The outstanding Scottie Scheffler has achieved victory once more.
Thanks significantly to an incredible chip-in during the final stages at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland, Scheffler surpassed Robert MacIntyre to secure the BMW Championship on Sunday afternoon. The world’s leading golfer recorded a 3-under 67 in the final round of the FedExCup Playoffs event to claim a two-shot victory over the competition. This marked the second-largest come-from-behind win in his career.
Scheffler has now triumphed five times this season, marking his second consecutive PGA Tour season with at least five victories. Tiger Woods is the sole other player in history to achieve this feat over the past four decades.
Scheffler, who once again utilized a replacement caddie this week while Ted Scott is at home attending to a family matter, began the final round four shots behind MacIntyre. The Scottish star recorded a 2-under 68 on Saturday to help establish his lead, aided by a long birdie putt at the final hole.
However, MacIntyre’s lead vanished almost instantly in the final round. MacIntyre incurred back-to-back bogeys to commence his day on Sunday, and then he incurred another at the fifth, reaching 3-over. Scheffler, concurrently, birdied the first hole alongside MacIntyre to immediately halve the lead. Subsequently, after offsetting a bogey of his own with a birdie at the fifth, Scheffler placed his approach at the seventh to within a few feet, seizing the lead for the first time.
Scheffler briefly extended his lead to two shots, but MacIntyre ultimately carded his first birdie of the day at the par-5 16th with a remarkable up-and-down save to remain in contention.
But Scheffler promptly shut the door in a manner reminiscent of only Woods in his prime. Standing over his ball in the dense rough on a slope on the opposite side of the green at the par-3 17th, Scheffler chipped in as if it were an ordinary occurrence. MacIntyre was left standing over his shot, also situated in the rough, utterly stunned.
“A part of me considered aiming directly at the pin, but I refrained on the left side,” Scheffler stated. “I knew par wasn’t going to be a detrimental score on that hole today. Whenever you sink a chip like that, it’s quite satisfying. It appeared promising upon landing, appeared promising while rolling, and it was gratifying to witness it go in.”
Scheffler then swiftly concluded with a par at the 18th to secure his victory. MacIntyre finished alone in second place at 13-under for the week. Maverick McNealy finished third at 11-under, while Tommy Fleetwood and Sam Burns completed the top five.
The win marked Scheffler’s second in his past three starts. He has also won two major championships this season, firstly at the PGA Championship and subsequently at the British Open last month. Scheffler is now merely a U.S. Open victory away from becoming the seventh golfer in history to achieve the career grand slam. He has won 12 times in the past two seasons, three of which have been major championship titles. Only Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Woods have accomplished that.
Scheffler has now concluded within the top 10 in every start dating back to the Texas Children’s Houston Open in March. His worst finish during that period was a T8, an outcome he has achieved twice.
Scheffler, who secured his Ryder Cup spot weeks ago, holds a significant lead in the FedExCup standings entering East Lake next week in Atlanta. The Tour has eliminated its starting strokes format this year, which implies that Scheffler will not possess any advantage entering the final event of the season. If he intends to claim his second consecutive FedExCup, he will need to outperform the other 29 golfers as per usual.
Given his recent performance, such an outcome would not surprise anyone.
