BMW Championship Preview
Best Bets
1 Pt EW (1-5) Bubba Watson (50/1 Bet 365)
0.75 Pts EW (1-5) Jimmy Walker (50/1 Bet 365)
The Fed Ex Cup marches on this week with the penultimate tournament of the year which is the BMW Championship. Crooked Stick again hosts the event which plays a long 7,516 yards and is a standard par 72 layout. The course hosted the event back in 2012 and back then it appeared to be a big hitter paradise. The Pete Dye creation is a tough test and players must be able to shape drives off the tee in both directions. Rory McIlroy won this when it was last held at Crooked Stick demonstrating that the course is one where bombers are favoured. His -20 total was impressive and he was closely followed by Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson who are both no slouches off the tee.
The top 70 players in the Fed Ex standings are eligible to play this week. The only player who looks to miss out will be Henrik Stenson who has been suffering with knee issues. This is the final chance to make a push and get yourself into the top 30 and the Tour Championships. Qualifying for the final event of the year carries many rewards so there is a lot of pressure here to have a good week. Another theme of interest this week will be to see who makes the US Ryder Cup team. Captain Love still has four picks, so look for players who’ve missed out on the automatic qualification to impress.
1 Pt EW (1-5) Bubba Watson (50/1 Bet 365)
The world number 7 goes off at 50/1 which seems a massive price. Granted he did not play well last week but finishes of 13th and 8th in the two events prior to the Deutsche Bank show he isn’t far away. Bubba has a terrific strike rate on the PGA Tour with 12 wins to his name. The course suits his game perfectly as he is able to shape his driver off the tee in both directions and he is famed for his big hitting. When the event was last hosted at Crooked Stick Bubba came 12th, so he clearly has some affinity for the course. Finally he hasn’t qualified automatically for the Ryder Cup so will be looking to impress Captain Love this week. We think he is fantastic value at this price!
0.75 Pts EW (1-5) Jimmy Walker (50/1 Bet 365)
Jimmy Walker has been playing fantastic golf as of late, but he still isn’t being respected by the bookmakers and goes off at a big 50/1 price this week. After capturing his first major in the PGA Championship he had a solid finish last week coming home in third place. He is long off the tee and has a hot hand on the greens at the minute so we are happy to make a play on him at a great price.