Xander Schauffele kept his poise and won his first Travelers Championship on Sunday with a two-stroke win over J.T. Poston and Sahith Theegala at the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell.
Schauffele shot a final round 68 (2-under-par) to finish with a four-round total of 261 or 19 under par with Poston and Theegala finishing at 17 under with a 263. Poston, who had a 62 on Thursday, shot a final round 64.
Theegala birdied the 17th hole and had the lead but had a double bogey on the 18th hole, allowing an opportunity for Schauffele to win. The 2021 Olympic champion birdied the 18th for the win.
“After I saw what happened (with Theegala) I knew that there’s a chance par would win, and birdie for sure,” Schaauffele said. “So, I had to hit the fairway. I was just so locked in in that moment to hit that fairway and swing as hard as I could off that tee. Nothing else really mattered.”
It was his sixth win on the PGA Tour but his first individual victory since 2019.
“But I really think this was like, in a small way, this is a big win for me mentally,” he said. “Just because I sort of had a to check myself, you know what I mean? 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.”
It was a tough finish for Theegala.
“I know and all the guys out here know how hard it is to win and how few opportunities there are to win,” he said. “That’s why something like this is really, really going to hurt. It’s really going to hurt.
But I’m just going to grow from it,” he said. “I feel like I’m playing really well and if I just keep doing the same, keep loving the game. I love the process. I’ve never loved it more than I have now.”
Final Leaderboard
Xander Schauffele
63-63-67-68—261 (-19)
J.T. Poston
62-70-67-64—263 (-17)
Sahith Theegala
67-65-64-67—263 (-17)
Michael Thorbjornsen (a)
68-65-66-66—265 (-15)
Chesson Hadley
68-67-67-64—266 (-14)
Notable
Xander Schauffele claimed his sixth career PGA Tour title, second of the season and first individual stroke-play title since the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions
Schauffele improves to 1-for-5 when attempting to convert a 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour
After making his professional debut at the 2020 Travelers Championship, Sahith Theegala succumbs to a double bogey on the 72nd hole to finish tied for second by two strokes to Xander Schauffele in his 38th start
Patrick Cantlay makes nine bogeys, a double bogey, five birdies and just three pars in the final round to shoot 6-over 76
In his third PGA Tour start, 20-year-old amateur Michael Thorbjornsen, the rising sophomore from Stanford who lives in Wellesley, Mass., finished fourth in bid to become the first amateur to win on Tour since Phil Mickelson at 1991 Northern Telecom Open. It’s the best finish by an amateur at the Travelers since 1966 when Tim Grant was sixth at the Insurance City Open at the Wethersfield Country Club.
