Scottie Scheffler’s golf game feels inevitable.
The combination of elite ball striking, chipping and putting makes the No. 1 player in the world incredibly hard to beat over 72 holes. Robert MacIntyre learned that the hard way Sunday at the BMW Championship at Caves Valley in Owings Mills.
Scheffler, who trailed MacIntyre by four shots entering the final round, chased down the Scotsman to win for the 18th time in his PGA Tour career and the fifth time this season. Scheffler finished at 15-under par, two clear of MacIntyre, using a chip-in birdie on the 17th hole to send the crowd into a frenzy and effectively put the tournament to bed.
With a one-shot lead and both players facing chips, Scheffler landed his chip from 81 feet just on the ground. Twelve seconds after it hit the green, it trickled over the front edge of the cup with perfect speed. He gave a subdued fist pump, then slapped fill-in caddie Michael Cromie’s hand.
He knew the comeback was complete.
Scheffler, who hasn’t finished outside the top 10 of a PGA Tour event since a 20th-place finish at The Players Championship in March, stood on the first tee down four strokes. On the sixth tee, he was tied with MacIntyre at 13-under. On the eighth tee, he held the lead alone at 14-under.
Part of the comeback was because of Scheffler’s early play — he made three birdies and just one bogey on the front nine. The other part can be credited to the red-hot MacIntyre playing by far his worst golf of the week. After making 19 birdies through the first three rounds, MacIntyre didn’t card a birdie Sunday until the 16th hole.
MacIntyre made bogies on the first, third and fifth holes to card a sloppy 38 on his front nine. He was in decent positions throughout much of the day, but his irons were erratic while Scheffler’s often left him with makeable birdie putts. On the 13th tee, MacIntyre ripped an iron that looked good in the air but landed over the green on the 175-yard hole. He slammed his club into the turf in frustration and made another bogey to drop to 12-under.
Scheffler wasn’t unflappable on the back nine, though. He missed par putts under five feet on the 12th and 14th holes to keep the tournament result in jeopardy as he sat at 13-under and MacIntyre was still at -12.
His response on the 15th hole is what makes him the game’s best. After MacIntyre threw a dart from the fairway to seven feet, Scheffler hit his approach from the fairway bunker to six feet. MacIntyre’s birdie effort slipped by. Scheffler’s found the bottom of the cup. MacIntyre’s chance to tie instead turned into a two-stroke deficit.
It shrunk to one shot after the 16th hole yielded a birdie to MacIntyre, but when Scheffler and MacIntyre both missed the green on the par-3 17th, Scheffler made his chip for an unlikely birdie. MacIntyre settled for par.
His last-ditch effort was no match for Scheffler.
Sam Burns, a close friend of Scheffler’s, was among the top challengers other than MacIntyre. He was 4-under through his first 11 holes to move to 12-under. But bogies on 14, 17 and 18 undid his bid to catch Scheffler. Burns finished tied for fourth at 10-under.
Elsewhere, players fought to make the top 30 of the FedEx Cup standings, which secures a spot in next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Fan-favorite Rickie Fowler unraveled down the stretch to miss out on the top 30, as he made a double bogey on No. 15 and couldn’t birdie the par-5 16th.
Maryland native Denny McCarthy also fell short of reaching the Tour Championship for the first time in his career. McCarthy, who played his high school golf at Georgetown Prep, started the tournament 1-under through 36 holes, but a 76 on Saturday derailed his week. He rallied with a 68 on Sunday to conclude the event at 3-over par.
“It’s always fun to play in front of a home crowd,” McCarthy said. “It wasn’t the result I was looking for this week. I felt like I played better golf than what the score shows. Unfortunately, I shot myself in the foot yesterday a little bit and [it] was just too much to overcome today.”
Akshay Bhatia, who made an ace Saturday, was lucky No. 30.
The crowds were far more focused on the battle for the tournament victory than the players scrapping to make the top 30 of the FedEx Cup standings, though. And the BMW Championship crown went to Scheffler.
This article will be updated. Have a news tip? Contact sports editor Bennett Conlin at bconlin@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/BennettConlin.
