Scottie Scheffler Wins the BMW Championship

Scottie Scheffler started the day four strokes behind Robert MacIntyre at the final round of the BMW Championship. By the fifth hole, the two were tied. By the 7th hole, Scheffler had the lead. Although it was not easy, he held on to win Sunday afternoon at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, MD.

Down by two strokes most of the back nine, MacIntyre made a final charge on the 16th hole. His birdie put him one down with two holes to go. Then Scheffler did what Scheffler does. He provided an amazing head-shaking golf moment. On the par-3 17th, both Scheffler and MacIntyre hit their tee shots in the rough. Both needed to chip out to reach the green. That is where the similarities end.

On shot two, Schelffler’s chip shot made it into the hole for a birdie after a long roll that provided an epic moment of drama that took 14.74 seconds from swing to dropping into the hole. MacIntyre simply reached the green with his second shot and made par, like most normal golfers do. Down by two going into the final hole was too much for MacIntyre to overcome.

Top 30 Starts With Scottie Scheffler and Ends With Akshay Bhatia

At the end of the day, Akshay Bhatia came in 30th in the FedEx Cup standings. The Top 30 qualify for the FedEx Championship event next week at East Lake Golf Club. This year, No. 30 has as good a chance to win the FedEx Cup as does the No.1. That was not true for several years going back to 2019, as the FedEx Cup “Starting Strokes” format would give the No.1 player a two-stroke lead over No. 2 and an even larger lead to others lower.

That format is no longer in place when the 30 golfers tee up next week in Atlanta, as it is “winner takes all.” Therefore, No. 30 today could be No. 1 for the season next Sunday. This led to drama within the BMW Championship. As Scheffler was taking over the lead and holding on, many in the earlier groups were riding a wave of emotions on each golf shot.

Winners and Losers To Reach the Top 30

Here are the winners and losers from the drama to get into the Top 30:

• Loser: Rickey Fowler. He started the day in 33rd place. After three birdies, he moved to the magical No. 30.  After a birdie on No. 13, he was 26th. However, the wheels fell off, and a bogey, then a double bogey on 14, then 15 moved him out of the top 30. Now, he has next weekend off.
• Loser: Michael Kim. Someone has to be No. 31. Kim is that person. A complicated scoring system leads to drama for unknown reasons. In this case, a birdie by Viktor Hovland essentially knocked Kim out. That led Kim to post on X: “Viktor and I used to be friends.” We think that Kim was kidding.
• Winner: Viktor Hovland. He came in 22nd, but that is not why he gets into the winner category. He reaches this category based on Kim. A big X user, Kim’s sarcastic post generated over 4.4 million views in less than an hour.
• Winner: Harry Hall. After hole 8, he was 31st. Three birdies and one bogey later, he ended 28th.
• Winner by driving – but not on the course – on the highway: Chris Gotterup. Finishing the day earlier than most, Gotterup knew he was close and knew his fate was going to be determined by several players after. So how did he handle the stress? He drove to his family’s house and claimed he was not watching the results, according to NBC Sports, which televised the event. Perhaps this game plan saved some useless energy being spent on stress watching his fate as he slid in and out of the top 30. His final fate: He was No. 29, and now he can keep driving to Atlanta.
• Winner-winner – and a BMW to boot: Akshay Bhatia. He is No. 30. In addition to that, Bhatia hit a hole-in-one in round three, which earned him a brand new BMW SUV.

The Path To the FedEx Cup

Throughout the PGA season, players receive points for their finish. Last week, the top 70 from the season played in the FedEx St. Jude Classic. The Top 50 played in the BMW Championship. The final event of the season is called the Tour Championship and starts Thursday, August 21, at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The winner of the Tour Championship is the winner of the FedEx Cup. Although Bhatia and all the other 28 golfers above him can win it, you might want to put your money on Scheffler to win. Scheffler won his first FedEx Cup last year.