Scottie Scheffler had the Travelers Championship sitting right in front of him.
Then, from almost nothing, it was gone.
The world No. 1 missed a short birdie putt on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff Monday morning at TPC River Highlands, opening the door for Viktor Hovland to steal a dramatic Travelers Championship win in Cromwell, Conn.
Scheffler and Hovland had finished 72 holes tied at 21-under Sunday before weather and darkness pushed the playoff into Monday.
When play resumed, Scheffler appeared to have done the hard part.
He found the fairway on the 18th, fired his approach inside Hovland’s and left himself the type of putt that usually feels automatic for the best player in the world.
Hovland had other ideas.
The Norwegian answered by knocking in his birdie putt first, forcing Scheffler to make his to keep the playoff alive.
Scheffler’s attempt slid past the cup.
Just like that, Hovland had his eighth PGA Tour title and his first win since the 2025 Valspar Championship.
“Winning in the playoff against Scottie — best player in the world — that was pretty satisfying,” Hovland said.
Scheffler, meanwhile, was left with the rare sight of a short missed putt at the worst possible time.
“Maybe I hit it a little firmer than I intended to,” said Scheffler, whose putting cost him in the final round of the U.S. Open. “It looked like it got pretty far by the hole and I was playing it outside the hole, so I hit it down my line, just maybe the speed was a touch off.”
The final miss will be the moment everyone remembers, but Hovland had already done enough to make Scheffler uncomfortable.
He stayed within range through a stop-start Sunday, battled back after the delay and forced the world’s top-ranked player to earn everything. When the tournament came down to one putt each, Hovland made his and Scheffler did not.
For Hovland, it was a statement win just weeks before the British Open.
For Scheffler, it was a brutal finish to a tournament he looked ready to take.
