OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler erased a four-shot deficit in five holes and then delivered a haymaker on the daunting par-3 17th by chipping in from 82 feet for birdie that carried him to victory Sunday in the BMW Championship for his fifth PGA Tour title of the year.
Scheffler closed with a 3-under 67 for a two-shot victory and became the first player since Tiger Woods (2006-07) to win at least five times on the PGA Tour in consecutive years.
Robert MacIntyre didn’t make a birdie until the 16th hole but stayed in the game after losing his big lead, mostly when Scheffler began missing short putts.
MacIntyre pulled within one shot of the lead going to the 17th, the toughest hole at Caves Valley, with a back right pin on a crispy green that sloped to the right toward the water. Scheffler went just left in the rough, the ball sitting up nicely but the shot still scary.
He landed it some 60 feet short and watched it trickle, and then roll, and then slow again until it dropped into the cup.
MacIntyre could only look at him and stare at the world’s No. 1 player making other-worldly shots in another extraordinary season. MacIntyre, who made 18 birdies in the first 45 holes of the tournament, made only two over the last 27 holes. He shot 73.
It’s not over for Scheffler, who leads the 30 players who advanced to the Tour Championship at East Lake with a chance to become the first repeat FedEx Cup champion since the series began in 2007. All 30 players at East Lake can win the $10 million first-place check.
LIV Golf League
WESTFIELD, Ind. (AP) — Jon Rahm successfully defended his LIV Golf season points title without winning an event all year, closing with an 11-under 60 before losing a playoff to Sebastian Munoz on the first extra hole in the Indianapolis event.
Munoz won two days after becoming the first player to shoot 59 with a double bogey. The Colombian player — with Rahm hitting balls on driving range — birdied the final two holes in regulation for a 65 to match Rahm at 22 under at The Club at Chatham Hills.
Rahm also lost on the first extra hole last week outside Chicago, falling to Dean Burmester in a three-way playoff that included Josele Ballester. On Sunday, Munoz beat the Spanish star won with a birdie on the par-4 18th in the playoff.
Rahm took the season points title from Joaquin Niemann, a five-time winner this season. Niemann shot a 66 to tie for fourth at 17 under, his first top-10 finish of the year that he didn’t win.
Munoz and Niemann led Torque GC to the team event championship. Torque finished at 64 under to break the LIV record of 53 under.
LPGA Tour
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Akie Iwai joined twin sister Chisato as a rookie LPGA Tour winner at Columbia Edgewater, closing with a 6-under 66 for a four-stroke victory in The Standard Portland Classic.
Akie Iwai capped the bogey-free round with birdies on the final two holes, running in an 18-footer on the last before Chisato rushed on the green and sprayed her with champagne.
The 23-year-old Japanese player broke through in her first season on the LPGA Tour after winning six times on the JLPGA Tour.
She had second-place finishes in Thailand in February and Los Angeles in April, then watched her sister win at Mayakoba in May in Mexico. On Sunday, Chisato Iwai shot a 64 to tie for third, five strokes back.
She’s the fifth player from Japan to win this season, following her sister, Rio Takeda, Mao Saigo and Miyu Yamashita. They are fourth set of sisters to win on the LPGA Tour, joining Jessica and Nelly Korda, Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn and Annika and Charlotta Sorenstam.
The winner finished at 24-under 264 on the tree-lined course. She opened with consecutive 67s, then shot a 64 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead into the final round.
American Gurleen Kaur was a career-best second, closing with a 65.
Amateur Kiara Romero shot a 64 to tie for seventh at 16 under in her first tour start. The University of Oregon player won the 2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior and 2025 Big Ten title.
United States Golf Association
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Georgia teenager Mason Howell capped a productive summer before his senior year of high school by winning the U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club just two months after competing in his first U.S. Open.
