WELL, what else is there to say?
When the going gets tough, Scottie Scheffler does some of the craziest things on the golf course. Such as the one he conjured on the par 3 17th hole in the final round on Sunday at Caves Valley.
His ball in the rough and facing a daunting chip from 82 feet, the title still up for grabs, what did Scheffler do? He hit his shot into the green and the ball rolled and rolled, seemingly in slow motion, towards the hole before dramatically falling in for birdie.
WATCH:
The crowd erupts, Scheffler and caddie celebrate and Robert McIntyre’s fate is sealed. He would not be winning the BMW Championship, his four-shot lead, previously looking imposing, now a distant memory.
Against Scheffler, it seems no lead is safe. This is the third time he overcame a four-shot deficit after 54 holes to win.
That almost improbable chip-in is perhaps one of the most sensational of any of Scheffler’s other mind-bending feats in a season that had many of them.
This one, coming on the penultimate hole, with him nursing just a one-stroke lead, had a Tiger-like quality to it. Which is not a surprise for many who over the past months have seen Scheffler do some of the magic and improbable things Tiger Woods had done in his prime.
McIntyre and his caddy could watch only in disbelief when the shot went in. He already was under extreme pressure when he bogeyed Nos. 1, 2 and 5 and Scheffler, with a birdie on the same stretch, tied him for the lead. The Scot then lost the lead for good on the seventh after another Scheffler birdie.
After grabbing the lead, Scheffler never lost it. He finished the round three-under 67. McIntyre shot a three-over 73, giving Scheffler a two-stroke win.
“Right now, I want to go and smash up my golf clubs, to be honest with you,” said McIntyre, who led for 61 holes, and then played catch up for the remaining nine, as he became the latest victim of Scheffler’s relentless attack.
The win was Scheffler’s fifth of the season, the second straight season he had five or more wins, matching Tiger’s record in 2005-2007. It was also his 18th overall, which he all posted over the last four years.
Next week, it will the season ending Tour Championship and Scheffler will again be the overwhelming favorite to win it and the $10 million top prize. Already, the American has pocketed $5 million for topping the FedEx Cup season-end standings.
The BMW Championship earned him another $3.4 million.
Bianca, Dottie shine in LPGA Portland tilt
Over at the LPGA, Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina scored rare personal achievements which had been few and far between.
Pagdanganan, who previously made just four cuts in 12 starts, shot a final-round 71 in the Standard Portland Classic to share 35th place, while Ardina had a wondrous five-under 67 to tie for 38th place.
Overall, Bianca completed the tournament at eight under par 280 to earn $13,220, while Ardina, at seven under, took home $10,574.
Japanese rookie Akie Iwai won the event by four strokes after shooting a final round 66 for a 24-under total of 264.
She joins her twin sister Chisato as first-time winners on the LPGA Tour this year. The two also became the fourth sisters to win on the LPGA, joining Nelly and Jessica Korda, Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn and Charlotta and Annika Sorenstam.
Yuka Saso missed the cut after firing 78-75 - nine over par in the first two rounds.
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