BMW Championship Preview

2016 BMW Championship Preview
Dates: September 8-11, 2016
Where: Crooked Stick GC, Carmel, IN
Par/Yards: 36-36—72/7,567 yards
Field: 70
2015 champion: Jason Day
Purse: $8,500,000/$1,530,000 (winner) FedExCup: 2,000 points (winner)
Format: 72-hole stroke play
Twitter: @bmwchamps

FedExCup and the BMW Championship

• The BMW Championship is the third of four events of the FedExCup Playoffs for the 10th consecutive season since the Playoffs were introduced in 2007. There is more on the line than the BMW Championship trophy as players jockey for the coveted top-30 position to advance to the FedExCup Playoffs finale, the TOUR Championship
• 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 qualify for the BMW Championship, contested at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind.
• The top 30 players following the BMW Championship will qualify for the TOUR Championship. Prior to the TOUR Championship, a points reset will take place, giving all players in the field a mathematical opportunity to win the FedExCup. The top-five players control their own destiny and would claim the FedExCup with a victory at East Lake.

BMW Championship returns to Crooked Stick

• For the second time in history of the event, the BMW Championship will be contested at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., having previously hosted the 2012 BMW Championship won by Rory McIlroy.
• The 2016 BMW Championship marks the fourth time the event has been played in Indiana. Walter Hagen won in 1926 at Highland Golf and Country Club in Indianapolis, and Johnny Revolta won in 1935 at South Bend Country Club in South Bend, Ind., while McIlroy won at Crooked Stick in 2012.
• In addition to the 2012 BMW Championship, Crooked Stick also hosted the 1991 PGA Championship won by John Daly.
• Crooked Stick is one of seven Pete Dye-designed courses on the PGA TOUR schedule in 2016-17 (Crooked Stick, TPC Sawgrass, Harbour Town GL, TPC River Highlands, TPC Louisiana, PGA West Stadium and Austin Country Club).
• Twenty-nine players who competed in the 2012 BMW Championship will return to Crooked Stick in 2016 including 2012 winner Rory McIlroy and three other players in the top 10 of the FedExCup. (Defending champion Jason Day was not in the field in the 2012 BMW Championship field at Crooked Stick).
  • FedExCup, Player, 2012 finish
  • No. 3 ,Dustin Johnson, T6
  • No. 4, Rory McIlroy, Won
  • No. 5, Adam Scott, T6
  • No. 9, Jimmy Walker, 64

A look back on the 2012 BMW Championship at Crooked Stick

• Following his win at the Deutsche Bank Championship the week prior, Rory McIlroy won the BMW Championship to become the first player to win in back-to-back weeks since Tiger Woods in 2009.
• The 2012 victory marked McIlroy’s sixth career win and fourth of the season, en route to winning PGA TOUR Player of the Year for the first time.
• Four of the top-10 finishers at the 2012 BMW Championship held the No. 1 position in the Official World Golf Ranking, including Rory McIlroy (won), Lee Westwood (T2), Tiger Woods (T4) and Vijay Singh (eighth).

A look back on the 2015 BMW Championship at Conway Farms

• After winning The Barclays two starts earlier, Jason Day entered the final round leading by six strokes, the largest 54-hole lead on TOUR in the 2014-15 season. The closest anyone came to challenging Day was when Daniel Berger made birdie at No. 14 to get to 16-under to narrow the gap to four when Day was on No. 13. Day won by six, becoming the first player during the FedExCup era to win The Barclays and BMW Championship in the same season.
• Day’s 193 total through 54 holes broke the previous low opening 54-hole record at the BMW Championship by four strokes: 197 – Camilo Villegas (2008), Tiger Woods (2009), Billy Horschel (2014).
• With the victory, Day captured his seventh career PGA TOUR title, his fifth of the season and took over the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking.

