That’s because Tommy Fleetwood, a virtual lock for the European squad, played those final three holes in two over par. Keegan Bradley, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, played them in one under, pulling off a stunning heist to win this event for the second time in three years.

MORE: Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer at the 2025 Travelers Championship

As chants of “USA” rained down from the Travelers crowd, Bradley beamed with pride while holding his oldest son, Logan, who was sporting a belt plastered with American flags all over it. Bradley, a Vermont native, sent the same Northeastern crowd into an uproar in 2023 with his three-stroke win but somehow outdid himself with his two-under 68 on Sunday to win by one in the 2025 Travelers Championship

“Absolutely incredible,” he said afterward. “I feel an obligation to play for the people of New England and the Northeast and represent them, and this is the best way I can do it.”

Comeback Keegan! pic.twitter.com/zihKs5mVt7

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 22, 2025

Bradley soaking in that moment at TPC River Highlands must have felt like a pipe dream after the 14th hole, where the 39-year-old had just 124 yards left in the fairway for his approach and overcooked it into a bunker long and left. His ball buried, forcing him to go out sideways, which led to a bogey. Fleetwood had just six feet for birdie with a chance to put him away.

That’s when it all began to go wrong, with the Englishman missing on the low side and settling for a par to remain in the lead. At the short par-4 15th he missed his drive well right but got a good bit of fortune with a drop off the cart path. But he’d go on to make par while Bradley holed a 36-footer for birdie to gain momentum. He found the green at the par-3 16th and Fleetwood missed long. A bogey for Fleetwood and a par for Bradley cut the three-shot cushion to one with two to play.

Matching pars at 17 kept the lead at one, a lead Fleetwood appeared destined to finally capitalise on after he split the 18th fairway with his tee shot just after Bradley did the same. Fleetwood went first, leaving his approach short and left. Bradley followed with a gut-punch approach shot to five feet.

What unfolded next was a sick-to-your-stomach scene, as Fleetwood not only came up six feet short with his birdie effort, but he left it just short of Bradley’s mark, eventually showing him the line. Fleetwood missed, suddenly putting his chances of just forcing a two-man playoff in danger. Bradley ended any hope of that with a middle-of-the-cup birdie conversion to pick up his second Travelers title and his eighth career PGA Tour victory.

Bradley’s guts and guile in front of his pseudo hometown crowd should be the main story, but Fleetwood’s latest meltdown will garner much of the attention. You know all the big ones—the missed eight-footer for 62 at the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock, the final-round 74 in the 2019 Open Championship at Portrush, the gutting loss to Nick Taylor on a 72-foot putt at the 2023 Canadian Open. Those are merely a sampling of the closest close calls of the 34-year-old’s career. Late on the back nine Sunday, CBS flashed a graphic showing that, since 1983, Fleetwood has the most top-10 finishes without a win on the PGA Tour with 41. Make that 42.

Fleetwood, of course, knows how to win golf tournaments on a high-level tour. He’s won seven times on the DP World Tour, most recently in January 2024 at the Dubai Invitational. He’s been a member of two victorious European Ryder Cup teams, going 4-1-0 in 2018 in Paris and 3-1-0 in 2023 in Rome. To those in the know, he’s one of the elite players in the world. But the narrative that he cannot win on American soil will persist among his critics.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of chat about it,” Fleetwood said afterward. “I think—I would have loved to have done it today, search goes on, I guess. When it happens it will be very, very sweet.”

Not surprisingly, Fleetwood, who is among the most lovable players in the sport, was able to not go too hard on himself in the immediate aftermath, even saying there are plenty of positives to take from the week. He’s not been in serious contention much this season, so getting there this week is a very good sign for the rest of this season. With the Genesis Scottish Open and the Open Championship on the horizon, he’ll be a popular pick to win both.

For now, however, it still stings. How could it not?

“Right now I would love to, you know, just go and sulk somewhere and maybe I will do,” he said. “But there’s just no point making it a negative for the future really, just take the positives and move on.”

As for Bradley, the Travelers celebration is on, though this victory actually could make his life more difficult. He’s fielded questions all year about the potential of him being a playing captain at Bethpage Black this September, something that hasn’t been done since 1963. Bradley has adeptly answered that question several times by essentially saying he’ll worry about that when the time comes.

