CROMWELL, Conn. — Heading into Sunday, golf fans were faced with a tough question to ponder: On a rain-softened course that yielded a 59 Saturday, who would go low enough to win the $3.6 million prize?
Would it be Scottie Scheffler, who had already won five PGA Tour events, including the Players Championship and the Masters, or maybe Xander Schauffele, who won last month’s PGA Championship? Those stars, along with Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau, South Korea’s Sungjae Im, and rising star Akshay Bhatia, were all chasing Tom Kim, who was trying to be the first wire-to-wire winner at the Travelers Championship since Jordan Spieth did it in 2016.
As the contenders made their way through the early holes on the back nine, the leaderboard was more packed than I-95 on Sunday night leaving Cape Cod. At 2:20 p.m. local time, five golfers were tied for the lead at minus 19, with Tom Hoge just one shot back at minus 18.
In the end, Scheffler defeated Kim in a one-hole playoff to claim his sixth tournament of the season, but the event’s final hole experienced a bizarre twist that had people talking.
Playing the final hole, Scheffler stood at 22 under, with Kim trailing by a shot. The third member of their group, Akshay Bhatia, was four shots back and no longer a threat to win. As the three prepared to putt on the 18th green, protesters ran out and threw white and red powder on the putting surface. They also had devices that created smoke.
“It was definitely a bit weird. I saw one person out of the corner of my eye, and then I saw about five police officers sprinting around,” Scheffler said. “From my point of view, they got it taken care of pretty dang fast, and so we were very grateful for that. It seemed to go by really quickly to us.”
Bhatia added, “I was scared for my life. I didn’t even really know what was happening. All of a sudden, four, five people come out running on the green. I mean, it was kind of weird, but thankfully the cops were there and kept us safe, because that’s, you know, that’s just weird stuff.”
More: Social media reacts to protestors storming the green at the 2024 Travelers Championship
After police officers apprehended the group and took them away, Scheffler nearly holed a 27-foot putt that would have won the tournament in regulation. He tapped into for par to remain at 22 under, Bhatia two-putted for his par and finished T-5, and that left Kim alone to finish. After coming up short on two birdie putts on the 14th and 16th holes, Kim, whose approach shot nearly flew directly into the hole, drained a 10-foot birdie chance to force the playoff with Scheffler.
"Protesters at the @TravelersChamp during Sunday's final round were immediately arrested by members of law enforcement. The powder on the greens was removed, resulting in no damage to the 18th green. Our thanks to the Cromwell Police Department for their quick & decisive action."
— David Dusek (@Golfweek_Dusek) June 23, 2024
“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,” Scheffler said. “So I felt like Tom and I both tried to calm each other down so we could give it our best shot there on 18.”
Replaying the 18th hole, Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player and the 2024 Masters and Players Championship winner, did what he does so often. He hit a great drive down the middle of the fairway, then hit his approach shot to 11 feet to put pressure on Kim.
Kim found the fairway too, but with mud on his golf ball, his shot from 110 yards out went into a greenside bunker short and right of the hole. His next shot ran past the cup, realistically forcing him to make a 36-foot par-saving putt to extend the playoff. He missed it, and then Scheffler lagged his birdie putt to within a foot of the cup before tapping in for par and the win.
“I fought hard,” Kim said. “I’m going to definitely look at this week as a positive, it’s my best finish of the year. Despite almost coming through, having the lead last night, I just, against the best players in the world I fought really hard.”
Scheffler has every shot in the book, but in a pre-tournament press conference, he talked about having an ace up his sleeve in the form of his caddie, Ted Scott.
Before starting to work with Scheffler in 2022 and helping him win two Masters Tournaments, Scott was on the bag for all three of Bubba Watson’s wins at the Travelers Championship. “If there’s a difference of opinion, I’m probably going to lean towards him a little bit more than myself, just because I haven’t had the success on this golf course specifically,” Scheffler said on Wednesday.
When asked if Scott had given him some extra insights this week, Scheffler did not hesitate to give his caddie credit.
“I would say it was his game plan and kind of how he liked to attack the golf course,” Scheffler said. “Bubba (Watson) obviously had a lot of success here, and so Teddy watched him win numerous times and also have chances to win here numerous times, so he knew what we needed to do in order to get in position to have a chance to win the tournament. So, we stuck to our game plan and the way that we wanted to play the golf course, and like I said, he was a huge part of that game plan.”
In conditions that made Southern New England feel like South Louisiana, Scheffler’s win came just a week after he finished T-41 at the U.S. Open, by far his worst performance of 2024. His victory at TPC River Highlands was his sixth of the year and pushed his PGA Tour earnings for the season above $27 million.
Every player on the PGA Tour wants to win, but playing on Sunday alongside his friend Kim, with whom he shares a birthday (June 21), Scheffler admitted that he had mixed feelings at points during the day.
“It’s fun competing against your friends, 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,” Scheffler said. “And then when I see him make bogey in the playoff hole, it hurts because that’s my friend and that’s not a great feeling. 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.”
Among the players who tried to keep up with Scheffler and Kim, Tom Hoge fired an 8-under 62 to finish tied for third with Im.
“To be honest, I don’t know if I really felt like I had a chance to win at any point,” said Hoge. “I felt like I was trying to make as many birdies as I could.”
Patrick Cantlay shot 65 to finish at 18 under, along with Tony Finau (66), Justin Thomas (66) and Bhatia (69).
