OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Robert MacIntyre watched his par putt at the 14th hole drop, then snapped his head back to the crowd, pumping his fist and holding his finger to his mouth as he stared down a heckler.

It was that type of day for MacIntyre, who heard jeers from the first hole to the last hole as he went toe-to-toe with American Scottie Scheffler in the final pairing of the BMW Championship. That moment on the 14th hole was when the tension boiled over and MacIntyre decided to dish out a bit of medicine to the pro-U.S. crowd.

“He was just shouting I missed it, he's pushed it,” MacIntyre said. “Pushed it right in the middle of the hole, I guess.”

MacIntyre has largely let his play do the talking. Through 54 holes, MacIntyre was 16-under and had raced out to a four-shot lead over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Ludvig Åberg, six shots back at 10-under, was the only other player within seven strokes.

The moment was the defining point of MacIntyre’s round as he battled back and forth with Scheffler, who cut his lead to as few as three shots before MacIntyre pushed it back to four shots with a 41-foot birdie putt on the 18th.

MacIntyre said he responded to the heckler on the 14th because, unlike most of the day, the jeer interfered with his stroke.

“If you give me crap, I’ll give you crap back,” he said. “... if they do it outside the shot, it's fair game, but don't do it within the shot that's going to affect myself or Scottie.”

Scheffler said he was unaware of the situation at the 14th. He had just holed a birdie putt to cut the lead back to three shots. Had MacIntyre missed, the lead would have been only two shots.

“People have a tendency to say things that are dumb. I can think of a few things that were said to me in the final round in Ireland that were very far over the line,” Scheffler said. “If you're a fan, it's only going to fire the guy up more, and I think just do your best to behave out there. It can be a little bit silly sometimes.”

MacIntyre didn’t appear upset as he answered questions about the incident. If anything, it inspired him. He admitted that pushback from fans fires him up and focuses him.

“I grew up all my days amateur golf being the one on the outside looking in, faced not fitting, really fighting for it,” MacIntyre said. “What we say in the team, it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog, and I grew up fighting to be in this position.”

At points, the final pairing tussle between Scheffler and MacIntyre on Saturday felt like a Ryder Cup preview. It could very well be a Sunday matchup at Bethpage Black. But first, it will be a Sunday matchup at Caves Valley with the BMW Championship on the line.