The 18-year-old Howell raced out to a big lead over Tennessee teenager Jackson Herrington on the opening 18 holes and went on to win the 36-hole final 7 and 6 to become the youngest U.S. Amateur champion since Byeong Hun An won at age 17 in 2009 at Southern Hills.
Howell won it with a par to halve the 30th hole, ending the most-lopsided final since Bryson DeChambeau also beat Derek Bard 7 and 6 in 2015. The win earned Howell invitations to the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open next year.
This was the first U.S. Amateur final featuring two teenagers since Matt Fitzpatrick bested Oliver Goss in 2013, Howell won 11 holes, eight of them with pars. He also responded after all four holes he lost, winning the following hole each time.
European Tour
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Marco Penge of England tapped in for birdie at the 18th hole for a 4-under 67 to win the Danish Golf Championship by one shot over Rasmus Hojgaard, who missed a chance to climb into the automatic qualifying position for the Ryder Cup.
Hojgaard looked on course for the title in his home country when he powered into a four-shot lead midway through his front nine, only to drop four strokes in four holes from No. 10 and allow Penge to take the lead.
Trailing by two on the par-5 closing hole at Furesø Golf Klub, Hojgaard made a 10-foot eagle. Penge missed the green to the left, chipped to 3 feet and made the birdie putt for his second European tour title this year.
Hojgaard (69) was the runner-up and will remain outside the six automatic qualifying spots, just behind No. 6 Sepp Straka, in the race to get into Europe’s team. Qualifying ends next week at the British Masters.
PGA Tour Champions
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Richard Green of Australia won the Rogers Charity Classic for his first PGA Tour Champions title, birdieing the par-5 18th hole for a 5-under 65 and a one-stroke victory.
Green held off Ricardo Gonzalez, the Argentine player who birdied the final two holes at Canyon Meadows for a 65 of his own.
The 54-year-old Green won in his 71st start on the 50-and-over tour. He finished at 18-under 192 after opening with rounds of 65 and 62.
Charles Schwab Cup leader Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain, the second-round leader after consecutive rounds of 63, had a 68 to finish third at 16 under. He leads the tour with four victories this season.
Korn Ferry Tour
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Emilio Gonzalez of Mexico won the Albertsons Boise Open for his first Korn Ferry Tour title and PGA Tour next season, shooting a 10-under 61 for a one-stroke victory over Jeffrey Kang.
Gonzalez jumped to fourth on the Korn Ferry Tour points list to wrap up the PGA Tour card.
He finished at 22-under 262 at Hillcrest Country Club, playing a late three-hole stretch in 4 under with a birdie on the par-4 15th, an eagle on the par-5 16th and a birdie on the par-3 17th.
Kang birdied two of the last three in a 65.
Other tours
Erika Hara of Japan won the Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic in Pendleton, Oregon, for her Epson Tour title. Hara closed with an 8-under 64 to finish at 18 under for a three-stroke margin. She won the Japan Women’s Open in 2020 and 2023. ... Kazuki Higa closed with a 7-under 65 and won the ISPS Handa Explosion in the Summer with an eagle on the second playoff hole to defeat Ren Yonezawa, who shot 64. Higa won for the first time in three years and now has seven titles on the Japan Golf Tour. ... David Law closed with a 4-under 68 for a two-shot victory in the Vierumaki Finnish Challenge, his second win of the season on Europe’s Challenge Tour. The victory move him to the top of the points list. ... Cory Crawford shot 7-under 65 and won by two shots at the PNG Open on the PGA Tour of Australasia. ... Herman Loubser closed with a 3-under 69 and defeated Yurav Premlall in the Vodacom Origins of Golf on the Sunshine Tour. ... Asuka Kashiwabara closed with a 4-under 68 for a one-shot victory over Sayaka Teraoka in the NEC Karuizawa 72 on the Japan LPGA. ... Jungmin Hong shot 7-under 65 to complete a nine-shot victory in the Mediheal Hankookilbo Championship on the Korea LPGA.
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The Associated Press