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USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Caves Valley presents whole new challenge for BMW Championship
Most high-end golf course renovations these days have a goal of either returning a layout to its historic roots or improving weak holes to create an better experience. At Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland, the goal was a little different: Stop the birdie barrage at this week's BMW Championship as part of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup Playoffs. Tom Fazio, the original architect of Caves Valley, returned in 2023 to toughen the course after Patrick Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau each shot 27 under par in the 2021 playing of the BMW at Caves Valley. The course was stretched to 7,601 yards, the fairways were narrowed, the rough was grown and the whole place should play faster and firmer. Ranked by Golfweek's Best as No. 6 among Maryland's private courses and No. 132 among all modern courses in the U.S., the renovated Caves Valley offers an entirely different test than it did just a few years back. The pros have thoughts, of course. 'It's a pretty strong test this week,' said World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Click here to read more.
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Caves Valley undergoes major renovation, no more birdie-tests at BMW Championship
OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Don't expect another birdie-fest at Caves Valley Golf Club this week. Four years ago, the course was torched by the field of 50 at the BMW Championship. The field averaged nearly 3 strokes under par per round with both Patrick Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau shooting a remarkable 27-under-par 261. Club officials said they didn't have enough time to do what the club had in mind ahead of the 2021 BMW. Soft conditions, wide fairways and barely a breeze meant the pros attacked and took no prisoners. That was the impetus for the club signing off on a full-scale renovation of the Tom Fazio-designed layout in the northwest suburb of Baltimore in October 2022. Fazio worked with former U.S. Amateur champion Buddy Marucci, a longtime member, as consultant on the project. Beginning on July 31, 2023, they blew up the course and built a better one in 103 days, moving more than 45,000 cubic feet of dirt on the first hole alone. 'It almost looked like a bomb went off,' Kyle Steidel, the course superintendent, told PGA That gentle, welcoming first hole that played 361 yards? It's now weighing in at 481 and even playing downhill will demand a mid-iron approach. The course has been stretched to 7,601 yards, and plays as a par 70, with two short par 5s being converted to par 4s for the pros. The fairways have been narrowed, the rough is longer and the course should play firmer and faster. (There's a Precision-Aire system underneath to help it stay that way despite overnight rain Wednesday.) Caves Valley ranks No. 6 in Maryland on Golfweek's Best Private Courses list and is tied for No. 132 on Golfweek's Best Modern Courses list for all layouts built in or after 1960 in the U.S. Pro Michael Kim joked on social media that 27 under wouldn't be the winning score this time. If they wanted a better test for the pros, they have succeeded. 'I think they definitely accomplished that goal. I think they changed two holes from par-5s to par-4s and didn't really move tee boxes or anything like that. So that's eight shots there already in score to par,' Scottie Scheffler said. 'It's a pretty strong test this week.' Rory McIlroy, who will play alongside Scheffler for the first two rounds, agreed with that assessment. 'It's a big golf course,' McIlroy said. 'You've got to drive it well, and even then, there's a lot of sort of mid to long irons out there.' In other words, there won't be a Bob Hope Classic-like birdie barrage at the second leg of the FedEx Cup this time around at Caves Valley.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
BMW Championship 2025: Odds, favorites, picks for PGA Tour's second playoff event
The BMW Championship features 49 of the top 50 players in the FedExCup standings (No. 5 Sepp Straka withdrew Monday). Rory McIlroy will be making his 2025 playoff debut after skipping last week's FedEx St. Jude Championship. Meanwhile, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler nearly won the playoff opener in Memphis, Tennessee, before tying for third. Here's at look at the betting favorites to win at Caves Valley Golf Club outside of Baltimore, Maryland, with a pick from betting expert Brad Thomas. Rory McIlroy, to top-10 (-165) This week's BMW is played at Caves Valley, a course that Patrick Cantlay dominated en route to victory in 2021. He didn't do it blazing from tee to green, but with a scorching hot putter. With a sample size of one, it's almost impossible to take the metrics from his performance and use them as gospel. The Tom Fazio-designed course has undergone a few changes in the last few years. The fairways are narrower, the greens have been changed and the course has been lengthened. However, even though the fairways have been narrowed, they are still very