The dust has barely settled on Hideki Matsuyama’s dramatic win at the St Jude Championship, but the second week of the FedEx Playoffs is almost upon us with the BMW Championship.
Last week’s result in Memphis has seen Scottie Scheffler maintain his lead at the top of the overall standings but Xander Schauffele is chasing hard and is now just 1,000 points behind the world number one.
Although it looks like a two horse race in the race to be crowned the FedEx Champion, there is plenty of money up for grabs and with only the top 30 advancing to next week’s Tour Championship, you can be assured of plenty of drama this week.
With just fifty players remaining in the hunt for FedEx glory, here is everything you need to know ahead of the action teeing off tomorrow.
The Course
Unlike the St Jude Championship which has a permanent home in Memphis, the BMW tends to rotate around a few venues and this year, the best fifty players on the PGA Tour will head to Colorado.
The picturesque setting of Castle Pines Golf Club will play host this week and this will be the first time that this famous tournament would have ever been held at this beautiful venue.
A par 72 that measures well over 8,000 yards, this week will see history being made as no course in PGA history has ever measured as long, but due to altitude of the course, it’s likely that we will see drives in excess of 400 yards on quite a regular occurrence.
Designed by Jack Nicklaus, the fairways are wide and expansive but there is an emphasis on shot making as the greens are small and a player will need to have their irons and wedges dialled in if they are to make birdies.
Unlike last week’s St Jude which saw a winning score of -18, the scoring is set to be much lower this week.
Who Are The Favourites
As has become tradition when it comes to betting on the PGA Tour, it is Scottie Scheffler who will start the week as the favourite. Worryingly for the rest of the BMW Championship field, Scheffler didn’t seem to play that well last week and still managed to finish fourth.
What is so special about Scheffler is just how solid from tee to green he is, he rarely makes mistakes and always seems to be in contention. Perfectly happy to bide his time to strike, when he pieces it altogether he is virtually unstoppable.
Heading into this week Scheffler finds himself in a tricky position. Knowing that a win is likely to wrap up the FedEx title, if he pushes too hard, that could open up the door for Xander Schauffele who is now just 1,000 points behind him.
With plenty to ponder, it will be fascinating to see how the world number one approaches this week.
As we briefly mentioned above Xander Schauffele is not letting the FedEx Championship go without a fight. A brilliant final round last weekend saw the two time major winner finish in a tie for second and kept his hopes of winning the FedEx for the first time alive.
Schauffele has been able to produce his best golf when the pressure has been at its highest and once again that was evident as he surged up the leaderboard at the St Jude Championship.
Still fully confident from the magnificent season that he has been able to enjoy, expect another big challenge this week from the world number two. If he manages to edge ahead of Scheffler again this week, next week’s Tour Championship will be beautifully poised.
Completing the top three in the betting is Rory McIlroy, although his odds are someway behind the top two.
Backing McIlroy will require a major leap of faith following his woeful showing at last week’s St Jude Championship. Finishing right near the bottom of the leaderboard, all aspects of his game deserted him and he looks like a man who is waiting for the season to end.
After a tough year where he failed to win a major, few would blame McIlroy if he mailed it in this week, but that’s not how champions work. Hopefully wanting to show the world that last week was just a blip, expect him to play much better this week and give the top two in the market something serious to think about.
Who Else Looks to Have a Chance This Week?
At 18/1, Hideki Matsuyama looks to be the value choice of the week. A brilliant winner of the St Jude Championship last week, it looked like his chance had gone, but the Japanese star saved his best for last and with birdies on the 17th and 18th holes he was able to win the tournament by two strokes.
Now lying third in the overall FedEx standings, Matsuyama will want to close the gap between himself and the top two even further. Having played brilliant golf last week where his wedge and iron play was supreme, conditions should suit once again this week and another bold bid can be expected.
Although his chances of winning the FedEx are all but over, Ludvig Aberg can be confident of a big week. A huge hitter of the ball, the length of the course and the need for accurate approaches should be right up his street.
He would have left Memphis last week disappointed that he was only able to finish 40th and he will be expecting much more of himself this week. With the game and talent to win all of the biggest prizes in the sport, he is definitely a name to keep an eye on this week.
BMW Championship Betting Odds
If you fancy placing a bet ahead of the BMW Championship, here is how the top three in the betting currently looks.
Scottie Scheffler - 10/3
Xander Schaufelle - 6/1
Rory McIlroy - 12/1
Collin Morikawa - 14/1
Patrick Cantlay - 16/1
Hideki Matsuyama - 18/1
Viktor Hovland - 18/1
Ludvig Aberg - 20/1
Wyndham Clark - 25/1
Tommy Fleetwood - 25/1
Jack Hartman
A keen golfer and huge fan of the game, Jack has been covering golf for the last five years. Bringing you all the latest coverage and news from the PGA, LIV, LPGA and DP World Tours, never before has golf been so popular and Jack can’t wait to bring all the excitement to his readers.
