Scottie Scheffler entered Saturday at the Travelers Championship as a co-leader with plenty of players on his heels, but it was hard not to view him as the overwhelming favorite after 36 holes.
Then, the 37th happened.
Scheffler opened play on Moving Day in shockingly un-Scheffler-like fashion. He missed the fairway left off the tee at the 431-yard, par-4, then left a 119-yard approach way short, landing in a bunker fronting the green.
Two unspectacular shots, but it was the third that sent the hole spiraling.
Scheffler clipped his bunker shot and flew the green, leaving himself a terrible angle on the subsequent uphill chip, which he left just short and watched roll back down about 10 paces to his right.
Still in awkward position, Scheffler couldn’t get up and down, so it was a 7 on the scorecard.
Scheffler bounced back with two birdies and a bogey over the next six holes, but he gave it all back — and then some — on the par-3 eighth. He found water off the tee, then missed an 11-foot putt that would’ve saved bogey, carding a 5.
He closed with three birdies and one bogey over his inward half for a 2-over 72. At 7 over par, he’s tied for eighth, nine shots behind leader Tommy Fleetwood.