Scottie Scheffler notches fourth runner-up of season after short playoff miss at Travelers Championship

Scottie Scheffler seemed reflective in the aftermath of Monday morning’s playoff loss to Viktor Hovland at the Travelers Championship.

It had been a long two weeks, competing in the final group on two straight Sundays and recovering from the psychological warfare of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills to light up TPC River Highlands with a 64-60 start and eventually meeting Hovland for extra holes in Connecticut. Scheffler got there in clutch fashion, too, with an 8-foot par putt at No. 18 in the Sunday twilight punctuated by a severe fist pump and a match of Hovland’s 21-under total.

For Scheffler, the theme of the spring and early summer has continued: great golf, consistent golf, well-rounded golf. But someone played a bit better. This time, it came at the hands of Hovland, who drained an 8-foot birdie on the first playoff hole Monday morning before Scheffler’s 5-foot birdie attempt caught the left lip and spun out. So close yet so far for Scheffler, another week that follows the cadence of his 2026 campaign.

“Maybe I hit it a little firmer than I intended to … I hit it down my line, just maybe the speed was a touch off,” Scheffler said of his playoff miss. “It's been two really, really long weeks. Being in contention both weeks. Any time after a major championship, especially a U.S. Open, I think you're going to be pretty worn out. But … I felt like I did some really nice things this week, which I'll use that momentum going into the rest of the season.”

Since winning The American Express in his season debut in January, Scheffler has notched eight top-four finishes in 13 starts, and the Travelers marked his fourth runner-up finish in that span. The Texan notched three straight solo runner-up finishes across the Masters, RBC Heritage and Cadillac Championship, becoming the first player in the TOUR’s modern era with that distinction, but each time he was bested by a fellow member of the TOUR’s upper tier – Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young, respectively.

For periods of the week at TPC River Highlands, it felt like it was Scheffler’s time to make a triumphant return to the winner’s circle. A sub-60 score seemed nearly inevitable as he made a second-nine surge on Friday afternoon, only to settle for a 10-under 60 after two straight closing pars, one off his career low of 59 (also in New England, at TPC Boston in 2020). But on the weekend, he never reached the gear to put away the field; an uncharacteristically sloppy bogey at the 18th hole Saturday put him a stroke behind Hovland into the final round, and even with Hovland making four bogeys in his first 10 holes Sunday, the world No. 1 stayed in neutral enough for the Norwegian to stick around and eventually triumph.

Scheffler has made winning seem easy in recent years, racking up 20 TOUR wins including four major titles between the 2022 WM Phoenix Open and this year’s The American Express. His ball-striking seemed effortless, and a hot putter typically correlated with separation from the field. He’s still the same elite ball striker, leading the TOUR this season in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, and he ranked No. 18 in SG: Putting through the U.S. Open. It’s a marked improvement from his performance on the greens in 2023 (No. 162) or even 2024 (No. 77) before continuing his uptick in 2025 (No. 22) and maintaining strong form with the flat stick this season.

What is keeping Scheffler from racking up wins at the same level he did in recent years? Perhaps it’s just a matter of other elite players playing elite golf. Scheffler described Hovland on Monday morning as an uber-talented pro who also works hard, the type of player that Scheffler naturally roots for. McIlroy, Fitzpatrick and Young also safely fall into that category. If any of those four players had an off-week when Scheffler finished solo second, the world No. 1 could be amidst a five-win season as The Open Championship and FedExCup Playoffs approach.

That is not how golf works, though. Hypotheticals aren’t reality. Scheffler hasn’t won on TOUR since January, a piece of information that could lead some to believe he’s in some sort of drought – when winning on TOUR is just really, really hard.

“When I was warming up on Sunday last week, I saw him on the corner of the range hitting balls by himself,” Scheffler recalled Hovland grinding at Shinnecock Hills despite missing the U.S. Open cut. “If he's not having success, it's not because he's not putting in the work. So when you see a guy like that who practices as hard as he does and works as hard as he does, you're always glad to see those people have success.”

Hovland found his extra edge for the Travelers, and don’t be surprised if Scheffler regains his edge soon.