If Robert MacIntyre wants to win his first PGA Tour event this season, he’ll have to beat the best golfer on Earth on Sunday at Caves Valley Golf Club. He’ll have to stare down Scottie Scheffler in front of a hostile crowd, too.
On the 14th hole Saturday, the top-ranked Scheffler buried an 18-foot birdie putt to move to 12-under par. Shortly after the putt dropped, a few chants of “USA” broke out among the noisy crowd in support of the Texan.
MacIntyre, a Scotsman, was left with a tricky 7 1/2 footer for par. Immediately after he hit his putt, one fan yelled “push it!”
The lefty drained the par save to stay at 15-under and turned to the crowd, holding a finger up to his lips and then pointing his putter toward the fan.
“Pushed it right in the middle of the hole, I guess,” MacIntrye quipped after his round.
It’s not quite the Ryder Cup, but the competitive juices were flowing in Owings Mills.
“You give me crap, I’ll give you crap back,” MacIntrye told NBC’s Kira Dixon during an television interview after his round.
MacIntyre, who played nearly flawless golf through two rounds of the BMW Championship to jump out to 14-under par, wasn’t as spotless Saturday, but he was gritty. After playing from the fairway for much of the first two days, he found himself hitting out of a bush on the fifth hole Saturday. MacIntyre saved par on the hole, but the visual was emblematic of the round to come.
It didn’t come easy for MacIntrye on Saturday, but he made it work. He made 14 pars, three birdies after an opening bogey. He finished the day at 16-under, birdieing the 18th hole and celebrating with an uppercut fist pump while yelling, “come on!”
“The day was tough,” he said. “As you would have seen, it wasn’t the plain sailing of the first two days.”
Scheffler still looms in the rearview mirror.
The 17-time PGA Tour winner and four-time major champion shot a 3-under 67 to improve to 12-under par. His lone blemish was a bogey on 12, which came after rules officials put his group on the clock for slow pace of play on the ninth hole. Scheffler said that he felt a gust of wind on the 12th and 13th holes, but felt he had to hit his approach shot to keep pace on both holes. He left his approach on 12 in the bunker short of the pin and missed a putt for par.
“It’s just one of those things where I’m punished for a rules decision I don’t totally agree with,” Scheffler said.
Even with some frustrations, Scheffler is within striking distance going into Sunday’s round. If he can put himself in the fairway, he’ll have the birdie looks needed to make a run at MacIntyre.
A few other names are within reach of the lead, with Ludvig Åberg shooting a 2-under 68 to move to 10-under par. Sam Burns, a close friend of Scheffler’s and a Ryder Cup hopeful, used a 3-under round to move to 8-under. Harry Hall did the same.
No other players are within seven shots of MacIntrye, however, as it’s setting up to be a two or three-man race Sunday.
Games within the game
While few players enter the fourth round with a real chance to win the tournament, there are other key battles happening with players down the leaderboard. Chief among them is the desire to be in the top 30 of the FedEx Cup standings after this weekend. The top 30 in the standings advance to next week’s Tour Championship.
Akshay Bhatia, who made an eagle and an ace, is projected in the 28th position. Michael Kim, who sits at 6-under after a round of 70, is projected in 29th. Sungjae Im, who shot a disappointing 77, is in the 30th spot.
In the projected 31st position is Ryder Cup hopeful Chris Gotterup. Hall, an Englishman, is slotted into the 25th spot after another great day. Maryland native Denny McCarthy is projected in 42nd after a sloppy round of 76. Barring a Sunday miracle, the Maryland native with great hometown support will end his season this week.
Additionally, players like Cameron Young, Ben Griffin, Gotterup, Burns and others are jockeying to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Six of the team’s 12 selections will be finalized after this weekend, but captain Keegan Bradley then receives six captain’s picks to be made by the end of this month. Strong finishes to the season could be the difference between making the popular event played every two years in September or watching from home.
On the European side, Hall is also making a strong effort to make their Ryder Cup team.
“It would be massive,” Hall said Friday of hypothetically making the team.
Sunday’s showdown for the tournament title will likely come down to MacIntrye, Scheffler and Åberg, but a pressure-packed day is coming for more than those at the top of the leaderboard. As for those at the top, they know their assignment.
“He’s playing some great golf, and it’s up to me to go out there and chase him down,” Scheffler said.
Have a news tip? Contact sports editor Bennett Conlin at bconlin@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/BennettConlin.