OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Matt Fitzpatrick was so frustrated with his game a week ago that he didn’t even want to play this week. Scottie Scheffler is right where he’s been almost all season – right in the thick of another high-stakes PGA Tour event.
Fitzpatrick and Scheffler are tied for the 54-hole lead at the BMW Championship at 11-under 199 with one round remaining. Fitzpatrick was bogey-free until the final hole but posted 4-under 66 at Olympia Fields, while Scheffler scrambled well and got help from his putter to shoot 64, the second-best score of the day in the 50-man field.
Ever since Fitzpatrick won the RBC Heritage in April, his game has fallen off sharply. Most notably, he has struggled off the tee, so much so that his caddie Billy Foster asked him in June, “How the hell have you finished top 20 in the U.S. Open driving the ball like me?”
“That’s what it feels like,” Fitzpatrick said this week. “Feels like I’ve been hitting driver like Billy.”
But last Saturday, he and swing coach Mike Walker found something simple on the range – he was overswinging so Fitzpatrick shortened his swing and it has been more in sync ever since. Problem solved.
“Why didn’t you tell me this three months ago?” Fitzpatrick cracked to Walker.
The Englishman was desperate for a strong week. Fitzpatrick is projected to improve all the way to fifth should he go on to win the BMW on Sunday.
“I like it when it’s windy and tough and it’s obviously getting firmer out there, as well,” Fitzpatrick said. “I just think tomorrow is supposed to be really, really hot. Obviously sort of playing very late, as well, again. So yeah, it’ll be very firm.”
Driver off the deck 😳
This tracer from Scottie Scheffler is ridiculous! pic.twitter.com/Usz1gAgLLr
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 19, 2023
Scottie Scheffler doesn’t like to hit driver from the fairway as much as he used to with drivers in the past but it has been a weapon for him this week, especially at the par-5 15th.
“It was the first round where I hit the first driver off the deck there just because it actually shapes — the shot is really shaped well for that kind of play. It’s just a low cut with — you can’t really draw a driver off the deck. I tried it the first day just because I thought it would be fun, and I hit a pretty good shot, and then I did it again today because it was fun,” he said.
Scheffler’s swing thought when he hits driver off the deck? “Hit the ball,” he said. “Just make contact, make good contact. You can look really stupid really fast trying to pull that shot off.”
Scheffler made birdie at 15 on Saturday and carded a 64 to grab his eighth 54-hole lead or, in this case, co-lead on Tour, tying for the most this season with three. Scheffler’s converted only 3 of 7 of those leads into victories but is 2-for-2 this season.
Scheffler made three birdies in a row at the turn as his putting improved from losing nearly two full strokes to the field on the greens Friday to gaining nearly two on Saturday.
For the week, Scheffler ranks first in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, SG: Tee to Green and SG: Approach. He’s also second in scrambling, but just 28th in the SG: Putting.
“I played what felt like a great round of golf today,” said Scheffler, who is projected to jump ahead of Jon Rahm and take the lead into the FedEx Cup finale next week. If so, he will be the first player to hold the lead heading into the Tour Championship two years in a row.
Matt Fitzpatrick tees off from the 16th tee during the third round of the BMW Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports
Only 30 players will move on to Atlanta for the Tour Championship, which means 20 players will be eliminated from the FedEx Cup Playoffs on Sunday. With one round to go, three players – Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose and Denny McCarthy – have moved to the right side of the cut line and three players – Jordan Spieth, Emiliano Grillo and Sepp Straka – are now on the outside looking in. Here’s a look at who is still battling for one of the final spots:
26. Justin Rose
27. Jason Day
28. Chris Kirk
29. Tyrrell Hatton
30. Denny McCarthy
31. Jordan Spieth
32. Emiliano Grillo
33. Sepp Straka
34. Sahith Theegala
35. Adam Svensson
Patrick Cantlay, left and Max Homa shake hands after their round during the second round of the BMW Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports
The top 6 in the U.S. Ryder Cup points standings will automatically qualify for captain Zach Johnson’s team heading to Rome next month. Scottie Scheffler and Wyndham Clark already locked up their spots. British Open champion Brian Harman, who currently sits third at the BMW, one stroke off the pace, is in third in the standings. Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele are projected to round out the six automatic qualifiers. A lot can change based on how Homa and Schauffele play on Sunday, but LIV’s Brooks Koepka, who won the PGA Championship in May, is projected to fall from fifth to seventh and then will have to rely on a pick.