Travelers Championship goes to Monday: Scheffler and Hovland in a playoff after a dramatic finish in Cromwell
The 2026 Travelers Championship will not get its winner on Sunday, but on June 29, after Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland finished 72 holes tied at 21 strokes under par. According to the official PGA Tour schedule, the tournament is played at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, in the state of Connecticut, on a par-70 course, and not in the town of the same name in the state of Iowa. The finish of the final round was interrupted because of severe weather and the danger of lightning, and after play resumed there was no longer enough daylight for the playoff to begin on the same day. According to reports from the tournament, the two players will return to the 18th hole on Monday at 9:00 local time, or 13:00 UTC, and play a sudden-death playoff until one of them wins the title.
The outcome is especially dramatic because Scheffler made a key par putt on the final hole and thereby stayed in the fight, while Hovland made up the deficit late in the round with a series of birdies. According to the Associated Press report published by CBS Sports, Scheffler finished the day with a round of 68, Hovland shot 69, and both concluded regulation play with a score of 259. Collin Morikawa, after an exceptional round of 61, finished only one stroke behind the leaders, at 20 under par, but his strong finish was not enough to enter the extra holes. Thus the final PGA Tour Signature Event of the season will get its winner only after an extended weekend.
Storm stopped the final and changed the rhythm of the last group
According to a local report by CT Insider, play on Sunday was stopped at 17:57 local time while Scheffler and Hovland were in the final part of the round, and it resumed at 19:20. The Associated Press states that storm clouds were moving over TPC River Highlands, with heavy rain and the danger of lightning, which caused the finish to be interrupted at a moment when the fight for the title was still completely open. Such interruptions in golf do not only change the schedule, but also the condition of the course: fairways and rough become softer, the ball stops differently, and shots from wet grass become harder to predict. Those changes were visible precisely in the final five holes, when both players had to adapt to conditions that differed significantly from those before the stoppage.
Golf Channel reported that the weather delay lasted a little more than an hour and came at a moment when the final group was approaching the middle of the back nine. Before the stoppage, Hovland had a difficult stretch of the round, but after returning to the course he found a rhythm that brought him back into an even fight. Scheffler, on the other hand, maintained part of his advantage thanks to calm play around the greens and a series of par saves. After both of them finished the 18th hole, tournament officials assessed that the light conditions no longer allowed a safe start to the playoff. That postponed the decision on the winner until Monday, which according to the Associated Press report is the first case of the PGA Tour stretching into an additional day since last year’s Players Championship.
Scheffler survived the 18th hole, Hovland came back with birdies
Scheffler had to play the 18th hole under pressure that resembled a putt for victory, although he was actually saving his place in the tournament. According to the Associated Press report, his first putt from about 30 feet went well past the hole, and then he made the par putt from around eight feet and tied Hovland’s overall score. That moment prompted a strong reaction from the crowd and from Scheffler himself, who after the round said it is nicer to make putts for victory, but that it is important to stay alive in the tournament for one more day. In scoring terms, that shot prevented Hovland from winning the title without extra play.
Hovland reached that opportunity after an extremely changeable round. According to Golf Channel, the Norwegian early lost part of the advantage he had after 54 holes, and through the middle part of the round he struggled with mistakes and bogeys. Still, after the weather stoppage, he played a stretch that completely changed the finish. Birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th holes brought him back into a tie, and his shot on the 14th hole after play resumed gave him a putt that reduced Scheffler’s lead. Hovland then also took advantage of the 15th hole, while Scheffler had to save par in demanding conditions.
On the 17th hole Scheffler missed a birdie opportunity that might have given him the decisive advantage before the final hole. On the 18th, he then played a good enough shot from the wet rough to leave himself a chance for par, but not an easy finish. Hovland had his own birdie chance, but his putt from about 25 feet, according to the Associated Press report, passed the hole by a few centimeters. Both players therefore finished regulation play with the same overall score, but they reached the tie by very different paths: Scheffler with a more controlled round and key saves, Hovland with a strong late comeback.
Morikawa fell one stroke short after a round of 61
Collin Morikawa was the third major actor in Sunday’s finish, although he will not play the playoff. According to Golf Channel’s report, Morikawa closed the final round with a score of 61, which lifted him to 20 under par and temporarily brought him close to the very top of the leaderboard. His series of birdies, including the finish on the 18th hole, created additional pressure on the leading duo, which because of the weather stoppage still had quite a lot of golf ahead. However, after Scheffler and Hovland returned to the course and both reached 21 under par, Morikawa remained one stroke outside the playoff.
Such an outcome shows how TPC River Highlands, although relatively short by PGA Tour standards, is capable of producing major moves on the leaderboard. According to PGA Tour and CBS Sports data, the course was set up as a par 70 with a length of 6,844 yards, which gives world-class players a chance to attack, but also punishes mistakes because of water, bunkers and small differences in position from the fairway. Morikawa’s round of 61 would in many other circumstances have been the headline story of the day, but it ended as an outstanding attempt that was not enough to continue the fight. Golf Channel states that Matt Fitzpatrick finished fourth at 19 under par, while Wyndham Clark and Akshay Bhatia were next on the leaderboard at 18 under par.
