BMW Championship Notes – 2015

Dates: September 14-20, 2015
Where: Conway Farms Golf Club, Lake Forest, Ill.
Par/Yards: 35-36—71/7,198 yards
Field: 70
2014 champion: Billy Horschel
Purse: $8,250,000/$1,485,000 (winner)
Format: 72-hole stroke-play
Twitter: @bmwchamps

The BMW Championship and the FedExCup Playoffs

• Each playoff event offers 2,000 FedExCup points to the winner, decreased by 500 points in 2015.
• The top 125 in the final PGA TOUR Season FedExCup standings following the Wyndham Championship qualified for The Barclays.
• The top 100 players on the FedExCup points list following The Barclays qualified for the Deutsche Bank Championship, with 25 players having been eliminated following the first week of the Playoffs.
• The top 70 on the points list following the Deutsche Bank Championship qualified for the BMW Championship.
• The top 30 on the points list following the BMW Championship qualify for the year-end TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, with 40 players being eliminated from the Playoffs.
• A points reset will take place following the BMW Championship giving all 30 players in the field at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola a mathematical chance to win the FedExCup. The top five players control their own destiny and can win the FedExCup with a victory at the TOUR Championship.

A look at the 2014 BMW Championship and Billy Horschel

• One day after a third-round, bogey-free 7-under 63, Billy Horschel carded a final-round 1-under 69 for a two-stroke victory over Bubba Watson at the 2014 BMW Championship.
• The victory was the second of Horschel’s career at the time (2013 Zurich Classic of New Orleans) and came in his 101st TOUR start.
• Horschel would later add a victory at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola en route to winning the 2014 FedExCup.
• Horschel’s finishes in the FedExCup: 2014 (1st), 2013 (16th), 2012 (143rd), 2011 (170th).
• Horschel owns two wins (2014 BMW Championship, 2014 TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola) in the FedExCup Playoffs event in 10 total starts, with additional top-10 finishes at the 2014 Deutsche Bank Championship (T2) and the 2013 TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola (T7).
• Horschel won in his second start at the BMW Championship (T18-2013).
• Horschel has shown to be a momentum player. During the 2014 Playoffs, he finished T2 at the Deutsche Bank Championship before winning the final two events of the FedExCup Playoffs. Prior to winning his first TOUR event at the 2013 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, he had finished T2 at the Shell Houston Open, T3 at the Valero Texas Open and T9 at the RBC Heritage.
• Horschel enters the BMW Championship No. 67 in the FedExCup. In 27 starts this season, he owns two top-10 finishes: 3rd at the Valero Texas Open and T8 at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.

2015 FedExCup Playoff summaries

The Barclays

• With a final-round 8-under 62 (equaling the lowest score of his career), Jason Day posted a 72-hole total of 19-under 261 at The Barclays, good for a six-stroke runaway victory over Henrik Stenson.
• Day’s 62 marked the lowest finishing score by a PGA TOUR winner this season, and helped move him to No. 1 in the FedExCup standings.
• In addition, it guaranteed Day a top-five spot heading into the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, meaning that he will control his own destiny at East Lake and will win the FedExCup with a victory there.
• The victory was the sixth of Day’s career and came in his 168th PGA TOUR start at the age of 27 years, 9 months and 18 days.

Deutsche Bank Championship

• Rickie Fowler shot a final round 3-under 68 to come from one shot back at the beginning of the day to defeat third-round leader and 2013 FedExCup champion Henrik Stenson by one stroke.
• A disastrous double bogey on the par-3 16th hole dropped Stenson one behind Fowler, with the latter posting pars on the final two holes for the victory.
• Fowler’s third TOUR victory came in his 150th career start at the age of 26 years, 8 months and 25 days. The win was worth 2,000 points and moved Fowler to No. 3 in the FedExCup standings, and like Jason Day, guaranteed a top-5 spot at the season-ending TOUR Championship. Fowler became the sixth-consecutive come-from-behind winner at TPC Boston.

2015 FedExCup Playoff standings

• The top five in the FedExCup Playoff standings is the goal for players after the BMW Championship is played and the 70-man field has been trimmed to 30.
• The top five in the standings entering the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola will control their own destiny and will win the FedExCup with a victory at East Lake GC.
• Here’s a look at the top 10 headed into this week’s BMW Championship.

