
MacIntyre leads by five at BMW Championship
Robert MacIntyre shot a six-under 64 to open up a five-stroke lead in the second round of the BMW Championship in Maryland.The Scot, who led by three at the start of play, delivered a bogey-free card that contained six birdies to sit at 14 under overall. World number one Scottie Scheffler, on nine under, is MacIntyre's closest challenger,. The American managed a five-under 65 on Friday."I've played beautifully the last two days," said MacIntyre."Yesterday the putter was on fire. Today I felt like my iron play was exceptional. But I've been putting in the work the last couple of weeks to improve on what I was doing since the Wyndham."Sweden's Ludvig Aberg is at eight under, with MacIntyre's playing partner, Japan's Hideki Matsuyama, a shot further back on seven under. Both of those players also signed for 64s at Caves Valley, in what is the second event of three that make up the FedEx Cup playoffs.There were mixed fortunes for Tommy Fleetwood, who rolled in three birdies on the front nine only for his card to be spoiled by three bogeys in the concluding five holes. The Englishman is at six under a shot clear of his compatriot Harry Hall and two better off than Rory McIlroy, who recorded the first eagle of the week. Playing in a stellar pairing alongside Scheffler, the world number two opened with a birdie but had his progress checked by a double-bogey five on the par three fifth.However, the Northern Irishman rallied with three consecutive birdies on the ninth, 10th and 11th holes. McIlroy then delivered the highlight of his round - landing his approach from 268 yards into just under eight feet on the par-five 16th before sinking his putt for a three.
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Golfer blames bizarre 'overdose' for disastrous start to PGA Tour playoff event
Ben Griffin believes an 'overdose' of creatine played a role in his difficult start during the final round of the BMW Championship on Sunday. Griffin went 6-over through his first three holes at the FedExCup Playoffs event in Maryland, including a triple-bogey on the first. He later said the issue may have stemmed from how and when he consumed his creatine supplement shortly before teeing off. 'I take creatine as a supplement, and this morning I didn't take it until I basically teed off on one,' Griffin said. 'I was at the end of my batch, and I had this like, basically a snowball of creatine. So it had been in my bucket for a month, and broke it up and put it in my water bottle. Griffin said he began drinking the mixture after his second shot on the first hole, but accidentally swallowed a large undissolved clump of the supplement. That moment, he said, triggered an unexpected reaction. 'I started taking it after my second shot and I accidentally swallowed one of the big rocks that was in my water bottle,' he said. 'I've never overdosed on creatine before, but I think I did in the moment because I didn't really drink any water after that. I basically just inhaled like a snowball.' Griffin said he quickly began to feel unwell, describing symptoms he hadn't experienced before on the course. 'I started getting super shaky,' he said. 'I've never felt like this before, and I literally felt like I had tremors.' That type of start would doom just about any golfer, especially with a spot in the Tour Championship on the line. But remarkably, Griffin managed to recover and, after the symptoms began to subside, he was able to settle back into his round. 'It was probably more just like, a little bit flustered,' Griffin said. 'I was fine after the second shot on two, and I felt good.' He appeared visibly frustrated throughout his time on the first hole on Sunday Griffin turned things around in impressive fashion. He closed his front nine with three consecutive birdies and added four more birdies over his final six holes to card a 1-under 69. That brought him to 3-under for the week and moved him four spots up the leaderboard by the end of the day. He ultimately finished in a tie for 12th. Looking back, Griffin said the experience has made him more mindful about supplement use during competition. 'I don't think I'll be taking too much creatine in the future,' he said. 'I will take it but not in the amount that I probably did on the golf course, which wasn't probably a healthy amount.'