The top five in the FedExCup

The top five entering East Lake will control their own destiny and can win the FedExCup with a victory, most recently performed by Jordan Spieth in 2015.

• No. 1 – Patrick Reed
  • 2015-16 Season – With his one-stroke win over Sean O’Hair and Emiliano Grillo at The Barclays, Patrick Reed jumped from No. 7 to No. 1 in the FedExCup standings for the first time in his career.
  • His victory at Bethpage Black (his fifth overall) marked the fourth consecutive season he has won on the PGA TOUR. He will be attempting to join Vijay Singh (2008) as the only players to win The Barclays and FedExCup in the same season.
  • FedExCup – Here’s a look at Reed’s year-by-year FedExCup results: 2013 (54), 2014 (21), 2015 (12), 2016 (1).
• No. 2 – Jason Day
  • 2015-16 Season – Followed up his five-win season during the 2014-15 campaign with three victories this season, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational, World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play and THE PLAYERS Championship. D
  • ay entered the Playoffs in the top spot in the FedExCup, but dropped to second with his T4 at The Barclays.
  • FedExCup – Here’s a look at Day’s year-by-year results in the FedExCup: 2008 (83), 2009 (48), 2010 (8), 2011 (12), 2012 (87), 2013 (17), 2014 (10), 2015 (3), 2016 (2).
  • No. 3 – Dustin Johnson
    • 2015-16 Season – Highlighted by his first major championship victory (U.S. Open) and a win at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, Dustin Johnson has enjoyed a stellar season that includes a career-best 12 top-10 finishes.
    • The two victories give him at least one win in each of his first nine seasons, the best current streak on the PGA TOUR.
    • FedExCup – Here’s a look at his year-by-year results in the FedExCup: 2008 (134), 2009 (14), 2010 (5), 2011 (4), 2012 (8), 2013 (13), 2014 (30), 2015 (7), 2016 (3).
• No. 4 – Rory McIlroy
  • 2015-16 Season – With five top-five performances heading into the FedExCup Playoffs, Rory McIlroy won his 12th career PGA TOUR title and first of the season at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
  • The victory moved him into the top five in the FedExCup, knocking Jordan Spieth to No. 6. When McIlroy won the 2012 BMW Championship after winning the Deutsche Bank Championship, he did so at Crooked Stick Golf Club.
  • FedExCup – Here’s a look at his year-by-year results in the FedExCup: 2010 (36), 2012 (2), 2013 (50), 2014 (3), 2015 (15).
• No. 5 – Adam Scott
  • 2015-16 Season – Bouncing back from a disappointing No. 106 finish in the FedExCup a year ago, Adam Scott notched back-to-back victories at The Honda Classic and World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship en route to a current ranking of fifth in the FedExCup.
  • FedExCup – Here’s a look at his year-by-year results in the FedExCup: 2007 (12), 2008 (47), 2009 (110), 2010 (19), 2011 (16), 2012 (25), 2013 (4), 2014 (12), 2015 (106), 2016 (4).
• No. 6 – Jordan Spieth, 2015 FedExCup Champion
  • 2015-16 Season – Coming on the heels of his historic 2014-15 season, Jordan Spieth notched two wins this season at the Tournament of Champions and DEAN & DELUCA Invitational to increase his victory total on TOUR to eight.
  • FedExCup – Here’s a look at his year-by-year results in the FedExCup: 2013 (7), 2014 (15), 2015 (1), 2016 (5).

Rookies in the FedExCup Playoffs

• Six rookies finished the season ranked within the top 125 in FedExCup points and earned their first start at The Barclays. Of that group, two remain: Smylie Kaufman (No. 33) and Emiliano Grillo (No. 8).
• All seven rookies who qualified for the TOUR Championship went on to win Rookie of the Year honors: Daniel Berger (2015), Jordan Spieth (2013), John Huh (2012), Keegan Bradley (2011), Marc Leishman (2009), Andres Romero (2008) and Brandt Snedeker (2007).

