BMW Championship
The second leg of the FedExCup Playoffs takes us to just outside Baltimore. The BMW Championship is one of the few PGA Tour events that rotates around every year and for the second time in the last five years in will take place at Caves Valley Golf Club. This course underwent a massive renovation after Patrick Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau tore it up for a tournament record 27-under-par in 2021. Cantlay outlasted DeChambeau in what was one of the most thrilling tournaments of that season.
Justin Rose prevailed in a playoff last week over U.S. Open winner J.J. Spaun in the first leg of the playoffs at the FedEx St. Jude Invitational, while Scottie Scheffler maintained his sizable lead in the standings with a T3 showing. Unfortunately for Scheffler, that huge gap will mean nothing come next week's TOUR Championship as all players will begin at even-par and the top 72-hole score at East Lake will determine the FedExCup Champion. Of course you need to make the Top 30 to have a shot at golf's biggest prize. Lucas Glover comes into the week at No. 30 in the standings just ahead of Sam Stevens and Ryan Gerard. With the BMW Championship offering quadruple points again this week, there will be plenty of movement around the bubble all the way down to the end on Sunday.
One and Done leagues are also watching the end of the season wind down. Depending on your format, many might actually end this week. Our RotoWire OAD league will include the TOUR Championship next week with a slight nerf to the FedExCup bonus payout. In real life the winner will get $10 million from the results of East Lake alone, but that would be a bit ridiculous if you could go from mid-pack to winning the league with one lucky pick. Nevertheless, the $20 million purse and $3.6 million top prize for winning the BMW Championship this week could certainly turn the tables around the top of your league's standings.
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Course Tidbits
- Course: Caves Valley Golf Club (7,601 yards, par 70)
- Location: Owings Mills, Maryland
- Purse: $20 million ($3.6 million to winner)
- Defending Champion: Keegan Bradley (-12)
- 2024 Scoring Average: 71.37 (-0.63)
- Caves Valley Defending Champion: Patrick Cantlay (-27) in 2021
- Average BMW Championship Winning Score Last 5 Years: -14.8
Caves Valley underwent a significant renovation in late 2023. There was a ton of work that went in to making this a better facility for the members and also more a challenge for the best in the world. Drainage improvements were a big focus, but also finding a grass that could better withstand the climate and create a firmer and faster playing surface. All the green complexes were redone to create some more potential hole locations, and they also brought in a lot of the hazards to make them play a bigger impact in the player's mind from tee to green.
The course added around 60 yards from the last time Caves Valley hosted this event, but it also went from a par 72 to a par 70. There are plenty of lengthy par-3s and par-4s that will be a big challenge for the players. Your top long iron players are likely to have a big advantage around this course. Bombers were favored last time and there's really no reason it won't be the same again in 2025. While there is some trouble, the fairways are wide enough for players to feel comfortable and the rough is not overly penal. The unfamiliar green complexes likely will only favor the top ball-strikers even more, and there isn't a lot of short-grass runoff areas for the top short-game players to pick up a lot of strokes.
While we shouldn't expect to see 27-under-par be the winning score again this time around at Caves Valley, the forecast is about as easy as you can get. They'll be some early week rain to take a little fire out of the course, but balls will be absolutely flying with temperatures expected to hit 90 degrees each of the four tournament rounds. There also is expected to be very minimal wind, which will give these elite players very little pause about what clubs to pull out of the bag.
Visit RotoWire's PGA earnings report to find total winnings and winnings per entry via our fantasy golf stats pages.
