Tournament Overview
The 2019 BMW Championship is the second round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Medinah Country Club (Course #3) will host the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup point standings. There is no cut this week so throw your sweat rag into the washer and get ready to sit back and watch a full four rounds of golf. The winning lineups will need multiple guys in the top ten so make sure you are picking golfers who have the game to go low and win it all.
Golfers will be teeing off in the Chicago suburbs, taking on a bombers course as Medinah measures over 7600 yards. Medinah CC has been the host of many majors throughout its history, but the tour has not played here since the 2012 Ryder Cup. While the course has tree-lined fairways, there should still be opportunities for players to get it close to the green if they miss. Expect players to “grip it N rip it” with the driver this week.
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2019 BMW Championship: Key Stats
SG: Approach
SG: Off The Tee (with an emphasis on driving distance)
SG: Par 5s
SG: Around the Green
SG: Proximity 175-200 & 200+
SG: Putting (Bent Grass)
Birdie or Better Gained
Course Info
Course: Medinah Country Club (Course #3)
Par: 72
Yardage: 7,613
Greens: Bent Grass
Picks
Justin Thomas-$10,000
The world’s former #1 golfer is starting to return to his form before his injury at the Honda Classic earlier this year. In his last four events, JT has finished 12th, 12th, 11th, and 9th. Over his past 24 rounds, Thomas ranks 8th in SG: APP, 17th SG: OTT, and 17th from 175-200 yards. The only thing holding Thomas back lately has been his short game.
Thomas has typically always been very good around the green and putting has never held him back for long. Eventually JT is going to find his putter and with his ball striking it won’t be long before he adds another trophy to his mantle. Compared to the other 10k priced golfers, JT looks to be a great value and our pick of the week.
Patrick Cantlay – $9,800
Cantlay is such a consistent player it’s hard not to play him almost every week. Last week he was our cornerstone play and finished in 12th. This week we’re going back to him and expect another top finish. Over his last 24 rounds he ranks 2nd in strokes gained from 175-200 yards, 3rd in par 5 scoring, and top ten in both SG: APP and SG: OTT. Right now it is hard to find any stat that Cantlay rates poorly in. This is a tournament filled with elite players and Patrick has been playing elite golf for a long period of time.
Paul Casey- $8,400
Paul Casey enters this week’s event as the most rested golfer in the field after opting out of the Northern Trust last week to vacation with his family. Look for Popeye to have eaten his spinach and come out firing this weekend. Recently, Casey has been great off the tee and has been even better with his approach shots ranking in the top 6 in each over his past 24 rounds. He is gaining 5.4 strokes total in the past 5 events and coming off a solid 13th place finish at the Wyndham. Although Popeye isn’t known for his skills with the flat stick, bent grass is his preferred putting surface.
Jason Kokrak $7,800
Line me up a few rails of Kokrak this week! Expect Kokrak to be wide awake and in the mix come Sunday. Jason has had an incredible 2019 season and arguably his best to date. He has 5 top ten finishes this season and has made 20/21 cuts. Kokrak is a big hitter who ranks out 9th in driving distance, 6th in par 5 scoring and 5th off the tee. Although Kokrak has lost .7 SG around the green on average over his last five events, at last weeks Northern Trust he gained 2.9 on the field. If he can continue this trend, don’t be surprised if he adds another top ten finish to his resume this week.
Sungjae Im-$7,200
I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m going to go with IM this week. No one has played more golf this season than Sungjae as he has played in a ridiculous 32 events this year and hasn’t shown any signs of fading. The Tour rookie played played better golf last week than his 38th place finish shows. Everything was looking good for the former Korn Ferry Tour MVP, until a rough Saturday morning 76. Im ranks out well in most of the key stats for this week especially in SG: Par 5 scoring and SG: ARG where he ranks 7th and 9th respectively . Im’s biggest concerns heading into the week is his approach and consistency. If Im can avoid a blow up round expect him to be lingering around the top of the leaderboard come Sunday.
Value Play Emiliano Grillo- $6,700
I want to start this by saying what Emiliano Grillo did last week after missing his birdie putt on the 18th hole to make the cut, was not only distasteful and disrespectful, but a downright shame to the game of golf. Emiliano lost many fans last week and is expecting quite the fine from the PGA.
Luckily for us, I am just trying to win some money and pick some winning golfers. Personally I could care less what they do out there outside of sinking putts. While Grillo missed the cut he did had some very impressive stats over the first two days finishing in the top ten in SG: APP and SG: OTT. He had a few costly errors on the green early on which started him off plus 5 in the first 3 holes and he still managed to battle back within 1 of the cut line. Over the past 24 holes Grillo ranks 2nd in SG: APP and has gained off the tee in 12 of his past 14 events. Putting has never been his strong suit, but historically Grillo has actually gained strokes putting on bent grass. Hopefully most people fade Grillo this week because of the MC or his antics, and all of us cash in big on this value play.
Fade: Bryson DeChambeau- $8,300
The new clubs and extra slow play have not been working out for the scientist in recent weeks. Bryson needs to get back into the laboratory and find his game or atleast stay there and hide from Brooks Koepka before he gives him a swirlie for his slow play. Bryson has lost strokes on approach in his last five events and lost stroke off the tee last week. His ball striking has not been where it needs to be for him to be successful. With ball striking crucial being crucial in this week’s play, and Koepka lurking, we are staying away from Bryson this week.
Fade: Tiger Woods – $8,000
Tiger should have ended his season after winning the Masters. His game is nowhere near championship contention and looks physically exhausted. He’s been struggling with injury issues, complaining about being tired after vacations, and has become very unpredictable. With his already limited golf schedule, Tiger has WD or MC in 50% of his entered tournaments. Although he is priced down at $8,000 this week he is simply too risky to play.
Last Week’s Results
Patrick Cantlay – $9,200 12th
Justin Rose – $9,600 10th
Collin Morikawa- $8,500 52nd
Patrick Reed – $8,100 1st
Billy Horschel – $8,000 21st
Joaquin Neimann – $7,500 30th
Corey Conners – $6,500 21st
Emiliano Grillo $7,000 MC
Fades
Dustin Johnson $ 10,700 24th
Tony Finau $8,300 30th