FedEx Cup Playoffs down to 69 at BMW
IN: News | US PGA | BMW Championship (2008) | Preview | by Bruce Young | 04 Sep 2008
Round three of the FedEx Cup playoffs is staged this week in Missouri when the BMW Championship, previously known as the Western Open, is played at the famed Bellerive Country Club in St Louis, Missouri.
The event, which has been played in Illinois since 1962, moves State and returns to a Country Club on which it was played on the one and only occasion in 1953.
The original Bellerive Country Club was relocated however in 1955 and the new Robert Trent Jones layout was opened in 1959. The US Open was taken there in 1965 when Gary Player defeated Kel Nagle in a playoff. Nick Price won one of his two PGA Championships at Bellerive in 1992 but in 2006 Rees Jones completely renovated the golf course.
With the PGA Tour taking a break of one week after this week and the Ryder Cup to follow, this event sets up the leading 30 players who will advance to the Tour Championship in Atlanta in three weeks time. 69 players are in St Louis this week, the only player from the top 70 missing is the recovering Tiger Woods.
Those players eliminated this week are guaranteed a minimum of US$110,000 while those making it to the Tour Championship are assured of US$175,000.
Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia dominate the FedEx Cup race to date and there appears no reason why they can’t be right in the thick of contention once again on Sunday. Both have developed a level of certainty about their games brought about by a significant improvement in putting.
Phil Mickelson gets a mention but given his recent efforts it is hard to be convinced of his chances. He has not been terrible but his game has not been at the peak it needs to be to win this week. He will need sharp improvement if he is to contend with the form that both Garcia and Singh are displaying at present.
Harrington is in a similar situation to Mickelson with his form of a month ago falling away in recent starts. Back on a demanding layout that they are sure to be presented with this week, he might bounce back but he will need to recover from consecutive missed cuts.
Mike Weir has been putting himself in contention over the last few weeks with three top tens in his last four starts and it would be no surprise if he went even better this week.
Ernie Els is definitely improving, his third place last week solid evidence of that. If he can continue to build on that then the South African is right in this tournament.
As far as a player for longer odds is concerned Carl Petterson has not only won recently but has missed only one cut in his last 13 starts indicating his increasing consistency.
Of the seven Australians in the field, Allenby and Appleby are certainly the most inform. Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy and Aaron Baddeley have been struggling of late while John Senden and Mathew Goggin have done well to make it this far.
