CROMWELL — Sahith Theegala’s fifth shot on 18 — a 12-foot putt — hit the left lip of the hole and rolled out. He dropped his putter onto the green and placed his hands on his hips, knowing that after his double-bogey six, Xander Schauffele only needed par to win the 2022 Travelers Championship.
Schauffele, who’d been consistent for the entire tournament, finished a champion after completing a birdie on 18, surrounded by the largest crowd at TPC River Highlands since 2019. After rolling in the 3-foot putt, Schauffele calmly exhaled and pumped his fists, maintaining the reserved demeanor he carried throughout the tournament.
Weathering the final round chaos with his 2-under-par 68, Schauffele held on for a 19-under 261 total to earn his sixth career PGA Tour victory — as well as 500 FedExCup points and a $1.494 million share of the purse.
Xander Schauffele celebrates his victory after sinking a birdie putt on the 18th hole for a two-stroke victory Sunday at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (Seth Wenig/AP)
“This is my sixth year on tour and you just know that no one’s going to give it to you. You’re on the PGA Tour. No one’s going to hand you a win,” Schauffele said. “I was very aware of that and ready to birdie the last and I thought that was going to be to get in a playoff. So just lucky it was to make me on top.”
The stage was set for the dramatic finish when Theegala drove a 277-yard tee shot onto the 15th green with Schauffele’s group following close behind. Theegala two-putted his way to birdie and a tie with Schauffele at 18 under while the eventual champion waited at the tee 297 yards away.
“In the past when I’ve had 54-hole leads or close to a lead, my Sundays feel really fast,” Schauffele said. “So this week I really wanted to stay present and really just focus on the task at hand, which was each and every shot.”
After Theegala’s group finished on 17, Schauffele responded with an almost identical tee shot — 275 yards to the left side of the green. The eventual champion’s attempt at birdie rolled inches right of the cup — one shot later he made par with his first three-putt of the tournament.
Sahith Theegala plays a shot from a bunker on the 18th hole in the final round of Travelers Championship on Sunday in Cromwell. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
Theegala birdied 17 with a 10-foot putt to take a one-stroke lead at 19 under before landing in a bunker with his tee shot on 18. In an attempt to get out of the right-side trap, Theegala made a gutsy call that didn’t pay off. His ball hit the lip and remained in the sand.
“I put a great swing on it, hit it right in the center. Just didn’t cut. Maybe it was adrenaline, squared the face a little sooner than normal. Just didn’t cut,” Theegala said. “I knew it was going to be close to the lip, but not that close. We were just trying to figure out what the best way to make 4 was and try and force Xander to make birdie there.”
On the course where he made his PGA debut in 2020, Theegala was one tee shot away from a chance at his first PGA Tour victory.
Sahith Theegala reacts to a missed bogie putt on the 18th green during Sunday's final round of Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) (Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)
The drama didn’t stop at second. J.T. Poston and amateur Michael Thorbjornsen duked out a battle for third and fourth place on the back nine. Poston claimed a tie for second after Theegala’s 18th-hole bogey.
While Poston made three birdies in his final nine holes, Thorbjornsen landed his tee shot in the bunker on 12 and in the water on 13. The 20-year-old rising junior at Stanford made bogey on each, falling back into fourth place, leaving third for first-round leader Poston.
Shooting a 265, Thorbjornsen completed the best finish in tournament history by an amateur, surpassing Jim Grant who tied for sixth in 1966 when the tournament was named the Insurance City Open and was played at Wethersfield Country Club.
“It was incredible,” the Wellesley, Mass., native and 2021 Massachusetts Amateur champion said. “It was surreal. I can’t even — like it’s better than like what I, how I dreamt about it. It’s so loud. It was very welcoming. I can’t wait to come back next year and the following years.”
Schauffele shot 126 without a bogey through the first 36 holes, which tied a course record, and entered the weekend with a five-stroke lead, also tying a tournament record.
For one hole on Sunday, that lead was lost — but, after a perfect sandstorm, Schauffele became the 53rd winner of Connecticut’s PGA event.
“After I saw what happened (with Theegala), I knew there was a chance a par would win and birdie for sure,” Schauffele said. “So I had to hit the fairway. I was so locked in in that moment to hit that fairway and swing as hard as I could off that tee. Nothing else really mattered.”