What PGA Tour players privately told Smylie Kaufman about Caves Valley’s 17th hole before Scottie Scheffler’s chip in

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While Scottie Scheffler will have plenty of more significant victories in his career, the 2025 BMW Championship will be among his most memorable thanks to one shot in particular.

Scottie Scheffler has won for a fifth time on the PGA Tour in 2025. It is hard to see anyone stopping the world number one from retaining his Tour Championship crown at East Lake in the coming days.

Scheffler was not at his very best at the BMW Championship. But with Robert MacIntyre struggling on Sunday at Caves Valley, Scheffler was able to capitalise and secure yet another victory on the PGA Tour this year.

Of course, Scheffler’s victory was all but sealed with a moment of magic on the penultimate hole of the tournament.

What players were saying about the 17th hole at Caves Valley before Scottie Scheffler chipped in at the BMW Championship

As Scheffler and MacIntyre teed off on the 17th hole, the American had a one shot lead. However, Scheffler missed the green with his tee shot on the long par three and left himself in the rough.

Scheffler then hit a sumptuous chip which kept rolling and rolling, picking up just enough momentum to drop into the hole and send the crowds into a frenzy. It restored his three-shot lead before the 18th and dashed any hope the Scot may have had.

It is surely going to prove to be one of the most iconic shots of Scheffler’s career – particularly as it was not a pin that many players wanted anything to do with.

Speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman outlined what some of those in the field were saying about the pin.

“We get to 17, and this hole location, I got a text from other players saying this is diabolical. You can’t even imagine how difficult this hole location is at 17. It’s a six iron where you can’t really get the ball to stop in this area. You have a hula-hoop that you have to land the ball on. And everything funnels to the hole, but it just is a really hard up and down. It’s a tough two-putt because it’s so quick down that slope,” he said.

“Bobby Mac hits the most incredible looking six iron, and I was thinking in the air: this is the shot, this is perfect. And somehow he flies it 215. Just deflating because I thought he absolutely pulled off the shot. Because I would’ve loved to have seen Scottie have to take on that shot, because later on you heard him say that, ‘basically, I hit it back into the left’. So it was the right leave, because the rough over the green and left wasn’t that bad. But still a very difficult chip.

“So when we get up to the green, I look at Bobby Mac’s chip, I’m like, okay, this is doable. I would say it’s hard to make to get perfectly because it’s right as the players walk off, it’s down grain as the players are walking off. I didn’t see Scottie’s lie, but I did get into a position, if you look at the video of Scottie’s chip, you could see me right next to the scoreboard, so he’s literally chipping right at me.

“I had done my research in knowing that if a ball just crests the hill, it’s getting to the hole. And everything kind of funnels to where the hole location is. So as soon as it crests the hill, I’m thinking already in my head: this is going to have a chance to go in. And with about eight feet left, a lot of people would think there’s no way this ball gets to the hole. And at that point, I said: ‘this is going to go in on the last drop’.

“The crowd pop was insane, how loud it was.”

How difficult the 17th hole at Caves Valley played during the final round of the BMW Championship

It will not surprise many to learn that the 17th hole proved to be the toughest on Sunday.

It played more than half a shot over par during the final round. Incredibly, there were nine more bogeys on the 17th hole than any other hole on the course on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Scheffler was just one of four players to walk towards the 18th tee having just made a birdie.

It was certainly a fitting way for Scheffler to put himself on the brink of victory.