OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Robert MacIntyre of Scotland is one round away from a wire-to-wire victory at the BMW Championship.
MacIntyre drained a long birdie putt at No. 18 on Saturday at Caves Valley Golf Club to post a 2-under-par 68, and he’ll carry a four-stroke advantage over World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler into the final round.
MacIntyre climbed to 16-under 194 for the week at the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Playing in the final pairing with MacIntyre, Scheffler managed a 3-under 67 but never got closer than three shots of the lead.
Ludvig Aberg of Sweden is alone in third at 10 under after he sank a 30-foot birdie putt at the last hole to shoot 68. Sam Burns and Englishman Harry Hall both shot 67 and are tied for fourth at 8 under, while Maverick McNealy and England’s Tommy Fleetwood are another shot back after rounds of 69.
Rickie Fowler rolled in five birdies in a round of 67, moving to 6 under and a tie for eighth with Michael Kim (70) and Norway’s Viktor Hovland (69).
Where MacIntyre’s first two rounds featured birdies in bunches, his third round was about keeping Scheffler at arm’s length. He recovered from an opening bogey by birdieing Nos. 4 and 9 and parring the first eight holes on the back nine. He also had a difficult par save at the par-4 fifth hole in which he punched out of a heavily-treed native area.
Scheffler made three birdies through 11 holes but was caught up in a greenside bunker on No. 12 and made his only bogey. He got the stroke back at No. 14 with an 18-foot birdie putt.
MacIntyre followed Scheffler with a par putt, and in an eye-catching move with the Ryder Cup six weeks away, he appeared to shush pro-Scheffler American fans.
At the next hole, the Scotsman flighted a perfect bunker shot to 2 feet of the cup for a tap-in par, and he converted another par from the sand at the par-5 16th.
The top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings at the end of the tournament will advance to the Tour Championship next week. Akshay Bhatia — who had a hole-out eagle and a hole-in-one amid a round of 66 Saturday — is No. 28 in the live projections, Kim is No. 29 and South Korea’s Sungjae Im is No. 30.
The first man out in the projected standings is Chris Gotterup, followed by Fowler.
Robert MacIntyre leads Scottie Scheffler by four at BMW Championship
