We’re down to the top 50 in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, from No. 1 Scottie Scheffler to the big 5-0 in J.T. Poston. And there’s more cutting to go with this week’s BMW Championship. At the conclusion of play Sunday at Caves Valley Golf Club outside Baltimore, only 30 golfers will be moving on to the Tour Championship at East Lake where money, bragging rights and the FedEx Cup title on the line.
For those outside the bubble line, there’s reason to be optimistic; they can all look at Justin Rose and how the 45-year-old jumped from 25th to fourth in the FedEx Cup standings with his playoff win at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
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To compare the present Caves Valley against that which was originally built in the early 1990s is to recognize how much Tom Fazio has felt obligated to adjust his courses to today’s club and ball technology. Back in 1991, the opening hole was a dogleg-left with a trap at the turn. Today, it has four bunkers framing the landing area. The par-5 third had just two “buffer bunkers” along a lake to the right to stop high-handicap slices from landing in the drink. Those buffers are still there, but so too are three enormous bunkers down the left, stretching over 300 yards from the back tee. And so it is all the way around Caves Valley. There are now target bunkers mainly in play for big hitters and frontal bunkers at several greens to force pin-seekers to throw it in the air. Caves Valley is a players’ club, and one remains a player only by being constantly challenged during a round. View Course
There’s also the story of Keegan Bradley, the last man into the field a year ago at the BMW Championship, who wound up winning at Castle Pines by one stroke. He got off to a hot start with a first-round 66 and held on despite a 72 on Sunday.
Of course, anyone who wants to claim this year’s BMW title is going to have to hold off Scottie Scheffler, the World No. 1 who finished T-3 finish at TPC Southwind to stay atop the FedEx Cup standings as well. And there’s also Rory McIlroy, No. 2 in the world who’s making his debut in this year’s Playoffs after skipping the opener last week at TPC Southwind. They’ll be joined by the rest of the OWGR top 10: Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Russell Henley, Collin Morikawa, Harris English, J.J. Spaun, Ludvig Åberg and Keegan Bradley.
The last Caves Valley BMW Championship, back in 2021, featured a six-hole playoff between Patrick Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau. The latter will not be in this week’s field, because … well, you know why.
This week’s winner will receive 2,000 FedEx Cup points and a $3.6 million cut of the $20 million purse.
TV Schedule
Golf Channel and the NBC Sports app will carry live coverage on Thursday and Friday from 2-6 p.m. ET. On Saturday, Golf Channel and the NBC Sports app will air coverage from 1-3 p.m., with NBC, Peacock and the NBC Sports app taking over from 3-6 p.m. On Sunday, Golf Channel and the NBC Sports app will air coverage from noon-2 p.m., with NBC, Peacock and the NBC Sports app taking over from 2-6 p.m.
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Streaming Schedule
PGA Tour Live streaming coverage will occur on ESPN+ from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Thursday through Sunday. PGA Tour Live streaming coverage will occur on ESPN+ from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Thursday through Sunday. Four live feeds will be available Thursday and Friday: A main feed, marquee groups, featured groups and ESPN Bet. There will also be Featured Hole coverage at Caves Valley.
Find all live PGA Tour scoring data here.
Tee Times (all times EDT) FIRST ROUND/THURSDAY
First Tee
9:21 AM — J.T. Poston
9:32 AM — Xander Schauffele, Michael Kim
9:43 AM — Kurt Kitayama, Thomas Detry
9:54 AM — Ryan Fox, Taylor Pendrith
10:05 AM — Lucas Glover, Sam Stevens
10:16 AM — Viktor Hovland, Akshay Bhatia
10:27 AM — Nick Taylor, Shane Lowry
10:43 AM — Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay
10:54 AM — Keegan Bradley, Maverick McNealy
11:05 AM — Ben Griffin, Russell Henley
11:16 AM — Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy
11:27 AM — Andrew Novak, Harris English
11:38 AM — Jhonattan Vegas, Rickie Fowler
11:54 AM — Harry Hall, Jason Day
12:05 PM — Matt Fitzpatrick, Si Woo Kim
12:16 PM — Brian Campbell, Denny McCarthy
12:27 PM — Ryan Gerard, Daniel Berger
12:38 PM — Chris Gotterup, Jacob Bridgeman
12:49 PM — Sam Burns, Sungjae Im
1:05 PM — Hideki Matsuyama, Robert MacIntyre
1:16 PM — Collin Morikawa, Corey Conners
1:27 PM — Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood
1:38 PM — Justin Rose, J.J. Spaun
1:49 PM — Cameron Young, Ludvig Åberg
2 PM — Tom Hoge, Bud Cauley
SECOND ROUND/FRIDAY
First tee
9:21 AM — Harry Hall, Jason Day
9:32 AM — Matt Fitzpatrick, Si Woo Kim
9:43 AM — Brian Campbell, Denny McCarthy
9:54 AM — Ryan Gerard, Daniel Berger
10:05 AM — Chris Gotterup, Jacob Bridgeman
10:16 AM — Sam Burns, Sungjae Im
10:27 AM — Hideki Matsuyama, Robert MacIntyre
10:43 AM — Collin Morikawa, Corey Conners
10:54 AM — Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood
11:05 AM — Justin Rose, J.J. Spaun
11:16 AM — Cameron Young, Ludvig Åberg
11:27 AM — Tom Hoge, Bud Cauley
11:38 AM — J.T. Poston
11:54 AM — Xander Schauffele, Michael Kim
12:05 PM — Kurt Kitayama, Thomas Detry
12:16 PM — Ryan Fox, Taylor Pendrith
12:27 PM — Lucas Glover, Sam Stevens
12:38 PM — Viktor Hovland, Akshay Bhatia
12:49 PM — Nick Taylor, Shane Lowry
1:05 PM — Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay
1:16 PM — Keegan Bradley, Maverick McNealy
1:27 PM — Ben Griffin, Russell Henley
1:38 PM — Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy
1:49 PM — Andrew Novak, Harris English
2 PM — Jhonattan Vegas, Rickie Fowler
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
