Protest & Playoff: Sights, Sounds As Scottie Scheffler Wins Travelers
CROMWELL, Conn. — Scottie Scheffler delivered the Travelers Championship with its latest signature moment.
Scheffler, the World No. 1, defeated close friend Tom Kim in a sudden death playoff to win the 2024 Travelers Championship. It marked Scheffler’s sixth win (!) of the season and came after a group of protesters stormed the 18th green.
Scheffler emerged from a jam-packed leaderboard, which at one point was headlined by all three players in the final group — Akshay Bhatia, Scheffler and Kim. They held a share of the lead (19-under) after the par-3 11th. Shortly after that there was a five-way tie for the lead (19-under) as Patrick Cantlay (through 15) and Tony Finau (through 14) joined the trio at 19-under after they finished up on the par-4 12th.
Scheffler and Kim, however, continued to score while the others didn’t. The two inserted themselves into what felt like a 1-on-1 match after they each recorded consecutive birdies on the par-4 14th and par-4 15th.
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Here are a handful of sights, sounds and observations from the final round at TPC River Highlands:
— Sure, it might be easier to watch the final round on TV, especially when the final round at one point features five players tied for the lead late. It very well could have ended up where nobody from the final group won. But what would be the fun in that? When you have the opportunity to follow the No. 1 player in the world inside the ropes, you don’t pass it up. And that’s why NESN.com followed Scheffler, Kim and Bhatia for the final 10 holes.
— The conclusion of the Travelers Championship should be remembered for the conclusion — it was won by the World No. 1, after all. But it would be foolish to think fans didn’t leave with some thoughts on the protest that took over the 18th green.
Five protesters, four of whom wore shirts that read “No Golf On A Dead Planet,” ran onto the 18th green with Scheffler leading Kim by a mere one stroke. The first protester captured the attention of everyone as he ran into the bunker closest to Scheffler while a group of others then ran onto the green from the opposite side. After those protesters were tackled and escorted out in handcuffs, Scheffler and Kim addressed their balls. But there remained a powdery substance on the green, both in white and red.
Mark Williams, director of the PGA Tour, couldn’t remember anything like it in the United States.
Incredibly, though, Kim converted his 10-footer to send it into the playoff. It would have been a very easy putt to miss given the hoopla created by the protest.
“I thought it was a dream for a second,” Kim said. “Like the security guards were tackling people and people were getting arrested.”
— The grounds crew cleaned up the red and white substance on the green when Scheffler and Kim went into sign their scorecards. The crowd absolutely loved them with cheers and chants of “USA! USA.”
— “Scottie, let somebody else win!” a fan yelled from the crowd on the par-4 17th. Scheffler, at the time holding a one-stroke lead over Kim, just hit his approach shot to within 16 feet. A made birdie putt in that spot would have granted Scheffler a two-shot lead after Kim missed his own 20-foot birdie putt. Despite reading the left-to-right line to near perfection, Scheffler left his ball inches from the left and was forced to settle for par.
— “Let’s celebrate with some Sally’s!” a fan yelled when Kim walked past after the par-3 16th hole. Scheffler and Kim stopped by the well-known New Haven pizza joint Tuesday night, and the mentions from the PGA Tour social accounts (and Scheffler’s own Instagram) gained plenty of traction.
Unfortunately for Kim, those were some of the first words he heard after he left his nine-foot birdie putt short. Kim put his hands on his knees as soon as he tapped it — he knew he left it short.
— On the same par-3 16th hole, a fan got some dirty looks after he cracked an iced coffee can when the players were approaching their putts.
— There might not be a better hole on the whole course than the short par-4 15th. Not only does it come right after no man’s land with the 12th, 13th and 14th feeling like they’re away from everything else, but it presents a scoring opportunity and a view with the water on the left. It kicks off arguably the most exciting back-nine stretch on the Tour.
“Yeah, it was a great finish. This golf course produces a lot of those, you know, the exciting stuff coming down the stretch,” Scheffler said after his round. “So it was nice to be out there competing.”
Scheffler had a 28-footer for eagle on the 15th while Kim had a 36-footer for eagle. Both recorded tap-in pars within three feet, which started their separation from the pack.
— Jokes were aplenty on the course, but one stood out among the rest: “It’s hot in there!” a fan shouted to Scheffler as the best player in the world walked into the players’ porta-potty between the 14th green an 15th tee box.
— Scheffler and Kim gave themselves makeable eagle opportunities on the par-5 13th hole. Scheffler’s 11-footer for eagle resulted in a one-footer for birdie. All three drives from the final group were quite impressive given the narrow margin down the middle. It featured a fence, which blocked off train tracks nestled on the Connecticut River, on the left side and a water hazard on the right.
— One fan followed up a sneeze by Scheffler with a ‘Go Celtics!’ cheer on the par-3 11th hole. Scheffler, a Dallas native, heard a few such comments this week and denied signing a young fan’s Celtics hat Wednesday.
— “Great work, scoreboard guy!” one fan yelled on the par-4 10th hole. That fan likely didn’t know scoreboard guy, also known as Mike Shulansky of West Hartford, Conn., had held the scoreboard for the last 23 years, starting when he was seven.
— Scheffler made the turn in the solo lead, and it wasn’t lost on anyone. Crowds started swarming Scheffler and company as they reached the eighth and ninth holes and grew when they crossed the street for the 10th, which comes before an easy-to-view par-3 11th hole.
“Holy (expletive), look at the gallery coming now,” a volunteer said as the final group walked to the eighth tee box.