Well, Captain Bradley, we are now closing in on the three-months-until mark for the Ryder Cup, so that time is creeping closer. Also, it sounds like he’s not ruling it out.

“My whole life every year I was out here I wanted to play on the Ryder Cup team,” Bradley said. “And then this would be the first year where maybe I didn’t want to. I just wanted to be the captain and, of course, you know, this is what happens.

“I’m going to do whatever I think is best for the team. Whether that’s me on the team—this certainly changes a lot of things. I was never going to play on the team unless I had won a tournament and so that’s changed, but we’ll see.”

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The U.S. Ryder Cup captain hit a dart into the 72nd hole Sunday in the final round of the Travelers Championship and made the six-footer for birdie to shoot 68 and win. Perhaps as big of a story, and much more painful, was that Tommy Fleetwood, searching for his first PGA Tour victory, bogeyed two of the last three holes to lose by … one shot.

“It was insane,” Bradley said. “I can’t believe that.”

MORE: PGA Tour names Brian Rolapp CEO with Jay Monahan set to step down at end of 2026

Bradley, the 2023 champion of the Travelers, collected his eighth PGA Tour title and took home the $3.6 million winner’s prize from the overall $20 million purse in the signature event. And now talk of him playing on his own Ryder Cup squad in September at Bethpage Black will not stop anytime soon.

Russell Henley tied for second place with Fleetwood. He called a penalty on himself Friday during the second round that ultimately cost him a chance to win. Still, his performance has him squarely on Bradley’s Ryder Cup radar.

Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy both shot 65 to vault up and into a tie for sixth place at the Travelers.

Most of the bigger names are taking the next two weeks off on the PGA Tour for the Rocket Classic and the John Deere Classic. Then they’ll start to pick up the pace again in mid-July at the Genesis Scottish Open and the British Open (July 17-20) at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

Here’s the rundown of what each player earned this week at the Travelers.

