OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Robert MacIntyre could only applaud from the scoring room when J.J. Spaun wrapped up the U.S. Open with his epic putt at Oakmont two months ago.
When Scottie Scheffler sank an even longer chip Sunday to take control of the BMW Championship, MacIntyre at least had a chance to answer back on the course — but by then, a tournament that had been slipping away from the Scot all day was almost gone.
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Robert MacIntyre, of Scotland, prepares to putt on the second hole during the final round of the BMW Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Robert MacIntyre, of Scotland, hits on the first hole during the final round of the BMW Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Robert MacIntyre, of Scotland, hits off the ninth tee during the final round of the BMW Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Robert MacIntyre, of Scotland, chips onto the second green during the final round of the BMW Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
“When he’s pitched that in on 17 and then he’s hit the perfect tee shot on 18, it’s pretty much game over just then,” MacIntyre said.
MacIntyre has been on the wrong end of two of golf's most memorable shots of 2025, although Sunday at Caves Valley he had himself to blame for being in that position. After a first-round 62, he shot progressively worse in each remaining round, capping the weekend with a 73 and losing by two strokes to Scheffler.
A four-shot lead entering the final round was gone within five holes thanks to three bogeys by MacIntyre.
“I got off to an absolutely horrific start,” MacIntyre said. "I just expected jumpers on (Nos.) 1 and 2. (No.) 1, it’s come out dead and then it’s got a massive mud ball just short of the green. Hard to control the chip. But I just felt great going out today. I wasn’t even expecting to be over par, to be honest.
“I was really expecting to go out there, foot down, and perform the way I have the last couple days.”
That did not happen, and after Scheffler's birdie on No. 11 gave him a two-stroke lead over MacIntyre, a fan loudly heckled MacIntyre on his way up the 12th hole, telling him the crowd was Scheffler's and “You ain't ready!”
MacIntyre just stared back during that episode and wouldn't comment afterward on the crowd. Plenty of fans were respectful, but enough weren't to get his attention at times. Scheffler, playing in his home country with the Ryder Cup coming up in September, had plenty of spectators rooting for him — and a few probably had some money on the world No. 1.
MacIntyre could be heard venting frustration after his tee shot went into a bunker on No. 14, but a birdie on the par-5 16th brought him to within a stroke. Then Scheffler made his majestic 82-foot chip for birdie on the par-3 17th.
The crowd erupted into a “U-S-A! U-S-A!” chant — then actually got behind MacIntyre a bit when he tried to chip in from the rough as well. If he'd been able to pull it off, he'd have remained one stroke back going to 18, but he wasn't able to match Scheffler's feat and settled for par.
One fairly anticlimactic hole later, MacIntyre's frustrating round was done.
“Right now I want to go and smash up my golf clubs, to be honest with you,” MacIntyre said.
MacIntyre was disappointed to miss long on a couple par 3s on the back nine, one of which he bogeyed.
“My golf ball was going miles today. I don’t know why,” he said. “I need to work that out. But when I got the game back in somewhat of a shape, I went over the back of the par 3s. I feel I’ve hit good shots, and I’ve gone miles.”
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Robert MacIntyre, of Scotland, prepares to putt on the second hole during the final round of the BMW Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Robert MacIntyre, of Scotland, hits on the first hole during the final round of the BMW Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Robert MacIntyre, of Scotland, hits off the ninth tee during the final round of the BMW Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Robert MacIntyre, of Scotland, chips onto the second green during the final round of the BMW Championship golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, in Owings Mills, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
A federal appeals panel on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that released former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from an immigration jail, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist.
The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t decide the key issue in Khalil’s case: whether the Trump administration’s effort to throw Khalil out of the U.S. over his campus activism and criticism of Israel is unconstitutional.
But in its 2-1 decision, the panel ruled a federal judge in New Jersey didn’t have jurisdiction to decide the matter at this time. Federal law requires the case to fully move through the immigration courts first, before Khalil can challenge the decision, they wrote.
“That scheme ensures that petitioners get just one bite at the apple — not zero or two,” the panel wrote. “But it also means that some petitioners, like Khalil, will have to wait to seek relief for allegedly unlawful government conduct.”
Thursday’s decision marked a major win for the Trump administration’s sweeping campaign to detain and deport noncitizens who joined protests against Israel.
Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security Department spokesperson, called the ruling “a vindication of the rule of law.”
In a statement, she said the department will “work to enforce his lawful removal order” and encouraged Khalil to “self-deport now before he is arrested, deported, and never given a chance to return.”
It was not clear whether the government would seek to detain Khalil, a legal permanent resident, again while his legal challenges continue.
In a statement distributed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Khalil called the appeals ruling “deeply disappointing."
“The door may have been opened for potential re-detainment down the line, but it has not closed our commitment to Palestine and to justice and accountability," he said. "I will continue to fight, through every legal avenue and with every ounce of determination, until my rights, and the rights of others like me, are fully protected.”
Baher Azmy, one of Khalil's lawyers, said the ruling was “contrary to rulings of other federal courts."
“Our legal options are by no means concluded, and we will fight with every available avenue,” he said.
The ACLU said the Trump administration cannot lawfully re-detain Khalil until the order takes formal effect, which won't happen while he can still immediately appeal.
Khalil’s lawyers can request that the panel's decision be set aside and the matter reconsidered by a larger group of judges on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, or they can go to the U.S. Supreme Court.
An outspoken leader of the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia, Khalil was arrested last March. He then spent three months detained in a Louisiana immigration jail, missing the birth of his first child.
Federal officials have accused Khalil of leading activities “aligned to Hamas,” though they have not presented evidence to support the claim and have not accused him of criminal conduct. They also accused Khalil, 31, of failing to disclose information on his green card application.
The government justified the arrest under a seldom-used statute that allows for the expulsion of noncitizens whose beliefs are deemed to pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests.
In June, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled that justification would likely be declared unconstitutional and ordered Khalil released.
President Donald Trump's administration appealed that ruling, arguing the deportation decision should fall to an immigration judge, rather than a federal court.
Khalil has dismissed the allegations as “baseless and ridiculous,” framing his arrest and detention as a “direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”
New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, said on social media Thursday that Khalil should remain free.
“Last year’s arrest of Mahmoud Khalil was more than just a chilling act of political repression, it was an attack on all of our constitutional rights,” Mamdani wrote on X. “Now, as the crackdown on pro-Palestinian free speech continues, Mahmoud is being threatened with rearrest. Mahmoud is free — and must remain free.”
Judge Arianna Freeman dissented Thursday, writing that her colleagues were holding Khalil to the wrong legal standard. Khalil, she wrote, is raising “now-or-never claims” that can be handled at the district court level, even though his immigration case isn't complete.
Both judges who ruled against Khalil, Thomas Hardiman and Stephanos Bibas, were Republican appointees. President George W. Bush appointed Hardiman to the 3rd Circuit, while Trump appointed Bibas. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, appointed Freeman.
The two-judge majority rejected Freeman's worry that their decision would leave Khalil with no remedy for unconstitutional immigration detention, even if he later can appeal.
“But our legal system routinely forces petitioners — even those with meritorious claims — to wait to raise their arguments," the judges wrote.
The decision comes as an appeals board in the immigration court system weighs a previous order that found Khalil could be deported to Algeria, where he maintains citizenship through a distant relative, or Syria, where he was born in a refugee camp to a Palestinian family.
His attorneys have said he faces mortal danger if forced to return to either country.
Associated Press writers Larry Neumeister and Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this story.
FILE - Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil holds a news conference outside Federal Court on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025 in Philadelphia (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