Current Top 5 at the BMW Championship (FedExCup era)

• No. 1 – Jason Day (5 starts; 2014/WD, 2013/T4, 2011/T49, 2010/T54, 2009/T59)
• No. 2 – Jordan Spieth (2 starts; 2014/T8, 2013/T16)
• No. 3 – Rickie Fowler (5 starts; 2014/T4, 2013/T39, 2012/T41, 2011/48, 2010/T45)
• No. 4 – Henrik Stenson (3 starts; 2014/T23, 2013/T33, 2007/T52)
• No. 5 – Bubba Watson (8 starts; 2014/2, 2013/T24, 2012/T12, 2011/T53, 2010/T50, 2009/T15, 2008/T28, 2007/T18)

Current Players On The Top 30 Bubble

Playing Into The Top 70

Four players ranked between No. 71-100 at the Deutsche Bank Championship played their way into the top 70 to advance to the BMW Championship. Here’s the list of players who moved inside the top 70:

Of the eight players who entered The Barclays ranked No. 101 – 125 in the FedExCup standings, Zac Blair is the only one who has advanced to the BMW Championship:

Additional Player Notes

• Hunter Mahan is the only player in the FedExCup era to advance each season to the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola and make all 34 starts in the Playoffs. With a T4 finish at TPC Boston, he moved from No. 91 entering the Deutsche Bank Championship to No. 52 to keep his streak alive.
• Charley Hoffman, Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, Hunter Mahan and Ernie Els are the only five players to have competed in the first eight BMW Championships. While Els did not qualify for the Playoffs this season, the other four players are in this week’s field.
• Defending FedExCup champion Billy Horschel finished 72nd at the Deutsche Bank Championship and dropped to No. 67 in the FedExCup standings. Since the inception of the FedExCup, only 2012 winner Brandt Snedeker made it back to the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola the following year.
• With four wins, Jason Day and Jordan Spieth have the most wins on TOUR this season. Since 2010, the only players to record four or more wins in a season are Tiger Woods (2013, 5), Spieth (2015, 4), Day (4) and Rory McIlroy (2012, 4).
• Henrik Stenson enters the BMW Championship No. 4 in the FedExCup standings, with runner-up finishes at the first two events of the 2015 FedExCup Playoffs.
• With two events remaining in the 2014-15 PGA TOUR Season, Jordan Spieth leads the PGA TOUR in Adjusted Scoring Average (68.946) with Jason Day (69.298) in second in the category.
• The leader in Adjusted Scoring Average at the end of the season earns the Byron Nelson Award from the PGA TOUR and the Vardon Trophy from the PGA of America.
• Deutsche Bank Championship winner Rickie Fowler became the sixth multiple winner of the 2014-15 PGA TOUR season, joining Jordan Spieth (4), Jason Day (4), Rory McIlroy (2), Bubba Watson (2) and Jimmy Walker (2).
  • At the age of 26 years, 8 months and 25 days, Fowler accounted for the 22nd win (14 different players) by players under the age of 30 in 2014-15.
  • By comparison, 18 victories were won by players in their 30s (16 different players).
  • Rickie Fowler’s one-stroke victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship marked the 11th stroke-play tournament of the 2014-15 season decided by one stroke. With 17 playoffs, 28 out of 44 stroke-play events through the Deutsche Bank Championship have been won via playoff or one stroke.
• Jordan Spieth’s 14 top-10 finishes is tied for the most on TOUR in a single season over the last 10 years with Luke Donald (2011) and Tiger Woods (2009).
• Will McGirt entered the Deutsche Bank Championship No. 88 in the FedExCup standings before moving up to No. 68. Outside the FedExCup cut line and with his back against the wall,
  • McGirt used a 7-iron on the 17th hole of the final round at TPC Boston to record an eagle-2 from 169 yards to jump up the FedExCup standings and secure a spot in the BMW Championship.
• Jerry Kelly had three bogeys during a five-hole stretch entering the 18th hole during the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, before he made birdie on the final hole to move inside the top 70 and advance to the BMW Championship. Kelly’s birdie on the last hole knocked Alex Cejka out of the top 70

 

SOURCE: PGA TOUR