Fantasy Picks, Sleepers and Course Preview
We are now at the halfway stage of the Fedex Cup playoffs and the original one hundred and twenty five players have been whittled down to just seventy. These players will all be looking for a place in the thirty man field next week at East Lake. The Fedex Cup isn’t the only focus in the world of golf right now – by the time they tee off on Thursday both Tom Watson and Paul McGinley will have named their Ryder Cup wildcard picks and both captains will be keeping a close eye on all of their players in the next couple of weeks.
The Field
We see another top quality line up this week, with all of the top players this year competing in this no-cut event. Rory McIlroy will be looking to continue his recent impressive run, defending Champion Zach Johnson will be looking for his victory since January and new Fedex Cup leader Chris Kirk will look to stay at the top the standings heading to East Lake.
The Course
The BMW Championship is being held at the Cherry Hills Country Club this year, a course that has held the US Open three times (1938, 1960 and 1978) and the PGA Championship twice (1941 and 1985). Since 1985 it has hosted the US Amateur twice, the US Senior Open and the US Women’s Open. The course is 7,348 yards long and has a par of 72.
Past Tournaments
Last year Zach Johnson won the BMW Championship by two shots from Nick Watney, Jim Furyk finishing in third a further shot back. The BMW Championship began in 2007, previously known as the Western Open from 1899 to 2006. The previous winners of the event looks like a golfing hall of fame, including Tiger Woods (five times), Billy Casper (4), Walter Hagen (4), Tom Watson (2), Jack Nicklaus (2), Ben Hogan (2), Arnold Palmer (2) and Sam Snead (2). 2011 and 2012 saw British winners in Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy respectively.
Eight Picks and Potential Sleepers
Jason Day – Have to pick Jason Day again this week. Day had another top ten finish last week and remains seventh in the Fedex Cup standings. Fully fit now after an injury interrupted season, Day has finished 15th, 2nd and 7th in his last three outings.
Matt Kuchar – Kuchar is a player who has the potential to win every time he tees it up and this week is no different. With ten top ten finishes from twenty one starts this year, he is one of the most consistent players on the tour. His last four outings have seen him finish 4th, 12th, 5th and 29th.
Martin Kaymer – After winning both the Players Championship and the US Open Kaymer can already lay his claim for the Player of the Year honors, although comparatively his season since has been pretty poor. A top ten finish at the Deutsche Bank last week is a welcome return to form and he’ll look to push on this week.
Keegan Bradley – Bradley sits at 28th in the Fedex Cup standings and just above the bubble for the tour championship, needing a good week to proceed. Hasn’t been a great season for Bradley, but three top five finishes during the summer have given him a boost – finished solidly in 16th last week.
Geoff Ogilvy – Ogilvy headed into the Deutsche Bank Championship in 100th and last place in the Fedex Cup standings. This changed last week with a joint 2nd which moved him up to 24th. For a player of his quality, the last two years have been pretty dreadful and he had slumped to 216th in the world rankings. This changed with an unexpected win at the Barracuda Championships five weeks ago and this recent run has been one of the most pleasing surprises of the season – back to 76th in the world.
Kevin Streelman – Sleeper Winner of the Travelers Championship in the summer, Streelman had a bad run after his victory, with 54th being the best finish in four outings. The Fedex Cup playoffs have seen an improvement with a 46th and a 26th place finish in the last two weeks. At 38th in the standings, he’ll need a good week to make it East Lake.
Morgan Hoffman – SleeperHoffman started the Fedex Cup playoffs in 124th place of 125 players. As such he needed a strong week at the Barclays to proceed to the next tournament – a ninth place finish good enough. Heading into last week he was outside the top 70, so needed another solid week – a tied 35thsneaking him from 72nd to 68th in the standings and a place in the field this week. Having burst the bubble two weeks in a row, he’ll need a great finish again this week to make it three.
Chesson Hadley – Sleeper Hadley won the Puerto Rico Open back in March, but since then his form had been truly awful. A run of ten missed cuts in eleven events saw a player completely out of form. The Fedex Cup playoffs seem to have given him a new lease of life. He just made the cut at the Barclays, but a top ten finish last week has given him a huge boost and a place in the field this week. Hadley needs another big week to make it East Lake.
The Betting
Understandably, Rory McIlroy once again leads the way this week, a long way clear of Australian pair Adam Scott and Jason Day. Six players sit in a group just behind – Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose, Jim Furyk, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Matt Kuchar.
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