OWINGS MILLS, Md. — In a round that served as a Ryder Cup appetizer, Robert MacIntyre and Scottie Scheffler duked it out on moving day at the BMW Championship Saturday.
Playing together in the final pairing, both recorded bogeys for the first time since the first round, with Scheffler backed by occasional “USA” chants as he strode around Caves Valley Golf Club. The world No. 1-ranked golfer recorded four birdies to shoot 67, but the Scotsman was able to retain the lead for the third consecutive day by four strokes at -16.
“The day was tough, as you could have seen. It wasn’t a plain sailing of the first two days,” said MacIntyre, who entered the day with a five-stroke lead over Scheffler. “But I thought I managed it well. Missed it in the right spots. A couple of times I didn’t miss it in the right spots. But yeah, it was steady. Holed some nice par putts, missed a couple of chances that I felt I could have got.”
On No. 1, MacIntyre missed right with his drive, then left with his second into a greenside bunker. He chipped out and two-putted for his first bogey in 24 holes. The two played similar, neck and neck golf from there on the front nine — both carded two birdies, one each on the par-5 4th.
As they made the turn, Scheffler inched closer with a birdie on the water-guarded green at the par-4 11th, but immediately gave a stroke back on No. 12 after his approach shot was short of the green and into a bunker, eventually leading to bogey.
“I was definitely quite warm. Overall my round, I felt like I did some good stuff out there. I would have liked to have been a little sharper with my irons today,” Scheffler said. “I did a good job of staying patient. Would have liked to may a few more birdies, but overall for how I was hitting it, not a terrible score.”
MacIntyre continued his string of pars on the back as Scheffler scored again, making an 18-foot putt for birdie on No. 14 to get within three.
“The greens are still pretty soft, so there was definitely some opportunities that we had out there,” Scheffler said. “I felt like I hit a lot of fairways on the front nine, just wasn’t able to make as many birdies as I would have hoped to.”
MacIntyre answered with a clutch putt of his own, draining an 8-footer and responding to someone in the gallery with a “shhh” finger to his lips and accompanying fist pumps.
“I totally expected it. I totally expected to be in this situation today when I’m in this position. It’s going to be the exact same tomorrow,” MacIntyre said of the heckling he received. “I’ll give as good back as I get. Look, I thought I played great. There was obviously a couple of shouts. But no, there’s plenty of security there that are hearing it and seeing it, and yeah, I did see them talk to a few people.”
MacIntyre’s run of pars was broken with an exclamation point on No. 18. Reaching the green in regulation from the left rough, he softly rolled in an uphill, right-bending putt — similar to what he’s done all week — for his third birdie of the round, and more importantly, some extra breathing room headed into Sunday.
“The slopes and the greens where the pins were is so severe,” MacIntyre said. “It’s difficult to actually get a lot of pin positions on the greens because they’re so slopey and so quick. But yeah, there’s a bit more bite on the golf course today.”
Lurking just behind the duo is Ludvig Aberg. The Swede shot under par for the third-straight day with a 2-under 68 and is in third place alone at -10.
“It’s definitely going to take a really good score,” Aberg said. “Bob is playing really great golf and so is Mr. Scheffler. It’s a tough task and it’s a tall order, but I’m excited about where I’m at.”
The shot of the day belonged to American Akshay Bhatia. At the par-3 17th, with a front pin location playing at 227 yards, Bhatia dropped an arching, hundred-foot-high shot onto the green, and the ball rolled out the final 10 or so feet into the cup for an eagle.
“I told myself just don’t be afraid to hit it, execute it, because it’s easy to bail out there. When that golf ball goes in, it was the craziest thing in the world,” Bhatia said. “My caddie was pointing at the car and I’m like, don’t even know what to do. I couldn’t even feel my body.”
Bhatia is firmly on the FedEx Cup Playoff bubble, entering the week at 29th and still holding onto that spot into Sunday’s final round. He was outside of the Tour Championship cut line at No. 31 before the ace at 17.
“I could have made two straight birdies to finish the round and I’m not going to say that one shot — it obviously certainly helps, but there’s still 18 holes tomorrow,” said Bhatia, who shot a 66 on Saturday and is even for the tournament. “So I’m just going to go try and play my best tomorrow,”
Besides remaining in playoff contention, Bhatia will also get a new car for the effort from tournament sponsor BMW, though he admitted he might not be inclined to keep it.
“I don’t really necessarily need a new car. I’m pretty happy with what I’ve got,” he said. “I think either I’ll give it to my caddie or figure something out to where I can donate it to charity.”
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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