Xander Schauffele won the Travelers Championship on Sunday with a birdie on the 18th hole, edging off Sahith Theegala to earn his sixth victory on the PGA Tour throughout the course of his career.
The American golfer, who is 28 years old, had a two-under-par 68 to complete the tournament at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, with a score of 19 under 261 after 72 holes.
That was enough to upset Theegala, who lost the lead with a double-bogey on the last hole, as well as fellow American JT Poston, who tied for second with a score of 263.
It was the first time Schauffele had turned a 54-hole PGA Tour lead into a victory. However, that was only after Theegala had taken the lead with a birdie at the 17th – and then found a bunker off the 18th tee to set up a nightmare finish. Schauffele’s victory marked the first time he had turned a PGA Tour 54-hole lead into a victory.
“It’s unbelievable,” Schauffele said about the situation. I was staring at a birdie just as we were entering the playoffs. I saw that Sahith was having a little hiccup, and I realised that I had to get it into the cup.
The 15th-ranked player in the world, Schauffele won his sixth PGA Tour win in April at the pairs tournament in New Orleans, where he competed in with his good friend Patrick Cantlay.
Since the 2019 Tournament of Champions, Schauffele has not won in a single-player tour event since then.
Michael Thorbjornsen, an amateur golfer from the United States, finished fourth overall with a score of 265 to earn the title of best performance by an amateur in the tournament’s history.
“It was like a dream. “It was just insane,” he said. At the US Open this week, I believe the noise level was higher than it was the week before. It was one of a kind. I didn’t really have any concerns about my safety out there.”
Theegala, ranked No. 120 in the world, had to settle with his best PGA result, which was an improvement on his share of third place at the Phoenix Open in February.
All four South Africans who were competing in the competition did not make the cut, and their names are Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Dylan Frittelli, Garrick Higgo, and Dawie van der Walt.
With two holes left to play, Schauffele and Theegala were tied for the lead at 18 under par.
Theegala subsequently made a birdie putt from just within 11 feet at the 17th hole to take the lead at 19 under, and he celebrated by raising his fist as Schauffele watched calmly from the fairway. Schauffele was in the lead at the time.
While Schauffele made a par putt from 25 feet away with two putts at the 17th hole, Theegala encountered a fairway bunker along a steep slope at the 18th hole and attempted to blast out of it.
Instead, Theegala decided to leave the ball in the sand at his feet before smashing it out onto the fairway with his third shot and pitching to a position that was twelve feet from from the cup.
His bogey putt went wide left, and he ended up having to tap in for a double-bogey, which caused him to fall one stroke behind Schauffele, who was sitting comfortably on the 18th fairway at the time.
“I knew it was going to be near to the lip, but not that close,” said Theegala. “I knew it was going to be close, but not that close.” “I never in a million years would have imagined that I would give in to the urge to blade it. It was as simple as breaking it up into chunks.
“There was space there for me. I just cut it with a straight blade. And then from that point on, you have to attempt to create five. I came very close to slicing it again.”
After dropping his approach shot to within three feet of the hole, Schauffele was able to sink the game-winning putt and secure the victory.
“I know, and all the players out here know, how difficult it is to win, and how few chances there are,” said Theegala.
At the second hole, Schauffele suffered a bogey, but he quickly bounced back by making birdie putts from 15 and 11 feet, respectively, at the fourth and sixth holes, respectively.
At the 11th hole, a par three, he made a birdie putt from 26 feet out, but on the 12th tee, he was well left of the route that carts go and ended up taking a bogey instead.
Theegala tied Schauffele for the lead when he made a tap-in birdie at the par-five 13th hole and a birdie putt from four feet out at the par-four 15th hole. He also made a birdie from 10 feet to birdie the first hole and a birdie from 24 feet to birdie the ninth hole.