Weekly Fantasy Golf Recap: Viktor-y Monday

It's not as if Viktor Hovland winning a Monday playoff over Scottie Scheffler for the Travelers Championship title isn't a big deal. Oh, it is.

But when the overwhelming best player in the world, one who not long ago was being mentioned in the same sentence as Tiger Woods, sees his long winless drought extended in a tournament he was actually leading on a Sunday, well, that's a bigger deal.

Hovland and Scheffler came back on Monday morning after rain and darkness prevented a Sunday finish at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut. It didn't take long, with Hovland draining a six-and-a-half-footer for birdie on the first extra hole -- while Scheffler missed from closer -- for his first PGA Tour title in 15 months and the eighth of his career.

Let's talk Scheffler first.

He's still the best player in the world, still the best player this season, even though he hasn't won since his first tournament of the season, The Amex in January. He's had three runners-up, two third-place finishes and two fourths. But he wasn't blowing late leads in those, like he did at the Travelers, needing to make an eight-footer in fading light on 18 on Sunday just to get to Monday.

That's why this was different -- he shot 68 on Sunday while there was a 61 (Collin Morikawa), a 62 (Nicolai Hojgaard) and 63s and 64s on the course. Yes, Scheffler made that gutsy putt when most would've missed. But the old Scheffler never would've been in that position. He would've been tapping in for the title.

"Ball striking is definitely in a good spot," Scheffler said after the playoff. "That was some of the best I hit it all season, which is a good spot. Obviously I think just a little bit, a little disappointed with the results of today. But, yeah, I did a good job of keeping myself in the tournament last night, made the nice putt to close out last night, and so trying to remember that one."

Finding a silver lining in hitting the ball well but blowing a late lead? Would Michael Jordan do that? That sounds like a quote from a run-of-the-mill pro golfer just happy to be in the conversation, not one of the best of his generation, not the Great Scheffler.

We all know that Scheffler will win again. A lot. Maybe the Open Championship next month. But after seeing him dominate the way he had the past few years and now seeing this, it's hard to comprehend. It's not the same.

As for Hovland, he has been all over the map since his elite, three-win 2023 season, plagued by swing changes, swing thoughts and mediocre play. His approach play, the hallmark of his game, was ranked 18th entering the week -- great by most standards, but not his.

He had a one-week reprieve a year ago when he won the Valspar, but it didn't trigger the full return of a player once ranked third in the world. He had only two top-10s the rest of the PGA Tour season. So it's fair to wonder again what happens now, especially since Hovland had had only two top-10s all year, one of them back in February. Heck, he had just missed the cut at the U.S. Open last week, and the PGA Championship last month.

"That's one of the things that's been very difficult, especially when you've been going through some struggles like I have," Hovland said. "Some of the shots that I've seen are just like, Whoa, how is that even possible? Like, I've never seen some of those shots before. Then I've had moments where, okay, I think I'm onto something, it feels good, and then that one big miss comes back again."

That sums up the past few years for Hovland quite nicely and why it would be premature to say he's back.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Collin Morikawa
Morikawa fell into a dry spell that lasted more than two months. But a third-place finish in a Signature Event is an emphatic way to snap out of it. He closed with a 9-under 61 to zoom up the leaderboard and within one shot of the playoff. The key for Morikawa this week was his putter. His iron game was elite as always -- second in Strokes Gained: Approach -- but he piggybacked that by ranking 15th in SG: Putting, gaining almost three strokes on the field.

Matt Fitzpatrick
A solo fourth was Fitzpatrick's sixth top-5 of what likely will end up as his finest season on Tour. He ranked 17th on the week in SG: Approach and 37th in SG: Putting -- stats that hardly scream "top-5" -- yet he cobbled things together. That's one of the signs of an elite golfer -- scoring well even without your best stuff.

Wyndham Clark
Clark had every right and every expectation to have an off week following his physically and mentally grueling performance in winning the U.S. Open. But after a decent but not great opening-round 68, he finished the week 64-65-65 to share fifth place. His putter did not cool off one iota, as he led the field, gaining almost nine shots. He just won the U.S. Open on a links-like course course in Shinnecock. Can he win the Open Championship, too?

