– Robert MacIntyre (-16) hasn’t played as fluid and brilliant golf as he did on Thursday and Friday at the BMW Championship, but he has shown once again this Saturday that he is increasingly at ease, without any complexes, in major events and challenging situations. The Scotsman closed a very hard-fought round with a spectacular birdie on the 18th, a long putt (about twelve metres) with a pronounced left-to-right break, rewarding his courage and determination on a day of golf that was more gruelling than anything else. His final score of 68, two under par for the day, allows him to head into tomorrow’s decisive round as a clear and determined leader, with a comfortable four-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler (-12), who also hasn’t exactly soared over the impressive grounds of the Caves Valley Golf Club in Baltimore.
– The course isn’t set up for high scoring, almost as one would expect in a second Fedex Cup playoff, and neither of the two big favourites, the pair in the featured match, MacIntyre and Scheffler, have been very sharp off the tee. From there, both have delivered a beautiful clinic on composure and competition on a golf course. The best version of the World Number One hasn’t been seen this week, although the Texan rarely falls off the radar. At worst, he’s a blessed barnacle (today, a round of 67). He’s hit as much as he could, which was quite a lot, because in the end, he manages to hit most of the greens in regulation, but today his putter wasn’t very hot, and moreover, MacIntyre didn’t crumble at the first signs of adversity, which came very early, and he passed the tough test with resilience.
– Initially, it should be between the two of them for the win, although Ludvig Aberg (-10), who signed for a 68 and seems to be entering this phase of the season with greater determination, could be included in the equation. Today, for example, he managed to get through a round that became too complicated with irons in hand, almost always from the centre of the fairway.
– Sam Burns (-8) and Harry Hall (-8) seem too far back to be included in the list of contenders. The Englishman, who was closely followed by the European captain, Luke Donald, in the first two rounds of the last Scottish Open (they played together), is pushing all his options on two fronts: the Ryder and the Tour Championship. This second objective, the Fedex Cup final, is now within his grasp, as he arrived in Baltimore in 45th place and is currently projected to be 25th (remember: the top thirty qualify), but he needs to keep playing very well on Sunday. The other player who would currently make it into the Tour Championship is Michael Kim, and the two who were in the top thirty but are now out are Lucas Glover and Chris Gotterup.
– As for earning a spot at Bethpage, Harry Hall might find it more challenging. He would likely need to finish very well this week and perform brilliantly again at East Lake to somehow enter the plans. The Englishman has seemed somewhat annoyed by the fact that no one has taken his measurements for the team suit, which is evidently a sign of being on or off the staff’s radar… But he forgot to mention, for example, how Luke Donald was keeping an eye on him at the aforementioned Scottish Open. Today, after finishing his round, he tried to explain that some of his statements on the matter have been misinterpreted. He is certainly not one of the favourites, someone who has been considered all along, but it should also be noted that he is currently in 19th place on the Ryder ranking list, with a good number of candidates ahead of him.
