The Ryder Cup is over a month away. But the inevitable collision course set to take place at Bethpage Black at the end of September already has golfers for Team USA and Team Europe in the mood for the rivalry.
In the third round of the BMW Championship on Saturday, American Scottie Scheffler and Scotsman Robert MacIntyre were paired together – drumming up some chants about the two eventually meeting on Long Island.
At the 14th hole at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland, MacIntyre was getting some stick from the American crowd trying to rally around Scheffler.
Scheffler buried his par putt – leading to some pro-USA chanting. But there was also a heckler in the crowd trying to get into MacIntyre’s head.
‘He was just shouting I missed it, he’s pushed it,’ MacIntyre said. ‘Pushed it right in the middle of the hole, I guess.’
Despite being further away, MacIntyre buried his putt. Immediately after it fell in the cup, he snapped his head around, stared at the heckler, put his finger to his lips to silence him and then pointed his putter at the fan as he walked away.
Scotsman Robert MacIntyre silenced a heckler in a sign of what’s to come at the Ryder Cup
MacIntyre drained his putt on the 14th and called out an American fan for their behavior
MacIntyre finished the day with the 54-hole lead – four shots ahead of Scheffler ahead of the final round.
But that moment on the 14th was the biggest moment of the day for him – with the jeer interfering with his stroke.
‘If you give me crap, I’ll give you crap back,’ he said. ‘… if they do it outside the shot, it’s fair game, but don’t do it within the shot that’s going to affect myself or Scottie.’
As for his playing partner’s point of view, Scheffler said that he wasn’t aware of what was being said.
‘People have a tendency to say things that are dumb. I can think of a few things that were said to me in the final round in Ireland [during The Open at Royal Portrush] that were very far over the line,’ Scheffler said.
‘If you’re a fan, it’s only going to fire the guy up more, and I think just do your best to behave out there. It can be a little bit silly sometimes.’
MacIntyre is hoping to seal his first win of the season on Sunday and take home a massive chunk of the $20million purse at the second phase of the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Unfortunately, he began his day dropping three strokes of his four-stroke lead within the first two holes.
