Scottie Scheffler’s historic sixth win of the season at the Travelers Championship produced a nice ratings bump for CBS Sports and the PGA Tour.
The network delivered its most-watched Travelers Championship final round since 2021, up seven percent from the 2023 edition, which saw New England native Keegan Bradley triumph in front of his hometown crowd.
Sunday’s coverage averaged 2.607 million viewers and peaked with 4.330 million viewers between the 4:30 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. ET quarter hour—impressive metrics considering the PGA Tour bumped tee times up an entire hour due to pending weather. The 2.607 million viewers is in reference to the 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET window. It is also worth noting that the playoff between Scheffler and Tom Kim concluded before 5:00 p.m. ET, a full hour before CBS typically concludes its final-round coverage.
In addition, CBS Sports announced that Sunday’s final round was the most-streamed Travelers Championship round ever on its streaming platform, Paramount+. The network did not provide specific numbers related to its streaming service.
Nevertheless, these numbers come on at the end of a thrilling three-week stretch.
Before the Travelers Championship, Scheffler fended off Collin Morikawa at the Memorial, and Bryson DeChambeau won the U.S. Open in one of the best major championships in recent years.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
Welcome to Playing Through’s new morning ritual: Golf Talk Today.
Each morning will feature a Golf Talk Today, in which the crew will discuss various elements of the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and other professional golf tournaments.
Yesterday’s discussion on Scottie Scheffler and how much money he has won this year was mind-blowing, but let’s look into how massive his FedEx Cup lead is.
How much does the former Texas Longhorn lead his fellow PGA Tour players by? Scheffler already has $27,696,858, but if he were to win the FedEx Cup, jaws would drop at the amount of money he would take home.
The man already has six wins, two runner-up finishes, 13 top-10s, and 14 top-25s in 15 starts. One time in his 15 starts, he finished outside the Top 20, which came at Pinehurst No. 2 and the U.S. Open.
Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
Scheffler has fallen short the last two years in Atlanta to take home the FedEx Cup crown as Viktor Hovland won it in 2023, and Rory McIlroy took it home in 2022.
The 28-year-old contented in Atlanta but has not been able to finish the drill and hoist that TOUR Championship trophy.
Could 2024 be that year for him? With a major championship and at least three FedEx Cup playoff events, how big will that lead be?
Last year, the PGA Tour shortened the playoff field in the first event. No longer is it the top 125, but the Top 70. They will take on TPC Southwind for the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis.
The Top 50 will play for the BMW Championship and then the Top 30 play in Atlanta.
Since 2019, the PGA Tour has implemented a stroke-based system for the Tour Championship. The FedEx Cup points leader begins the tournament at 10-under and the strokes decrease from there.
Scheffler will likely head into Atlanta with a 10-under start, as he has the previous two years.
This year, the FedEx Cup winner will take home $25 million, which is a massive increase from last year’s $18 million.
2024 FedEx Cup standings (top 30)
*as of June 24, 2024
1: Scottie Scheffler: 5,768 2: Xander Schauffele: 3,257 3: Rory McIlroy: 2,445 4: Collin Morikawa: 2,241 5: Wyndham Clark: 2,088 6: Ludvig Åberg: 1,992 7: Hideki Matsuyama: 1,893 8: Sahith Theegala: 1,845 9: Patrick Cantlay: 1,717 10: Byeong Hun An: 1,620 11: Shane Lowry: 1,592 12: Tony Finau: 1,579 13: Matthieu Pavon: 1,558 14: Sungjae Im: 1,500 15: Akshay Bhatia: 1,422 16: Justin Thomas: 1,412 17: Sepp Straka: 1,410 18: Tom Hoge: 1,406 19: Russell Henley: 1,371 20: Christiaan Bezuidenhout: 1,370 21: Brian Harman: 1,362 22: Chris Kirk: 1,280 23: Stephan Jaeger: 1,207 24: Tommy Fleetwood: 1,203 25: Sam Burns: 1,181 26: Max Homa: 1,175 27: Thomas Detry: 1,173 28: Jason Day: 1,173 29: J.T. Poston: 1,165 30: Taylor Pendrith:
ICYMI: Top Stories from professional golf
Tiger Woods should play in U.S. Senior Open when ready in 2 years; could make history
Tyrrell Hatton’s LIV Golf win could propel him to Open Championship glory at Royal Troon
Olympics 2024: Nelly Korda looks to seize 2nd gold medal, set to lead amazing USA golf team
Can Tom Kim keep it rolling? Rocket Mortgage Classic betting odds, predictions, insight, more
Travelers Championship: Fans provide sensational trolling after protest invasion on the 18th
Wyndham Clark’s unexpected hot take on the Olympics will make Ryder Cup fans shake their heads
Proud Dad Moment: Brooks Koepka’s son gives Bryson DeChambeau an incredible slight
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
CROMWELL, Conn. — Scottie Scheffler will lean heavily on his caddie Ted Scott this week at TPC River Highlands, the host of the Travelers Championship.
