$30m showdown grinds to halt in ugly 18th hole scenes; wild 62-yr first confirmed: PGA Wrap

World number one Scottie Scheffler parred the first playoff hole to beat Tom Kim at the protest-hit Travelers Championship title on Sunday, claiming his sixth US PGA Tour title of the year.

Scheffler is the first player since Arnold Palmer in 1962 to pile up six wins before July 1 on the PGA Tour, a haul that included his second Masters crown in April.

Making the run all the more remarkable is the high profile of the tournaments he’s won: Four of Scheffler’s wins have come at ‘Signature Events’, one at the Masters, and another at golf’s unofficial fifth major, the Players.

Scottie Scheffler’s 2024 wins (all figures in AUD)

Arnold Palmer Invitational: $6m

Players Championship: $6.8m

The Masters: $5.4m

RBC Heritage: $5.4m

Memorial Tournament: $6m

Travelers Championship: $5.4m

Total: $35m

“It’s pretty special,” Scheffler said.

“It’s been a great season. I’ve been fortunate to come away with some wins and it’s been a lot of fun.

“Tom played his heart out today,” Scheffler added.

“It was fun battling with him.”

He grabbed the win with a bogey-free five-under par 65 for 22-under 258, maintaining his composure after Kim birdied the 72nd hole to force the playoff shrugging off a spell of confusion as a handful of climate protesters ran onto the 18th green with canisters spraying coloured smoke.

“Fortunately for Tom and me, we’re great friends so we were able to kind of sit there and really relax each other,” Scheffler said of the “confusing” protest.

“You don’t really understand the situation. There’s people running around everywhere and you don’t really know what’s going to happen. Fortunately the police did a great job getting everything in order very quickly.”

Kim, who started the day at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, with a one-shot lead, fired a final round 66.