The top 50 PGA Tour pros will tee it up this week in the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields, just outside of Chicago.
Only 30 of them will advance to the Tour Championship next week at East Lake in Atlanta, as the FedEx Cup Playoffs are heating up.
The last time the BMW Championship was held at Olympia Fields in 2020, Jon Rahm won it. The Spaniard, despite struggling last week at the St. Jude Championship (T37), is still in first place, 148 points ahead of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in Cup points.
Patrick Cantlay is the two-time defending champ of the BMW Championship and is playing some of his best golf of the season, taking Lucas Glover to a playoff before losing out last week in Memphis, Tenn.
Glover, of course, has won back-to-back PGA Tour events and is vying for a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team. The 43-year-old skyrocketed up the Cup points board with those wins and now sits in fourth after starting the postseason in 49th.
Could Glover make it three in a row this week? He’s +3300, according to BetMGM. There hasn’t been a three-peat winner on Tour since 2004.
FrontPageBets takes a look at golfers to watch in the second FedEx Cup Playoff event of the 2023 season which tees off Thursday at the par-70, 7,366-yard Olympia Fields track.
(All odds courtesy of BetMGM and are subject to change)
Pick to win: Rory McIlroy (+700)
It’s gotta happen, right?
Rory McIlroy has been the most consistent golfer on Tour this year, finishing inside the top 10 in his last eight events, including a win at the Scottish Open last month, a solo second at the U.S. Open in June and a T3 last week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
McIlroy, the defending Tour champion, is ranked No. 2 in the world and No. 3 in Cup points. He leads the Tour in driving and strokes gained off the tee. He’s second in total strokes gained.
And with Scheffler and Rahm falling off recently – albeit they’re still better than 90% of the field – this is McIlroy’s chance to head into East Lake with the points lead and all the momentum.
In his only start at Olympia Fields back in 2020 at the BMW, McIlroy finished 12th.
Top-5 pick: Tommy Fleetwood (+350)
One of the best players on the PGA Tour without a win: That’s the moniker facing Tommy Fleetwood, who is 10th in Cup points.
Fleetwood is coming off a T3 at last week’s St. Jude Championship. The Englishman has finished in the top 10 in six of his last seven starts, including losing in a playoff at the RBC Canadian Open to Nick Taylor.
Fleetwood also tied for fifth at the U.S. Open and 10th at the British Open.
He’s sixth on the Tour in total strokes gained and is 13th in putting. Last week in Memphis, Fleetwood led the field in putts per greens in regulation.
Check out more BMW Championship props and the best golf betting sites
Top-10 pick: Tom Kim (+225)
Tom Kim enters the BMW Championship 18th in both the Official World Golf Rankings and in FedEx Cup points.
The 21-year-old, who finished T24 last week in Memphis, has the ability to hang with the best golfers in the world week in and week out.
He finished T2 at the British Open at Royal Liverpool last month and T8 at the U.S. Open in June. While he missed the cut at the PGA Championship, Kim finished T16 at the Masters.
Not too shabby.
This season he’s made 19 cuts in 24 starts, including seven top-10 finishes and 12 top-25s.
Odds-on favorites to win the BMW Championship
Rory McIlroy +700
Scottie Scheffler +700
Jon Rahm +1000
Patrick Cantlay +1000
Viktor Hovland +1600
Xander Schauffele +1800
Collin Morikawa +2200
Jordan Spieth +2200
Max Homa +2200
Tommy Fleetwood +2200
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Mike Szvetitz is the General Manager and Content Director for FrontPageBets.com. Szvetitz is a 23-year veteran reporter and editor, including serving 17 years as a sports editor in Florida, Alabama and Virginia, covering everything from preps to pros. His "View From The Lazy Boy" column won multiple state and national awards. He can be reached at mszvetitz@timesdispatch.com.