RotoWire One and Done Tools
BMW Championship: One and Done Picks
I hate to take someone that I think is going to be quite popular this week, but at this point in the season, where I don't have that many options left, I have to go with the guy who I think will play the best and that's Spaun. Spaun has had success on the PGA Tour before, he's been at this a long time, but he's never reached this level before. What looked like a potential fluke at the U.S. Open has turned into something else entirely. He's not afraid to battle the best in the game and that alone puts him a notch above many of his peers on the PGA Tour. --Greg Vara
I've faded Schauffele a few times in this article but now I'm ready to lock him in. We've seen him play well in the playoff many times, including top-5s in all three events last year. Over the last month, he's gaining 1.19 strokes on approach per round which has helped lead to a pair of top-10s. Schauffele also played the weekend at TPC Southwind in six-under (same as champion Justin Rose), so he comes in with momentum. --Ryan Pohle
I was able to save one of the most talented players on the PGA Tour until this point in the season and this seems like a great spot to let him eat. Many thought Aberg was in for a big season after he won the second signature event at The Genesis Invitational, but it's been pretty up-and-down since. After a T9 finish in Memphis, however, it feels like his game is back. Aberg has now gained both off the tee and on approach in seven straight starts. That type of ball-striking will be huge at Caves Valley which should favor the bombers and the top iron players. There are also only two players ahead of him in proximity from outside of 200 yards. Aberg was T2 last year at the BMW Championship as well, albeit at a different venue. --Ryan Andrade
Young followed up his maiden PGA Tour victory at the Wyndham Championship with another top-5 effort last week at TPC Southwind, where he ultimately paced the St. Jude field in SG: Off-the-Tee while gaining another 3.2 strokes on approach. He should be able to let the driver fly at a lengthy Caves Valley, but Young also ranks second in SG: Putting over his past 24 measured rounds. --Bryce Danielson
Sure, you may not have him available. But maybe you do because he's played subpar (for him) for a big chunk of the season. He's far better the last two months. Since mid-June, he's moved up about 30 spots in the Tour rankings in both Strokes Gained: Approach and Putting and about 20 spots in greens in regulation. That is very hard to do so late in the season. Aberg has two top 10s and a top 25 in his past three starts, including a T9 last week at the St. Jude. --Len Hochberg
BMW Championship: One and Done Fades
Bradley really needs a good showing this week to ensure his spot as a player on the Ryder Cup team, but I think that will work against him as this all just seems to be too much for him right now. I can't blame him, he's in a tough spot, trying to manage being the captain and wondering if he'll put himself in a spot to potentially choose himself as a Captain's pick. Oh, and while all of that is going on, just go out there and try to beat the best golfers in the world. I'm firmly in the camp that believes he should be playing in the Ryder Cup this year, but it's not that simple, at least from his perspective and right now, all of that is weighing on his mind and affecting his game. --Greg Vara
With two events to go, if you still have Thomas it simply comes down to would you rather use him this week or at East Lake? He's yet to win in eight trips but has posted a top-5 in over half of his appearances. Thomas also had a modest T22 at Caves Valley in 2021. Following mediocre performances in two events in Europe, Thomas started the playoffs with a disappointing T28 in Memphis. It makes more sense to hope he finds something to build off of this week and then contends in Atlanta. --Ryan Pohle
This is pretty heavily dependent on who you still have left available, but in my case Morikawa is my highest ranked player I haven't burned in OAD yet this year, and there's an increasing chance I might not use him at all. He has just one top-10 finish over his last 12 starts, and that was a T8 at the Rocket Classic. By contrast he had four top-10s over his prior seven starts. Morikawa is still clearly trying to figure out his caddie situation and the short-game and putting has not been great of late. I also don't think Caves Valley is a course that fits Morikawa's strength of driving accuracy and short iron/wedge play. He finished T63 here back in 2021. --Ryan Andrade
Primarily a game-theory fade as he projects for the most sitewide ownership on OfficeFootballPool.com by a wide margin, I'll likely pivot away from Spaun after his playoff loss in Memphis while others chase a similar result this week. Given he's outside of the top-100 on Tour in both Driving Distance - All Drives and Proximity: 200-plus, there are certainly better course fits for Caves Valley as well. At third in the FedExCup standings, Spaun will comfortably advance to the TOUR Championship, which gives you another out for the OAD finale if you don't use him here. --Bryce Danielson
It's hard to outright dismiss anyone in such a small field. But Thomas still has only one top 20 the past three months. While his approach play from inside 150 yards is off-the-charts great, it's dreadful from 150 on out. And Caves Valley is a super long track. --Len Hochberg
Don't get burned by late withdrawals. Visit RotoWire's PGA tournament field page for a live-updated summary of the field for the current week and list of players who have dropped out.
