Schauffele wins Travelers Championship

Jun. 27—CROMWELL — Xander Schauffele was feeling like one of the old guys on the PGA Tour late Sunday afternoon, not a 28-year-old with five Tour wins and an Olympic gold medal on his resume.

But though he had led outright or shared the lead for the past 48 hours since just past the midway point of his second round, he had been passed in the stretch run of the Travelers Championship by 24-year-old rookie Sahith Theegala. Earlier he had heard the roars around TPC River Highlands for 20-year-old amateur Michael Thorbjornsen.

"There's been a lot of talk about where golf is right now, sort of some can say the fracturing of our game, but the future's bright," Schauffele said. "I've got all these young guys winning around me and that just motivates me to push harder and be better."

He saved his best for last.

Schauffele's birdie on the 72nd hole combined with a double-bogey from Theegala accounted for a decisive swing that gave the San Diego native a two-stroke win and the champion's prize of $1,494,000.

His final round of 2-under-pat 68 gave him a total of 19-under 261. His was first Tour victory in five when holding or sharing the lead entering the final round.

"I think in the past when I had 54-hole leads or was close to the lead, my Sundays would feel really fast," Schauffele said. "And I'd be kind of sitting back in the hotel or at a house on Sunday sort of thinking, 'What happened today?'

"So this week I wanted to stay present and really just focus on the task at hand, which was each and every shot. And I told Austin (his caddy Kaiser) to hold me accountable on the first hole walking up there and he did a really great job. Both of us were pretty much dialed in from the first hole."

Theegala shot 3-under 67 Sunday and shared second with J.T. Poston at 17-under 263. Poston fired a final-round 64. Thorbjornsen pulled within one of the lead on the back nine as he looked to become the first amateur to win on Tour since Phil Mickelson in 1991. The Stanford University student from Wellesley, Massachusetts finished with a 66 to take sole possession of fourth place at 15-under 265, the best finish for an amateur in tournament history.

The win was Schauffele's second of the year as he captured the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event with Patrick Cantlay. His last individual victory was at 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions.

"In a small way, this is a big win for me mentally," Schauffele said. "When you've been out here and things are going easy you just expect to play well all the time. Sometimes it's good to take a step back and I thought I did that this week. I don't know if that's the reason I won, but it definitely made me feel more comfortable and helped my process throughout the week."

Schauffele took the lead Friday from Rory McIlroy after McIlroy, playing in the group, behind him, made a quadruple bogey 8 on the 12th hole. His lead was five at Friday's midway point and one going into Sunday.

He stretched it back to three after six holes before Thorbjornsen went 6-under in a six-hole stretch to pull within one. Schauffele went back up by three with seven holes to go and then Theegala made his charge.

The Pepperdine University graduate from Orange, California caught Schauffele at 18-under with a birdie on the short par-4 15th and with Schauffele watching from the fairway made an 11-foot putt for birdie and the lead on No. 17.

But Theegala's drive on 18 went left and into a bunker. His first try at an approach hit the lip and rolled back to his feet. His next shot went only about 50 yards and an approach from 75 yards away landed 12 feet from the cup. The putt for bogey and a tie hit the left side of the cup and rimmed out.

"I knew exactly where we stood," Theegala said. "Never in a million years did I think I would allow myself to blade it. All I had to do was chunk it. I don't know how it looked, but I had room there. Then from there it's like, 'I've got to try and make five now.' I hit a perfect putt. Somehow it just broke left at the end and lipped out there."

Schauffele watched the drama unfold from the tee and was able to maintain his focus and concentrate on his job at hand.

"That's probably something that's been more developed over time," Schauffele said. "I haven't really had a hard time focusing growing up. My wife tells me I'm the worst multi-tasker on the planet. That usually bodes well if you can focus on one thing."

A perfect tee shot led to a 105-yard approach that ended three feet from the cup.

Having two putts to win, he needed only one.

"This is my sixth year on Tour and you just know that no one's going to give it to you, not out here on the PGA Tour," Schauffele said. "I was very aware of that and ready to birdie the last and I thought that was going to get me in a playoff. So, just lucky it was to put me on top."

Chesson Hadley was fifth at 14-under 266 while Kevin Kisner and Kevin Mitchell tied for sixth at 268, Nick Hardy, Brian Harman, and 2019 champion Chez Reavie rounded out the top 10 by tying for eighth at 269.

Defending champion Harris English shot 1-over 71 Sunday to finish at 9-under 271.

After wrapping up his post-tournament commitments, Schauffele headed out to see his wife Maya Lowe. The couple celebrated their first anniversary Sunday.

"This feels good," he said with a smile.

Winning never gets old.

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