BMW Championship: Expert Picks

2^nd round of the Playoffs – field is cut from 125 players down to 70.

Tournament Information:

BMW Championship
Date: August 27^th – 30^th
Course: Olympia Fields Country Club
Purse: $9.5MM ($1.7MM to winner)
FedEx points: 1,500 to winner
2019 Winner: Justin Thomas (-25)

Course

Olympia Fields Country Club. Built in 1915, this par 70 course is 7,343 yards with a course rating of 76.6 and a slope rating of 150. Designed by Willie Park Jr, this course has trees lined through it’s lengthy holes. Bunkers are strategically placed to keep golfers placing their shots accurately. One of the tricky parts to this course are the wooded areas opening up into open land after hole six where wind will become a larger factor. While the course requires some strength, accuracy is key here. Since this will feature the 70 best golfers, I imagine many will have both in their game.

My Starting 4

Bryson DeChambeau (3rd selection this year) – When the US Amateur event was held here in 2015, guess who won that event! Bryson missed the cut last week at the Northern Trust but the last two times he missed a cut this season he rebounded with a 13^th place finish and a 30^th place finish.

Collin Morikawa (2nd selection this year) — The PGA Champion has finished in the top 2 in three of the last eight tournaments. He missed the cut at the Northern Trust, and the last time before that he missed the cut was at the Travelers Championship where he rebounded to win the Workday Charity Open the next week. Since he started on the tour in 2017 he has missed exactly three cuts.

Webb Simpson (5th selection this year) — He’s 23^rd in driving accuracy and finished in the top 15 in three of the last four tournaments. He’s 5^th in total strokes gained.

Matt Kuchar (2nd selection this year) – Matt finished in the top 25 in two of the last three tournaments. He’s 33^rd in driving accuracy, and while his distance is below average, he’s 4^th in strokes gained putting, and 28^th in total strokes gained.

My Bench 2

Tyler Duncan (1st selection this year) – Tyler had a decent finish at Northern Trust where he finished 29^th. He has missed one cut in his last nine tournaments and is among the most accurate drivers on tour (6^th). He isn’t very powerful and his work around the green holds him back.

Corey Conners (1st selection this year) — Corey missed two cuts with PGA Championship and Wyndham Championship but bookended around that are a handful of finishes in the 20s and 30s. Corey is 21^st in driving accuracy and 5^th in greens in regulation percentage. He’s 19^th in strokes gained tee to green and 12^th in strokes gained off the tee.

Fun Fact: The last PGA event held here was the 2003 US Open (won by Jim Furyk) since then it held US Amateur (2015) and Women’s PGA Championship (2017)

2020 Stats

Starting 4: Avg finish 42^nd (30^th percentile)
Bench 2: Avg finish 58^th (42^nd percentile)