denmark won in his second start as a pro when the Florida State alum closed with a 2-under 68 for a one-shot victory in The Beachlands Victoria Open in Canada on the PGA Tour Americas. … John Parry won his third Challenge Tour title when he closed with a 2-under 68 and won the first hole of a playoff with a par to defeat Per Langfors in the Blot Open de Bretagne. … Marta Martin of Spain closed with a 9-under 63 for a four-shot victory over Rosie Davies in the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour. … Sakura Koiwai won for the second time this year on the Japan LPGA with a 7-under 65 for a six-shot victory in the Earth Mondahmin Cup. … Hungkyung Park closed with a 2-under 70 and won a three-way playoff on the fourth extra hole to capture the Hankyung Ladies Cup on the Korea LPGA.