OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Robert MacIntyre ducked his head under the branches and climbed into a mess of bushes behind the fifth green without a golf club, first seeing if he could find his ball and then deciding if it was worth trying to play it.
Through an opening he saw Scottie Scheffler waiting on him, a reminder of what he was up against Saturday in the BMW Championship.
He took on the shot and somehow made par for the hole with two tough putts from 70 feet. It was a big moment, but to MacIntyre, all of them were big in the third round at Caves Valley Golf Club: the par saves, a few birdie chances he missed, and the 40-foot birdie that ended a satisfying day.
That gave MacIntyre a 2-under-par 68 and a four-shot lead over the No. 1 player in the Official World Golf Ranking going into the final round of the second of three tournaments in the PGA Tour postseason and the chase for the FedEx Cup.
“It was massive,” MacIntyre said of his par save on No. 5. “Look, every save, every shot is a prisoner for me. That shot there is no more important than that one I’ve hit on 18, any of the shots I’ve hit today. I’ve played beautifully all week, so it’s just about continuing that going into tomorrow.”
And the 29-year-old from Scotland with two PGA Tour wins knows what to expect Sunday: another date in the final group with Scheffler, the 29-year-old Texan who had an efficient 67 to trim a stroke off the five-shot deficit he faced at the start of the third round.
The big crowd’s rooting interest was obvious, and MacIntyre heard one fan from a hospitality suite behind the 14th green and had enough. He holed an eight-foot par putt right after Scheffler made a birdie, looked back at the crowd as he lightly pumped his fist and put his index finger to his lips to shush whoever got under his Scottish skin.
“I totally expected to be in this situation today when I’m in this position. It’s going to be the exact same tomorrow,” said MacIntyre, who is chasing a wire-to-wire win after holding a three-shot lead over England’s Tommy Fleetwood after the first round, when Scheffler was another stroke back in third.
“I’ll give back as good as I get,” MacIntyre added. “Look, I thought I played great. There was obviously a couple of shouts. But there’s plenty of security.”
He was at 16-under 194 through 54 holes. Scheffler finally ended a streak of 37 holes without a bogey and felt his iron game was slightly off, but otherwise had no complaints.
“I started the day five behind. The tournament was only halfway over. So there’s a lot of golf,” said McIlroy, who’s also No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings. “Bob has got a four-shot lead going into tomorrow, and it’s up to me. He’s playing some great golf, and it’s up to me to go out there and chase him down.”
Ludvig Aberg is also in the mix, sort of. The Swedish star appears to be emerging from a summer slumber and shot a 68 that left him alone in third. He was still six shots behind MacIntyre.
“It’s definitely going to take a really good score,” Aberg said. “Bob is playing really great golf, and so is Mr. Scheffler. It’s a tough task and it’s a tall order, but I’m excited about where I’m at.”
No one else was closer than eight shots of the lead.
Scheffler could sense the crowd in his favor, but he didn’t notice anything out of control. He has been through this before on the other side — in more ways tha one — paired with MacIntyre in the Scottish Open and playing before a pro-Rory McIlroy gallery at Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush, where the American star won the British Open last month for his second major championship this year and the fourth of his career.
“I can think of a few things that were said to me in the final round in Ireland that were very far over the line,” he said. “If you’re a fan, it’s only going to fire the guy up more, and I think just do your best to behave out there. It can be a little bit silly sometimes.”
The BMW Championship, with a no-cut field of 49 (Sepp Straka withdrew ahead of the tournament for personal reasons), decides the top 30 in the FedEx who advance to the Tour Championship for a shot at the $10 million prize starting next Thursday at Atlanata’s East Lake Golf Club.
Akshay Bhatia helped his chances with an amazing day that included a hole-in-one on the 17th hole to win a car, but more important project him inside the top 30. He also holed out with a wedge on the par-4 seventh for an eagle, and turned in a card that had scores of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
England’s Harry Hall, at No. 45 in the FedEx Cup, had a second straight 67 and was tied for fourth with America player Sam Burns (67).
Players often talk about staying present. Hall takes that to another level.
“I’ve only got one job to do, and that’s go recover and hydrate and get ready to hit that first show down the fairway tomorrow,” Hall said. “My game plan won’t fluctuate regardless of the situation I’m in. I think I’ll try and do the right thing on every shot, and hopefully that will be enough.”
Baylor School graduate Harris English, 10th in the FedEx Cup, shot a 67 and was tied for 11th on the leaderboard.
Rickie Fowler narrowly got into the top 50 during last weekend’s FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis to reach Caves Valley. He had a 67 on Saturday at the Baltimore-area course to put himself in position to move into the top 30.
He was projected just outside the top 30, and those projections are likely to fluctuate wildly on the last day. Fowler has an idea what he needs, but he kept it simple.
“Hopefully, just go wear out some fairways and then get the iron play back to where it’s been and make some putts,” he said. “But it sounds a lot easier than it is.”
MacIntyre was clearly up for the test, though. He made five par putts from five to eight feet, had a couple of birdie putts inside six feet and then ended his day with an uppercut celebration of a 40-foot birdie putt.
