OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Robert MacIntyre was up to the test of facing the No. 1 player in the world Saturday, holing a collection of big par putts and then delivering a 40-foot birdie on the final hole for a 2-under 68 and a four-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler in the BMW Championship.
Scheffler picked up one stroke on the five-shot deficit he faced at the start of the steamy afternoon at Caves Valley. He never got closer than three shots.
MacIntyre, the lefty from Scotland, got out of several jams, none bigger than the short fifth hole when he drove over a hazard line into the bushes. He decided to hack out, and it shot some 70 feet away for a putt straight down a series of ridges.
He two-putted for par, making an 8-footer, one example of his grit before a large gallery that favored British Open champion Scheffler.
MacIntyre holed an 8-foot putt on the 14th, then turned toward a hospitality area and placed his index finger to his mouth, shushing whoever got under his Scottish skin.
He was at 16-under 194, and gets one more day with golf’s best. Scheffler finally ended a streak of 37 holes without a bogey and efficiently put together a 67.
Ludvig Aberg entered the mix. The Swedish star appears to be emerging from a summer slumber and shot 68 that left him alone in third. He was still six shots behind MacIntyre.
No one else was closer than eight shots of the lead.
The BMW Championship is the penultimate postseason event that decides the top 30 in the FedEx who advance to the Tour Championship for a shot at the $10 million prize.
Akshay Bhatia helped his chances with an amazing day that included a hole-in-one on the 17th hole to win a car, but more important project him inside the top 30. He also holed out with a wedge on the par-4 seventh for eagle, and turned in a card that had scores of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Harry Hall of England, at No. 45 in the FedEx Cup, had a second straight 67 and was tied for fourth with Sam Burns (67), projecting him to reach East Lake for the first time and be assured of all the majors except the PGA Championship.
Rickie Fowler, who narrowly got into the top 50 to reach Caves Valley, had a 67 to put himself in position to move into the top 30. He was projected just outside the top 30, and those projections are likely to fluctuate wildly on the last day.
Players often talk about staying present. Hall takes that to another level.
“I’ve only got one job to do, and that’s go recover and hydrate and get ready to hit that first show down the fairway tomorrow,” Hall said. “My game plan won’t fluctuate regardless of the situation I’m in. I think I’ll try and do the right thing on every shot, and hopefully that will be enough.”
Fowler has an idea what he needs, but he kept it simple.
“Hopefully, just go wear out some fairways and then get the iron play back to where it’s been and make some putts,” he said. “But it sounds a lot easier than it is.”
Scheffler is going for his fifth win of the year, which would make him the first player since Tiger Woods to win at least five times in consecutive years. He hasn’t had a round over par since the third round of the Travelers Championship nearly two months ago.
MacIntyre was clearly up for the test, though. He made five par putts from the 5- to 8-foot range, had a couple of birdie putts inside 6 feet and then ended his day with an uppercut celebration of a 40-foot birdie putt.
He was generally safe to make it to the Tour Championship at No. 20, but it could be quite a payoff tomorrow, upward of $6 million with the prize money and bonus for reaching No. 3 in the FedEx Cup with a win.
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