Preview - The BMW Championship
COURSE: Caves Valley Golf Club - (Owings Mills, MD)
ARCHITECT: Tom Fazio
YARDS/PAR: 7,542 yards/Par 72
PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $9,500,000/$1,710,000
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Jon Rahm (2020)
PAST RESULTS: (link)
PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)
FEDEx CUP Points / Winner: 2,000
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @BMWChamps
OFFICIAL SITE: (BMW Championship)
TV COVERAGE: Thursday, August 26 and Friday, August 27: Coverage from 3:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel.
On Saturday, August 28, Round 3 coverage 12:00pm Noon to 3:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. NBC Sports takes over from 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT). On Sunday, August 29: Golf Channel opens final round coverage 12:00pm to 2:00pm (EDT) and NBC wraps it up from 2:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT).
PGA TOUR LIVE STREAMING: Streaming coverage on Thursday and Friday, from 10:00am to 7:00pm (EDT) on PGA Tour Live. Twitter coverage from 10:00am-11:45am (EDT) on Thursday and Friday.
On Saturday and Sunday, PGA Tour Live will stream 8:00am to 6:00pm (EDT). Twitter will stream 8:00am-9:15am (EDT) on Saturday and Sunday.
PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM Radio will have live radio coverage of the The BMW Championship with Thursday and Friday broadcasts from 1:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT). Weekend coverage on Sirius XM Radio begins at 1:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) or conclusion on Sunday. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92)
How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)
The BMW Championship/FedExCup Playoffs
OWINGS MILLS - The Top 70 PGA Tour pros in the current FedExCup standings are eligible for the BMW Championship, and after this weekend, the Top 30 will advance to the TOUR Championship, where the FedExCup Champion will be crowned. Since the points structure changed in 2009, an average of 2.83 players per year enter the BMW Championship outside the Top 30 and go on to qualify for the TOUR Championship, including two in 2020 (Joaquin Niemann, Mackenzie Hughes).
With his win at THE NORTHERN TRUST, Tony Finau moved to No. 1 in the FedExCup standings for the first time in his PGA Tour career. Since the points structure changed prior to the 2009 season, two players occupying the No. 1 position in the standings entering the BMW Championship have gone on to win the FedExCup: Henrik Stenson (2014) and Dustin Johnson (2020).
Jon Rahm will attempt to defend his 2020 BMW Championship title at a new venue, just outside Baltimore, Maryland instead of its usual Chicago destination. Rahm enters the week at No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking and No. 2 in the FedExCup standings. Rahm defeated Dustin Johnson in a playoff in 2020 to win the BMW Championship and finished third at last week’s THE NORTHERN TRUST after holding at least a share of the lead through 18, 36 and 54 holes.
Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland is the ninth different venue to host the BMW Championship since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007.
The Basics:
With the limited field of 70, Tournament Tee Times begin a bit later than usual, starting Thursday at 9:40am and going to 2:05pm (EDT).
Weather: Morning thunderstorms are on the radar with a 40% chance of rain throughout the day. Temps 81-degrees+ with humidity 73% and winds at 6 mph. (link)
PGATourBrunch will post at 9:00am (EDT) on Thursday.
Next Week: TOUR Championship - The final round of FedEx Cup Playoffs (link)
Last Week: The NORTHERN TRUST (link)
BMW Championship - Field and Tee Times:
The Field - (link)
Tee Times: (link)
Odds for The BMW Championship
(Odds by William Hill)
Jon Rahm 13-2
Xander Schauffele 18-1
Dustin Johnson 20-1
Justin Thomas 20-1
Jordan Spieth 20-1
Collin Morikawa 22-1
Cameron Smith 22-1
Patrick Cantlay 25-1
Brooks Koepka 25-1
Tony Finau 25-1
Bryson DeChambeau 28-1
Corey Conners 28-1
Rory McIlroy 28-1
Scottie Scheffler 28-1
Louis Oosthuizen 28-1
Viktor Hovland 28-1
Webb Simpson 33-1
Daniel Berger 35-1
Paul Casey 35-1
Abraham Ancer 35-1
Hideki Matsuyama 35-1
Shane Lowry 40-1
Joaquin Niemann 40-1
Harris English 40-1
Kevin Na 50-1
Sam Burns 50-1
Sungjae Im 50-1
Cameron Tringale 66-1
Jason Kokrak 66-1
Russell Henley 66-1
Erik Van Rooyen 70-1
Harold Varner 80-1
Si-Woo Kim 80-1
Alex Noren 80-1
Sergio Garcia 80-1
Cameron Davis 80-1
Kevin Streelman 80-1
Billy Horschel 80-1
Kevin Kisner 80-1
Keegan Bradley 80-1
Branden Grace 100-1
Maverick McNealy 100-1
Jhonattan Vegas 100-1
Brian Harman 100-1
Emiliano Grillo 100-1
Mackenzie Hughes 100-1
Sebastian Munoz 100-1
Stewart Cink 100-1
Charley Hoffman 100-1
Cameron Champ 100-1
Marc Leishman 125-1
Lee Westwood 125-1
Max Homa 125-1
Keith Mitchell 125-1
Phil Mickelson 125-1
Carlos Ortiz 125-1
Ryan Palmer 125-1
Charl Schwartzel 150-1
Talor Gooch 150-1
Harry Higgs 150-1
Aaron Wise 150-1
Tom Hoge 150-1
Chris Kirk 150-1
Lucas Glover 200-1
Patton Kizzire 200-1
Kyoung-Hoon Lee 200-1
Robert Streb 250-1
Hudson Swafford 250-1
Matt Jones 250-1
TL’s Wedge for an Edge: It’s the second round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs and the BMW Championship and 2,000 FedEx Cup points are up for grabs. On this penultimate week of the 2021 PGA Tour season, my PGA Fantasy game foursome will include: Cameron Smith, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele. The bench players will be: Corey Connors and Tony Finau. For my one and done, I’m going with Cameron Smith.
What They’re Saying:
The First Look at The BMW (PGATourCom)
Power Rankings for The BMW (PGATourCom)
Five Things to Know About Caves Valley (PGATourCom)
How to Watch This Week (PGATourCom)
FedExCup Standings (PGATourCom)
#SportsBiz, Sports Gambling and Golf Industry News
Predictions for the BMW Championship (CBS Sports HQ)
Fantasy Insider for the BMW (PGATourCom)
Expert Picks for the BMW - (PGATourCom)
Sleeper Picks for the BMW - (PGATourCom)
Horses for the Course - Caves Valley - (PGATourCom)
On This Day in Golf History:
August 25, 2000 - Tiger Woods flirted with a “59” but settled for a course record (61) in the second round of the NEC Championship at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. - Courtesy of Randy Walker, Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE
Parting Putt:
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