BMW Championship: Elite golfers to chase Jon Rahm in second playoff tourney
Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Patrick Cantlay are among the top golfers competing this week in the BMW Championship, chasing FedEx Cup leader Jon Rahm in the second tournament of PGA Tour playoffs.
The tournament, which was delayed by two hours because of rain, will tee off Thursday and run through Sunday on the North Course at Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill. Coverage will air on Golf Channel and CBS.
"The point coming into the playoffs is to give yourself the best chance to get to East Lake with the No. 1 spot," Rahm told reporters Tuesday, referring to the Aug. 25-27 Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
"I've done a pretty good job so far. Hopefully, this week I can have a good performance like I did last time, earn it and give myself the best shot for the win."
McIlroy, Scheffler, Rahm and Cantlay are among the top expected contenders. Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and Rickie Fowler are among the other favorites.
Lucas Glover, who claimed the playoff opener last weekend at the St. Jude Championship, is outside of the Top 10 expected contenders.
The tournament offers a purse of $20 million, with $3.6 million to the winner. The BMW Championship winner also will receive 2,000 points. Second- and third-place finishers will receive 1,200 and 760 points, respectively. The Top 30 finishers out of the 50-player field will advance to next week's Tour Championship.
Rahm (3,386) leads Scheffler (3,238) by 148 points atop the FedEx Cup standings. McIlroy (2,954), Glover (2,885) and Cantlay (2,643) sit inside the Top 5 in the standings.
The standings leader after the BMW Championship will start next week's Tour Championship at 10-under par. The second-place golfer will start at 8-under.
Other players inside the Top 25 also will start the tournament under par, based on their spot in the standings. Golfers ranked between Nos. 26 and 30 will start at even par.
Those golfers will battle for an $18 million first-place prize in the playoff finale in Atlanta.
Cantlay won the last two BMW Championship titles. His 2021 victory led to a Tour Championship title. Rahm won the BMW Championship in 2020, the last time it was held at Olympia Fields.
"It's a great golf course this week," Cantlay said. "We played it in 2020, during COVID-19. I think it's a really good golf course. You have to basically be on top of every part of your game. ... It's a difficult golf course, if I remember right. The winning score was barely under par. It might be a little lower this year."
The par-70, 7,366-yard, three-lined North Course has long layouts, long rough grasses, sharp turns, bunker-guarded fast greens and water features. Recent showers most likely softened the course, which should result in it playing even longer and requiring more power.
Rain and wind gusts of up to 25 mph were expected in Thursday's forecast. Sunny weather is expected for the remaining rounds.
J.T. Poston and Brendon Todd are expected to tee off in the first group at 11:26 a.m. EDT Thursday in Olympia Fields. Cantlay and Homa will tee off at 12:54 a.m. on hole No. 1.
McIlroy and Glover will tee off about 15 minutes later. Rahm and Scheffler will tee off at 3:38 p.m. on the North Course.
Schedule
All times EDT
Thursday
First-round coverage from 2 to 6 p.m. on Golf Channel
Friday
Second-round coverage from 2 to 6 p.m. on Golf Channel
Saturday
Third-round coverage from 1 to 3 p.m. on Golf Channel and 3 to 6 p.m. on CBS
Sunday
Final-round coverage from noon to 2 p.m. on Golf Channel and 2 to 6 p.m. on CBS
