The BMW Championship got off to a great start on Thursday as the top golfers in the world moved up the leaderboard and possibly the best golfer in the world missed a chance to take the early lead (more on that later). After shooting a 7-under 64 through the first 18 holes, Keegan Bradley is in the lead and aiming to win his second BMW Championship in the past five years.
Over the following 54 holes, Bradley can have a lot of famous competitors for the top spot. Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler, and Jordan Spieth all had solid days and are all in a strong position to win what might be a second fantastic playoff event this week.
As expected, Wilmington Country Club was a bomber’s haven. Since it’s one of his stronger aspects of play and the top of the leaderboard is populated by the sport’s heavy hitters, Bradley is pleased about that. It’s up for argument whether that’s good or bad for PGA Tour setups, but there’s no denying that it’s a reality this week and will have an impact on how the rest of the event pans out.
Let’s examine Bradley’s opening round and what to anticipate over the following three days.
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2022 FedEx Cup Standings: Points and Playoff Positions Following BMW Championship
Patrick Cantlay will attempt to follow the same route that led him to win the FedEx Cup title the previous season.
On Sunday, Cantlay won the BMW Championship for the second time in a row. At the Wilmington Country Club in Delaware, he defeated Scott Stallings by one stroke.
On the 17th hole, Cantlay’s tee ball had a fortunate bounce over the bunker, which resulted in a birdie. With a par on the 18th hole, he sealed the victory.
Cantlay’s victory made him the first golfer to successfully defend his title in a FedEx Cup event in 16 years.
The main difference between Cantlay’s journey to the FedEx Cup this season and last is that he won’t be starting the Tour Championship in the lead.
Since Scottie Scheffler is currently in first place in the FedEx Cup standings, he will enter the Tour Championship next weekend with the best score.
The second significant Wilmington-related story involved Adam Scott, who utilized a tie for sixth to cross the cut line and earn a spot in the Tour Championship.
The final two golfers on the right side of the bubble, Scott and Aaron Wise, will enter the Tour Championship in positions 29 and 30, respectively.
Cantlay won the BMW Championship for the second time in a row to climb into second place in the FedEx Cup standings.
Cantlay defeated a few challengers who made bids for the lead during Sunday’s round by shooting a final-round score of 69.
On the 17th hole, Cantlay added a little luck to seal the victory. While his tee ball first looked like it was going into the bunker, it actually rebounded over the sand and landed in a fantastic position from where he could take an approach shot and set up a birdie putt.
With a par on the 18th hole, the current FedEx Cup champion sealed the title and maintained a one-shot lead over Scott Stallings.
With his second-place result, Stallings moved up the most spots in the FedEx Cup rankings, rising from 46th to 12th. Because the points for each finish place are quadrupled in the postseason, he was able to vault half of the Tour Championship qualifiers.
To go to East Lake Golf Club the following week, four golfers ultimately overcame the cut line. Adam Scott rose 16 ranks to 29th, K.H. Lee advanced seven spots to 26th, and Aaron Wise improved himself by moving up from 31st to 30th. Shane Lowry lost to Wise by 18 points.
With their respective performances in Delaware, J.J. Spaun, Joohyung Kim, Davis Riley, and Kevin Kisner dropped out of the top thirty. From 28th to 38th, Kisner fell the most among the group.
The 30 golfers competing in the Tour Championship will begin with a modified scoring system, with Scheffler leading the pack.
Cantlay will be two strokes behind Scheffler at the outset of the competition at 10-under. Zalatoris will start the competition in third place at seven under par, followed by Xander Schauffele at six under par and Sam Burns at five under par.
Scores will be distributed to the rest of the Tour Championship field in groups of five. Nos. 6 through 10 will start together, for instance, at four under, and so on.
Hovland, Viktor, and Kjeldsen, Soren At the BMW PGA, Rory McIlroy and LIV players are in the lead.
England’s VIRGINIA WATER — Given that the top 10 players were separated by just two strokes going into Sunday’s final round, a shortened competition would allow for an exciting conclusion to the BMW PGA Championship.
There are two golfers from the Saudi-sponsored breakaway series as well as Rory McIlroy.
The main event of the DP World Tour has been cut down to 54 holes after play was suspended one day due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. At the conclusion of the second round on Saturday, Viktor Hovland and Soren Kjeldsen shared the lead with scores of 12 under par.
McIlroy finished birdie-birdie on the final two par 5 holes at Wentworth to shoot 7-under 65, tying his career-low round in the competition. He was a stroke behind the leaders and tied for third with Thomas Detry and Rafa Cabrera Bello.
Five players then finished on 10 under, including Talor Gooch (64), who is currently competing in the disputed LIV Golf series, and Adrian Otaegui (65). Some players who had made the decision to continue with the sport’s recognized tours and reject the Saudi money had attacked Gooch’s participation in the field before to the competition.
Billy Horschel, the reigning champion, even mentioned Gooch by name, saying the fellow American came to Wentworth “for one reason alone and that’s to try to get world ranking points because you don’t have it” in LIV competitions.
While Kjeldsen opened with a bogey and finished birdie-birdie for a 64 after opening with a 68, Hovland scored 68 to back up his opening 64.
