The evidence has been building. We know the Scottie Scheffler effect is real. However, it is abundantly clear now that Scheffler, who on Sunday won his 18th PGA Tour event, at the BMW Championship, can intimidate a field just with his presence on the final round leaderboard.
Scheffler makes things happen even when he looks to be out of position. He can surge into contention despite frustrating himself by losing shots on the greens. Scheffler goes out and wins golf tournaments with magic — like the chip he holed on No. 17 at Caves Valley on Sunday to all but guarantee his victory. The world No. 1 just knows how to shut the door on his competition. Today, that was Robert MacIntyre.
“It looked good when it landed, it looked good when it was rolling. It was nice to see that one go in,” Scheffler told NBC of his shot on No. 17.
SCOTTIE. SCHEFFLER. ARE YOU KIDDING?!?!
A chip-in birdie to take a two-shot lead on the 71st hole @BMWchamps! pic.twitter.com/nw6YitU0FA
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 17, 2025
A four-shot 54-hole lead is never a guaranteed victory — the conversion rate is exactly 79.3 percent over the last 20 years on the PGA Tour, according to The Athletic contributor Justin Ray. That statistic should at least promise some comfort in the event that the leader’s game takes a turn for the worse. But a four-shot lead is just not the same with Scheffler as the closest man chasing.
MacIntyre learned that the hard way at the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs, starting the day in Baltimore with a four-shot lead over the world No. 1. He stood at 16-under-par, shooting rounds of 62-64-68 to get there. He ended the day in second place, shooting 73 in his final round, nearly losing shots in all strokes gained categories.
“Right now I want to go and smash up my golf clubs, to be honest with you,” MacIntyre told reporters after.
Within the first five holes of the final round, Scheffler and MacIntyre were tied. The world No. 1 went one under in his first five holes. MacIntyre came out of the gates with back-to-back bogeys and proceeded to finish the same stretch in 3-over-par. And the struggles only continued for the Scotsman.
Scheffler went on to take a one-shot lead after the 7th hole and a two-shot lead through the 11th, but the four-time major champion did not execute his run without momentarily opening the door for MacIntyre along the way.
After MacIntyre drained a key par putt on No. 12, Scheffler missed from short range and made a bogey. Then, on No. 14, Scheffler’s putter gifted MacIntyre another stroke, as he missed inside three feet, leaving a longer putt for bogey. Suddenly, Scheffler’s lead over MacIntyre was back to one.
On the next hole, No. 15, Scheffler restored his momentum. Scheffler and MacIntyre both stuck their approach shots to close range. MacIntyre missed; Scheffler made. The lead returned to two before it bounced back to one after the 16th, where MacIntyre made a birdie.
Scheffler then did what he knows best: He took control of the tournament on the par-3 17th, draining a chip shot from nearly 30 yards — by no means a standard hole-out, as the ball skidded toward the pin and dropped into the cup. He went into the 18th with a two-shot lead.
It just felt fitting for the world No. 1 to win it that way — fitting enough for Patrick Mahomes to take to X, writing, “Scottie is a crazy man,” with a series of emojis.
The victory at the BMW is Scheffler’s fifth of the season, including two major championships, the PGA Championship and The Open. Scheffler also won this week without his caddie, Ted Scott, on the bag. Scott, who is home due to a family matter, was replaced this week by Chris Kirk’s caddie, Michael Cromie.
Scheffler and MacIntyre will meet again not only at next week’s Tour Championship, but also at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black at the end of September. MacIntyre made his maiden Ryder Cup team at Marco Simone in 2023, and his play this season will earn him a spot again in 2025.
Scheffler’s run of dominance has been described by many in the game as the closest level of excellence and consistency that the game has seen since Tiger Woods. His name continues to be etched in the record books, win after win. Scheffler has now finished T8 or better in 13 consecutive PGA Tour starts. That has not been accomplished since Tom Weiskopf in 1973, per Ray.
“I think it has a lot to do with the intensity that I bring to each round,” Scheffler said. “I try not to take days off. I try not to take shots off.”
(Photo: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)