WIN: Keegan Bradley, -15/265, $3.6 million

T-2: Tommy Fleetwood, -14/266, $1.76 million

T-2: Russell Henley, -14/266, $1.76 million

T-4: Harris English, -13/267, $880,000

T-4: Jason Day, -13/267, $880,000

T-6: Scottie Scheffler, -12/268, $695,000

T-6: Rory McIlroy, -12/268, $695,000

8: Brian Harman, -10/270, $620,000

T-9: Harry Hall, -9/271, $540,000

T-9: Justin Thomas, -9/271, $540,000

T-9: Lucas Glover, -9/271, $540,000

T-12: Patrick Cantlay, -8/272, $440,000

T-12: Denny McCarthy, -8/272, $440,000

T-14: Byeong Hun An, -7/273, $360,000

T-14: Ben Griffin, -7/273, $360,000

T-14: J.J. Spaun, -7/273, $360,000

T-17: Ryan Fox, -6/274, $252,562.50

T-17: Robert MacIntyre, -6/274, $252,562.50

T-17: Matt Fitzpatrick, -6/274, $252,562.50

T-17: Maverick McNealy, -6/274, $252,562.50

T-17: Sam Burns, -6/274, $252,562.50

T-17: Aaron Rai, -6/274, $252,562.50

T-17: Nick Taylor, -6/274, $252,562.50

T-17: Wyndham Clark, -6/274, $252,562.50

T-25: Bud Cauley, -5/275, $154,500

T-25: Kevin Yu, -5/275, $154,500

T-25: Davis Thompson, -5/275, $154,500

T-25: Austin Eckroat, -5/275, $154,500

T-25: Taylor Pendrith, -5/275, $154,500

T-30: Adam Scott, -4/276, $125,375

T-30: Andrew Novak, -4/276, $125,375

T-30: Alex Noren, -4/276, $125,375

T-30: Hideki Matsuyama, -4/276, $125,375

T-34: Luke Clanton, -3/277, $108,750

T-34: Stephan Jaeger, -3/277, $108,750

T-36: Gary Woodland, -2/278, $90,500

T-36: Ludvig Aberg, -2/278, $90,500

T-36: Rickie Fowler, -2/278, $90,500

T-36: Max Greyserman, -2/278, $90,500

T-36: Joe Highsmith, -2/278, $90,500

T-36: Jhonattan Vegas, -2/278, $90,500

T-42: Collin Morikawa, -1/279, $72,000

T-42: Daniel Berger, -1/279, $72,000

T-42: Michael Kim, -1/279, $72,000

T-45: Tom Kim, E/280, $54,285.71

T-45: Shane Lowry, E/280, $54,285.71

T-45: J.T. Poston, E/280, $54,285.71

T-45: Sepp Straka, E/280, $54,285.71

T-45: Sam Stevens, E/280, $54,285.71

T-45: Tom Hoge, E/280, $54,285.71

T-45: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, E/280, $54,285.71

T-52: Cameron Young, +1/281, $46,500

T-52: Jacob Bridgeman, +1/281, $46,500

T-54: Akshay Bhatia, +2/282, $45,500

T-54: Ryan Gerard, +2/282, $45,500

T-54: Max Homa, +2/282, $45,500

T-57: Adam Hadwin, +3/283, $43,750

T-57: Matthieu Pavon, +3/283, $43,750

T-57: Cam Davis, +3/283, $43,750

T-57: Davis Riley, +3/283, $43,750

T-61: Xander Schauffele, +4/284, $41,250

T-61: Sungjae Im, +4/284, $41,250

T-63: Min Woo Lee, +5/285, $40,250

T-63: Thomas Detry, +5/285, $40,250

65: Mackenzie Hughes, +7/287, $39,500

T-66: Tony Finau, +11/291, $38,500

T-66: Nick Dulap, +11/291, $38,500

WD: Jordan Spieth

WD: Si Woo Kim

WD: Eric Cole

WD: Viktor Hovland

WD: Matti Schmid

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Wyndham Clark kicked off the Travelers Championship with a stellar six-under 64, two strokes behind early first-round leader Austin Eckroat. But instead of talking about his great round, the highlight of his post-round talk with the media was about something else he kicked last week—the lockers in the Oakmont Country Club locker room.

https://t.co/DdClg8952U pic.twitter.com/b1bkezlT9B

— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) June 15, 2025

“I’ve had a lot of highs and lows in my career, especially this year some lows,” Clark said on Thursday after a post on social media made the rounds of a destroyed locker. “I made a mistake that I deeply regret. I’m very sorry for what happened. But I’d also like to move on, not only for myself but for Oakmont, for the USGA, and kind of focus on the rest of this year and things that come up. I still want to try to make the Ryder Cup team. I still am on the outside looking in for the FedEx Cup. So I’m starting to move on and focus on those things.”

Clark’s damage at Oakmont came after he missed the U.S. Open cut, shooting eight over the first two days. A bogey on 18 Friday resulted in him missing the cut by a stroke.

Since a T-5 finish at the Texas Children’s Houston Open on March 30—his lone top 10 finish this year—Clark’s best finish was T-27 at the RBC Heritage on April 20.

Amid his struggles, Clark had to make a different apology coming on the heels of a dangerous club throw at the PGA Championship a month ago.

This is some absolute clown stuff from Wyndham Clark pic.twitter.com/UYAH0fFTXA

— Ryan Ballengee (@RyanBallengee) May 18, 2025

Clark issued the following statement on social media:

https://twittee.com/Wyndham_Clark/status/1924511085094437252

On the heels of some calling for him to be banned at next year’s U.S. Open, Clark pieced together one of his best rounds of the year Thursday at TPC River Highlands. Following a two-under front nine, the 31-year-old notched three straight pars to begin he back nine before registering a trio of birdies on 13, 14 and 15. Following two straight pars, Clark concluded his day by birdieing 18, putting him in a great position to make a run for his fourth win on the PGA Tour and first since the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

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After last week’s duel between Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy at the U.S. Open, USGA CEO Mike Whan rhetorically asked, “Anybody have any fun today?” A week later at the Travelers Championship, the same question could be posed, and the answer would be the same resounding, “Yes!”

That’s because whether it’s Pinehurst No. 2 or TPC River Highlands, great golf by great players is simply a pleasure to watch. It doesn’t hurt having a five-way tie at the top on the back nine to deliver the drama, either. Ultimately, it was Scottie Scheffler who emerged from the bunch, using the missteps of some and his own fine play to earn his 12th PGA Tour title—half of them coming this year—in a playoff over Tom Kim, who forced overtime with a 10-foot birdie putt at the last.

