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On the heels of a wild and unforgettable final which saw the Northern Trust boil over due to the weather on Monday, 70 golfers remain in this PGA Tour season as we now head to the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in the Maryland. Golfers remaining from FedEx Cup Playoffs have less time to prepare than usual on a golf course they are already unfamiliar with. With tons of storylines and so many different prizes at stake, however, this seamless event in a city that has gone decades without hosting the Tour should be great.
Let’s take a closer look at this week’s contest with the odds provided through Caesars Sportsbook.
Event Info
Event: BMW Championship | Appointment: August 26-29
Site: Caves Valley Golf Club – Owings Mills, Maryland
Through: 71 | Stock Exchange: $ 9.5 million
Three things to know
1. New track: My pal, Brendan Porath, did a great job destroying a golf course that only lasted half of Baltimore’s absence from the PGA Tour for 60 years. Caves Valley was built in 1991, and what caught my eye as I read and thought about this tournament was how fun the opening round will be. The nines have been returned to Caves, which means you’ll see two drivable par 5s and two par 4s on the first five holes. The drivable par 4s are probably my favorite hole type (if done correctly) on the PGA Tour, and we get two right out of the gates. The score will likely be ridiculously low again, but the combination of a course players have never played competitively with a short week after the end of Monday as good as a cupless event means the best ball forwards will almost certainly reach the top by the end of the week.
2. East Lake Bubble: Dustin Johnson (22nd) and Rory McIlroy (28th) are probably lower in the FedEx Cup standings than you might expect this week. Kevin Kisner (31st) and Webb Simpson (52nd) are outside the last 30 who will advance to the Tour championship. Here’s the catch, even for those in that top 30 right now: they’re going to be 10 shots lower than someone like Tony Finau or Jon Rahm less than a big week in Caves Valley. With the Tour Championship’s new staggered starting format, positioning in the first two weeks of the playoffs is extremely important, and DJ and McIlroy – not to mention Daniel Berger (23rd) and Scottie Scheffler (24th) – need big weeks to be fixed. for a big paycheck in East Lake. Another name worth mentioning here is that of Patrick Reed, who was in the hospital all weekend. He’s 26th in the table and if he could in theory win the Tour Championship, he probably won’t as he won’t be playing at Caves this weekend.
3. Ryder Cup Final: The automatic qualifying for the U.S. Ryder Cup team comes to a close this weekend, and only one of six spots is up for grabs. Tony Finau currently has him on lockdown, but this is probably all moot anyway because Finau and the handful of players behind him – Xander Sc Chaudele, Jordan Spieth and Harris English – will almost certainly be the captain’s choices after the Tour. Championship if they do not automatically qualify. Where it gets intriguing is at # 10, which is currently owned by Reed. Can those behind Reed like Patrick Cantlay, Daniel Berger and Webb Simpson make their way into the squad with two hot weeks? Will Steve Stricker pick Reed, even though he almost certainly won’t have played the last month of the season? There are big questions to be addressed, and that sorting will likely begin this weekend.
Rick Gehman (RickRunGood) is joined by Mark Immelman, Kyle Porter and Jonathan Coachman for a preview of the BMW Championship at Caves Valley. Follow and listen to The First Cut on Apple podcasts and Spotify.
Land classification
There were a few losses when the last 55 were knocked out last weekend, but not many. Just like last week, this field is packed with almost every big name in the sport (aside from Reed). Even Phil Mickelson snuck into number 70 in the FedEx Cup standings. Rating: A +
Choice of the BMW 2021 Championship
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