CROMWELL, Connecticut (AP) – Xander Schauffele celebrated his one-year wedding anniversary on Sunday with a spectacular victory in the Travelers Championship.
The Olympic champion won with a three-stroke swing in the final hole, hitting 3 feet for birdie after rookie Sahith Theegala made it twice to get out of a bunker and make a double bogey in the front group.
Once ahead on entering the day, Schauffele finished with a 2 under 68 at TPC River Highlands to beat Theegala and JT Poston twice. Schauffele had a total of 19 under 261.
“My mind was telling me to make a good ride and then use the sand wedge or wolf wedge in there and make a bird,” Schauffele said. “Sitting there and seeing what happened was a bit of a surprise, obviously. I really had to try to focus on the task at hand.”
Theegala fired a 67 and Poston a 64.
Schauffele won for the sixth time on the PGA Tour and the second this season after teaming up with Patrick Cantlay to win the New Orleans Zurich Classic in April. It was his first win after having a 54-hole lead.
Theegala lurked near the top of the standings all day and took a lead in 15, driving the green into the par-4 hole and making a 4-foot bird putt. He overtook Schauffele with an 11-foot per birdie on the 17th, making the fist.
But the former Pepperdine star had a bogey-free round until his starting pitch left 18 and into the front of a street bunker. I needed two attempts to get out of the sand.
“Somehow my body just made it a straight blade,” he said. “I had a room there. I don’t know what it looked like, but it had space. I just didn’t think it would let me do it. But I guess the time was, and then, from there, you have to try to make 5 of them now. “.
Her 12-foot bogey putt parted her lips and she fell to her knees in agony.
“I did everything I thought I should do and it happened that all the badness culminated in a hole,” he said. “I did really well.”
In February at the Phoenix Open, Theegala, after leading each of the first three days, entered the water on the 17th to make a bogey and finished a playoff shot that Scottie Scheffler won in Cantlay.
Theegala was trying to become the second rookie to win this season, joining Chad Ramey, who won in the Dominican Republic. The 2020 Travelers was his first professional outing, but he lost the cut.
Schauffele was consistent Sunday with two birdies and a bogey in front before reflecting that score on the back.
He takes home a little less than $ 1.5 million, not a bad gift for a celebration he plans with his wife, Maya.
“It’s actually a happy birthday,” he said. “It’s my first birthday with my wife. So I’m going to try to go home and see my wife.”
Amateur Michael Thorbjornsen of Wellesley, Massachusetts finished fourth with 15 under 66.
The Stanford star was looking to become the first amateur to win the tour since Phil Mickelson in 1991. He shot a 31 to the nine forwards, including an eagle at No. 6 after approaching 261 yards in a foot of the hole. . He finished with a 66.
“I felt really good and comfortable out there, then in the end I had a couple of hiccups, which happens sometimes,” said Thorbjornsen, who added that he plans to return to college in the fall. “I don’t think it was too much. Nervous, just a couple of wrong executions.”
The best previous result from a Connecticut tournament fan came in 1966, when Tim Grant finished tied for sixth at the nearby Wethersfield Country Club in what was then known as the Insurance City Open.
Poston, who was the co-leader after throwing a first-round 62, started the day tied for seventh place, nine strokes back. He made a 64 without a bogey, finishing his sixth birdie of the day.
“I put in good, I drove well, I hit my irons well,” he said
Cantlay started the day only once behind his good friend Schauffele. But last year’s FedEx Cup champion, who had four combined bogeys in the first three rounds, shot five of them on the first nine Sunday.
He finished with a 76 and tied for 13th at 10 below.
Luke List, who shot a 65 on Sunday to finish 9 below, had the shot of the day, opening his round with an 119-yard approach to No. 1 that made a short bounce into the hole for an eagle.
Rory McIlroy, who shot a 62 in the first round, also finished 9th down with a 67 on Sunday. This was his fourth consecutive tournament for the world’s No. 2 player, who said he will not play again before the Open Championship in St. Andrews next month.
Morgan Hoffmann, who is battling facioescapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, finished 2nd in his third and final tournament of the year with a three-event medical exemption. The 32-year-old, who took several years off the Tour to focus on his health, shot a 71-year-old Sunday, and ended his morning with a bird after hitting his 18-yard approach. 2 feet from the pin.
Hoffman, a New Jersey native now living in Costa Rica, said he hopes to get some sponsorship exemptions this summer and loves golf while trying to inspire others by staying healthy.
“I will continue to do what I am doing, cleaning myself monthly, eating nutritious foods and exercising hard and I will continue to gain muscle and in the meantime I am building a wellness center (in Costa Rica) to help other people do the same. “, he said.
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