A dramatic end to the second playoff event at Caves Valley saw Scottie Scheffler do what Scottie Scheffler does best, as the world no.1 closed a four-shot gap to catch and then beat the in-form Robert MacIntyre to earn his fifth victory of the year.
The weekend also saw the confirmation of the FedEx Cup top 30 who advance to the Tour Championship next week, with Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry confirming their spots by finishing 2nd and 24th respectively in the rankings.
A topsy-turvy final round for grand slam winner Rory McIlroy saw the 36-year-old struggle on the front nine, making two double-bogeys in a row on the fifth and sixth holes. But a strong back nine, aided by four birdies as he made his way towards the clubhouse, saw the world no.2 finish his final round at even-par, taking him to three-under and T12 for the weekend.
“The game was awful for the first six holes and then actually felt like I found something, especially on the back nine there. So definitely something to build off going into next week… it was a bit of a struggle this week. For the amount of big numbers and bad spots I put myself in, it ended up not being a bad finish, in spite of that. Certainly, some work to do before next Thursday,” said McIlroy.
Shane Lowry could have been feeling the effects of his five-over-par round on Saturday, but the Offaly man came out with intent in round four.
Birdieing the first two holes and finishing strong with another on the 18th, Lowry posted a final round three-under-par which saw him finish T23 at one-over.
The group to watch of course was Scottie Scheffler and Robert MacIntyre, as the group dynamics were fascinating – MacIntyre who was leading by four strokes at the start of the day seemed to struggle with the intimidation factor of Scheffler who birdied the first to let him know he was coming.
Unfortunately it was a horror start for MacIntyre, who led three of the four rounds, as the 29-year-old Scot struggled off almost every tee box and saw his four-shot lead halved after one hole.
Two bogeys on the first two holes, followed by another on the fifth were compounded by the lack of birdies – MacIntyre didn’t make a birdie until the 16th – and by his own admission it was unexpected.
“I got off to an absolutely horrific start… I wasn’t even expecting to be over par, to be honest. I was really expecting to go out there, foot down, and perform the way I have the last couple days,” said MacIntyre.
Scheffler, who closed the gap on the lead within five holes, began well but his moment of the round was a chip in birdie on the 17th hole to solidify the win.
“I was starting four shots back but got myself into the tournament pretty quickly there on the front nine and did a lot of good stuff out there and would have liked to have had a few less mistakes, but overall great battle all the way through,” said the world no.1.
An 18th win for Scheffler, this time with a different face on the bag as Michael Cromie stepped in for Ted Scott and it’s getting harder to ignore the Tiger-esque comparisons now. When he shows up – he’s favourite to win.
Further down the FedEx Cup Standings saw delight for some and heartbreak for others.
Rickie Fowler, Sam Stevens and Si Woo Kim all missed out on the Tour Championship, but it was a huge weekend for Akshay Bhatia and Harry Hall as they crept inside the top 30 standings.
The BMW Championship is the last counting event for the US Ryder Cup side and the six automatic qualifiers for the US team are finalised afterwards.
Looking for a spot at Bethpage are Maverick McNealy and Sam Burns as strong finishes give them an opportunity to be picked by captain Keegan Bradley.
An 11-under-par week saw McNealy hold solo third as a 10-under week sees Burns finish just behind in T4.
All eyes are now on the Tour Championship which begins on August 21st at East Lake Golf Course.
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