PGA Tour Brunch | BMW Preview
First Round Coverage of the BMW Championship | Owings Mills
By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk
OWINGS MILLS - Patrick Cantlay has played quite well at the BMW Championship. Cantlay, an eight-time PGA TOUR winner, enjoyed his most recent victory at the 2022 BMW Championship as he enters the week at No. 19 in the FedEx Cup standings.
This marks Cantlay’s ninth consecutive year in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, advancing to the TOUR Championship seven times with his best finish: The FedEx Cup Champion /2021.
With victories in 2021 and 2022, Cantlay is one of seven players in the last 100 years to win the BMW Championship in consecutive years: Nick Price (1993/1994), Jack Nicklaus (1967/1968), Billy Casper (1965/1966), Sam Snead (1949/1950), Ralph Guldahl (1936/1937/1938), and Walter Hagen (1926/1927).
Notes:
Rory McIlroy, a three-time FedEx Cup Champion (2016, 2019, 2022), is competing in his 15th BMW Championship, and is tied with Justin Rose for most of any player in the field. McIlroy enters the week as No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings, but is making his first start on TOUR since a T7 at The Open Championship. The Open at Portrush was one of three consecutive Top-10 finishes on TOUR for McIlroy: (T6/Travelers Championship, T2/Genesis Scottish Open, T7/The Open Championship).
Denny McCarthy, a Rockville, Maryland native, is seeking his first PGA TOUR victory in his 211th start.
Rickie Fowler carded a T6 finish at last week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, and moved from No. 64 in the FedEx Cup standings to No. 48. Fowler advanced to the BMW Championship for the 12th time.
BMW Championship | At a Glance
COURSE: Caves Valley Golf Club - (Owings Mills, MD)
OVERVIEW: (link)
ARCHITECT: Tom Fazio
YARDS/PAR: 7,542 yards/Par 72
PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $20,000,000/$4,000,000
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Keegan Bradley
PAST RESULTS: (link)
FEDEx CUP Points / Winner: 2,000
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @BMWChamps
OFFICIAL SITE: (BMW Championship)
BMW | 📺 How to Watch
Thursday, August 14, 2025
9:15am - 6:00pm - ESPN+ Streaming
12:00 Noon - 6:00pm - PGA Tour Radio on Sirius XM Radio and Online
2:00pm - 6:00pm - Golf Channel
How to Watch: (link)
BMW: Field, Update, Tee Times & Leaderboard
Field: (link)
Update: No. 5 Sepp Straka withdrew from the BMW due to a private family matter
Tee Times: (9:21am to 2:00pm ET) (link)
Leaderboard: (link)
PGA Tour Brunch will publish by 9:00am on Friday
What They’re Saying
Best Pairings to Watch Today (Golf Week)
Scenarios to Make TOUR Championship (PGATourCom)
How Scheffler Picked Another Fill-In Caddy (PGATourCom)
TOUR Championship (Next Week’s) Purse (Yahoo)
FedEx Cup Standings (PGATourCom)
Sports Gambling and Daily Fantasy News
Power Rankings for ‘25 BMW (PGATourCom)
Expert Picks for the BMW - (PGATourCom)
Sleeper Picks at the BMW - (PGATourCom)
Bhatia a Top 10? (Golf Week)
On This Day in Golf History
August 14, 1994 - Nick Price became the first player since Tom Watson (in 1982) to win back-to-back majors in a season when he won the PGA Championship by six strokes at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, OK. Price, a month earlier, won The Open Championship at Turnberry, also becoming the first player since Walter Hagen in 1924 to win both The Open and the PGA in the same year. - 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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