It’s not as if Scheffler needs much help, as he has won five times already this season. But after a “frustrating” U.S. Open, in which he tied for 41st, Scheffler arrives in New England looking to rebound in the final Signature Event of the season.
“This is a golf course that [Scott] had a lot of success on, so if there’s a difference of opinion, I’m probably going to lean towards him a little bit more than myself, just because I haven’t had the success on this golf course specifically,” Scheffler said Wednesday.
“In a different tournament, I may lean more toward what I feel and think, whereas out here, he really does a good job of managing around this golf course.”
Before helping Scheffler win a pair of Green Jackets at Augusta National, Scott looped for Bubba Watson, who, like the current World No. 1, won The Masters twice in a three-year span. On top of that, Scott helped Watson win three times at TPC River Highlands, the site of this week’s Travelers Championship. Watson’s first victory at this course came in 2010, when the left-hander prevailed in a playoff over Scott Verplank and Corey Pavin.
Five years later, Watson won again, defeating Paul Casey in a two-hole playoff. He then won in 2018, winning by three, a much more comfortable victory unlike the previous two.
Scottie Scheffler at the 2024 U.S. Open.Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
Meanwhile, Scheffler’s best finish at TPC River Highlands came a year ago, when he tied for fourth. He shot 7-under 63s on Thursday and Saturday, but an even-par 70 during Friday’s round prevented him from threatening Keegan Bradley, who won at 23-under.
Before that, Scheffler tied for 13th in 2022 and 47th in 2021 after missing the cut in his debut in 2020. He obviously has had success on this golf course and knows how to play it, but after being “mentally fatigued” over the past few weeks, he can rely on his looper to get around and pinpoint certain targets and shots.
“Whatever he says seems to go for me in my head, just because he’s had the success, he has the pedigree, he knows where to put the ball and where not to put the ball,” Scheffler further explained.
“Especially when it comes to a lot of course management stuff: clubs to choose off the tees, what areas to play into, just because he has seen Bubba win here numerous times and he knows exactly how to get me there.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
Scottie Scheffler, who started the day at 5-over after barely making the cut, could have shot a 67 or even a 66 on Saturday at the U.S. Open.
He gave himself plenty of birdie opportunities, playing much better from tee to green than the first two days of the championship. But his putter let him down again.
Scheffler lost almost two strokes on the greens at Pinehurst No. 2 on Saturday, as he ranks dead last among those that made the cut in strokes gained putting. He ultimately shot a 1-over 71 for his third round, but if he had made a few more putts, he could have climbed the leaderboard into relevancy.
Instead, he missed good look after good look, leaving a frustrated Scheffler staring into the abyss more times than not. He looked lost on the greens, something we have not seen since earlier in the year—before he switched to a mallet putter ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Scottie Scheffler on the third green.Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images
His first solid chance came at the par-5 5th, where Scheffler almost got home in two. But he three-putted from off the front of the green, settling for par.
Three holes later, at the challenging par-4 8th, Scheffler finally made a birdie—his first in 26 holes, which marked the longest birdie-less streak of his career. But he gave it right back at the par-3 9th, missing a 3-footer for par.
Then, from 10 to 14, Scheffler put himself in a prime position on every hole. He had an 8-footer for birdie on the par-5 10th, and missed. On the next hole, a 9-footer for birdie finally dropped, but that would be his last birdie of the day.
At 12, Scheffler’s attempt from eight feet agonizingly slid past the hole. Had that dropped, he would have had all sorts of momentum. Then, on 13, after hitting his drive just short of the green, Scheffler could not get up-and-down for birdie, missing another putt from inside of 10 feet to settle for another par.
A bogey on 15 followed as Scheffler could not save par from short of the green. He missed another nine-footer in the process.
The World No. 1 finished with three straight pars to cap another frustrating day at Pinehurst No. 2. Perhaps he can convert some of these opportunities during Sunday’s final round, but at any rate, it will prove too little too late. He will not win his first U.S. Open this time around, despite entering the tournament with astonishingly low odds.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