Turning points came quickly. Tony Finau held the lead but watched it and his chances fade with a tee shot in the water at the par-3 16th. Patrick Cantlay also bogeyed 16 to fall back. Akshay Bhatia failed to birdie the par-5 13th while Kim and Scheffler did, both with on-target 3-woods from 247 and 248 yards, respectively, that found the putting surface, leading to two-putt birdies.

Another turn came at the par-4 14th. Both Scheffler and Kim nutted line-drive tee shots that left each under 100 yards in. Kim could only make par, however, while Scheffler hit his Titleist Vokey SM9 WedgeWorks 60-degree wedge to four feet and made the putt to take the lead.

Scheffler’s 3-wood wasn’t just effective off the deck but off the tee as well. He drove the green with the club at the 283-yard par-4 15th and made birdie to stay one ahead of Kim. Scheffler’s 3-wood is TaylorMade’s Qi10 model, with 15 degrees loft but set at 14.25 degrees. The shaft is Fujikura’s Ventus Black 8X at a shade longer than 42 inches and tipped 1.5 inches.

It was Scheffler’s iron game, however, that was the true standout. Using hisTaylorMade P7TW irons based off Tiger Woods’ muscle-back blades, Scheffler missed just eight greens over 72 holes (88.9 percent) that somehow was just second-best in the field as Kim had two more.

That’s OK. We’re pretty sure being first on the leaderboard was good enough for Scheffler.

What Scottie Scheffler had in the bag at the 2024 Travelers Championship

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (Fujikua Ventus Black 7X), 8 degrees

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10, 15 degrees

Irons (3-4): Srixon ZU85; (5-PW): TaylorMade P7TW

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM8 (50, 56 degrees); Titleist Vokey SM9 WedgeWorks prototype (60 degrees)

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X X1

Main Image: James Gilbert

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Play at the end of regulation was disrupted as protesters stormed the group of Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia at the 18th hole at the Travelers Championship Sunday.

With Scheffler needing to make his birdie putt to win and Kim both his own make and a Scheffler miss to force a playoff, five individuals emerged from the crowd surrounding the 18th green at TPC River Highlands. The individuals had cans with green and red smoke, which left residue on the green, with one of the individuals running into the greenside bunker. In total five people ran onto the playing surface.

The group appeared to be environmental protesters, with four of the individuals wearing white shirts with the message, “No golf on a dead planet.” Police officers captured and escorted the individuals off the green, putting them into the back of cruisers.

The ensuing mess led to a delay as PGA Tour and course officials worked to get the green in proper shape. The crowd cheered the officers and the maintenance staff, serenading both crews with chants of, “USA! USA! USA!”

After a short pause, Scheffler missed his birdie attempt and Kim made his, forcing sudden death between the two.

Because of the mess on the 18th, officials cut a new pin position, away from the area where spray paint remained and where the individuals had trampled on.

Main Image: James Gilbert

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So, a signature event must mean a Scottie Scheffler victory, right? Well, yes. The World No. 1 captured his sixth win of the year and fourth at a signature event—Arnold Palmer Invitational, RBC Heritage, Memorial Tournament and now the Travelers. Those to go with the Masters and the Players.

Scheffler shot 65-64-64-65 for a 22-under-par total. Tom Kim made birdie on the last hole to shoot a final-round 66 and sneak into a playoff with Scheffler. But on the first playoff hole Kim dumped his approach into a greenside bunker and was not able to get up and down, leaving Scheffler with a simple two-putt par for win No. 6.

For the victory, Scheffler took home $3.6 million from the overall $20 million purse.

It’s the first time that anyone has won six times on the PGA Tour before July since Arnold Palmer accomplished the feat in 1962.

Here is the rundown for what each player earned this week.

