‘Try to keep it out of the left bunker’: Scottie Scheffler shares his strategy for the 18th hole at the TPC Highlands

Scottie Scheffler is gearing up to defend his title this week at the Travelers Championship 2025. Last year at the tournament, he registered a win after defeating Tom Kim in the playoff.

The 2025 edition is scheduled to take place at the TPC River Highlands, and ahead of the start of the game, Scottie Scheffler recently reflected on his strategy to play the 18th hole of the course. The Travelers Championship shared a video of the defending champion on its Instagram account, in which Scheffler said:

"I mean, I'd say the strategy for the hole is basically to try to keep it out if the lip of that left bunker. Because the miss in this hole is actually up the left. On the right side, if you hit it in the rough, you're probably not going to be able to hold the green."

The 18th hole of the TPC River Highlands is around 444 yards, a par 4 hole. Last season, there were around 75 birdies recorded on the hole and 26 bogeys. TPC River Highlands is a par-70, 6,835-yard golf course. It was designed by Robert J. Ross and Maurice Kearney in 1928.

When will Scottie Scheffler tee off at the Travelers Championship 2025?

The first round of the 2025 Travelers Championship will start on Thursday, June 19, at 8:00 am ET. Players will start the game on the first tee hole in groups of two. Scottie Scheffler is scheduled to tee off at 1:45 pm ET in a group with J.J. Spaun.

Here are the opening round tee times of the 2025 Travelers Championship (all times in ET):

8:00 AM: Brian Campbell, Bud Cauley
8:10 AM: Nick Taylor, Kevin Yu
8:20 AM: Tom Kim, Joe Highsmith
8:30 AM: Min Woo Lee, Harry Hall
8:40 AM: Matti Schmid, Mackenzie Hughes
8:50 AM: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Tony Finau
9:00 AM: Wyndham Clark, Matthieu Pavon
9:10 AM: Max Homa, Jason Day
9:20 AM: Byeong Hun An, Austin Eckroat
9:35 AM: Davis Thompson, Stephan Jaeger
9:45 AM: Max Greyserman, Adam Hadwin
9:55 AM: Tom Hoge, Tommy Fleetwood
10:05 AM: Cameron Young, Adam Scott
10:15 AM: Viktor Hovland, Robert MacIntyre
10:25 AM: Sam Burns, Ludvig Aberg
10:35 AM: Keegan Bradley, Rory McIlroy
10:45 AM: Ryan Fox, Ben Griffin
10:55 AM: Harris English, Lucas Glover
11:10 AM: Daniel Berger, Sam Stevens
11:20 AM: Gary Woodland, Jhonattan Vegas
11:30 AM: Michael Kim, Rickie Fowler
11:40 AM: Maverick McNealy, Ryan Gerard
11:50 AM: Russell Henley, Nick Dunlap
12:00 PM: Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im
12:10 PM: Alex Noren, Cam Davis
12:20 PM: Eric Cole, Taylor Pendrith
12:30 PM: Thomas Detry, Si Woo Kim
12:45 PM: Brian Harman, Akshay Bhatia
12:55 PM: Sepp Straka, Aaron Rai
1:05 PM: Shane Lowry, Denny McCarthy
1:15 PM: J.T. Poston, Matt Fitzpatrick
1:25 PM: Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas
1:35 PM: Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa
1:45 PM: J.J. Spaun, Scottie Scheffler
1:55 PM: Jordan Spieth, Luke Clanton
2:05 PM: Andrew Novak, Jacob Bridgeman

About the author

Ankita Yadav is an NFL and Golf writer at Sportskeeda with over three years of experience in journalism (and counting). With a Master’s degree in Chemistry, she somehow swapped test tubes for touchdowns and tee shots—and hasn’t looked back since.

She’s previously covered the world of entertainment with OtakuKart and TV Season & Spoilers and worked as an editor at ComingSoon. Her stories have racked up nearly nine million reads, and she’s had the chance to interview top athletes like professional golfer Yuvraj Singh Sandhu.

Based in Bhopal, Ankita proudly supports the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, and is a fan of Nelly Korda. When she’s not writing, she’s probably at a live music show, watching a movie or out on a long drive.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua