Robert MacIntyre of Scotland birdied his last six holes to blow past Scottie Scheffler and grab the first-round lead of the BMW Championship on Thursday in Owings Mills, Md.
MacIntyre posted an 8-under-par 62 at Caves Valley Golf Club, which also hosted this tournament in 2021 and produced a plethora of low scores, including a 27-under winning mark for Patrick Cantlay.
Nobody went lower than MacIntyre to open this year’s edition. He will take a three-stroke lead over Englishman Tommy Fleetwood into Friday. Scheffler (4-under 66) is alone in third after taking the lead into the clubhouse in the day.
MacIntyre entered the week 20th in the FedEx Cup standings. The top 30 after Sunday qualify for next week’s Tour Championship, and a strong finish in Maryland would take MacIntyre far away from that bubble.
The 29-year-old said he didn’t believe a 62 was likely for anyone Thursday.
“There’s chances. If you drive the ball well, it does give you chances,” MacIntyre said. “… I’m sure the next couple of days won’t be as easy.”
MacIntyre birdied the 11th hole but bogeyed the 12th to sit at 2 under for his round Thursday afternoon. His remarkable birdie run began with a 66-foot putt at the par-3 13th and a 40-footer at No. 14.
In fact, the first five birdies of that streak all came from at least 11 feet out. At No. 18, he knocked his approach shot to inside 5 feet for the exclamation point.
“Probably the last six holes is probably as good as I’ve ever putted in a stretch of holes,” said MacIntyre, whose big moment this year was a runner-up finish at the U.S. Open. “Just so consistent.”
Fleetwood’s bogey-free 65 included a long putt of his own, a nearly 34-foot left-to-righter on the final hole to move past Scheffler for second.
“To go bogey-free around there is really, really good,” said Fleetwood. “I think I made like two or three really good par saves, but apart from that, I did a lot of things well.”
Fleetwood nearly captured his first PGA Tour victory last week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship but a late bogey kept him out of a playoff eventually won by countryman Justin Rose.
There was a two-hour, 13-minute delay in the afternoon due to lightning in the area. When play resumed, Scheffler birdied three of his final four holes to set the early pace at 4-under 66.
“Significantly softer,” Scheffler said of how the course changed. “The fairways were really rolling out to start the day. Greens were firm. So yeah, golf course changed pretty significantly after the delay.”
Tied at 3-under 67 are Rickie Fowler, Ben Griffin and Norway’s Viktor Hovland.
Hovland, the 2023 BMW and FedEx Cup champion, needs a strong week to stay inside the top 30; he entered at No. 28.
“It’s still another tournament,” Hovland said. “I’ve still got to play well, and then we’ll see how it shakes up. If I play halfway decent, that top 30 shouldn’t be an issue. Just trying not to lose my mind out there if it goes south.”
Fan favorite Fowler leapt from No. 64 to No. 48 by tying for sixth last week at the St. Jude. Another high finish could place him in the Tour Championship field for just the second time this decade.
“I feel like things have been heading in the right direction, and I’ve been in a good spot for a few months now of knowing where the game is and it’s continuing to get better,” Fowler said.
“This (course) is a bit different. It’s a lot different test than what Memphis gave us last week, but with how the game has been, in a way kind of playing the last two weeks — more so this week probably in a way, more so nothing to lose.”
–Field Level Media
