This needs a locker room speech, and for that, we go to Robert MacIntyre.
On Friday, after second-round play at the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship, a reporter asked him about shinty, a sport that can get physical, and golf, which does not. And that means you ‘fight’ in shinty.
But how do you ‘fight’ in golf?
“Yeah, I’m not very calm on the golf course,” MacIntyre said. “But shinty is a physical contact sport where the fight is not so much physical fight, but it’s like, don’t go in half-hearted; don’t go 50/50 in a tackle; that’s when you get injured. Go 100 percent in a tackle, and hopefully you win the tackle. If not, you get back up and you go again.
“Golf is exact — that’s the way I treat it. Yesterday I hit a bad tee shot on 12 into the water. When it’s a tough test, I find it easier, when you know people are making bogeys. But it was just get there, make a drop, think about what you’re doing, and it’s more of a switch on for me. In golf, it’s more focusing more and just do not give up, no matter what. Do not give up. There’s times when it’s not going well and you want to throw in the towel, but it’s not what I do.
“For me, it’s just try your hardest until it’s done and someone tells you to stop.”
Do not give up. Do not throw in the towel. Do not stop. Not now. Sunday will be a consequential day in golf. For the pros across various tours. For amateurs. For you.
Here are 12 (!) ways how:
1. PGA Tour Tour Championship spots
The BMW Championship is the second week of the three-week-long PGA Tour playoffs, and another player cutdown will be finalized after Sunday’s final round. Last week, following the end of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the top 50 in the season-long standings moved on to the BMW. After this week, the top 30 advance to next week’s Tour Championship.
There, the format has changed. All players will start at even on the leaderboard, and the winner will also win the season-long race — and last year’s champion said it was a “cool format.”
“In order to win the FedExCup,” Scottie Scheffler said, “you have to play good golf at the right time. In our sport, in order to accomplish what you want to accomplish, you have to play good golf at the right time. If you want to win major championships, you have to play great golf major championship weeks. If I want to win the FedEx Cup this year, I have to have a great week next week.
“You kind of throw out what happened the rest of the year. I think when you get the reward for getting to the Tour Championship, I think that’s really what we’re looking at is once you get to the Tour Championship, you’ve had a great season, and now you have an opportunity to go out and win the FedEx Cup, but you have to play good golf at the right time.”
To follow the standings, please click here.
2. Major championship spots
Those who advanced to last year’s Tour Championship received spots in the Masters, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship — and will likely get them again.
3. Bonus money
Those who finish in the top 30 after Sunday will also receive bonus money. The payout structure looks like this:
1. $5 million
2. $3.5 million
3. $2.595 million
4. $1.8 million
5. $1.45 million
6. 900,000
7. 700,000
8. 585,000
9. 550,000
10. 515,000
11. 380,000
12. 365,000
13. 350,000
14. 335,000
15. 325,000
16. 290,000
17. 285,000
18. 280,000
19. 275,000
20. 270,000
21. 240,000
22. 235,000
23. 230,000
24. 225,000
25. 220,000
26. 215,000
27. 210,000
28. 205,000
29. 200,000
30. 195,000
Scheffler is currently first — and will finish first, as his lead in the standings can’t be overtaken at this point. Put another way, Scheffler could finish last at the BMW and still win the $5 million. (Scheffler has 5,456 points, and the next-closest player, Rory McIlroy, has 3,444 — and the tournament winner gets 2,000.)
4. U.S. Ryder Cup automatic picks
After Sunday, the six automatic picks for the U.S. Ryder Cup team will be finalized. Entering the week, the top 12 in the points standings were: Scheffler (already clinched), J.J. Spaun (already clinched), Xander Schauffele (already clinched), Russell Henley, Bryson DeChambeau, Harris English, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Keegan Bradley, Maverick McNealy and Andrew Novak.
Bradley, the captain, will name his six captain’s picks on Aug. 27. On the European side, the six automatic picks will be decided following play on Aug. 24, and captain Luke Donald will announce his six captain’s picks on Sept. 1.
