Bhatia's late birdies keep Tour Championship hopes alive
With rounds of 75 and 69, Bhatia sits at 4-over for 36 holes, just outside the coveted Top-30 who advance to the season-ending finale, according to a release from BMW Championship.
Bhatia, the Hero golfer, who finished sixth at last week's FedEx St. Jude Championship, endured a mixed round at Caves Valley. He dropped three bogeys against a lone birdie on the front nine and remained 1-over through 16 holes.
However, he staged a late rally with clutch birdies on the last two holes--sinking putts from six and twelve feet--to rescue his round and remain in contention. Currently projected at 32nd in the FedEx Cup standings, he must climb into the Top-30 to secure a second consecutive Tour Championship berth.
At the top, Scotland's Robert MacIntyre continued his blistering form. Following an opening 62 that included six straight birdies, he backed it up with a bogey-free 64 to reach 14-under 126. That gave him a commanding five-shot lead over World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (66-65) heading into the weekend.
The 27-year-old MacIntyre, who won the RBC Canadian Open earlier this season, set a career-best 36-hole score and tied the largest halfway lead at the BMW Championship since Jason Day's five-shot advantage in 2015, when Day went on to win by six.
Scheffler, despite a hot afternoon, maintained steady momentum with a 65, while Sweden's Ludvig Aberg surged with a 64 to sit six shots behind the leader. Japan's Hideki Matsuyama, remarkably bogey-free over 36 holes despite feeling unwell, posted a 64 and is in solo fourth, seven shots back.
Michael Kim (66) and Tommy Fleetwood (69) shared fifth place, eight behind MacIntyre, while Rory McIlroy battled back from an early double bogey to sign for 66. The Northern Irishman trails by ten shots. (ANI)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
12 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Scheffler rallies to win BMW for 5th PGA Tour victory of year. Rahm takes LIV points title
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler erased a four-shot deficit in five holes and then delivered a haymaker on the daunting par-3 17th by chipping in from 82 feet for birdie that carried him to victory Sunday in the BMW Championship for his fifth PGA Tour title of the year. Scheffler closed with a 3-under 67 for a two-shot victory and became the first player since Tiger Woods (2006-07) to win at least five times on the PGA Tour in consecutive years.
Winnipeg Free Press
12 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Scheffler rallies to win BMW for 5th PGA Tour victory of year. Rahm takes LIV points title
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler erased a four-shot deficit in five holes and then delivered a haymaker on the daunting par-3 17th by chipping in from 82 feet for birdie that carried him to victory Sunday in the BMW Championship for his fifth PGA Tour title of the year. Scheffler closed with a 3-under 67 for a two-shot victory and became the first player since Tiger Woods (2006-07) to win at least five times on the PGA Tour in consecutive years. Robert MacIntyre didn't make a birdie until the 16th hole but stayed in the game after losing his big lead, mostly when Scheffler began missing short putts. MacIntyre pulled within one shot of the lead going to the 17th, the toughest hole at Caves Valley, with a back right pin on a crispy green that sloped to the right toward the water. Scheffler went just left in the rough, the ball sitting up nicely but the shot still scary. He landed it some 60 feet short and watched it trickle, and then roll, and then slow again until it dropped into the cup. MacIntyre could only look at him and stare at the world's No. 1 player making other-worldly shots in another extraordinary season. MacIntyre, who made 18 birdies in the first 45 holes of the tournament, made only two over the last 27 holes. He shot 73. It's not over for Scheffler, who leads the 30 players who advanced to the Tour Championship at East Lake with a chance to become the first repeat FedEx Cup champion since the series began in 2007. All 30 players at East Lake can win the $10 million first-place check. LIV Golf League WESTFIELD, Ind. (AP) — Jon Rahm successfully defended his LIV Golf season points title without winning an event all year, closing with an 11-under 60 before losing a playoff to Sebastian Munoz on the first extra hole in the Indianapolis event. Munoz won two days after becoming the first player to shoot 59 with a double bogey. The Colombian player —with Rahm hitting balls on driving range — birdied the final two holes in regulation for a 65 to match Rahm at 22 under at The Club at Chatham Hills. Rahm also lost on the first extra hole last week outside Chicago, falling to Dean Burmester in a three-way playoff that included Josele Ballester. On Sunday, Munoz beat the Spanish star won with a birdie on the par-4 18th in the playoff. Rahm took the season points title from Joaquin Niemann, a five-time winner this season. Niemann shot a 66 to tie for fourth at 17 under, his first top-10 finish of the year that he didn't win. Munoz led Torque GC to the team event championship. Torque finished at 64 under to break the LIV record of 53 under. LPGA Tour PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Akie Iwai joined twin sister Chisato as a rookie LPGA Tour winner at Columbia Edgewater, closing with a 6-under 66 for a four-stroke victory in The Standard Portland Classic. Akie Iwai capped the bogey-free round with birdies on the final two holes, running in an 18-footer on the last before Chisato rushed on the green and sprayed her with champagne. The 23-year-old Japanese player broke through in her first season on the LPGA Tour after winning six times on the JLPGA Tour. She had second-place finishes in Thailand in February and Los Angeles in April, then watched her sister win at Mayakoba in May in Mexico. On Sunday, Chisato Iwai shot a 64 to tie for third, five strokes back. The winner finished at 24-under 264 on the tree-lined course. She opened with consecutive 67s, then shot a 64 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead