CROMWELL, Conn. — Viktor Hovland spent Friday night talking about trust, feel and the process of rebuilding a golf swing that has not always behaved the way he wanted in recent years. That was after he shot 61 at TPC River Highlands, which is a pretty good way to convince yourself that whatever you are working on might not be complete nonsense.
Scottie Scheffler had shot 60 on Friday, because that’s what Scottie Scheffler does.
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On Saturday, Hovland followed with a 64, three shots better than Scheffler, and went into Sunday’s final round of the Travelers Championship with a one-shot lead over the world’s No. 1 player.
Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland on the 18th green after finishing their round Sunday at the 2026 Travelers Championship.
By Sunday night, after rain, a delay, clutch putts and one final Scheffler escape act, Hovland still has a chance. So does Scheffler.
After 72 holes, Hovland and Scheffler finished tied at 21 under, one shot ahead of Collin Morikawa, who shot a bogey-free 61 and waited in the clubhouse for much of the late afternoon, but is now eliminated. The sudden-death playoff will begin Monday at 9 a.m. ET.
Scheffler was not perfect Sunday. He was not clinical like he played Friday, and he certainly was not cruising. But it did feel like he was doing what he so often does, slowly tightening the tournament around everyone else. Not a knockout punch. More like an anaconda.
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The final round began with Hovland in front, but the first green changed the mood immediately. After missing the fairway, he missed a 10-foot par putt and dropped into a tie with Scheffler at 19 under. Scheffler then made a 31-footer on the fourth hole and moved ahead.
You could feel the squeeze tighten just a bite.
Scottie Scheffler on Sunday at the 2026 Travelers Championship.
But Hovland pushed back. He birdied the seventh after making bogey at the sixth, and when Scheffler missed a 7-footer for par, the tournament was tied again at 19 under.
We didn’t get the clean, confident Hovland from Friday and Saturday. But Sunday’s Hovland was competitive, a fighter, which against Scheffler is often the first requirement for survival.
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After the Norwegian missed a 3-footer for par on the eighth, it looked like he might have cracked. But one hole later, he willed in a 33-foot birdie putt at the ninth.
Norwegian fans cheered for Viktor Hovland on every hole Sunday at TPC River Highlands.
Hovland and Scheffler were tied at the turn, and TPC River Highlands, never shy about letting the leaderboard get crazy, was set for another shootout. Morikawa had already made the turn in 30. The leaderboard was littered with 32s and 33s, but Hovland had a 1-over 36 next to his name and Scheffler had played his first nine in even-par 35, so the Travelers Championship suddenly felt wide open.
Then Scheffler hit his approach at the 10th to 8 feet and made birdie to reach 20 under. Hovland found the bunker left of the green, failed to get up and down and dropped two behind. His stretch from Nos. 6 through 10 looked like a toddler had gotten hold of the scorecard pencil—square, circle, square, circle, square.
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Meanwhile, Morikawa was flying. After opening with rounds of 69, 66 and 64, he shot 61 Sunday, including a birdie on the 18th to post 20 under as the heavy rain started to soak the course. Suddenly, a player outside the final-group spotlight was sitting dry in the clubhouse with a number that mattered.
At the par-5 13th, Hovland made birdie to reach 19 under, but Scheffler answered Morikawa with a birdie to reach 21 under. Then the rain got heavier, the greens became unplayable, and the horn blew at 5:57 p.m.
For Hovland, the delay gave him a reset.
“I was definitely just in a poor rhythm there,” Hovland said. “I hit some good shots and then some bad shots and I just couldn’t quite get a flow in. So, it was nice to just get completely off the golf course and reset and I felt a lot better coming back.”
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At 7:20 p.m., the sprint to the finish, and the trophy, began.
Hovland immediately benefited from watching Scheffler’s putt from off the 14th green race past the hole. He holed his own birdie putt from the fringe to get back to 20 under.
Scheffler said the delay changed everything.
“Conditions were different, it was hard to predict how the ball was going to come out of the grass, it was pretty wet out there,” Scheffler said.
On the 298-yard drivable 15th, both players chose 3-wood. Scheffler’s pitch slid past the hole and over the back, but he chipped back to inside 8 feet and made the par putt to stay alive. Hovland chipped to inside 4 feet for birdie, made it, and they were tied at 21 under.
That became the late theme. Hovland, who had spent much of the week talking about trusting his full swing, leaned on his short game after the delay. He called his chip on 15 “wonderful” and said he was “definitely feeling a lot better after the weather delay.”
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At 16, Hovland missed left but chipped to inside 3 feet. Scheffler lagged a fast downhill putt to tap-in range. Both made par.
On 17, Scheffler had a chance to take the lead after hitting a brilliant approach from 190 yards to 11 feet, but his birdie putt caught the left edge and lipped out. They went to 18 tied.
Hovland then drilled a drive down the right center of the fairway. Scheffler overcut his tee shot onto the hillside on the right, 29 yards farther back and in the rough.
Advantage Hovland.
Viktor Hovland missed a putt on the 18th hole that would have won the Travelers Championship in regulation.
From 143 yards, after taking relief from temporary water, Hovland hit pitching wedge close, but the ball spun back on the damp green. Scheffler, from the rough, did enough to give himself a look.
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The tournament came down to two putts: Scheffler from 27 feet and Hovland from 24.
Scheffler went first, and his putt raced more than 8 feet past. Hovland had a putt to win. His line was good, but his speed was not quite enough. The ball finished short, and Hovland tapped in for par to finish at -21. Morikawa, watching on TV in the clubhead, got up and headed for his rental car.
That left Scheffler with an 8-footer to force a playoff.
Scottie Scheffler reacts after making par on the 18th green Sunday at the Travelers Championship.
More golf.
“It’s nice to be able to hole those putts, keep myself in the tournament,” Scheffler said. “Like I said, I live another day.”
He rolled it in, gave a big fist pump, and as cheers of “USA! USA! USA!” rained down, the Travelers Championship got the only thing that felt appropriate after a day this strange.
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Hovland was disappointed not to finish Sunday night, but encouraged by one more chance.
“Man, I played a lot of great golf this week, so I’m feeling pretty good,” Hovland said. “Obviously I would have liked to have gotten it done in regulation, but to have a chance again tomorrow to win, feeling pretty good about that.”
Hovland fought. Scheffler squeezed. Morikawa waited as the rain interrupted everything.
And after all that, the Travelers still was not finished. See you Monday.
David Dusek is a senior writer at Golfweek covering equipment.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland head to Monday playoff at Travelers
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