Reuters
5 hours ago
- Reuters
Tour Championship field of 30 finalized after Rickie Fowler misses out
August 17 - OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Akshay Bhatia received the 30th and final spot in the Tour Championship field after late blunders by Michael Kim and Rickie Fowler on Sunday at the BMW Championship. The FedEx Cup playoff field was trimmed from 50 to 30 following the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club, won by Scottie Scheffler. Kim and Fowler were the first two players on the wrong side of the cut line, though both had their chances throughout the final round. Only one golfer player his way into the top 30 from the outside this week: Englishman Harry Hall, whose sixth-place finish propelled him from No. 45 to No. 26. That came at the expense of Lucas Glover, whose 10-over-par week dropped him from 30th to 36th. Hall pitched in for birdie at the difficult par-3 17th hole -- a move that Scheffler pulled off soon after on his way to victory. "I've been hitting that chip shot on the practice chipping green all week, like the same spot warming up every day with a 54 (wedge) into the grain on an upslope," Hall said. "As soon as I saw the lie, I'm like, I've been doing this all week." It's the first time the 28-year-old advanced to the Tour Championship. "Yeah, massive. Really happy," Hall said. "Can't wait to play in the FedEx Cup next week and hopefully keep continuing to play well." All 30 players will begin the Tour Championship at even par, and the winner after 72 holes will claim the FedEx Cup. It's a change from recent years after the PGA Tour employed a staggered format that allowed the No. 1 player in the points standings to begin the Tour Championship at 10 under, No. 2 to start at 8 under and so on. Bhatia began the week 29th in FedEx Cup points and finished in 30th, and his journey there didn't lack drama. On Saturday, he shot a round of 66 that included a hole-out eagle and a hole-in-one at No. 17. Without that ace, it is more than likely that Bhatia wouldn't have finished high enough to earn the points necessary to advance to Atlanta. But on Sunday, he put himself in a bind by bogeying four of his final seven holes in a round of 72. He had to wait for the afternoon rounds to finish and see what Hall, Kim and Fowler did. Fowler was 4 under through 10 holes and 10 under for the tournament, within striking distance of the lead and a near-certainty to finish in the top 30. After a bogey-birdie-bogey run, Fowler overshot the 15th green and couldn't get his third shot all the way up the slope to the green, eventually leading to a double bogey. Fowler was aiming to climb into the top 30 after moving from 64th to 48th in points at last week's FedEx St. Jude Championship. He tied for seventh at 7 under, while Kim bogeyed two of his final five holes and placed 10th at 6 under. "I started to feel better and better as the summer went on," Fowler said. "Played a lot. I was getting worn down, but I was ready to keep on going." The field of 30 at the Tour Championship, Aug. 21-24 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta: 1. Scottie Scheffler 2. Rory McIlroy 3. J.J. Spaun 4. Justin Rose 5. Tommy Fleetwood 6. Ben Griffin 7. Russell Henley 8. Sepp Straka 9. Robert MacIntyre 10. Maverick McNealy 11. Harris English 12. Justin Thomas 13. Cameron Young 14. Ludvig Aberg 15. Andrew Novak 16. Keegan Bradley 17. Sam Burns 18. Brian Harman 19. Corey Conners 20. Patrick Cantlay 21. Collin Morikawa 22. Viktor Hovland 23. Hideki Matsuyama 24. Shane Lowry 25. Nick Taylor 26. Harry Hall 27. Jacob Bridgeman 28. Sungjae Im 29. Chris Gotterup 30. Akshay Bhatia --Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media


Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
MacIntyre denied by a moment of magic from Scheffler as Scot blows four-shot lead in final round of BMW Championship
Bob MacIntyre blew a four-shot lead in the final round as world No 1 Scottie Scheffler produced a moment of magic to clinch victory at the BMW Championship in Maryland. MacIntyre's big overnight advantage was quickly clawed back after he started his round with two bogeys, and despite a gallant effort he could do nothing to quell the American's mounting momentum. Back within touching distance with two to play, MacIntyre watched as Scheffler nailed a remarkable chip from the rough to effectively confirm his victory on the penultimate hole. It was hard to take for the Scot, who had produced his own memorable moment on the final hole on Saturday when he sunk a 41-foot putt to retain his significant advantage. Seeking a win that would have banked him $3.6million and moved him into contention for next week's $10m FedEx Cup bonus, the Oban left-hander was at least consoled by the knowledge he has secured his spot on Europe's Ryder Cup team thanks to another hefty payday. MacIntyre pocketed £1.6m for his second-placed finish, moving him up to ninth on the FedEx standings ahead of next week's finale in Atlanta. Speaking afterwards, a deflated MacIntyre said: 'Golf ball was going miles for me today. I hit good shots when I got control of the ball later in the day, but I didn't feel I controlled distance well, so poor day. 'Right now it's absolutely disastrous. I won't be positive standing here, it was abysmal without swearing, absolutely abysmal.' A final round of 67 shunted Tommy Fleetwood up to a tie for fourth place behind American Maverick McNealy. Rory McIlroy was hampered by back-to-back double bogeys on the fifth and sixth holes respectively as he failed to make inroads on the chasing pack. Scheffler will take a huge lead over McIlroy and the rest of the chasing pack to East Lake next week as he continues to assert his dominance on the sport.