Robert MacIntyre had a grin.
Through two rounds of the BMW Championship, the Scot held a seven-stroke lead at 14 under par when he walked off the course Friday afternoon. After the afternoon wave at Caves Valley, MacIntyre’s lead was cut to five strokes, with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler at 9 under. But the fruits of his labor are showing.
“I’ve played beautifully the last two days,” MacIntyre said after opening 62-64. “Yesterday the putter was on fire. Today I felt like my iron play was exceptional. But I’ve been putting in the work the last couple of weeks.”
That can be attributed to a tweak with the flatstick.
Rewinding to the spring, MacIntyre was struggling on the greens, ranking 141st on Tour (out of 185) in strokes-gained putting, losing 0.249 strokes. Now, however, he’s No. 54, gaining 0.18 strokes with the putter.
What has sparked the turnaround? According to PGATour.com, MacIntyre hired Mike Kanski, an understudy of Phil Kenyon, as his putting coach. And entering the PGA Championship, he traded his Scotty Cameron putter for a TaylorMade Spider GT.
“It’s been good,” MacIntyre said after the BMW’s second round. “Probably came after—even the weekend of the PGA [Championship] was good. Probably statistically wasn’t great, but I felt far more comfortable over the putter, and I’ve always said when I’m comfortable with a putter in my hands, it’s a dangerous thing.
“Since the PGA, it’s been feeling great in the hands. I do a lot of technique stuff with that, and then once I’ve done that, it’s just let it flow.”
The newfound confidence was evident in Round 1 at Caves, when the 29-year-old made 162 feet of putts in his final six holes. After 36 holes, he leads the field in strokes-gained putting.
His substantial lead isn’t completely because of the flatstick, though. The two-time PGA Tour winner is also first this week in strokes-gained approach and total.
“Obviously, coming from links golf back out to throwing darts (in the U.S.) is a bit different technique-wise, turf-wise,” MacIntyre said, “so it took a little bit of readjusting, but I’ve got the hang of it.”
If the world’s 14th-ranked player keeps up this form, there’s a good chance he comes away with a wire-to-wire victory. But only halfway to the finish line, MacIntyre knows there’s no reason to celebrate yet. Especially with Scheffler and a pack of other stars, such as Ludvig Aberg, Hideki Matsuyama and Tommy Fleetwood, lurking on the leaderboard.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as After Putting Change, Robert MacIntyre Grabs Substantial BMW Championship lead .