The second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs begins Thursday with the first round of the BMW Championship, which returns to Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md., for the first time since 2021.
Only the top 30 in the standings after Sunday’s final round will advance to next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta, making the stage for plenty of drama to unfold. Our golf team previews the event and provides their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.
BMW CHAMPIONSHIP
Location: 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
TOP 30 BUBBLE: Sungjae Im (No. 25), Chris Gotterup (No. 26), Jacob Bridgeman (No. 27), Viktor Hovland (No. 28), Akshay Bhatia (No. 29), Lucas Glover (No. 30), Sam Stevens (No. 31), Ryan Gerard (No. 32), Daniel Berger (No. 33), Ryan Fox (No. 34), Taylor Pendrith (No. 35)
PROP PICKS
–Harris English to Beat Akshay Bhatia (-125 at DraftKings): English has three top-4 finishes in his past eight starts while rising to No. 8 in the world rankings. Bhatia did grab the first-round lead with a 62 last week, but the 69 he struggled to on Sunday is indicative of his inconsistency throughout tournaments.
–Justin Rose Top 20 Finish (+100 at BetRivers): After missing a pair of cuts, Rose has gone solo sixth, T16 and last week’s win over his past three starts. And remember, he only has to beat 29 other players in the 49-player field for this prop to pay out.
–Winning Score Under 264.5 (-140): Caves Creek has undergone significant changes since 2021, including adding about 60 yards in total length. Patrick Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau both carded 261s here four years ago before waging an epic playoff. Our bet is multiple players finish under 265 this week.
2025 Prop Pick Record: 23-25
BEST BETS
–Scottie Scheffler (+225 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. Scheffler’s odds have shortened from +280 as he leads the field with 20 percent of the total bets backing him to win.
–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.
–Cameron Young (+2800) has a lot on the line this week as he builds his Ryder Cup case. He backed up a win at the Wyndham with a solo fifth last week, and Young leads the field with 15 percent of the total money backing him to win.
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.
–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: Bridgeman, Brian Campbell, Fox, Gerard, Gotterup, Ben Griffin, Harry Hall, Andrew Novak and Stevens.
–Field Level Media
