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BMW Championship: Expert Picks

Webb Simpson is amazing even with a broken driver

By Mark Abell
The Northern Trust - Round Two Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Tournament Information

BMW Championship
Date: August 15th- 18th
Course: Medinah Country Club (course 3)
Purse - $9.2MM ($1.6MM to winner)
FedEx points – 2000 to winner(s)
2018 Winner: Keegan Bradley (-20)

Course

Medinah Country Club. Established in 1924 and designed by Tom Bandelow this country club has hosted the Ryder Cup and five PGA tournaments. Course three is a par 72, 7,657 yard course rated 78.3 and a slope rating of 152. It’s distance puts it among the longest on tour and it has a good mix of trees, traps and water along the fairways. The course features Bent Grass and presents plenty of difficulty for the field this year as it has been continually tweaked since it’s inauguration in 2010.

Ryder Cup - Day One Four-Balls Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

My Starting 4

Justin Rose (2nd selection this year) — The last two consecutive years, he has finished 2nd in the BMW Championship. That’s about all I need to hear from that point even with a rotation of courses occurring at the BMW Championship. He has the 27th longest drive on the tour.

Rickie Fowler (5th selection this year) — Not the best outing from Rickie last week finishing 88th but he has top ten finishes at the BMW Championship the last two years and seems to know how to come in strong more often than not in the playoffs. He has the 33rd longest drive on the tour.

Webb Simpson (2nd selection this year) — Here is your favorite at this tournament. Sure Justin Rose has back to back 2nd place finishes but Webb has back to back top 20 finishes coming into a tournament where he has finished in the top ten each of the last two years. Drop. Mic.

Jason Kokrak (2nd selection this year) — He comes into Medinah with top 15 place finishes at the Northern Trust and Wyndham Championship. He can drive the ball a mile (21st longest drive on the tour) which should work well here.

My Bench 2

Jason Day (4th selection this year) — He has top 25 finishes the last two years here including back in 2017 when Illinois hosted the BMW Championship. He has the 41st longest drive on the tour.

Ian Poulter (3rd selection this year) — This one is a bit of a long shot but he finished 10th last week at the Northern Trust, he was 8th three weeks ago at the WGC – FedEx St. Jude Invitational, he was 40th here when Illinois hosted the BMW two years ago and finally, he had a solid Ryder Cup seven years ago at Medinah. His driving distance (121st) has me a bit concerned.

2019 Stats

Starting 4: Avg finish 46th (35th percentile)
Bench 2: Avg finish 64th (49th percentile)