Robert MacIntyre birdies last six holes to seize BMW lead

Robert MacIntyre of Scotland birdied his last six holes to blow past Scottie Scheffler and grab the first-round lead of the BMW Championship on Thursday in Owings Mills, Md.
MacIntyre posted an 8-under-par 62 at Caves Valley Golf Club, which also hosted this tournament in 2021 and produced a plethora of low scores, including a 27-under winning mark for Patrick Cantlay.
MacIntyre entered the week 20th in the FedEx Cup standings. The top 30 after Sunday qualify for next week’s Tour Championship, and a strong finish in Maryland would take MacIntyre far away from that bubble.
MacIntyre birdied the 11th hole but bogeyed the 12th to sit at 2 under for his round Thursday afternoon. His remarkable birdie run began with a 66-foot putt at the par-3 13th and a 40-footer at No. 14.
In fact, the first five birdies of that streak all came from at least 11 feet out. At No. 18, he knocked his approach shot to inside 5 feet for the exclamation point.
There was a two-hour, 13-minute delay in the afternoon due to lightning in the area. When play resumed, Scheffler birdied three of his final four holes to set the early pace at 4-under 66.
Englishman Tommy Fleetwood was a bogey-free 4 under with one hole to play. Fleetwood nearly captured his first PGA Tour victory last week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship but a late bogey kept him out of a playoff eventually won by countryman Justin Rose.
Tied at 3-under 67 are Rickie Fowler, Ben Griffin and Norway’s Viktor Hovland.