Masters winner pulls out of Open event as Scottie Scheffler suffers £2.7m blow
Scottie Scheffler was defeated by Viktor Hovland as the Norwegian claimed victory at the Travelers Championship on Monday. Attention now turns to The Open later this month.
World No. 1 Scheffler and Ryder Cup star Hovland remained deadlocked at 21-under on Sunday at TPC River Highlands, with weather disruptions forcing a sudden-death play-off to take place the next morning. On 18, both competitors located the fairway and their approach shots were exquisite, but Scheffler missed from four feet while Hovland converted from seven. The American now intends to bypass the non-signature John Deere Classic. Numerous members of the PGA Tour's elite will have their focus squarely on the final major of the season, The Open, though one former Masters champion has determined he will not be participating. Express Sport delivers the latest from the golfing world.
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Spectators will next witness Scheffler competing at the Scottish Open, where he will probably still be nursing his disappointment after falling to Hovland - and missing out on a considerable sum of prize money. The signature tournament featured an enormous £15million prize fund this year and the champion, Hovland, departed with a substantial £2.7m.
For placing second, Scheffler had to accept £1.6m. While the two-time Masters champion holds a comfortable advantage at the summit of the PGA Tour's earnings table, he sits just £1.36m ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick in second place and could readily be overtaken should circumstances turn against him in the coming weeks.
"I've been playing golf with Viktor for a long time," Scheffler said. "He's a guy that has a lot of talent and works really hard. Those are the types of guys you like to see have success.
"It's been two really, really long weeks. Being in contention both weeks. Any time after a major championship, especially a US Open, I think you're going to be pretty worn out. But I felt like I did some really nice things this week, which I'll use that momentum going into the rest of the season."
Meanwhile, The Open will proceed without one of its regular participants, as Dustin Johnson declined to enter Final Qualifying. He has competed in the previous 16 editions of the major championship. Johnson made his maiden appearance at The Open in 2009 and has featured consistently since, but, having dropped to world No. 210, he does not gain automatic entry this year.
The American, who has survived the cut in every major thus far this year, would consequently have needed to secure his place at The Open through Final Qualifying, a demanding 36-hole contest staged across links venues in the UK, leading up to the main event.
Johnson had been scheduled to compete in qualifying, but his name has since been withdrawn from the field list, meaning supporters will not see the former Masters champion in action at Royal Birkdale.