Scottie Scheffler, of course, has done it again.
Thanks in part to an absolutely wild chip-in down the stretch at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland, Scheffler overtook Robert MacIntyre to claim the BMW Championship on Sunday afternoon. The top-ranked golfer in the world posted a 3-under 67 in the final round of the FedExCup Playoffs stop to grab a two-shot win over the field. It marked the second-largest come-from-behind win of his career.
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Scheffler has now won five times this season, his second straight PGA Tour season with at least five wins in the books. Tiger Woods is the only other player in history to pull that feat off over the past four decades.
Scheffler, who used a replacement caddie again this week while Ted Scott is back at home dealing with a family emergency, ended up starting the final round four shots back of MacIntyre. The Scottish star posted a 2-under 68 on Saturday to help build his lead, thanks in part to a deep birdie putt at the last hole.
But MacIntyre’s lead disappeared almost immediately in the final round. MacIntyre made back-to-back bogeys to start his day on Sunday, and then he made another at the fifth to get to 3-over. Scheffler, meanwhile, birdied the first hole alongside MacIntyre to cut the lead in half immediately. Then, after offsetting a bogey of his own with a birdie at the fifth, Scheffler stuck his approach at the seventh to just a few feet to take the lead for the first time.
Scheffler pushed his lead to two shots briefly, but MacIntyre finally carded his first birdie of the day at the par-5 16th with a huge up-and-down save to stay in the mix.
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But Scheffler immediately slammed the door shut in a way that was reminiscent of only Woods in his prime. Standing over his ball in the thick rough on a slope on the opposite side of the green at the par-3 17th, Scheffler chipped in like it was no big deal whatsoever. MacIntyre was left standing over his shot, which was also situated in the rough, completely stunned.
“Part of me wanted to go at the pin, and I kind of held off there on the left side,” Scheffler said. “I knew par wasn’t going to be a bad score on that hole today. Anytime you hole a chip like that, it’s pretty nice. It looked good when it landed, looked good when it was rolling, and it was nice to see that one go in.”
Scheffler then quickly wrapped up a par at the 18th to secure his win. MacIntyre finished alone in second at 13-under on the week. Maverick McNealy finished third at 11-under, and Tommy Fleetwood and Sam Burns rounded out the top five.
The win was Scheffler’s second in his past three starts. He’s won two major championships this season too, first at the PGA Championship and again at the British Open last month. Scheffler is now just a U.S. Open victory away from becoming the seventh golfer in history to completing the career grand slam. He’s 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.
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Scheffler has now finished inside the top 10 in every start dating back to the Texas Children’s Houston Open in March. His worst finish during that stretch was a T8, something he’s done twice.
Scheffler, who locked up his Ryder Cup spot weeks ago, holds a massive lead in the FedExCup standings entering East Lake next week in Atlanta. The Tour removed its starting strokes format this year, however, which means that Scheffler won’t have any advantage entering the final event of the season. If he’s going to claim his second straight FedExCup, he’s going to have to beat the 29 other golfers like normal.
Based on how he’s been playing lately, that outcome wouldn’t surprise anyone.
