Golf Glance: FedEx Cup down to 50; Niemann-Rahm vie for LIV title
Field Level Media's Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: FedEx St. Jude Championship (Justin Rose)
THIS WEEK: BMW Championship, Owings Mills, Md., Aug. 14-17
Course: Caves Valley Golf Club (Par 70, 7,601 Yards)
Purse: $20M (Winner: $3.6M)
Defending Champion: Keegan Bradley
FedEx Cup leader: Scottie Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel, NBC Sports app); Saturday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel, NBC Sports app), 3-6 p.m. (NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports app); Sunday: Noon-2 p.m. (Golf Channel, NBC Sports app), 2-6 p.m. (NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports app)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 9:15 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
X: @BMWCHAMPS
NOTES: The top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings after this week will qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship. Every player in this week's field has qualified for all signature events in 2026 along with the Players Championship. Those who qualify for the Tour Championship will earn a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour. ... Sepp Straka, who is fifth in the standings, withdrew on Monday to attend to a family matter. His agent said that Straka does intend to compete at the Tour Championship. ... The BMW Championship is the oldest non-major on the PGA Tour schedule, dating back to 1899. Caves Valley previously played host to it in 2021, with 22 players in this week's field having competed four years ago. A renovation since then has seen the scorecard change from a par-72 to a par-70 while the course added nearly 60 yards. ... Future host sites of the event include Bellerive Country Club (St. Louis) in 2026 and Liberty National Golf Club (Jersey City, N.J.) in 2027. ... Nine players will make their BMW Championship debuts this week: Jacob Bridgeman, Brian Campbell, Ryan Fox, Ryan Gerard, Chris Gotterup, Ben Griffin, Harry Hall, Andrew Novak and Sam Stevens.
TOP 30 BUBBLE: Sungjae Im (No. 25), Gotterup (No. 26), Bridgeman (No. 27), Viktor Hovland (No. 28), Akshay Bhatia (No. 29), Lucas Glover (No. 30), Stevens (No. 31), Gerard (No. 32), Daniel Berger (No. 33), Fox (No. 34), Taylor Pendrith (No. 35)
BEST BETS: Scheffler (+280 at DraftKings) already is guaranteed to enter the Tour Championship as the FedExCup leader for the third consecutive year. He is the first player since Tom Weiskopf 52 years ago to finish in the top-eight in 12 consecutive tour starts. ... Rory McIlroy (+750) returns after skipping the first leg of the playoffs and makes his first start since a T7 at The Open Championship. ... Xander Schauffele (+1800) still is seeking his first victory of 2025 while also attempting to run his streak of reaching the Tour Championship to nine consecutive years. ... Tommy Fleetwood (+2000) again came agonizingly short of winning his first event on U.S. soil last weekend. He has five finishes of seventh or better in his past 10 starts. ... Patrick Cantlay (+2500) won at Caves Valley in 2021 but has not won since the BMW Championship the following year. ... Harris English (+5000) has three top-4 finishes in his past eight starts while rising to No. 8 in the world rankings.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Tour Championship, Atlanta, Aug. 21-24
LPGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: AIG Women's Open (Miyu Yamashita)
THIS WEEK: Portland Classic, Aug. 14-17
Course: Columbia Edgewater Country Club (Par 72, 3,497 Yards)
Purse: $2M (Winner: $262,500)
Defending Champion: Moriya Jutanugarn
Race to the CME Globe leader: Jeeno Thitikul
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday: 6-9 p.m. (GC); Sunday: 4-7 p.m. (GC)
Streaming: Thursday-Friday: 1-2 p.m. (NBC Sports)
X: @PortlandClassic
NOTES: This is the 53rd edition of the longest running non-major on the LPGA Tour, dating back to 1972. ... LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame member Juli Inkster will make her first start on tour in three years and her 17th in Portland. She won the Portland Classic in 1999. ... The field is led by No. 7-ranked Angel Yin, who finished second here last year. ... Brooke Henderson, who won in Portland in 2015 and 2016, is in search of just her second top-10 this season.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: CPKC Women's Open, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
LIV GOLF LEAGUE
LAST TOURNAMENT: LIV Golf Chicago (Individual: Dean Burmester; Team: Stinger GC)
THIS WEEK: LIV Golf Indianapolis, Aug. 8-10
Course: The Club at Chatham Hills (Par 71, 7,143 Yards)
Purse: Individual $20M (Winner: $4M); Team: $5M (Winners: $3M)
Defending Champions: Individual: Inaugural Event
Season Leaders: Individual: Joaquin Niemann; Team: Crushers GC
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV/Streaming: Friday: 12:05 p.m. ET (FOX, LIV Golf Plus); Saturday: 11:05 a.m. ET (FOX, LIV Golf Plus); Sunday: 10:05 a.m. ET (FOX, LIV Golf Plus)
X: @livgolf_league
NOTES: This is the final of 13 events on the 2025 schedule, which will be followed by the Team Championship Aug. 22-24 in Michigan. ... Niemann, who has a league-record five wins this season, holds a 12.27-point lead over Rahm and can secure the individual title by finishing first or second this week. According to LIV Golf, Niemann has a 58.7 percent chance of winning the title. Rahm has yet to win this season but has three runner-up finishes and has not finished lower than T11. ... The field consists of 13 four-player teams competing in daily shotgun starts over 54 holes. Each team's top three scores are counted for each round.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Team Championship, Saint John's, Michigan, Aug. 22-24
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
LAST TOURNAMENT: Boeing Classic (Steve Allan)
THIS WEEK: Rogers Charity Classic, Calgary, Aug. 15-17
Course: Canyon Meadows G&CC (Par 70, 7,093 Yards)
Purse: $2.5M (Winner: $375,000)
Defending Champion: Ken Tanigawa
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Miguel Angel Jimenez
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Friday: 9-11 p.m. ET (Golf Channel-Tape Delay); Saturday-Sunday: 11 p.m.-1 a.m. (GC-TapeDelay)
X: @ChampionsTour
NOTES: Jimenez highlights the 78-player field along with two-time Charles Schwab Cup champion Steven Alker and Canadians Stephen Ames and Mike Weir. ... The tournament scoring record of 191 was set by Rocco Mediate in 2013.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: The Ally Challenge, Grand Blanc, Mich., Aug. 22-24
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