OWINGS MILLS, Md. — One day it was the putter, another day it was the irons. No one had a lower score than Robert MacIntyre either of the first two rounds at the BMW Championship, and the reward for his 6-under-par 64 on Friday was a five-shot lead over none other than Scottie Scheffler going into the weekend at Caves Valley Golf Club.
MacIntyre closed with six straight birdies in the opening round for a 62 on Thursday, and the 29-year-old from Scotland started the second round with a shot into 5 feet on the 476-yard first hole for another birdie. He kept bogeys off his card this time and set a daunting target at 14-under 126 through 36 holes in the second of three tournaments in the PGA Tour postseason.
Scheffler, who is No. 1 in both the Official World Golf Ranking and the FedEx Cup standings, spent what was a steamy Friday afternoon in the Baltimore suburbs trying to keep in range. The 29-year-old Texan had to settle for six pars at the end for a 65 that was a good enough for a spot in the final group for the third round.
Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg was alone in third at 8 under, with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama another stroke back after each shot a 64. England’s Tommy Fleetwood (69) was at 6 under, tied for fifth with American players Michael Kim (66) and Maverick McNealy (64).
McIntyre’s margin marks the largest 36-hole lead at the BMW Championship since Jason Day led by five shots in 2015, when the tournament was held at Conway Farms Golf Club in the Chicago suburbs. Day went on to win by six.
“It’s only 36 holes gone. There’s a long way to go,” said MacIntyre, who’s seeking a third PGA Tour victory to go with his wins last year at the Canadian Open and the Scottish Open. “I’m comfortable with who I am. I’m comfortable with the team around me, and I’m comfortable on this golf course. Just go and play golf.”
He has made it look as easy as it sounds on a course that has been renovated — the changes included making it longer and adding new greens — but without much wind, it still hasn’t put up a real fight.
MacIntyre still putted well, except for the five-foot birdie he missed on the 18th and another birdie chance inside eight feet on the eighth hole. He has gained 6.8 shots on the field in putting through 36 holes to lead the key putting statistic, but he was rarely out of position even when he missed a fairway or green.
“Yesterday the putter was on fire. Today I felt like my iron play was exceptional,” said MacIntyre, who was the U.S. Open runner-up in June and tied for seventh at the British Open last month. “Obviously, coming from links golf back out to throwing darts is a bit different technique-wise, turf-wise, so it took a little bit of readjusting, but I’ve got the hang of it.”
Scheffler had his 15th consecutive sub-70 round and pulled within five shots on No. 12 when he hit a 4-iron shot from 221 yards to seven feet for a birdie. He had only two reasonable chances from the 15-foot range the rest of the way.
“Bogey-free is always nice,” Scheffler said. “I would have liked to get to have gotten a couple better looks down the stretch, but didn’t hit as many fairways the last few holes, and out here with the way the holes are shaped, you’ve got to be in play. Did a good job of saving pars when I needed to on the back.”
Matsuyama has yet to make a bogey through 36 holes, even more remarkable because he has been feeling ill this week. That much was clear when he came out of scoring and headed straight for the car, a Japanese television crew hustling to try to catch up with him.
Kim is among those in fifth but eight shots out of the lead, and the position on the leaderboard is more meaningful to him than how far he is behind. The top 30 in the FedEx Cup after this weekend advance to the Tour Championship that starts next Thursday at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club, and Kim needs to finish somewhere near his current position to advance.
Baylor School graduate Harris English (68) was tied for 14th at 2 under. He entered the week 10th in the FedEx Cup standings and remains on track for his first appearance at the Tour Championship since 2021.
The only two players currently projected to move into the top 30 are Kim and England’s Harry Hall (67), who was 5 under and tied for eighth with American player Sam Burns (67) and Norway’s Viktor Hovland (68).
The 28-year-old Hall, who played college golf at UNLV, has quietly had a good year on the PGA Tour and is turning heads with his efficient swing and improved putting. He has four top-10 finishes, has missed only three cuts in 23 starts this year, and has finished out of the top 25 only once in his past 10 starts.
As much as he wants to be at East Lake, he now is in the conversation for the Ryder Cup. He said he has received a few text messages from European captain Luke Donald, but he has not been fitted for a uniform.
No. 2 Rory McIlroy, playing for the first time since the British Open, was paired with Scheffler for the first two rounds. The career Grand Slam winner from Northern Ireland overcame an early double bogey to post a 66, leaving him 10 shots behind and alone in 11th.
“I think I’m just playing my own tournament at this point,” the reigning Masters champion said. “I just want to try to play a good weekend and feel a little bit better about my game going into the Tour Championship.”