WIN: Scottie Scheffler, -22/258, $3.6 million

2: Tom Kim, -21/259, $2.16 million

T-3: Tom Hoge, -20/260, $1.16 million

T-3: Sungjae Im, -20/260, $1.16 million

T-5: Patrick Cantlay, -18/262, $702,500

T-5: Tony Finau, -18/262, $702,500

T-5: Justin Thomas, -18/262, $702,500

T-5: Akshay Bhatia, -18/262, $702,500

T-9: Brian Harman, -17/263, $520,000

T-9: Wyndham Clark, -17/263, $520,000

T-9: Cameron Young, -17/263, $520,000

T-9: Shane Lowry, -17/263, $520,000

T-13: Xander Schauffele, -16/264, $400,000

T-13: Collin Morikawa, -16/264, $400,000

15: Tommy Fleetwood, -15/265, $360,000

T-16: Patrick Rodgers, -14/266, $310,000

T-16: Robert MacIntyre, -14/266, $310,000

T-16: Adam Svensson, -14/266, $310,000

T-16: Matthieu Pavon, -14/266, $310,000

T-20: Seamus Power, -13/267, $241,333.33

T-20: Rickie Fowler, -13/267, $241,333.33

T-20: Viktor Hovland, -13/267, $241,333.33

T-23: Sepp Straka, -12/268, $183,500

T-23: Hideki Matsuyama, -12/268, $183,500

T-23: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, -12/268, $183,500

T-23: Taylor Pendrith, -12/268, $183,500

T-27: Corey Conners, -11/269, $144,000

T-27: Adam Hadwin, -11/269, $144,000

T-27: Austin Eckroat, -11/269, $144,000

T-27: Ludvig Abert, -11/269, $144,000

T-31: Kurt Kitayama, -10/270, $117,600

T-31: Lee Hodges, -10/270, $117,600

T-31: Denny McCarthy, -10/270, $117,600

T-31: Stephan Jaeger, -10/270, $117,600

T-31: Si Woo Kim, -10/270, $117,600

T-36: Mackenzie Hughes, -9/271, $97,333.34

T-36: Brendon Todd, -9/271, $97,333.34

T-36: Matt Fitzpatrick, -9/271, $97,333.34

T-39: Adam Scott, -8/272, $85,000

T-39: Keegan Bradley, -8/272, $85,000

T-39: Michael Thorbjornsen, -8/272, $85,000

T-42: Nick Taylor, -7/273, $75,000

T-42: Will Zalatoris, -7/273, $75,000

T-44: Victor Perez, -6/274, $63,000

T-44: Lucas Glover, -6/274, $63,000

T-44: Andrew Putnam, -6/274, $63,000

T-44: Jason Day, -6/274, $63,000

T-48: Eric Cole, -5/275, $49,285.71

T-48: Russell Henley, -5/275, $49,285.71

T-48: Davis Riley, -5/275, $49,285.71

T-48: Cam Davis, -5/275, $49,285.71

T-48: Webb Simpson, -5/275, $49,285.71

T-48: Jake Knapp, -5/275, $49,285.71

T-48: Sahith Theegala, -5/275, $49,285.71

T-55: Adam Schenk, -4/276, $44,750

T-55: Billy Horschel, -4/276, $44,750

T-55: Emiliano Grillo, -4/276, $44,750

T-55: J.T. Poston, -4/276, $44,750

T-55: Thomas Detry, -4/276, $44,750

T-55: Sam Burns, -4/2756, $44,750

T-61: Max Homa, -3/277, $42,750

T-61: Chris Gotterup, -3/277, $42,750

T-63: Harris English, -2/278, $41,500

T-63: Jordan Spieth, -2/278, $41,500

T-63: Chris Kirk, -2/278, $41,500

66: Nick Dunlap, -1/279, $40,500

67: Ben Griffin, E/280, $40,000

T-68: Justin Rose, +1/281, $39,250

T-68: Taylor Moore, +1/281, $39,250

70: Peter Malnati, +3/283, $38,500

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That the coda was punctuated by a protest group storming the last hole of regulation made for a memorable scene. But dominance is rarely dramatic. It is labor and a struggle, in this week’s case through rain and delays and humidity, work that isn’t glamorous but necessary to make the important moments matter.

When things are going well for Scottie Scheffler—which, as of late, seems to be always—his performance is so authoritative and complete that it is mistaken as plodding. It’s extremely hard to make this game look easy, to consistently hit the shot that’s required, and just as importantly, to keep mistakes at bay. Scheffler’s a bit like a jaguar in that sense. He could defeat his prey by power and speed but often there is no bliztkrieg. Scheffler simply lets the hunted dream of an escape they know does not exist, wearing themselves down in the process … and then he takes care of business.

