After stunning Scottie Scheffler miss, Viktor Hovland claims Travelers Championship in Monday playoff

AP Photo/Jessica Hill

Well, this is something you don't see often: the world No. 1 missing a two-footer to remain in contention for a tournament victory. But Scottie Scheffler rolled a short putt just left, and Viktor Hovland claimed the Travelers Championship in a one-hole Monday morning playoff.

The format for the playoff: sudden death on the 442-yard par 4 18th hole. Hovland teed off first, and striped a 293-yard drive right down the middle of the 18th fairway. Scheffler, whose drives had been wayward all week, matched Hovland almost yard for yard. Both players dropped their iron shots to within mere feet of the cup — Hovland six feet away, Scheffler two feet. Hovland's putt just barely dropped in the cup, and then Scheffler shockingly missed his putt.

“I hit it on my line, I think it was just a little bit firm,” Scheffler said immediately afterward. “It was one of those putts you kind of had to make, and I just hit it a little bit firm. So that's a bit disappointing … Just one of those weeks where I was close, but just wasn't quite good enough.”

The win is Hovland's eighth victory on the PGA Tour, and his first since 2025.

“It's unbelievable, especially after Scottie hits it so close there,” Hovland said immediately after the round. “I knew I had to bring in my best to have a chance to beat him an and he's certainly brought it out of me and couldn't be happier.”

Sunday's final round saw a rain delay of nearly 90 minutes when the leaders were on the 14th hole. Hovland and Scheffler had exchanged the lead throughout the round, with Scheffler holding a two-stroke advantage during the delay. 

Both had an opportunity to win outright on Sunday with a birdie putt on the 18th, but Hovland missed his attempt, and Scheffler's ran so long that he needed to hole a clutch par-saver to force the playoff. That left both players at -21 on the week, with the sudden-death showdown awaiting on Monday morning. 

Coming into the Travelers, Scheffler had won "only" once all season, with three runner-ups and 13 top-25 finishes in all 13 events he's played. He leads the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoff chase, and he's notched top-4 finishes in two of the season's three majors to date. 

Hovland, meanwhile, has struggled since his 2023 Tour Championship-winning year. Ranked 30th in the world prior to Travelers week, his best finish this season had been a solo 3rd at the RBC Canadian Open two weeks ago. He's missed the cut at the past two majors, and has five top-25 finishes in the 13 events he'd played prior to this week. 

“I know how good I can get and I keep pushing myself and I keep wanting to get better and then when I fall short it really pisses me off,” Hovland said. “I didn't get off to a great start on Thursday and I just kind of didn't let it bother me as much. Obviously it helps when you got people like this cheering you on as well,” he added, motioning to the surprisingly large Monday crowd at TPC River Highlands.

The Travelers marks the end of the PGA Tour's eight Signature Events for 2026. After next season, the Tour will radically rework its entire schedule, as it announced earlier last week prior to the tournament's start. The Tour's goal is to create more events — at least at the game's top level — with leaderboards like this year's Travelers. In addition to Hovland and Scheffler, players at the top of the Travelers leaderboard included major winners like Collin Morikawa at -20, Matt Fitzpatrick at -19, and newly crowned U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark at -18.

The PGA Tour now heads to Illinois for the John Deere Classic, and from there to its traditional two-week U.K. jaunt for the Genesis Scottish Open and the Open Championship, held this year at Royal Birkdale. The defending champion at the Open Championship? Scottie Scheffler.