2020 BMW Championship pre-tournament notes

Dates: August 24-30, 2020

Where: Olympia Fields, Illinois

Course: Olympia Fields Country Club-North (35-35—70, 7,366 yards)

Field size: 69

Defending champion: Justin Thomas

Purse: $9,500,000 ($1,710,000/winner)

FedExCup: 1,500 points to the winner

Format: 72-hole stroke play

 

Things to Know

• The BMW Championship determines the 30 players who will qualify for the Playoffs finale, the TOUR Championship
• The BMW Championship will be contested at Olympia Fields Country Club (North) for the sixth time and 100 years since the first playing in 1920; Winners of the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields include Jock Hutchinson (1920), Walter Hagen (1927), Macdonald Smith (1933), Jack Nicklaus (1968) and Bruce Crampton (1971)
• The 2003 U.S. Open marks the last PGA TOUR event held at Olympia Fields; Four players in the 2020 BMW Championship field competed in the 2003 U.S. Open, won by Jim Furyk: Tiger Woods (T20), Charles Howell IIl (T53), Paul Casey (MC), Adam Scott (MC)
• World No. 1 and two-time BMW Championship winner Dustin Johnson leads the FedExCup by 92 points over Justin Thomas as he seeks first FedExCup title

• Defending BMW Championship winner Justin Thomas (No. 2) seeks his second FedExCup title in four seasons
• Five-time BMW Championship winner Tiger Woods (No. 57) likely needs a fourth-place finish or better to advance to the TOUR Championship
• Six players played their way into the BMW Championship following THE NORTHERN TRUST: Alex Noren, Harry Higgs, Russell Henley, Robby Shelton, Jason Kokrak, Louis Oosthuizen

• Due to schedule changes related to COVID-19, FedExCup points available during the three Playoffs events reduced from four times standard Regular Season events to three times (winner receives 1,500 points)

 

Notes on the field

• 69 of the top 70 in the FedExCup standings (No. 3 Webb Simpson is not in the field)
• 24 of the top 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking, led by No. 1 Dustin Johnson, No. 2 Jon Rahm, No. 3 Justin Thomas, No. 4 Rory McIlroy and No. 5 Collin Morikawa
• Four FedExCup champions: Tiger Woods (2007, 2009), Billy Horschel (2014), Rory McIlroy (2016, 2019), Justin Thomas (2017)
• Seven past champions of the BMW Championship (FedExCup era): Tiger Woods (2007, 2009), Dustin Johnson (2010, 2016), Rory McIlroy (2012), Billy Horschel (2014), Jason Day (2015), Marc Leishman (2017), Justin Thomas (2018)

• Seven players making their FedExCup Playoffs debut remain in the top 70 (bold indicates PGA TOUR rookie): Scottie Scheffler (14), Lanto Griffin (15), Viktor Hovland (24), Harry Higgs (48), Matthew Fitzpatrick (60), Robby Shelton (62) and Maverick McNealy (67)

• Nine of the 10 winners since the season resumed in June (Daniel Berger, Dustin Johnson (2), Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa (2), Jon Rahm, Michael Thompson, Richy Werenski, Justin Thomas, Jim Herman)
• Nine players are inside the top 70 who did not qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs in 2019: Daniel Berger (4), Harris English (6), Brendon Todd (13), Tyler Duncan (32), Tom Hoge (43), Richy Werenski (44), Brendan Steele (45), Alex Noren (47) and Jim Herman (63)

 

The BMW Championship and the FedExCup

• The top 30 players in the FedExCup standings following the BMW Championship advance to the TOUR Championship
• Three players played their way into the TOUR Championship in 2019: Hideki Matsuyama, Lucas Glover, Jason Kokrak
• On three occasions a player won the BMW Championship en route to winning the FedExCup (Tiger Woods in 2007 and 2009, Billy Horschel in 2014)
• Ranked No. 69 in 2011, Geoff Ogilvy is the lowest ranked player to advance to the TOUR Championship
• Current FedExCup standings below:

 

Pos.	Player	Points	Wins	Top-10s	Points Behind	Starts
1	Dustin Johnson	2,571	2	5	–	12
2	Justin Thomas	2,479	3	9	92	16
3	Webb Simpson	2,163	2	8	408	13
4	Daniel Berger	1,917	1	7	654	15
5	Collin Morikawa	1,902	2	6	669	19
6	Harris English	1,767	0	6	804	18
7	Bryson DeChambeau	1,657	1	9	914	15
8	Sungjae Im	1,633	1	7	938	24
9	Jon Rahm	1,580	1	6	991	13
10	Patrick Reed	1,447	1	7	1,124	18

 

Players on the TOUR Championship bubble

Pos.	Player	Points
25	Cameron Champ	951
26	Cameron Smith	936
27	Adam Long	934
28	Kevin Streelman	923
29	Tony Finau	907
30	Billy Horschel	893
31	Joaquin Niemann	878
32	Tyler Duncan	806
33	Matthew Wolff	771
34	Mark Hubbard	771
35	Byeong Hun An	765

 

Players who moved into top 70 at THE NORTHERN TRUST

From	To	Player	TNT result
78	47	Alex Noren	T8
72	48	Harry Higgs	T11
101	61	Russell Henley	T8
81	62	Robby Shelton	T13
90	66	Jason Kokrak	T13
99	70	Louis Oosthuizen	T13

 

13 rookies in the FedExCup era (since 2007) have qualified for the TOUR Championship. In 2020, two rookies are currently ranked inside the top 30: Scottie Scheffler (14) and Viktor Hovland (24)

• 2019 – Sungjae Im (19)
• 2018 – Aaron Wise (24)
• 2017 – Xander Schauffele (3), Patrick Cantlay (29)
• 2016 – Emiliano Grillo (11), Si Woo Kim (17)
• 2015 – Daniel Berger (11)
• 2013 – Jordan Spieth (7)
• 2012 – John Huh (29)
• 2011 – Keegan Bradley (20)
• 2009 – Marc Leishman (20)
• 2008 – Andres Romero (28)
• 2007 – Brandt Snedeker (20)

 

A look back at the 2019 BMW Championship (Medinah Country Club)

Pos.	Name	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Justin Thomas	65	69	61	68	263 (-25)
2	Patrick Cantlay	66	67	68	65	266 (-22)
3	Hideki Matsuyama	69	63	73	63	268 (-20)
4	Tony Finau	67	66	68	69	270 (-18)
T5	Jon Rahm	68	69	66	69	272 (-16)
T5	Brandt Snedeker	66	71	67	68	272 (-16)

 

• At the 2019 BMW Championship Justin Thomas earned the 10^th title of his PGA TOUR career, defeating Patrick Cantlay by three strokes at Medinah Country Club. His third-round 61 marked his fourth score of 61 or better on the PGA TOUR. With the victory, Thomas claimed the No. 1 spot in the FedExCup, entering the TOUR Championship in the top spot.