Hovland Out To Relegate Scheffler To Runner-Up For A Career Fourth Occasion At Travelers + T’ment Notes

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Champion Norwegian golfer Viktor Hovland will be determined to relegate World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler to runner-up for a fourth occasion in his career heading to the final round of the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut.

Hovland superbly countered Scheffler’s ‘moving day’ quest posting a 64 and overhaul the Texan by a shot at 20-under on the host TPC River Highlands course.

Scheffler, and seeking to end a five month victory drought, horribly missed a 14-inch final hole par putt in his round of a no-frills three-under 67 to be one back of Hovland at 19-under.

Saying that, the Travelers final round looks headed for a two-man Sunday shootout between Hovland and Scheffler given lefty Akshay Bhatia (67) and Patrick Cantlay (64) are next best sharing third on 15-under.

Hovland is seeking pro victory No. 12 and also an eighth success on the PGA Tour and, of note, three of his victories have been with Scheffler finishing runner-up in three years running to the Norwegian … 2021 and ’22 Hero World Challenge and 2023 BMW Championship.

” You know, it’s been a while since I’ve been in this position,” said Hovland.

“To go head-to-head against the best player in the world and pull off some great shots, it was just a lot of fun.

“Scottie and I have played a lot, and I’d like to think of most of the guys in this field, we are professionals, and it shouldn’t matter too much who we play with, but it does matter a little bit.

“We have a good rapport, and I think we both have a lot of respect for each other’s games. When he hits a good shot, I try to hit a good shot, and there’s mutual respect. We say, Good shot, to each other. I think it’s a really good vibe.”

As well, Hovland will have a very strong and most ‘animated’ support Norwegian ‘rowing team’ cheering him on for all 18 holes.

“The World Cup obviously brings a few extra supporters, and yeah, the (Norwegian) jerseys. Yeah, it was awesome,” he said smiling.

 

Travelers Championship – Third-Round Notes

Saturday, June 27, 2026

 Weather: Mostly cloudy. High of 82. Wind variable 4-8 mph.

Third-Round Leaderboard

Pos. Player R1 R2 R3 Total
1 Viktor Hovland 65 61 64 190 (-20)
2 Scottie Scheffler 64 60 67 191 (-19)
T3 Patrick Cantlay 65 66 64 195 (-15)
T3 Akshay Bhatia 66 62 67 195 (-15)
T5 Five players — — — 197 (-13)

Viktor Hovland (1st/-20)

  • Seeks his eighth PGA TOUR title in his 146th start; age on Sunday: 28 years, 9 months, 10 days

  • Has two top-five finishes since his last win at the 2025 Valspar Championship (3rd/2025 U.S. Open, 3rd/2026 RBC Canadian Open)

  • Holds sixth 54-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR; is 4-for-5 to date in converting to victory

    • 2025 Valspar Championship

    • 2023 TOUR Championship

    • 2021 World Wide Technology Championship

    • 2020 Puerto Rico Open

  • Would become the 10th 54-hole leader/co-leader to win on TOUR this season (individual stroke-play events)

  • At 190, sets career-best 54-hole score on TOUR (previous: 194/2021 World Wide Technology Championship/Won)

  • Sets low opening 54-hole score on TOUR this season (previous 192: Si Woo Kim/THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, Gary Woodland/Texas Children’s Houston Open)

  • One stroke shy of tying lowest opening 54-hole score at event since it moved to TPC River Highlands in 1984 (189/Keegan Bradley/2023/Won)

  • Would become the first Norwegian winner of the Travelers Championship

  • Would become the seventh international winner of the event and first since Russell Knox in 2016, ending the longest active streak without an international winner on TOUR

  • Would become the eighth international winner (10th win) on TOUR this season and second Norwegian (Kristoffer Reitan/Truist Championship)

  • Victory would come in sixth Travelers Championship start (T54/2019, T11/2020, T29/2023, T20/2024, WD/2025)

    • Entered the 2025 final round T14 and withdrew on the third hole due to neck injury

  • Leads the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (2.979) and Strokes Gained: Putting (5.780)

  • Caddy is Aussie-born Shay Knight

Scottie Scheffler (2nd/-19)

  • World No. 1 and FedExCup leader seeks his 21st win in his 164th start at the age of 30 years, 7 days

  • With a win, would become the 36th player to reach 21 wins on the PGA TOUR and move to T32 on the all-time wins list

    • Others: Davis Love III, Willie MacFarlane, Lanny Wadkins, Craig Wood

  • 2024 Travelers Championship winner would become ninth player to win the event multiple times and second consecutive (Keegan Bradley/2023, 2025)

  • Making seventh straight start at the Travelers Championship (T6/2025, Won/2024, T4/2023, T13/2022, T47/2021, MC/2020)

  • Win would be second of the season (The American Express) and would join Matt Fitzpatrick (3), Cameron Young (2),Chris Gotterup (2) and Wyndham Clark (2) as multiple winners on TOUR this season

  • Would be his fifth consecutive season with multiple wins (4/2022, 2/2023, 7/2024, 6/2025)

  • Enters the week with 34 straight top-25 finishes, the second-most in the past 40 years (most: 38/Tiger Woods)

  • Has 15 top-10 finishes in Signature Events, the most of any player since 2024

  • Holds the TOUR’s current longest streak of consecutive made cuts (78); last missed cut came at the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship

Additional Notes

  • 2021 FedExCup Champion Patrick Cantlay (T3/-15) is making his 12th start at the Travelers Championship and has eight consecutive finishes of T15 or better; the eight-time PGA TOUR winner’s most recent win came at the 2022 BMW Championship

  • Akshay Bhatia (T3/-15) seeks fourth TOUR victory and second this season (Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard)

  • Wyndham Clark (T5/-13) is seeking to become the sixth player all-time and the first since Ernie Els at the 1997 FedEx St. Jude Championship to win the week after winning the U.S. Open; the last player to win on TOUR the week after a major is Scottie Scheffler (2024 Masters, 2024 RBC Heritage)

  • Matt Fitzpatrick (T5/-13) is seeking to become the first player from England to earn four wins in a season and the first player to earn four or more wins in a season since Scottie Scheffler in 2025

  • PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai (T22/-10) is the only player in the field bogey-free through 54 holes



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