The rain delay on Sunday at the Travelers Championship means that Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland will have to return to TPC River Highlands on Monday to contest a playoff.
Scheffler appeared to have the tournament in his grasp when play was halted on Sunday afternoon in Connecticut.
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The world number one was one shot clear of Collin Morikawa as the golf course dealt with a surprise deluge.
When the round resumed, it was Viktor Hovland who was able to make the crucial birdies to bring himself back into contention.
Hovland so nearly made a three on the 72nd hole to get to 22 under par. In the end, it was Scottie Scheffler who had to hole a putt from nearly nine feet to force a playoff.
The playoff records of Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland
Hovland has never lost a playoff during his professional career.
The 28-year-old beat Richard Bland on the first extra hole at the 2022 Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour.
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Meanwhile, he saw off Denny McCarthy the following year at the Memorial Tournament. It would prove to be the first of three notable victories in an amazing season for Hovland.
Photo by Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
Scheffler’s playoff record is mixed. However, he will almost certainly be the favourite in the eyes of many heading into Monday.
The four-time major champion won one and lost one on the Korn Ferry Tour back in 2019. And his win percentage has remained the same on the PGA Tour.
He beat Patrick Cantlay at the 2022 WM Phoenix Open for his maiden PGA Tour victory. Scheffler lost to good friend Sam Burns later that year at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
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Perhaps the result most significant to this week came in 2024 when Scheffler won at TPC River Highlands on the first additional hole up against Tom Kim.
Viktor Hovland will hope to become the second European to defeat Scottie Scheffler in a duel this season
What will give Hovland hope is that Scheffler’s only playoff in 2026 ended in defeat, with Matt Fitzpatrick winning the RBC Heritage on the first additional hole.
The European may also be thankful that there was not enough time to squeeze the playoff in on Sunday, with the crowds clearly behind Scheffler. His par putt sparked the USA chants that have been a regular feature of this season.
And it was the FedEx Cup leader who had all of the momentum with the putt he holed to extend the tournament.
So coming back on Monday may be a blessing for Hovland.
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