wide. This is a course that will be dominated by length. There aren't many players better suited for a driver-heavy course than Rory McIlroy. To sweeten the deal, after pulling the strokes-gained data from Tom Fazio-designed PGA Tour courses, McIlroy gains the most strokes on average, among this week's field. The closest correlated Fazio course is Quail Hollow, where McIlroy has won four times. I think Scottie Scheffler wins here by a margin, but taking McIlroy to finish inside the top 10 in a 50-man field at a favorable course is something I must do. BMW Championship odds (as of Wednesday, courtesy DraftKings Sportsbook) Scottie Scheffler: +225 Rory McIlroy: +750 Xander Schauffele: +1800 Tommy Fleetwood: +2000 Ludvig Åberg: +2200 Patrick Cantlay: +2500 Justin Thomas: +2500 J.J. Spaun: +2800 Cameron Young: +2800 Russell Henley: +3500 Matt Fitzpatrick: +3500 Collin Morikawa: +3500 Chris Gotterup: +3500 Ben Griffin: +3500 Viktor Hovland: +3500 Sam Burns: +3500 Justin Rose: +4000 Hideki Matsuyama: +4000
New York Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
How to watch 2025 BMW Championship: TV, tee times, weather forecast for second leg of playoffs
Maryland hosts the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs at a renovated Caves Valley Golf Club, fog lifting to reveal fairways stitched through pastureland, barns distant as par 3s. For the players left in the playoffs, this week is anything but pastoral. The BMW Championship is the narrow pass to East Lake, the last checkpoint before the season ends for nearly half of them. Advertisement ESPN+ will have coverage of featured groups and holes. NBC is free over the air with a broadcast antenna and can also be streamed with a Peacock subscription. This is not the Caves Valley that hosted Patrick Cantlay's 27-under masterpiece in 2021. Since then, the par has been lowered to 70, and the yardage stretched to a stout 7,601. Sub-surface air systems hum beneath every green. Twelve par 4s, seven between 450 and 500 yards, will punish any lapse in accuracy. Gone is the birdie-fest of three years ago; in 2025, the boldest move may be to hold back. Scottie Scheffler arrives as the man to beat among the 49 playing this week (No. 5 Sepp Straka withdrew but is guaranteed to qualify for East Lake). Scheffler is ranked No. 1 and is the PGA Tour leader in strokes gained, both total and tee to green. Rory McIlroy's steady brilliance keeps him in close pursuit, holding the No. 2 FedEx Cup spot despite skipping last week's St. Jude Championship. Justin Rose rides the momentum of a playoff win, while J.J. Spaun's runner-up in Memphis extended his season and placed him in the Ryder Cup for the first time in his career. The standings shifted at St. Jude. Rickie Fowler, Bud Cauley, Kurt Kitayama, Jhonattan Vegas and J.T. Poston played into the top 50, replacing Jordan Spieth, Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee, Jake Knapp and Aldrich Potgieter. With only 30 golfers moving on to the final leg, the spotlight this week is on the 26th to 35th range: Chris Gotterup, Jacob Bridgeman, Viktor Hovland, Akshay Bhatia and Lucas Glover are hanging on. Sam Stevens, Ryan Gerard, Daniel Berger, Ryan Fox and Taylor Pendrith are close enough to break through. The early weather forecast shows a chance of thunderstorms Thursday and over the weekend, with hot and humid conditions expected throughout the four-day event. Advertisement Here at Caves Valley, the numbers decide who lives to fight another week. Those who control approaches and survive the long par 4s will book a ticket to Atlanta. For the rest, the road ends with a quiet Sunday night flight home. The complete list of tee times can be found here. Streaming, ticketing and betting links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication. (Photo of Rory McIlroy: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
2025 BMW Championship odds, DFS picks for second tournament of FedEx Cup Playoffs
The second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the BMW Championship, returns to Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md., for the first time since 2021. The 2021 edition had the entire golf world questioning the challenge of Caves Valley as Patrick Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau tore the golf course apart on their way to 27-under finishes. Cantlay ended up prevailing in a playoff, but as soon as the final putt was sunk, the entire Caves Valley board decided they needed to revamp the golf course. The Tom Fazio design needed to be modern-golf proofed, and the famed amateur Buddy Marucci stepped up to help with the redesign. Advertisement Consequently, the 49 players (Sepp Straka is a WD) teeing it up this week will face a tougher test than they did in 2021. The course was lengthened and the pars were changed on some key holes. The first hole was lengthened by over 100 yards and should prove a tough test right out of the gate. The Par-5 second hole was shortened to 525 yards and turned into a Par 4. The course only features one Par 3 that is less than 220 yards on the scorecard. The green complexes were completely redesigned, and they have installed a heat-resistant bentgrass that doesn't need to be watered as often. The