Scottie Scheffler, the world’s #1 pro golfer for the past 2.5 years, just came from behind today to win his 5th PGA Tour tournament this year—the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland, just outside Baltimore.
MacIntyre Holes Long Putt for Four-Stroke Lead
Scheffler and Robert MacIntyre were paired together these last two days in this second stage of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Yesterday, it looked like Scheffler—who is known for being such a calm yet great competitor—had met his match when MacIntyre finished the 18th hole in dramatic and feisty fashion by holing a forty-foot, uphill putt for a birdie that barely dropped over the front middle of the cup. Robert then pumped his fist to signify the tension that had been boiling during that round between him and one or more gallery fans about the upcoming greatest competition in golf—the Ryder Cup.
The Ryder Cup Drama Was Already Beginning
The Ryder Cup is a biennial, three-day competition during the early fall between the U.S. Team and the European Team that is full of drama and emotion otherwise not seen in this “greatest game on grass.” It becomes a patriotic affair. So, in yesterday’s round, one or more fans heckled Scotsman MacIntyre who will be on the European Team this fall. And Robert kept taking the bait by firing back a few verbal remarks of his own. It seemed to energize the Scotsman as he holed that putt on the 18th to take a four-shot lead. The ball barely made it to the hole, dropping over the front middle of the cup.
Scheffler Recovers from Missed Short Putts
So, Texan Scheffler began today in second place, four strokes behind leader MacIntyre. But Scottie quickly overcame that deficit after only five holes to be tied with Robert. Then the two pros battled about even until Scottie took a one or two stroke lead early in the back nine. But then, on the 14th and 16th holes, Scheffler missed easy putts from four and three feet. He was doing that last year at times, which was surprising.
Then, on the par-3 17th hole, in blazing fashion Scottie Scheffler holed a difficult, 80-foot pitch to take a two-stroke lead with one hole to play. His ball did just like Robert’s putt on the last hole yesterday, barely dropping over the front middle of the cup. It was as if Scheffler was doing the same thing to MacIntyre that the Scotsman had done to the Texan the day before, making Scottie still the best competitor. Both players then parred the par-four 18th hole for Scheffler to win the tournament by two strokes.
Next Week’s Tour Championship
The third and final stage of the FedEx Cup Playoffs is next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta. Scottie Scheffler is leading in FedEx Cup points. These Playoffs are unique the PGA Tour. They started in 2007, with tweaks through the years. Nowadays, they consist of three successive tournaments in August with dwindling fields.
The first stage of the FedEx Cup Playoffs is the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, which was last week with a field of seventy players. (Most PGA Tour tournaments during the summer have 156 players in its field.) This week’s second stage had fifty players. Next week’s third and final stage, the Tour Championship, will have thirty players. The winner will receive an extra $10 million bonus beside his pay for winning the tournament.
Scottie Scheffler and the PGA Tour Bible Study
As I have blogged often, Scottie Scheffler is a professing Christian and a prominent member of the PGA Tour Bible Study which I co-founded sixty years ago. In commemoration of its sixty-year anniversary, I have written a book that is about the early era of this flourishing Christian movement, the only book ever published about this group. Entitled Christ on the PGA Tour (1965-1982), I expect it to publish and be available in two or three days on amazon.com. At 170 pages in softcover, the retail price will be $13.95. The ebook and audio book price will be $9.95.
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