Since the Dubai Desert Classic in January, Hovland has not achieved victory. Kjeldsen won the final of his four DP World Tour championships in 2015.
While McIlroy is attempting to win back-to-back global championships for the first time since 2014, he recently won the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup.
The four-time major champion is in a terrific position to top the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic as the current leader of the Race to Dubai.
After a dramatic par save at No. 16 and a 5-foot birdie putt at No. 18, McIlroy remarked, “I felt my putting was extremely excellent, and that’s kept me in the tournament.”
At the BMW PGA Championship, Fleetwood and Hovland share the lead as storm clouds gather.
The presence of 17 golfers who have signed up for the contentious LIV Tour, the Saudi-backed series upending golf’s status quo, has overshadowed the DP World Tour’s (formerly the European Tour) marquee event.
Rory McIlroy, a four-time major champion from Northern Ireland and one of the favorites to win, has been harsh in his criticism of his former Ryder Cup teammates who have left the team in favor of the LIV Tour’s riches. View More
He is accompanied in a competitive field by players like former U.S. Open champion John Rahm of Spain, previous Wentworth champion Billy Horschel, and U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who has no connection to the LIV Tour.
Tommy Fleetwood of England, another player to forego the breakaway tour, finished with four consecutive birdies to take the lead with a magnificent eight-under 64.
He was joined by fellow countryman Andy Sullivan and Norwegian Viktor Hovland. Hovland’s eagle on the par-five 18th made it a three-way tie for the lead.
Matthew Jordan, another Englishman, finished in fourth place after shooting a seven-under 65 thanks to six birdies on the back nine.
Shane Lowry, a former British Open champion who called the LIV golfers’ presence “disruptive,” shot a 66 and shared fifth place.
Prior to the early suspension of play and cancellation of the second round on Friday due to the passing of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, Bernd Wiesberger of Austria and Abraham Ancer of Mexico held the top two positions within the LIV Tour group at four under.
The DP BMW Championship 2022 champion is.
Shane Lowry defeated Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm to win the BMW PGA Championship, snapping a 38-month winless streak on the DP World Tour.
After Friday’s play was canceled due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the Wentworth event was truncated to 54 holes. Lowry finished the week with a seven-under 65 and a bogey-free round.
The Irishman won his sixth DP World Tour championship and first since The Open at Royal Portrush in 2019 by finishing the week on 17 under par, one stroke better than his Ryder Cup teammates McIlroy and Rahm.
The round-of-the-day leader Jon Rahm concluded with a 20-foot eagle to finish with a 62 and set the clubhouse goal at 16 under.
Lowry, who entered the final round two strokes behind the lead, started the round with an eagle at the par-five fourth and followed it up with a hole shot from the fringe at the seventh and a 25-foot birdie at the next to get to the turn in 31.
The 35-year-old pulled even with the Spaniard after getting up and down from a greenside bunker to take advantage of the par-five 12th, which he started his back nine with a birdie to make within one of Rahm, who had set the clubhouse target with a round-of-the-day 62.
Before responding with birdies at the 10th, 12th, and hole from the fringe at the 15th to close the gap on Lowry, McIlroy had also eagled the fourth earlier in the day. However, he three-putted from a distance to bogey the eighth.
When McIlroy was unable to make a final-hole eagle to force a play-off, Lowry reached the par-five 18th green in two strokes and two-putted from 20 feet for birdie, setting the clubhouse target. This was enough to win the match.
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When Rahm played a five-hole stretch in six under around the turn and then overcame a bogey at the 15th with a birdie-birdie-eagle finish, he tied McIlroy for the lead at 16 under after his eagle try fell just inches short of the target.
Talor Gooch, who shot a final-hole eagle to finish at fourth place, was the highest-ranked LIV Golf player overall. Patrick Reed, who concluded the week in a four-way tie for fifth place, shot a bogey-free 63.
Reflecting on his final-round 63 and nine birdies at Wentworth, Patrick Reed
Along with Reed and Thomas Detry of Belgium, overnight co-leaders Soren Kjeldsen and Viktor Hovland also finished on 14 under. Meanwhile, defending champion Billy Horschel shared ninth place with Rafa Cabrera Bello, Francesco Molinari, and Matthieu Pavon.
What was the BMW Championship prize money?
On Sunday, two Irishmen engaged in a duel to the finish of the BMW PGA Championship in England’s Wentworth. Shane Lowry emerged victorious, defeating Rory McIlroy by one stroke.
Due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, the DP World Tour’s premier tournament had to be cut to 54 holes. On Sunday, Lowry came back with a seven-under-par 65. He had no bogeys and seven birdies, including a four on the final par-five hole. On the 18th hole, McIlroy (67) had a chance to tie but missed his eagle putt.
Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy played early and achieved a 10-under 62, which included two eagles, for a total of 17 under, one shot better than Lowry. American Talor Gooch, who has switched allegiances to LIV Golf, finished the round with a 67 and alone in fourth place.
Out of a $8 million total prize pool, $1.36 million went to the winner outside of London. The prize money for each player who made the cut this week is listed below.