soft greens were one of the big issues in 2021, as players could take dead aim on greens that weren't firm or fast. My model this week will focus on strokes gained off the tee, driving distance, strokes gained on long golf courses, strokes gained putting on bentgrass, strokes gained on Par 4s, strokes gained on approach from 175 to 200 yards and strokes gained in no-cut events. Course: Caves Valley Golf Club Location: Owings Mills, Md. Designer: Tom Fazio (redesign and lengthening by George 'Buddy' Marucci) Par: 70 Length: 7,601 yards Average green size: 5,200 square feet (new bentgrass greens with new contours after the 2021 BMW Championship) Past champions: 2024 Keegan Bradley, 2023 Viktor Hovland, 2022 Patrick Cantlay, 2021 Patrick Cantlay (at Caves Valley Golf Club), 2020 Jon Rahm, 2019 Justin Thomas, 2018 Keegan Bradley, 2017 Marc Leishman, 2016 Dustin Johnson Ludvig Åberg (+1800) has gained strokes off the tee and on approach in seven straight measured events. His short game and putting have been showing signs of life lately, and he finished nicely last week with a T9. A hot putting week and a little more consistency with his iron play, and he should contend. Advertisement Cameron Young (+2500) has gained over 10.5 strokes off the tee combined in his last two tournaments. His putter continued to be hot in Memphis as he finished fifth with a fabulous Sunday performance. I really like that he has gained over six strokes combined on approach in his last two tournaments. Ben Griffin (+3300) hasn't lost a stroke on approach since the Truist Championship in May. He has been hot with the putter, and his strokes-gained numbers over his last 36 rounds sit above Rory McIlroy. With the added distance this week and the 33-yard-wide fairways with very little bunkering or water to deter players from pulling driver, we should see Griffin start ripping his driver again. Kurt Kitayama (+4500) has gained strokes off the tee and on approach in every tournament since the Canadian Open at the beginning of June. He finished T9 last week, gaining strokes across the board. Scottie Scheffler ($13,400) will have Chris Kirk's caddie, Michael Cromie, on the bag this week as Ted Scott is still attending to a personal matter. Scheffler struggled a bit last week when Scott had to step away and Brad Payne stepped in, as his pace of play and routine were changed. If he had putted better on Sunday, he may have won or at least been in the playoff. The pricing is a little different this week, but I don't see how you can avoid the best golfer in the world when there are only 49 golfers in the field. Rory McIlroy ($11,400) has been off since the Open Championship, but steps into the second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs without losing his position of being second in the FedEx Cup standings. McIlroy's game seems to be a good fit for the revamped Caves Valley course with his driving ability (second in strokes gained off the tee) and his Par-4 scoring record, as he is 18th on the season. Advertisement Ludvig Åberg ($10,200) See above. Cameron Young ($9,800) See above. Ben Griffin ($9,100) See above. Hideki Matsuyama ($8,800) has four straight top-19 finishes, and he has gained over 11 strokes combined on approach over his last two tournaments. He is a hot putter away from really making some noise. He is sixth on tour in proximity between 175 and 200 yards on approach. Chris Gotterup ($8,500) hasn't gained less than a stroke off the tee since the Valspar. He is third on tour in driving distance and fifth in club head speed. His sweet spot with his irons seems to be 175 to 200 yards, as it's the only bucket where he sits inside the top 20 on the PGA Tour. He didn't get to mash the ball in Memphis, and that may hold people back from going back to him this week, but not me. Akshay Bhatia ($8,200) was the first-round leader last week after carding a 62 in his opening round. He lost over 3.5 strokes putting combined on Friday and Sunday, but still managed to finish T6. He gained over eight strokes tee-to-green last week, and he has gained over five strokes tee-to-green in three of his last five events. Rickie Fowler ($7,900) had a solid week to propel him inside the top 50 and make it into the BMW Championship. He has gained over 1.2 strokes off the tee in five straight events, and he gained over 4.6 strokes on approach last week. He needs a big week to get inside the top 30 to make it to East Lake, but his numbers all look like he's a good bet to make it there. Kurt Kitayama ($7,600) See above. J.T. Poston ($6,700) gained strokes across the board in Memphis to finish T22 and make it into the BMW Championship. Poston gained almost 4.8 strokes on approach at the Wyndham Championship heading into the playoffs, so there is some recent form to be excited about. Jhonattan Vegas ($6,100) has gained over a stroke off the tee in four straight events, and he gained over five strokes on approach last week in Memphis. His putter is an issue, but if he can come close to being a positive, he could surprise this week. Betting/odds links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication. (Photo of Rory McIlroy: Christian Petersen / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
