Scottie Scheffler delivers another masterpiece to win the BMW Championship
The masterstroke on an otherwise balky afternoon on and around the greens came at the par-3 17th hole, where Scheffler holed out from 82 feet for a two-stroke lead after his errant tee shot landed in the rough. His fifth and final birdie contributed to a 3-under-par 67 for a total of 15-under 265, two strokes better than runner-up Robert MacIntyre of Scotland, in the second leg of three in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Scheffler rallied from a four-shot deficit that MacIntyre (3-over 73) held following 54 holes to claim his fifth victory of the year and plenty of momentum heading into next weekend's Tour Championship, where the four-time major champion will try to become the first back-to-back winner of the FedEx Cup title.
'It was a tough day out there,' Scheffler said. 'The greens got really tough to putt there toward the end, and it was a challenging day. I was starting four shots back but got myself into the tournament pretty quickly there on the front nine and did a lot of good stuff out there and would have liked to have had a few less mistakes, but overall great battle all the way through. Did a good job of staying patient and executing when we needed to.'
Bogeys at Nos. 12 and 14, where Scheffler's seven-footer for par grazed the left edge and spun out for a rare three-putt, kept MacIntyre in the mix despite his bogey at No. 13. Scheffler steadied himself with a birdie at the par-4 15th made possible by an approach that settled six feet from the pin.
MacIntyre countered with a birdie at the par-5 16th, only to watch in disbelief as Scheffler summoned some short-game wizardry at the 17th. As his ball tracked toward the hole and disappeared, Scheffler raised his left arm high and then made a fist with his right hand that he directed at caddie Michael Cromie, a replacement this week for Ted Scott, who was away while attending to a family matter.
The gallery around the 17th green erupted in appreciation of Scheffler's stunning shot. It capped a week in which MacIntyre maintained his composure amid jeers from at-times unruly patrons ahead of the Ryder Cup, set for September at Bethpage Black.
MacIntyre's putter, which had yielded 395 feet of makes in the first three rounds, betrayed him over his last 18 holes. Wayward tee shots, many of which drifted considerably right of the fairway, did the fiery left-hander no favors, either. That contributed to four bogeys, including three on his first five holes.
'I can't control what he does,' MacIntyre said of Scheffler, who sits atop the U.S. Ryder Cup standings. 'If he doesn't get up and down there [on the 17th hole], my ball didn't fly two yards long, it may have been a different story. But, look, he's the better player on the day. I'm just really pissed right now.'
The theatrics unfolded immediately after MacIntyre and Scheffler stepped to the tee box for introductions at the par-4 first hole. MacIntyre deposited his drive well right of the fairway into the primary rough, leaving a dicey approach that he landed 35 yards from the flagstick. His chip became a bit less than routine with dirt covering the back side of his ball, which landed inside of seven feet. MacIntyre missed the putt right, and Scheffler drained his birdie bid from roughly the same distance for a two-shot swing.
Scheffler whittled the margin to a stroke at the par-4 second hole, where MacIntyre bogeyed again. By the time they stepped to the par-3 sixth, they were tied at 13 under.
There was intrigue farther down the leaderboard as well, given that the top 30 in the FedEx Cup points advanced to the season-ending Tour Championship. The last three players to qualify were South Korea's Sungjae Im and Americans Chris Gotterup and Akshay Bhatia, whose ace at No. 17 on Saturday produced one of the tournament's indelible moments.
The first three players out were Americans Michael Kim and Rickie Fowler and Canada's Taylor Pendrith. Fowler stormed into contention for a spot at the Tour Championship with five birdies in a seven-hole stretch Sunday but came undone with a bogey at No. 14 and a double bogey at No. 15. He finished tied for seventh at 7 under.
'Obviously bummed,' he said. 'I knew what I needed to do. … Tried to make a couple coming in, but yeah, I wish we were playing next week.'
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