Scheffler sidestepped a bizarre fan demonstration and haymaker from friend and protege Tom Kim to capture the Travelers Championship for his sixth win of the season.

“It was a great finish,” Scheffler said Sunday off a bogey-free 65. “This golf course produces a lot of those, you know, the exciting stuff coming down the stretch. So it was nice to be out there competing. It’s great competing against one of my good buddies in Tom Kim, but it’s also very difficult at the same time. I want what’s best for him, and so sometimes it can be hard, I think, for both of us, you know, battling against each other out there. But it was a lot of fun and I’m proud to be sitting here.”

Historically, the Travelers has carved a niche for itself in being the antithesis of the U.S. Open, a hospitable place for players inside the ropes and out to detox after getting bullied by the national championship the week before. The Hartford stop is no longer the little engine that could, in its second year of signature status, yet that friendly nature and ambience remain, and what is presented here will never be confused as a USGA set-up. The scoreboard was lit up in red numbers: Cam Young shot a 59 on Saturday and Sepp Straka turned in a 61 Sunday, with seven 62s carded on the week. Conversely, there’s something taxing in keeping a foot on the pedal for all 72 holes, knowing a gettable track does not lead to much scoring variance at the top. The smallest of missteps can translate to a deficit that’s unable to be overcome, not necessarily in the amount of strokes to make up but numbers of players between yourself and a trophy.

“Yeah, I feel like sometimes in these tournaments, you really have to be on for all four days,” Scheffler said. “You have an off day, all of a sudden it’s much harder to catch up. I feel like sometimes at the harder golf courses, you can kind of fake it around a little bit for a day or two and kind of hang around and hang, but sometimes these golf courses when they’re a little bit softer and not, you know, as demanding, there’s always a lot of birdies, just because the fields out here are so deep, and once you get behind, it can be harder to catch up.”

Look no further than Sunday’s back nine, where at one juncture six players were tied for the lead. With storms the past three days softening an already-vulnerable course, the tournament seemingly promised a final side of fireworks. But, for the most part, those pyrotechnics never occurred. Tony Finau grabbed the lead at the 15th but proceeded to dunk his tee shot into a pond on the 16th, sinking his chances. Young, who followed Saturday’s 59 with a front-side 30, bogeyed the 10th and doubled the 12th. Patrick Cantlay failed to birdie the drivable 15th then bogeyed the 16th. Akshay Bhatia held his own against Scheffler and Kim in the final pairing but could not add any more birdies after the 10th. Tom Hoge and Sungjae Im made nice runs toward the end but they were too far behind when their charges began.

Scottie Scheffler joins elite company. pic.twitter.com/syqp6gRjR9

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 23, 2024

The only two who didn’t falter were Scheffler and Kim. Scheffler’s taken Kim under his wing, the two often playing practice rounds together in Dallas, and throughout their Sunday pairing Kim and Scheffler could be seen trading barbs. It wasn’t perfect golf; both had multiple birdie attempts that fell well short on the back, but there were no bogeys over their final nine holes, with Scheffler leading Kim by one going up the 18th. Kim answered by nearly jarring his approach, yet Scheffler still had a chance to close the door with a birdie putt just off the green. That attempt had to wait after five individuals emerged from the crowd waving gas canisters, leaving smoke residue on the green and trampling the putting surface. Police officers eventually chased down and hauled off the protesters, but the ensuing chaos led to a delay as tour and course officials repaired the green and wondered what the hell had just happened.

“I mean, I was scared for my life. I didn’t even really know what was happening,” Bhatia explained. “All of a sudden, four, five people come out running on the green. Yeah, I mean, it was kind of weird. But thankfully the cops were there and kept us safe, because that’s, you know, that’s just weird stuff.”

Added Scheffler: “It was definitely a bit weird. I saw one person out of the corner of my eye, and then I saw about five police officers sprinting around. From my point of view, they got it taken care of pretty dang fast, and so we were very grateful for that. It seemed to go by really quickly to us. But when something like that happens, you don’t really know what’s happening, so it can kind of rattle you a little bit, just because there’s people running around the green and there’s police officers running around the green and you don’t know if they’re peaceful, you don’t know what they’re doing, you have no idea what’s going on, so it can be a bit stressful.