into the final round. American Gurleen Kaur was a career-best second, closing with a 65. Amateur Kiara Romero shot a 64 to tie for seventh at 16 under in her first tour start. The University of Oregon player won the 2023 U.S. Girls' Junior and 2025 Big Ten title. European Tour COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Marco Penge of England tapped in for birdie at the 18th hole for a 4-under 67 to win the Danish Golf Championship by one shot over Rasmus Hojgaard, who missed a chance to climb into the automatic qualifying position for the Ryder Cup. Hojgaard looked on course for the title in his home country when he powered into a four-shot lead midway through his front nine, only to drop four strokes in four holes from No. 10 and allow Penge to take the lead. Trailing by two on the par-5 closing hole at Furesø Golf Klub, Hojgaard made a 10-foot eagle. Penge missed the green to the left, chipped to 3 feet and made the birdie putt for his second European tour title this year. Hojgaard (69) was the runner-up and will remain outside the six automatic qualifying spots, just behind No. 6 Sepp Straka, in the race to get into Europe's team. Qualifying ends next week at the British Masters. PGA Tour Champions CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Richard Green of Australia won the Rogers Charity Classic for his first PGA Tour Champions title, birdieing the par-5 18th hole for a 5-under 65 and a one-stroke victory. Green held off Ricardo Gonzalez, the Argentine player who birdied the final two holes at Canyon Meadows for a 65 of his own. The 54-year-old Green won in his 91st start on the 50-and-over tour. He finished at 18-under 192 after opening with rounds of 65 and 62. Charles Schwab Cup leader Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain, the second-round leader after consecutive rounds of 63, had a 68 to finish third at 16 under. He leads the tour with four victories this season. Korn Ferry Tour BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Emilio Gonzalez of Mexico won the Albertsons Boise Open for his first Korn Ferry Tour title, shooting a 10-under 61 for a one-stroke victory over Jeffrey Kang. Gonzalez played a late three-hole stretch in 4 under with a birdie on the par-4 15th, an eagle on the par-5 16th and a birdie on the par-3 17th. He finished at 22-under 262 at Hillcrest Country Club. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Kang birdied two of the last three in a 65. Other tours Kazuki Higa closed with a 7-under 65 and won the ISPS Handa Explosion in the Summer with an eagle on the second playoff hole to defeat Ren Yonezawa, who shot 64. Higa won for the first time in three years and now has seven titles on the Japan Golf Tour. … David Law closed with a 4-under 68 for a two-shot victory in the Vierumaki Finnish Challenge, his second win of the season on Europe's Challenge Tour. The victory move him to the top of the points list. … Cory Crawford shot 7-under 65 and won by two shots at the PNG Open on the PGA Tour of Australasia. … Herman Loubser closed with a 3-under 69 and defeated Yurav Premlall in the Vodacom Origins of Golf on the Sunshine Tour. … Asuka Kashiwabara closed with a 4-under 68 for a one-shot victory over Sayaka Teraoka in the NEC Karuizawa 72 on the Japan LPGA. … Jungmin Hong shot 7-under 65 to complete a nine-shot victory in the Mediheal Hankookilbo Championship on the Korea LPGA. ___ AP golf:
Winnipeg Free Press
12 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Scottie Scheffler leads 6 qualifiers for US Ryder Cup team
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Bryson DeChambeau is returning to the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2021 as none of the Americans moved past him in the standings Sunday in the final week of qualifying for the six automatic spots on the U.S. team. DeChambeau will be the second LIV Golf player in as many Ryder Cups for the Americans, following Brooks Koepka as a captain's pick in 2023. U.S. captain Keegan Bradley had indicated DeChambeau was going to be on the team either way. The U.S. Open champion a year ago, he earned big points by playing in the last group with Rory McIlroy at the Masters, where DeChambeau tied for fifth, and finishing as a runner-up in the PGA Championship five shots behind Scottie Scheffler. DeChambeau wound up at No. 6 in the standings. Harris English moved past him with his tie for 12th in the BMW Championship to finish at No. 5, qualifying for his first team on his own. English was a captain's pick for the 2021 matches at Whistling Straits. The leading six players for the Americans were Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, English and DeChambeau. All those spots — except for DeChambeau — were practically set going into the final qualifying event. Justin Thomas would have needed to finish around the top 10 to supplant DeChambeau. Instead, he will need to rely on a captain's pick for the second straight Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup is Sept. 26-28 at Bethpage Black. Bradley will announce six captain's picks on Aug. 27, the Wednesday after next week's Tour Championship. 'Most years it seems very obvious,' Scheffler said of the U.S. team. 'Once we continue to keep playing next week, it will become more obvious. Right now, I think a couple of spots are still up for grabs.' The Tour Championship in some ways becomes a final audition for Bradley, who is considering taking himself as a pick after finishing 11th in the standings. Thomas was No. 7 followed by Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Maverick McNealy, Bradley, Brian Harman, Andrew Novak, Cameron Young and Patrick Cantlay. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. All of the potential captain's picks will be at East Lake next week for the Tour Championship. Europe's qualifying ends next week at the British Masters — players like Shane Lowry at the Tour Championship and Tyrrell Hatton at LIV Golf are not eligible for points. That makes Hatton at No. 5 a lock to be on another team. Lowry, who replaced Straka at No. 6, can only be passed by Rasmus Hojgaard next week. Luke Donald also has six captain's picks. ___ AP golf:
