Jon Rahm is our top pick this week to win the 2021 BMW Championship
(Image: Ross Parker/SNS Group via Getty Images)
The second round of the 2021 FedEx Cup Playoffs is here.This week, the Top 70 will travel to Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland for the 2021 BMW Championship. On the line, the chance to get into the Top 30 and gain entry into the final playoff event, the prestigious Tour Championship, and a chance to hoist the FedEx Cup.
Since the field is smaller for this event, there is no 36-hole cut. This has the added benefit of bringing more drama to the event as any player in the field this week can move up the leaderboard on any day, if they play well. It also ensures that every player will be getting a paycheck too.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Prior to the creation of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the tournament was known as the Western Open, first being contested in 1899. This makes it one of the oldest tournaments on tour. It has historically been located in the Chicago area, but in the playoff-era courses such as Medinah, Cog Hill and Olympia Fields have played host.
Notable multiple winners of the tournament (under both its old and new titles) include Tiger Woods (5), Tom Watson (3), Dustin Johnson (2) and Nick Price (2).
In 1985, Scott Verplank won the tournament as an amateur. He became the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Doug Sanders at the 1956 Canadian Open. Only one golfer has achieved this feat since: Phil Mickelson in 1991 at the Northern Telecom Open.
Winning the BMW Championship is perhaps a PGA Tour golfer's most important win of the year, aside from majors. Under the new Tour Championship format, a player entering the Tour Championship ranked first will start the tournament at 10-under, a player ranked second starts at 8-under, and so on. Given the amount of FedEx Cup points on the line this week, winning the BMW Championship, in the case of higher ranked players, can launch a player into first place (as we saw with Tony Finau last week), giving them a big advantage heading into the Tour Championship.
The importance of the BMW Championship has even been recognized by the PGA Tour in the past, being named the tour's "Tournament of the Year" from 2012 to 2014.
CAVES VALLEY GOLF CLUB
Caves Valley opened its doors in 1991 to private membership. Designed by legendary course architect Tom Fazio, the course is sure to test golfers this week, featuring various water hazards, undulating fairways, elevation changes and fast greens (about 12.5 on the stimpmeter). The course has been touted as modern in design, placing 47th in Golfweek's Best Modern Course rankings in 1997.
Many have claimed that the course in recent years has had a "Muirfield Village" feel to it. This could be due to the fact that the course's superintendant, Kyle Steidel, previously worked at Murfield Village, and is said to have brought many practices over from there.
This is the first time that the BMW Championship is being contested at
Caves Valley, but the course is no stranger to professional golf. In
2002 it hosted the US Senior Open, then the 2014 International Crown and
2017 Senior Players Championship, as well as numerous amateur events.
For the tournament this week, Caves Valley will play as a par 71, measuring 7,226 yards in length. The nines will also be flipped, with players starting at the tenth hole and finishing at the ninth.
The event is speculated to draw up to 100,000 fans this week. The open design of the course however, allows tour officials to space out the fans safely throughout the course. It will also feature some of the tallest grandstands on tour, at a stunning height of up to 30 feet in some locations. This, in conjunction with the natural elevation changes, will create a stadium-like atmosphere on some holes.
OUR PICKS THIS WEEK
It gets tougher and tougher to make our picks, but here's who we are picking this week:
1) Jon Rahm
2) Justin Thomas
3) Louis Oosthuizen
Jon Rahm is the defending champion at the BMW Championship, winning last year at Olympia Fields. He's riding a high wave of momentum coming off his near win last week at The Northern Trust. Justin Thomas is a player who's game I am beginning to appreciate more and more. He always seems to be near the top of the leaderboard, like a modern day Matt Kuchar. He too played well last week at The Northern Trust. Finally, TGR favourite Louis Oosthuizen is perhaps the most rested player in the field, having took the last two week off for injury prevention. Can he bounce back this week with a win?
The BMW Championship kicks off early Thursday morning. It will have a more intimate feel though, given the smaller field size. Nevertheless, be sure to check out our weekend update for all the storylines and drama over the first two rounds.
Also be sure to check out our Twitter feed, for live tweets during the rounds.
-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews
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