Five minutes later play resumed. Scheffler could not convert his try. Kim did, sending the Travelers to sudden death. Because of the damage done around the hole, officials had to recut a new pin position on the 18th green. It proved not to matter; Kim’s approach on the first hole of overtime buried in the greenside bunker, while Scheffler hit his second to 15 feet. Kim’s sand save was not to be. An overcautious lag from Scheffler deflated whatever excitement remained.

“I fought hard,” Kim said. “That last hole in the playoff where in regulation I had the same kind of shot where I just needed to smash a wedge when the wind was up and the difference between regulation and the playoff was as soon as I hit it the wind died and a slight mishit and unfortunately plugged ball and when that happens you can’t do anything about it.”

Kim shouldn’t feel bad, for what Scheffler is doing has no present analogue, that rare talent who is judged not against his peers but to the past. Look no further than Scheffler becoming the first player in more than 60 years to win six times before July, the mark last accomplished by Arnold Palmer in 1962. And it’s not just that he’s winning, but where. There’s not much of a throughline between Bay Hill, Sawgrass, Augusta National, Harbour Town, Muirfield Village and River Highlands, only that each venue boasted the tour’s deepest and best fields. He’s done it playing hurt and coming from behind. He’s defended a title that had never been defended before. He’s played with a big lead and held off a narrow advantage. He’s gone low and had to protect par. He’s won with a pregnant wife at home and as a newborn dad. The only things that have stopped him have been an overzealous cop and newly-planted wiregrass.

He is not infallible. There was a genuine question last year if his generational talent could be kept from its potential because of the putter. But golf is not a game of perfect, and against that backdrop Scheffler’s game is as consistent and measured and total as the sport has seen in decades. Two-and-a-half years ago there were questions when, or if, Scheffler would break through to tour stardom. He’s now perched atop the game’s summit, listening to his name echo off the valley below, and there’s no signs he’s coming down anytime soon.

Scheffler continues to downplay his display, saying he has no appetite to sit back and reflect on what he’s done. The season’s compact schedule does not lend to much musing. “In terms of playing through the season, I try not to look too far into the past or look too far into the future,” Scheffler said. There’s also the unspoken acknowledgement that the worst thing you can do during a heater is talk about it, to think about what could be next and what it all means. There will be plenty of time for that down the road. Now … Scheffler has a claret jug to win in a few weeks.

Of course, greatness does not need to be spoken by the victor and is often found in the words of the disposed. A testimony Kim was happy to provide.

“I was really close, really, really close,” Kim said. “Unfortunately, when you’re going against Scottie, who I know very, very well, I knew that today I had to play really good golf and I felt like I did. It got tough out there with the wind, but I fought hard.”

Give credit to Kim. He has shown in very little time he is a fledging global superstar, and in a moment where many would have withered, he responded with gumption on the 18th. Yet after his round Kim was paralyzed in stoic acceptance. He had given his best, and it wasn’t good enough. Kim knew what the rest of golf has discovered. Drama is fun, but ultimately, it contributes to dominance.

Main Image: James Gilbert

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Sure, it’s a lot of high-level golf in a short period of time, but more than that, it’s heading to New England at this particular point in time. And we’re not referring to the weather. In fact, the Dallas resident should feel right at home with this heat wave.

Where he doesn’t feel as home, however, is with the Boston Celtics having just captured their 18th NBA title. By beating Scheffler’s Dallas Mavericks in the process. And the World No. 1 admitted to refusing to sign a certain fan item during a practice round on Wednesday. And we don’t blame him at all.

"One fan asked me to sign a @Celtics hat today, I told him no."

Dallas native Scottie Scheffler receiving some tough reminders in New England after the @DallasMavs loss in the @NBA Finals. pic.twitter.com/4xpKdfcb0p

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 19, 2024

That fan is lucky Scottie is such a nice guy. Rubbing the victory in his face like that is grounds for dismissal.

