Viktor Hovland’s sharp irons spark BMW Championship run
Viktor Hovland credits precise iron shots and a playoff mindset for his opening round success.
PGA Tour
It’s moving day at the 2025 BMW Championship as we head into the weekend at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland, in the PGA Tour’s second FedEx Cup playoff event.
The biggest question as the third round begins on Saturday, Aug. 16, is can anyone move Robert MacIntyre from atop the leaderboard after the Scottish golfer vaulted to the top in the first round and stretched his lead in the second.
MacIntyre held a five-shot lead over second-place Scottie Scheffler entering Round 3, but Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, has been steady as a rock through two days. Ludvig Aberg and Hideki Matsuyama are lurking close behind, while Rory McIlroy made a late charge at the end of the second round to reach the top dozen.
Third-round play Saturday gets underway at 9 a.m. ET. MacIntyre and Scheffler are the last pair to tee off at 1:45 p.m. ET.
USA TODAY Sports will be following everything happening on the course at the 2025 BMW Championship. Here are updates from the third round of the PGA Tour’s second FedEx Cup Playoffs event:
BMW Championship leaderboard
- 1. Robert MacIntyre: -15
- 2. Scottie Scheffler: -11
- T3. Michael Kim -8
- T3. Maverick McNealy -8
- T3. Harry Hall: -8
- T3. Ludvig Åberg: -8
- 7. Sam Burns -7
- T8. Rickie Fowler -6
- T8. Viktor Hovland -6
- T8. Tommy Fleetwood: -6
BMW CHAMPIONSHIP: Updated tee times, full leaderboard
He birdies on the ninth hole to improve to -15 for the tournament. He has a four-shot lead on Scottie Scheffler.
MacIntyre bogeyed on the first hole on Saturday but birdied on No. 4. Scottie Scheffler has pulled to within three with two birdies, including on the seventh.
The leaders are starting to make their way to the course, starting with golfers at the bottom or near the top 10. Rickie Fowler (3-under) and Rory McIlroy (4-under) have begun, with the group tied for 8th (Viktor Hovland, Sam Burns, Harry Hall) right behind them, starting their third round.
Akshay Bhatia is 3-under for the round and is inching closer to the top 30 threshold to compete next week. Lucas Glover also has a low score of 3-under and is 5-over the tournament.
As the clock strikes noon, a couple of golfers, including Nick Taylor and Cameron Young, have a chance to get under par. Both are comfortably in the Tour Championship field for now.
About 15 golfers have teed off in the 3rd round, and most are struggling in the beginning stages of moving day. Lucas Glover is off to a good start at 2-under through his first six holes. He sits at 30th in the FedEx Standings, but is projected to finish outside of the top 30.
Ryder Cup placement for the United States is also on the line, with Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, and others yet to secure their spots on the team and needing big weekends to do so.
Total purse: $20 million
- 1st: $3,600,000
- 2nd: $2,160,000
- 3rd: $1,360,000
- 4th: $990,000
- 5th: $830,000
- 6th: $750,000
- 7th: $695,000
- 8th: $640,000
- 9th: $600,000
- 10th: $560,000
- 11th: $520,000
- 12th: $480,000
- 13th: $441,000
- 14th: $402,000
- 15th: $382,000
- 16th: $362,000
- 17th: $342,000
- 18th: $322,000
- 19th: $302,000
- 20th: $282,000
- 21st: $262,000
- 22nd: $245,000
- 23rd: $229,000
- 24th: $213,000
- 25th: $197,000
- 26th: $181,000
- 27th: $174,000
- 28th: $167,000
- 29th: $160,000
- 30th: $153,000
- 31st: $146,000
- 32nd: $139,000
- 33rd: $132,000
- 34th: $127,000
- 35th: $122,000
- 36th: $117,000
- 37th: $112,000
- 38th: $108,000
- 39th: $104,000
- 40th: $100,000
- 41st: $96,000
- 42nd: $92,000
- 43rd: $88,000
- 44th: $84,000
- 45th: $80,000
- 46th: $76,000
- 47th: $72,000
- 48th: $70,000
- 49th: $68,000
- 50th: $66,000
The third round of the BMW Championship is underway, with Ryan Gerard being the first golfer to tee off. Gerard has some ground to make up to make the Tour Championship as he sits 32nd in the FedEx Standings and begins the round at 11-over. The top 30 golfers advance to the next round.
What time is BMW Championship Round 3?
The third round of the 2025 BMW Championship starts at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 16, with the first player scheduled to tee off at 9:10 a.m. ET.
How to watch BMW Championship: TV channels, streaming
The 2025 BMW Championship, the second event of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, will be televised nationally on the Golf Channel and NBC. It can be live streamed via ESPN+, Peacock and Fubo depending on the time. Here’s the broadcast schedule for the final two rounds:
All times Eastern
Saturday, Aug. 16
Sunday, Aug. 17
Watch the leaders at the BMW Championship on Fubo
BMW Championship tee times, pairingsThird Round – Saturday
All times Eastern
- 9:10 a.m. — Ryan Gerard
- 9:17 a.m. — Sam Stevens, Andrew Novak
- 9:28 a.m. — Brian Campbell, Lucas Glover
- 9:39 a.m. — Thomas Detry, Ryan Fox
- 9:50 a.m. — Sungjae Im, Jhonattan Vegas
- 10:01 a.m. — Xander Schauffele, Akshay Bhatia
- 10:12 a.m. — Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas
- 10:28 a.m. — Tom Hoge, J.T. Poston
- 10:39 a.m. — Keegan Bradley, Chris Gotterup
- 10:50 a.m. — Brian Harman, Bud Cauley
- 11:01 a.m. — Corey Conners, Justin Rose
- 11:12 a.m. — Nick Taylor, Matt Fitzpatrick
- 11:23 a.m. — Cameron Young, Kurt Kitayama
- 11:39 a.m. — Daniel Berger, Jacob Bridgeman
- 11:50 a.m. — Ben Griffin, Si Woo Kim
- 12:01 p.m. — Shane Lowry, Patrick Cantlay
- 12:12 p.m. — Denny McCarthy, J.J. Spaun
- 12:23 p.m. — Harris English, Jason Day
- 12:34 p.m. — Rickie Fowler, Taylor Pendrith
- 12:50 p.m. — Rory McIlroy, Russell Henley
- 1:01 p.m. — Sam Burns, Viktor Hovland
- 1:12 p.m. — Maverick McNealy, Harry Hall
- 1:23 p.m. — Tommy Fleetwood, Michael Kim
- 1:34 p.m. — Ludvig Åberg, Hideki Matsuyama
- 1:45 p.m. — Robert MacIntyre, Scottie Scheffler
FedEx Cup playoff standings
Here are the top 10 golfers in the FedEx Cup playoff standings entering the BMW Championship. Only the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings after Sunday’s final round qualify for The Tour Championship. For a full list of standings, click here.
- Scottie Scheffler: 5,456 points
- Rory McIlroy: 3,444 points
- J.J. Spaun: 3,344 points
- Justin Rose: 3,220 points
- Sepp Straka: 2,783 points
- Russell Henley: 2,579 points
- Ben Griffin: 2,555 points
- Tommy Fleetwood: 2,433 points
- Justin Thomas: 2,395 points
- Harris English: 2,269 points