For a complete look at the U.S. standings, please click here. For the European standings, please click here.
5. Keegan Bradley’s finish
This week and next, Bradley’s play stands to be the most watched. As of now, the feeling is he will likely pick himself to the team, becoming the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
But should he slip on Sunday and next week, the decision could become more difficult.
“I’ve been saying all year you can’t expect to be on the team unless you’re in the top six,” Bradley said earlier in the week. “My goal is to go out there, whether I was Ryder Cup captain or not this week, and play well and play well next week at the Tour Championship as well.
“There’s definitely a lot more on my plate here these next couple of weeks. The Ryder Cup has always been so far away, and now it’s right there. Things are definitely amping up. I still have a lot to prove just as well as everyone around me on the list.”
To view the BMW leaderboard, please click here.
6. Rasmus Hojgaard’s Sunday
On the European side, Rasmus Hojgaard is eighth in the team standings, and he leads after three rounds at the DP World Tour’s Danish Golf Championship. But there’s even more going on here.
The Danish Golf Championship is, yes, played in Denmark. Which is Hojgaard’s home country.
He won the event in 2023. A second victory would be epic.
To view the leaderboard, please click here.
7. LIV Golf’s individual title
Either Joaquin Niemann or Jon Rahm will win LIV Golf’s season-long points race on Sunday, and the scenarios needed to do so can be found here.
Each are playing LIV’s Indianapolis event, and after the second round, Niemann was tied for third and Rahm was tied for ninth.
Said Niemann on LIV’s broadcast: “Whatever comes, it comes. But I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Said Rahm: “I’m sure a lot of — one of you guys on the booth, on the screen is going to display what the possible combinations are based on where me and Joaquín finish, but I know I have to beat him by a margin. If I don’t win, I know he needs to finish quite a bit down.
“The goal tomorrow is hopefully come out and do what I did the first day and give myself a chance to win it all, but if not, I’m going to need some luck.”
Also at stake is positioning for LIV’s team championship, which will be played next week.
8. LIV Golf’s relegation
LIV’s final round on Sunday also promises to determine whether players will be “relegated” out of the league for next season. Should they fall below 48th in the season-long points race, they’re out.
Entering the week, here were the players ranked 45th or worst: Chieh-Po Lee (wild card) (45th), Brendan Steele (46th), Lee Westwood (47th), Henrik Stenson (48th), Mito Pereira (49th), Andy Ogletree (50th), Luis Masaveu (reserve) (51st), Ian Poulter (52nd) Yubin Jang (53rd), Young-han Song (reserve) (54th), Anthony Kim (wild card) (55th), Wade Ormsby (reserve) (56th), Frederik Kjettrup (57th), Ollie Schniederjans (58th), Max Rottluff (reserve) (59th), John Catlin (reserve) (60th), Minkyu Kim (reserve) (61st).
To view the LIV Indianapolis leaderboard, please click here.
9. U.S. Amateur winner — and spots in three majors
Either Jackson Herrington or Mason Howell will win the U.S. Amateur title on Sunday and, with it, a berths in three majors. By making the finals, both players secured Masters and U.S. Open spots, and the champion will be exempt into the Open Championship.
Herrington is a sophomore at the University of Tennessee. Howell is a high school senior-to-be in Georgia (and you can read more about him here).
To view the U.S. Amateur leaderboard, please click here.
10. Could an amateur win on the LPGA?
The LPGA’s Standard Portland Classic could also see an amateur winner on Sunday. Kiara Romero opened with rounds of five-under 67 and three-under 69, then shot a 72 on Saturday, and she’ll start 10 shots back of leader Akie Iwai.
To view the LPGA leaderboard, please click here.
11. Could a pipe fitter win on the PGA Tour Champions?
Through two rounds, Wes Martin was tied for 22nd and nine shots out of the lead at the PGA Tour Champions’ Rogers Charity Classic — and any finish would likely be the best ever by a full-time pipe fitter.