And, yes, Keegan Bradley was positively brimming on Tuesday following the Celtics victory. But it’s good to hear he’s keeping it classy. So far. In any event, good luck this week, Scottie—both with navigating TPC River Highlands and putting up with all those Boston fans.

Main Image: Ross Kinnaird

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Heading into the final round of the Memorial Tournament earlier this month, we noted how a Rory McIlroy victory would have lifted him into rare territory on the PGA Tour. A win that week would have been his 24th career tour title, but it also would have come with a $3.6 million first-place prize money payout that would have lifted him past the $75 million mark in career PGA Tour earnings, making him just the fourth player to break the milestone mark.

Well, it didn’t work out that Sunday for McIlroy—a closing 75 left him T-7—but with his finishes at the RBC Canadian Open (T-9) and U.S. Open (solo second to Wyndham Clark), McIlroy finally ran through the $75 million mark barrier last week.

Now fast forward to the final round of the Travelers Championship, where McIlroy starts the final round nine shots back of 54-hole leader Keegan Bradley. A victory would come with a similar $3.6 million given this is also a designated event … but that’s asking a lot given how far back he starts Round 4, even after making birdies on five of the first seven holes of his round to only trail by four when Bradley teed off. But even just a solid finish now would allow the 34-year-old Northern Irishman to achieve a different money milestone. You see, McIlroy right now is fourth in all-time earnings, sitting $248,530 behind the player in third place, Dustin Johnson. Since DJ can only add to his totals at majors right now, having been banned from PGA Tour events for the joining LIV Golf League, McIlroy passing DJ this weekend would leave him ahead of DJ in perpetuity.

What does McIlroy need to overcome DJ? A solo 20th-place finish earns him $265,000.

Should McIlroy accomplish that, there would remain two golfers still ahead of him on the all-time money list, both still a little far away for McIlroy to catch in the short term. No. 2 is Phil Mickelson at $96,572,310.

And No. 1, of course, is Tiger Woods, who is currently at $120,954,766. Woods passed $75M with his win at the 2007 BMW Championship, which was his 229th career tour start and his 60th career win. (McIlroy broke the $75 million mark in his 232nd tour start.) If McIlroy were to win on Sunday, he would still be $42 million behind Tiger in all-time earnings. Just how much is that in context? Well, McIlroy would have to win 11½ more designated events at the $3.6 million first-place payday to catch him.

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Sunday wasn’t so much a win for Keegan Bradley at the Travelers Championship as it was the culmination of a life-long pursuit. Yet the dream had barely set in on the 18th hole before Bradley turned his attention to another dream, one he considers unfinished business.

With his second victory of the 2022-23 season, Bradley is now squarely in the mix for the United States Ryder Cup team, ranked seventh in the American standings with less than two months to go before automatic qualification ends. Bradley has played on two American Ryder Cup teams and quickly became a crowd favourite at the event, not afraid to reciprocate the emotion and vigour of those outside the ropes. “That’s one of the reasons why I love the Ryder Cup, because you let it all out at all times,” Bradley said on Sunday.

However, Bradley has not been a part of the Ryder Cup since 2014. Asked if he’s had a moment to think what his Travelers victory will do for his chances to make the American team, Bradley nodded his head in approval.

“Yeah, I mean, it is the first thing I said to my wife walking up to sign my card: This is a pretty big step towards doing that,” Bradley said about making the team. “I’m 37 years old. I hope to play in multiple more. I don’t know how many more with everybody so good and the younger kids, just the team is incredible.

“I still got a lot to show the captain. I would love to go to Rome and be a part of that team.”

Despite ranking seventh in the current standings, a lot remains in Bradley’s path. Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are outside automatic qualifying, and both are considered near-locks to make the team. Same with Collin Morikawa. Rickie Fowler is making a viable case for inclusion. Cameron Young, Tony Finau, Sam Burns, Harris English and Dustin Johnson are other formidable candidates with recent Team USA experience.

Conversely, the projected team is short on veterans (at least in terms of age) and the status of LIV Golf members for the United States still remains unclear. Should they not be allowed—thus knocking off Brooks Koepka from automatic qualification—Bradley could find himself representing the red, white and blue.

Bradley has scored four points in seven Ryder Cup matches. He was also a part of the winning Presidents Cup team in 2013.

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