Robert MacIntyre led for three rounds, sitting pretty with a four-shot cushion heading into Sunday. Then the cold, hard reality of battling Scottie Scheffler hit him: three bogeys in his first five holes sent that lead packing faster than Usain Bolt being chased by a Cheetah.
Scheffler, relentless and calm as ever, closed with a steady 67 – including a mind-blowing 82-foot chip-in birdie on 17 – to grab his fifth win of the season and maintain his stranglehold atop the FedExCup standings. Cue the fireworks.
✨ Magic On 17: Scheffler’s Summer Highlight
Trailing by four? No problem. Scheffler erased it within five holes. But the defining moment was a pitch from the rough that somehow slid all the way in from an absurd distance. Honestly, it belongs in highlight reels forever as it was truly masterful. That single swing sealed a comeback that looked easy, routine even. Oh, and he did it sans his regular caddie, thanks to Mike Cromie’s Zen vibes. Nice pay day for the stand in looper.
😬 MacIntyre’s Sunday Implosion
Scotland’s rising star collapsed, bogeying three of the first five to open the door for “Thanos”. The crowd didn’t help. By the back nine, heckles about “blowing it again” and muttered digs about his bottle cut through the Tennessee air. MacIntyre fronted it afterwards with painful honesty:
“I wanted to smash up my golf clubs.”
Brutal words, brutal finish. Still, he punched his Tour Championship ticket and remains a guy to watch, but his Sunday unravel paints another near-miss narrative too familiar to fans of heartbreak, and fans of European stars trying to win on US soil. Speaking of which…
🇬🇧 Fleetwood Hangs Around
And then there’s Tommy. Not in the headlines, not in the playoff, but not exactly invisible either. Fleetwood played his way into a tidy tie for fourth at –10, adding another top ten to that record breaking list he would love to not hold. The only way to shed that is to win. At least there was no heartbreak this time. Fleetwood looked steady without ever threatening the crown. It’s classic Tommy Fleetwood in the States: enough birdies to make you believe, not enough killer instinct to make you rich. Still, the points haul keeps his playoff hopes alive, and one of these weeks the stars surely have to align… right?
👀 Who Else Kept Funky Form Alive?
Maverick McNealy held on for third at –11, quietly reminding us that he’s more than a wildcard pick. Sam Burns did his Bethpage hopes no harm either as he matched Fleetwood in T4. And Akshay Bhatia, with a hole-in-one on Saturday and a last-second push, snuck into the Tour Championship at the 30th and final spot. Grit matters, even when the leaderboard is screaming otherwise.
🤔 Final Thoughts
Scheffler’s BMW win wasn’t just predictable; it was inevitable. Five wins this season – including two Majors – since that Phil tweet predicting he wouldn’t win ANY event up until the Ryder Cup! Scheffler is not just the best; he’s the blueprint.
MacIntyre, though talented, showed nerves where focus should be. Fleetwood? Solid, steady, but still on the wrong side of the nearly-man line.
🥄 Bang Average Moment of the Week
Scottie Scheffler on the 17th green, staring down an 82-foot chip that had no business going in. He gives it a nudge, it tracks, the crowd swells, and somehow it drops dead centre. Cue the roar, cue MacIntyre’s shoulders sinking at the side of the green. Bob had got himself back into it and trailed only by one. From hoping that Scheffler may drop a shot to square things up, all of a sudden, just like that, it was game over.
