Tag: Wilmington Country Club

2022 BMW Championship odds, field, best bets and picks to win

Hovland? Young? McIlroy? A prestigious driver of the golf ball should win in Delaware this week.

Only the top 70 remain.

This week in Wilmington, Delaware, is the second of three FedEx Cup Playoff events, the BMW Championship. The host venue, Wilmington Country Club, is a big boy. Measuring in at 7,534 yards, the par-71 track will demand distance off the tee as three par-4s on the front are over 490 yards on the scorecard, while the two par-5s on the back are 600-plus yards.

In other words, we’re not sure a mid-handicap golfer would survive an 18-hole trek around this place.

Last week’s winner Will Zalatoris now sits No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings followed by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Cam Smith, the No. 2 player in the world and No. 3 in the FEC, will not tee it up due to a lingering hip injury as reports swirl about his future with the Tour and LIV Golf.

Golf course

Wilmington Country Club | Par 71 | 7,534 yards

Wilmington Country Club’s uphill, well-protected approach on the 18th hole is readied for the PGA’s BMW Championship Friday, August 12, 2022.

Key stats

  • Driving distance
  • Strokes Gained: Approach

Data Golf Information

Course Fit (compares golf courses based on the degree to which different golfer attributes — such as driving distance — to predict who performs well at each course – DataGolf): 1. Caves Valley Golf Club, 2. Olympia Fields Country Club, 3. Winged Foot

Trending: 1. Tony Finau (last three starts: 1, 1, T-5), 2. Rory McIlroy (T-19, 3, MC), 3. Matt Fitzpatrick (T-6, T-12, T-5)

Percent chance to win (based on course history, fit, trending, etc.): 1. Rory McIlroy (9 percent), 2. Scottie Scheffler (7 percent), 3. Jon Rahm (5.8 percent)

Betting preview

Reports say Tiger Woods to meet with PGA Tour players at BMW Championship in effort to fend off LIV Golf

Tiger Woods is headed to the BMW Championship this week but not to play golf.

Tiger Woods is headed to the BMW Championship this week but not to play golf. He’s going instead to meet with a group of PGA Tour players to discuss the continued encroachment of the LIV Golf Invitational Series.

According to reports by the Fire Pit Collective and ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, Woods will be at Wilmington Country Club on Tuesday to meet with a good number of the top-20 ranked players in the world, two days before the first round of the second FedEx Cup Playoffs tournament.

One player who was invited told ESPN the meeting will include “influential PGA Tour members who haven’t defected to LIV Golf.”

There is also a PGA Tour Players Advisory Committee meeting on Tuesday. Woods’ meeting, according to ESPN, will take place after that. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has a meeting with Tour players Wednesday.

Woods was last seen missing the cut at the 150th Open Championship in July. He has spoken out against LIV several times, including at St. Andrews.

“Greg [Norman] has done some things that I don’t think (are) in the best interest of our game, and we’re coming back to probably the most historic and traditional place in our sport,” Woods said after his Tuesday practice round at the Old Course. “I believe it’s the right thing.

“I know what the PGA Tour stands for and what we have done and what the Tour has given us, the ability to chase after our careers and to earn what we get and the trophies we have been able to play for and the history that has been a part of this game. I know Greg tried to do this back in the early ’90s. It didn’t work then, and he’s trying to make it work now.

“I still don’t see how that’s in the best interests of the game.”

Norman, the CEO and public face of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, told Fox News he offered Woods something between $700 million and $800 million to join. Woods declined.

[listicle id=778289356]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

World No. 2 Cameron Smith withdraws from BMW Championship at Wilmington Country Club

Smith is No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings.

Cameron Smith, the second-ranked golfer in the world and No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings, has withdrawn from the BMW Championship at Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware, because of hip discomfort.

Bud Martin, Smith’s agent with Wasserman, announced Smith’s withdrawal Monday morning.

“He has been dealing with some on and off hip discomfort for several months and thought it would be best to rest this week in his pursuit of the FedEx Cup,” the statement read.

Smith, who won the Players Championship and the 150th Open Championship this year, is one of the favorites to win the FedEx Cup and is in the running for PGA Tour Player of the Year, but he has also been in the news for other reasons recently.

Last week, it was reported Smith had accepted an offer with LIV Golf to join following the FedEx Cup Playoffs, though he didn’t comment when asked about it at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Then, before Sunday’s final round at TPC Southwind, Smith was penalized two strokes for improper ball placement on the fourth hole during his third round.

The penalty took him from two strokes off the lead before starting the final round to four back, and he shot an even-par 70 on Sunday to finish T-13.

[vertical-gallery id=778288944]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Who’s in, who’s out of the top 70 of FedEx Cup Playoffs and the 2022 BMW Championship

The second leg of the 2022 FedEx Cup Playoffs is at the Wilmington Country Club for the BMW Championship.

In what amounted to one of the fewest points between Nos. 70 and 71st in FedEx Cup Playoffs history, Wyndham Clark survived and advanced the cut to the top 70 and next week’s BMW Championship.

Clark overcame a rocky finish, playing his final five holes at TPC Southwind in 4 over. He needed to get up and down for par at the last hole to edge Anirban Lahiri for the 70th and final spot into the field at Wilmington Country Club in Delaware, the second of three playoff events.

Clark, who entered the playoffs at No. 79 in the point standings and had jumped to No. 52 going into the final round, shot a final-round 2-over 72 and finished T-28. It was good enough to earn 118 points and finish with 645, three better than Lahiri.

Clark was one of four players who entered the week outside of the top 70 to move inside the top 70 and earn at least one more playoff start – and a chance to qualify for the FedEx Cup finale at the Tour Championship in East Lake.

FEDEX CUP PLAYOFFS: How it works, money, locations