![\"BMW](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2229426082-e1755092359149.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Rickie Fowler needs another big week at the BMW Championship to reach the FedEx Cup playoffs’ final stop.<\/p>\n
The PGA Tour\u2019s<\/a> equivalent of the conference championship is here, with the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs, the BMW Championship<\/a>, set to tee off. It\u2019s the last chance for players to advance to the Tour Championship.<\/p>\n The Tour is returning to Caves Valley Golf Club<\/a> in Owings Mills, Md., for the first time since Patrick Cantlay beat Bryson DeChambeau in a playoff in 2021.<\/p>\n A lot has changed since then, as evidenced by DeChambeau\u2019s presence (and, quite frankly, Cantlay winning a tournament), and the Tour hopes changes to the course itself are evident, too. Caves Valley underwent a speedy 100-day renovation in mid-2023, and clearly the Tour and the course would like to avoid scores like 27-under, which is what got Cantlay and DeChambeau in that playoff.<\/p>\n BMW Championship Returns to Caves Valley<\/p>\n Will that actually happen? Eh \u2026<\/p>\n Here\u2019s all you need to know about Caves Valley Golf Club.<\/p>\n Caves Valley Golf Club (Owings Mills, Md.) Notes: As mentioned, Caves Valley underwent significant renovation since last hosting the BMW in 2021. \u2026 The biggest change, at least in terms of score, is the course will now play to a par-70 after playing to a par-72 previously. \u2026 Additionally, the renovation moved around some of the green complexes, getting them closer to hazards and allowing what the club and Tour hope are more challenging pin placements. \u2026 To combat the steamy late-summer mid-Atlantic weather, there\u2019s a new PrecisionAire system under the course that should keep the course playing firmer and faster with more consistent green speeds.<\/p>\n BMW Championship 2025 Picks<\/p>\n The winning score almost certainly won\u2019t be 27-under, as just changing par will ensure that gets depressed some. And maybe it will play a little tougher if it\u2019s firmer. But the bones are still the bones, and the most likely reality is this will be another birdiefest. Length off the tee is huge, especially paired with a solid wedge game, and if that\u2019s the case, it\u2019s probably going to turn into a putting contest.<\/p>\n In a 49-man field<\/a>, it\u2019s hard to find a ton of value, but the equation is basically players who fit the skill set and should be motivated to have a big week to make sure they\u2019re among the top 30<\/a> who make it to East Lake.<\/p>\n Here are three BMW Championship picks to win (odds from GolfOdds.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n Cameron Young (25-1): He\u2019s already in the East Lake mix, but he has all the skills to play well here, and he\u2019s on a heater. Young finally broke through and won the Wyndham Championship and followed that up with a top-5 in Memphis last week. His season-long hot putter hasn\u2019t faltered, and he\u2019s got motivation as he tries to cement his Ryder Cup team spot.<\/p>\n Matt Fitzpatrick (35-1): Not the greatest number, all things considered, as he\u2019s apparently a popular play this week. But it does make sense. He\u2019s plenty long off the tee, and he needs to harness it \u2014 he was all over the map last week with driver \u2014 but it\u2019s still pretty open. The Englishman has gained strokes putting the last four starts and at No. 40, he needs a solid week to advance.<\/p>\n Rickie Fowler (65-1): It came down to Fowler or Chris Gotterup for the final pick here (so, congratuations to Gotterup on his win), but the number was too enticing on Fowler. Has he won since the 2023 Rocket Mortgage? No. Is he a perfect skill fit? No. But Fowler is playing better, he\u2019s rolling it well (last week aside), and he needs a big week to get through to East Lake. He sounds motivated to do just that, and if he gets a week where it all lines up, he\u2019s live to win.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMike Cole<\/a> Mike Cole covers golf as well as the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans for Heavy.com. He previously worked at NESN where he covered Boston sports (and much more) for 15 years. More about Mike Cole<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Golf\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Rickie Fowler needs another big week at the BMW Championship to reach the FedEx Cup playoffs’ final…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-66605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Par: 70 (35-35)
Yardage: 7,601
Purse: $20 million ($3.6 million to the winner)
Defending champion: Keegan Bradley (played at Castle Pines Golf Club)<\/p>\n