Akshay Bhatia
Bhatia had done next to nothing since winning at Bay Hill more than three months ago. He hadn't had a top-10 since. He was in contention here on Sunday until a bad bogey on No. 10 took the wind out of his sails. He played the rest of the way 1-under, but it was not nearly enough. Still, a tie for fifth after so many mediocre weeks was sorely needed.

Alex Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick's extraordinary season continued with a tie for seventh, his fourth straight top-10 in a Signature Event. He didn't even play his first PGA Tour event of the season till late April when he won the Zurich Classic with older brother Matt. Fitzpatrick ranked fifth in SG: Approach. He now heads to the U,K. for the Scottish Open and Open Championship where, presumably, he'll be even more comfortable.

J.J. Spaun
Ranked 145th in SG: Putting entering the week, Spaun ranked fifth in the field. That helped him close with a 64 to end in a tie for seventh. This was his sixth top-25 and third top-10 since winning the Valero. Spaun hasn't won a major like last year, but he is showing last year's breakthrough was no fluke.

Corey Conners
This has not been a great season for Conners, and the week began with him outside the playoff cutoff point at 81st in the FedExCup standings. He tied for seventh at the Travelers -- his first top-10 all season -- to move up 20 spots in the standings. Conners was coming off a tie for 23rd at the U.S. Open, so maybe he's started a late-season push.

Robert MacIntyre
MacIntyre had accumulated a runner-up and two T4s in the first three months of the season. And then virtually nothing thereafter, including missed cuts at the Masters and PGA Championship. So a tie for 10th -- before heading to the Scottish Open, which he won two years ago -- could be a big momentum boost.

Patrick Cantlay
Cantlay always finishes in the top-15 at the Travelers -- eight in row heading into the week -- and he did it again, tying for 14th. But not all top-15s are created equal. Cantlay started the final round in a tie for third, then rang up four bogeys opposite only one birdie on Sunday. He finished T59 the field in SG: Approach in the fourth round, and 60th in SG: Putting, in a field of 72. And next year we'll look and see a ninth straight top-15 and think Cantlay played great again. 

Keegan Bradley
Bradley was the defending champion and also the winner in 2023. But this year has been bad, and he would not have been in the FedExCup Playoffs if they had started this week. Nor was he through three rounds. On Sunday, Bradley shot a 64 to move up into a tie for 14th and, thus, into playoff position at No. 69 in the standings. He is far from secure in staying there.

Bud Cauley
Cauley, who won the Canadian Open earlier this month, tied for 14th. That's his seventh top-25 of the season, and it moved him to 28th in the standings. That means if the TOUR Championship started today, Cauley would be in it for the first time. At age 36. He might be giving Gary Woodland a run for Comeback Player of the Year.

Denny McCarthy
One of the world's best putters has not been putting at that level this season – 25th on Tour entering the week. As such, it's been a bad season, with only one top-25 and zero top-10s. McCarthy tied for 14th and ranked 10th in the field in putting for the week. He's gonna need to string together a few more of those to reach the playoffs; right now, he's in 89th place.

Brandt Snedeker
The 45-year-old Snedeker tied for 38th, meaning he beat almost half the field in a Signature Event. That will move him to 71st in the point standings. Snedeker doesn't need to make the playoffs to keep his card for next season – as a tournament winner at Myrtle Beach, he's secure – but it would be one of the best stories of the season.

Cameron Young
Young, who was playing well almost every week, now has not been playing well almost every week. After tying for 47th, that's four straight events without so much as a top-25. Young ranked 65th in the 72-man field in SG: Putting, losing more than four strokes.

Ben James
Playing in his local tournament, the 23-year-old Connecticut native tied for 62nd in his third pro start. That's 3 for 3 in cuts as a pro, including a top-25 at the U.S. Open. James curiously is taking next week off and won't play in the John Deere Classic.

Jordan Spieth
Spieth tied for 66th -- and he had to shoot 3-under on Sunday to get there. Ouch. He has missed only one cut all season and had top-25s in half of his 16 starts entering the week. But he still has zero top-10s and has fallen outside the top 50 in the standings. This is on the verge of becoming another bad season, one without a sniff of victory. We don't want to say Spieth is desperate, but he is playing in the John Deere later this week. If he plays Scotland and the Open Championship, that would be five weeks in a row.

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