Miscellaneous BMW Championship notes

• Charley Hoffman, Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, and Hunter Mahan are the only four players to qualify for the BMW Championship all nine years. Only Charley Hoffmann and Bubba Watson will continue that streak in 2016.
• Only Billy Horschel (2014) and Tiger Woods (2007 and 2009) won the BMW Championship en route to claiming the FedExCup.
• Six past BMW Championship winners are in the field: Jason Day, Billy Horschel, Zach Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson
• Only three players have finished inside the top 10 in all four FedExCup Playoffs events in a single season: Rory Sabbatini in 2007 (finished No. 4 in FedExCup), Padraig Harrington in 2009 (No. 7) and Dustin Johnson in 2012 (No. 8).

Advancing through the Playoffs

• It took 853 points to advance to this year’s BMW Championship, with Marc Leishman earning the final spot.
  • In his PGA TOUR rookie year of 2009, Marc Leishman finished T15 at the Deutsche Bank Championship, which moved him inside the top-70 (67th) and into the field at the BMW Championship.
  • At the BMW Championship that week, he finished T2 and jumped all the way from 67th to 16th in the FedExCup standings and into the TOUR Championship.
  • He finished his rookie season at No. 20 in the standings.
• Six players moved into the top 70 at the Deutsche Bank Championship and played their way into the BMW Championship: , Billy Hurley III, David Hearn, Hudson Swafford, Vaughn Taylor, Chris Kirk, and Marc Leishman
• Six players dropped out of the top 70 following the Deutsche Bank Championship and were eliminated from the FedExCup Playoffs: Jerry Kelly, Martin Laird, Johnson Wagner, Chez Reavie
• In the history of the FedExCup, here’s a look at how many players have advanced to the BMW Championship when starting from outside the cut line (top 70):
  • 2015 Hunter Mahan, Keegan Bradley, Jerry Kelly and William McGirt.
  • 2014 Billy Horschel, Geoff Ogilvy, Chesson Hadley, Carl Pettersson, Morgan Hoffmann and Ben Crane.
  • 2013 Kevin Stadler, Brian Davis, Ian Poulter, Marc Leishman, Nicholas Thompson, Brendan Steele and Ernie Els.
  • 2012 Jeff Overton, Bryce Molder, D.A. Points, Troy Matteson, Matt Every, Chris Kirk, Charl Schwartzel, Charley Hoffman and Dicky Pride.
  • 2011 Chez Reavie, Blake Adams, Chad Campbell, Andres Romero, Johnson Wagner, Ernie Els, Geoff Ogilvy and Chris Stroud.
  • 2010 Jason Dufner, Vijay Singh, Tom Gillis and Andres Romero.
  • 2009 Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Jeff Overton, Stephen Ames, Bryce Molder, Marc Leishman, Woody Austin and Jason Bohn.
  • 2008 Tim Herron, Johnson Wagner, Heath Slocum, Ben Crane, Eric Axley, Aaron Baddeley, Freddie Jacobson, Charley Hoffman, Tommy Armour III and Angel Cabrera.
  • 2007 John Mallinger and Bo Van Pelt.

Course changes at Crooked Stick

• The most recent work on the course began in 2014 and included renovation of over 90 bunkers and the addition of seven new bunkers along No. 7 and 10. The tee boxes on No. 3, 10 and 13 were rebuilt or added.
• A lake was added along the left side of the 17th hole to reflect some of Pete Dye’s original course drawings, allowing for a dramatic finish with water hazards on the last three holes.
• There was a major renovation of the practice facility including an expanded range tee, short game area and putting green near the first tee. The elevated putting green was also expanded
• Future Sites of the BMW Championship
  • 2017 Conway Farms Golf Club, Forest, Ill.
  • 2018 Aronimink Golf Club, Newtown Square, Pa.
  • 2019 Medinah Country Club, Medinah, Ill.