Playoff on the 18th hole and the importance of the Signature Event
According to CT Insider, the playoff will be played on the 18th hole of TPC River Highlands and repeated as many times as necessary until one player records a better score on the same extra hole. The sudden-death format in golf leaves little room for gradually building an advantage: one precise drive, one bad lie in the rough, a missed short putt or a good attack on the flag can decide the tournament in a few minutes. In this case, additional pressure comes from the fact that both Scheffler and Hovland had moments during Sunday when they looked like possible winners. Scheffler seemed steadier through most of the round, while Hovland showed the ability to come back quickly in the finish.
The Travelers Championship carries additional weight because, according to the PGA Tour schedule, it is a Signature Event with a prize fund of 20 million dollars and 700 FedExCup points for the winner. Such tournaments gather the very top of men’s professional golf and serve as an important part of the calendar between major tournaments and the season finale. The PGA Tour states in its official schedule that Travelers is played from June 25 to 29, which reflects the shift of the final decision to Monday after the weather stoppage. For the winner, the title will have competitive, financial and symbolic value, especially because it comes at a tournament that in recent years has often delivered tense finishes.
The historical context further emphasizes the importance of Monday. CT Insider states that this will be the 26th time in the history of the tournament that the winner is decided by a playoff and the tenth such case since 2004. Scheffler already had experience in a playoff at the Travelers Championship, because in 2024 he won the title after an extra hole against Tom Kim. According to the same source and reports from the tournament, Scheffler so far has a 2-2 record in PGA Tour playoffs, while Hovland won his previous PGA Tour playoff at the Memorial Tournament in 2023. Those data do not guarantee the outcome, but they show that both players enter Monday with experience of playing under pressure.
A duel between two players who marked the week
Scheffler arrived in Cromwell as one of the central players in world golf, and his week gained additional weight after an exceptionally low round on Friday. ESPN’s data on his scorecard show that in the second round he shot 60, while he opened the tournament with a round of 64 and remained near the very top before the finish. In total, by the end of 72 holes he had collected 25 birdies and only four bogeys, according to ESPN’s tournament statistics. Such a round profile explains why, even in moments when he did not have his best shot from the tee, he remained close enough to defend himself around the greens.
Hovland, according to ESPN’s scorecard, also collected 25 birdies during the tournament, but he also had six bogeys and one eagle. His path to the playoff was more uneven, with rounds of 65, 61, 64 and 69. Especially important was Saturday’s round of 64, with which, according to reports, he entered the final day with a minimal advantage over Scheffler. Although he opened Sunday uncertainly, his response after the weather stoppage showed why he remained in the fight for the title. Hovland after the round, according to Golf Channel, emphasized that on Monday he will have to bring his best game, which well describes the pressure carried by a direct duel against Scheffler.
This duel also has broader sporting significance because it is not only a fight for one trophy, but also a test of form in the part of the season in which the schedule quickly turns toward new major challenges. The PGA Tour continues the season already at the beginning of July with the John Deere Classic, Genesis Scottish Open and ISCO Championship tournaments, and in mid-July The Open Championship follows at Royal Birkdale, according to the Tour’s official schedule. In that context, the Travelers Championship serves as a turning point between the intense June part of the season and the final preparation for the summer major. A victory in Cromwell can give a player not only points and money, but also momentum that often carries over into the following weeks.
What awaits on Monday
On Monday there will be no need for a long introduction: Scheffler and Hovland will continue directly where Sunday’s drama stopped, on the 18th hole of TPC River Highlands. According to CT Insider, tickets for Sunday’s round will also be valid for Monday’s playoff, while the television broadcast will be arranged to begin at 9:00 local time. For viewers outside the United States, the most important information is that the start is scheduled for 13:00 UTC, with the note that the broadcast schedule depends on the territory and rights holder. Since a sudden-death format is played, the tournament can end after just one hole, but it can also continue if both remain tied.
For Scheffler, the key question is whether he can keep the control he showed through most of the week and avoid a mistake that could on one hole cancel out four days of steady play. For Hovland, the challenge is to repeat the energy from the late Sunday series of birdies, but without the early instability that almost knocked him out of the race. Weather conditions and the condition of the course after the storm may also play a role, especially if fairways and rough remain softer than they were before the stoppage. After 72 holes, 259 strokes and a postponed finish, the Travelers Championship in Cromwell comes down to the simplest possible showdown: one against one, hole by hole, until one of the two becomes the winner.
Sources:
- PGA Tour – official schedule, tournament status, location, Signature Event format, prize fund and basic information about TPC River Highlands (link)
- PGA Tour – official page of the 2026 Travelers Championship tournament and overview of the leaderboard, results and video highlights (link)
- CBS Sports / Associated Press – report on the finish of the fourth round, weather stoppage, scores of Scheffler, Hovland and Morikawa, and the postponement of the playoff (link)
- Golf Channel – report on the course of the final round, late birdies by Viktor Hovland, Scheffler’s putt on the 18th hole and the placing of the nearest challengers (link)
- CT Insider – information about the playoff start time, repetition of the 18th hole, tickets and historical context of playoffs at the Travelers Championship (link)
- ESPN – scorecards of Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland with rounds, overall score and tournament statistics (link)