Niall Lyons has three selections in this week's BMW Championship at Caves Valley in Maryland.
BMW Championship
The Fedex Playoff series continues this week with the top 50 into the penultimate event of the regular season with the Tour Championship looming large, this year without the dreaded starting strokes. This event has jumped venues over the years and this time around we return to the 2021 venue Caves Valley in Maryland.
This was a par 72 golf course measuring near 7600 yards but currently the PGA Tour website has it listed as a par 70 at the same yardage, which I find a little hard to believe.
27 under par was the winning total back in 2021 though so there are reasons to believe that the par 70 may indeed be correct. I have listed below the stats from that 2021 renewal.
When 27 under par is the winning total often it has been a putting contest and we can see that the first three home ranked 1st, 2nd and 4th in strokes gained putting for the week.
Dechambeau and McIlroy were ranked 1st and 2nd in driving distance both making the top 5 so it is no surprise that long driving helped on this long layout.
Below is a look at the stats of the top performers in 2021, when this event was last held at this course.
BMW Championship Tips
- 1.75pts each-way C.Young 30/1 (1/5 5) Unibet, Bet MGM
- 2pts WIN X.Schauffele 20/1 (General)
- 1pt each-wat T.Pendrith 70/1 (1/4 5) StarSports
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Cam Young @ 30/1 (Five Places)
We have seen numerous golfers hold their form extremely well throughout the Playoff events down the years with numerous players winning multiple events, even before the advent of the starting strokes in the Tour Championship.
Cameron Young is in a rich run of form and I'd expect it to continue once again with birdies ready to be hoovered up by those long and straight off the tee.
Young has been driving the ball tremendously well ranking 2nd off the tee at the Wyndham two weeks ago then topping the same stat last week at Southwind.
He continued to putt reasonably well also, especially on Sunday when he ranked 2nd in the field on the greens.
This weeks course designer Tom Fazio was consulted heavily on the redesign of Oakmont for this year's US Open where Young finished 4th and he has a runner up on another Fazio redesign at Riviera back in 2022.
Strong driving is a feature of this event down the years and I'd expect those gaining plenty off the tee will litter the top 10 on the leaderboard, just like how they did back in 2021.
McIlroy, Stenson, Horschel and Dechambeau amongst others have all held form really well throughout playoff events and if one is to follow in their footsteps it may just be Cam Young who can continue this hot streak.
Xander Schauffele @ 20/1 (WIN)
I didn't think I'd be overly keen to back Xander Schauffele this week but having been a general price of 20/1 for the Open Championship a few weeks ago when finishing 7th I can't help getting involved at the same price, all be it with reduced place terms.
Schauffele has definitely struggled since an injury blighted the beginning of the year but there are many, many golfers who would be proud of a Major return this year of 8-28-12-7.
He drove the ball extremely well at Portrush last time out which bodes well for this week where he needs a really good finish to get inside the top 30 for East Lake.
He ranks 43rd in the Fedex rankings and had someone said to you a year ago that Xander would struggle to make the top 30 the following season you'd have laughed at them.
However here we are and a kick up the backside may just be what he needs to qualify. 8th in Scotland where he had the best week on approach since March was a huge positive then his second best driving week of the year came at Portrush the following week.
18th on approach that week was another strong performance with the irons and an easier track that rewards long and straight driving should play right into his hands.
I've fallen into the trap a few times with Xander this year but a similar price to the Open where he played really well is too hard to turn down.
Taylor Pendrith @ 70/1 (Five Places)
Finally I'll have a small wager on Taylor Pendrith, another who needs a good week sitting 35th in the rankings and looking to book a place at East Lake.
He was going well at 7 under through three rounds last week before shooting a final round of two over par.
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This course should suit much better though and even though he drove the ball pretty well last week at Southwind, Caves Valley will be a much better venue for the Canadian where he can gain plenty on the field with the driver.
He will need a better week with the irons but this is a much more straightforward affair than Southwind and having putted well last week (12th in the field) he should give this a good bash and get into the finale next week.
