It was that type of day for MacIntyre, who heard jeers from the first hole to the last hole as he went toe-to-toe with American Scottie Scheffler in the final pairing of the BMW Championship. That moment on the 14th hole was when the tension boiled over and MacIntyre decided to dish out a bit of medicine to the pro-U.S. crowd.

“He was just shouting I missed it, he’s pushed it,” MacIntyre said. “Pushed it right in the middle of the hole, I guess.”

MacIntyre has largely let his play do the talking. Through 54 holes, MacIntyre was 16-under and had raced out to a four-shot lead over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Ludvig Åberg, six shots back at 10-under, was the only other player within seven strokes.

The moment was the defining point of MacIntyre’s round as he battled back and forth with Scheffler, who cut his lead to as few as three shots before MacIntyre pushed it back to four shots with a 41-foot birdie putt on the 18th.

MacIntyre said he responded to the heckler on the 14th because, unlike most of the day, the jeer interfered with his stroke.

“If you give me crap, I’ll give you crap back,” he said. “… if they do it outside the shot, it’s fair game, but don’t do it within the shot that’s going to affect myself or Scottie.”

Scheffler said he was unaware of the situation at the 14th. He had just holed a birdie putt to cut the lead back to three shots. Had MacIntyre missed, the lead would have been only two shots.

“People have a tendency to say things that are dumb. 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,” Scheffler 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.”

MacIntyre didn’t appear upset as he answered questions about the incident. If anything, it inspired him. He admitted that pushback from fans fires him up and focuses him.

“I grew up all my days amateur golf being the one on the outside looking in, faced not fitting, really fighting for it,” MacIntyre said. “What we say in the team, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog, and I grew up fighting to be in this position.”

Third-Round Notes – Saturday, August 16, 2025

 Weather: Partly cloudy. High of 89. Wind SSE 6-12 mph.

 Third-Round Leaderboard

 Robert MacIntyre (1^st/-16)

• Holes a final-hole birdie putt from 41 feet, 3 inches to card a 2-under 68 and set his career low 54-hole score on TOUR (previous: 195/2024 Genesis Scottish Open/Won) and one stroke shy of the tournament-record 193
• Marks his second 54-hole lead/co-lead in stroke-play events on TOUR (2024 RBC Canadian Open/Won)
• Would become the 20^th third-round leader/co-leader to go on and win this season in 36 stroke-play events
• Would become the second lefthander to win a FedExCup Playoffs event (Phil Mickelson) and fourth lefthander to win this season (Joe Highsmith, Brian Harman, Garrick Higgo)
• Would become the first player from Scotland to win a FedExCup Playoffs event
• Chance to become the first wire-to-wire winner of the BMW Championship since Marc Leishman (2017) and second wire-to-wire winner this season (Scottie Scheffler/THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson)
• Leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting (7.818)
• Seeking his third PGA TOUR win in his 76^th start (2024 RBC Canadian Open, 2024 Genesis Scottish Open)
• Enters the week No. 20 in the FedExCup standings; currently projected No. 3
• Looking to advance to the TOUR Championship for the second consecutive season (2024/17^th)
• Has five top-10 finishes in 21 starts this season, led by a runner-up finish at the U.S. Open
• Making his second start at the BMW Championship (2024/WD/back injury)

Miscellaneous Notes

• Reigning FedExCup champion and current points leader Scottie Scheffler (2^nd/-12) is a cumulative 7-under on the front nine this week, tied with Russell Henley for best in field; a win would mark his fifth this season and 18^th on TOUR (won seven times in 2024); his third-round 67 marks his 16^th consecutive round under par (last round over par: R3/2025 Travelers Championship/72/+2)
• 2024 BMW Championship runner-up Ludvig Åberg (3^rd/-10) looks for his second victory this season (The Genesis Invitational); at 25 years, 9 months, 17 days would become the youngest BMW Championship winner since Rory McIlroy in 2012
• 2024 BMW Championship runner-up Sam Burns (T4/-8) lost a playoff to Ryan Fox at the RBC Canadian Open for his best finish this season; most recent victory on TOUR: 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play
• Harry Hall (T4/-8), projected at No. 25 in the FedExCup standings, seeks to advance to the TOUR Championship for the first time in his third season on TOUR; 38 of his last 47 rounds on TOUR have been in the 60s
• Maverick McNealy (T6/-7), who made a double bogey on his final hole, is projected at No. 13 in the FedExCup standings and seeks to advance to the TOUR Championship for the first time in his sixth season on TOUR
• Akshay Bhatia (T22/E) makes his first hole-in-one on the PGA TOUR with a 227-yard 5-iron on the 17^th hole en route to a 4-under 66; ace will provide a full four-year Evans Scholarship in his name to a deserving young caddie, presented by BMW of North America. Bhatia will also be awarded a BMW iX for his achievement

FedExCup Playoffs Projections

The top 30 players at the conclusion of the BMW Championship will advance to the TOUR Championship

Players projected to move into top 30

Players projected to move out of top 30