PGA Tour Tips & Preview
BMW Championship 2020 Preview
Starts - 27th August 2020
Course - Olympia Fields CC
Par - 70 (35-35)
Length – 7,366 yards
Grass – Poa Annua
2019 Champion - Justin Thomas
Course - Olympia Fields CC
Par - 70 (35-35)
Length – 7,366 yards
Grass – Poa Annua
2019 Champion - Justin Thomas
Course Info
Opened in 1923, the North Course at Olympia Fields CC was designed by Willie Park Park Jr. A long layout with water in play on seven holes, it will offer a significantly harder test than last week. We won't be seeing a winning score of -30!
Not a regular tour stop, it hosted the 2003 US Open and 2015 US Amateur. Lesser tournaments held there in recent times include the Junior Ryder Cup in 2012 and the annual Fighting Illini Invitational,
The course is a par 70. There are only two par 5s, each playing longer than 600 yards. The four par 3s also offer a significant test with two long par 3s (215 and 280 yards on the course website) going to cause particular problems.
The course record is 63, shot by Vijay Singh and Rickie Fowler.
"Some of these greens are very small but very undulating. You've got to try to get it into the right side of the green and try to put yourself under the hole."
Ernie Els, 2003 US Open
"There's a lot of choices off the tee here. You can hit 1-iron or 3-wood or you can hit driver, and I think it is a course where you can challenge the hole if you want or you can lay back. And that puts more players in the game."
Davis Love III, 2003 US Open
"it's a ball strikers' golf course, and that's what I'm doing well right now. You can't really putt your way around that course, so I like that. I mean, it's just a really good course to play."
Robby Shelton, 2015 US Amateur
Significant Info To Be Aware Of
Continue to exercise an abundance of caution (credit: Chase Koepka and the PGA Tour) in relation to Covid-19 related withdrawals.
There's a chance of rain and thunder on Friday morning but weather should have little impact this week with pleasant conditions expected.
There is no cut this week, all 70 player will play all four rounds.
Trends
With limited course history to draw upon we have limited data upon which to determine any trends. This is further complicated by the fact the last professional event held here (2003 US Open) was set up to USGA specifications.
Accurate drivers prevailed when the course hosted the US Open. Jim Furyk and Stephen Leaney were both fairway finders in their day, and when the US Amateur was staged here several players spoke of the need to be playing from the fairway.
Stats Analysis
Ideally we want golfers who are straight off the tee with power an added bonus. The rough is due to be thicker than a standard week on the PGA Tour so accuracy is the order of the day.
The stats categories we should place particular emphasis on are Total Driving and Strokes Gained: Off The Tee.
In-play
At the 2003 US Open the first two home were in the top 5 after every round and Jim Furyk led from the second round onwards. With par 5s playing long and difficult par 3s, it is not a course that will yield many eagles. We should side with those towards the top of the leaderboard if betting in-play.
*As ever, follow our daily in-play updates and tips on our BMW Championship in-play page*
Opened in 1923, the North Course at Olympia Fields CC was designed by Willie Park Park Jr. A long layout with water in play on seven holes, it will offer a significantly harder test than last week. We won't be seeing a winning score of -30!
Not a regular tour stop, it hosted the 2003 US Open and 2015 US Amateur. Lesser tournaments held there in recent times include the Junior Ryder Cup in 2012 and the annual Fighting Illini Invitational,
The course is a par 70. There are only two par 5s, each playing longer than 600 yards. The four par 3s also offer a significant test with two long par 3s (215 and 280 yards on the course website) going to cause particular problems.
The course record is 63, shot by Vijay Singh and Rickie Fowler.
"Some of these greens are very small but very undulating. You've got to try to get it into the right side of the green and try to put yourself under the hole."
Ernie Els, 2003 US Open
"There's a lot of choices off the tee here. You can hit 1-iron or 3-wood or you can hit driver, and I think it is a course where you can challenge the hole if you want or you can lay back. And that puts more players in the game."
Davis Love III, 2003 US Open
"it's a ball strikers' golf course, and that's what I'm doing well right now. You can't really putt your way around that course, so I like that. I mean, it's just a really good course to play."
Robby Shelton, 2015 US Amateur
Significant Info To Be Aware Of
Continue to exercise an abundance of caution (credit: Chase Koepka and the PGA Tour) in relation to Covid-19 related withdrawals.
There's a chance of rain and thunder on Friday morning but weather should have little impact this week with pleasant conditions expected.
There is no cut this week, all 70 player will play all four rounds.
Trends
With limited course history to draw upon we have limited data upon which to determine any trends. This is further complicated by the fact the last professional event held here (2003 US Open) was set up to USGA specifications.
Accurate drivers prevailed when the course hosted the US Open. Jim Furyk and Stephen Leaney were both fairway finders in their day, and when the US Amateur was staged here several players spoke of the need to be playing from the fairway.
Stats Analysis
Ideally we want golfers who are straight off the tee with power an added bonus. The rough is due to be thicker than a standard week on the PGA Tour so accuracy is the order of the day.
The stats categories we should place particular emphasis on are Total Driving and Strokes Gained: Off The Tee.
In-play
At the 2003 US Open the first two home were in the top 5 after every round and Jim Furyk led from the second round onwards. With par 5s playing long and difficult par 3s, it is not a course that will yield many eagles. We should side with those towards the top of the leaderboard if betting in-play.
*As ever, follow our daily in-play updates and tips on our BMW Championship in-play page*
The BMW Championship - Six To Watch
As outlined in our Tipping Record, our strategy is to focus on speciality bets and value in-play. However, we have identified the following six players if you do wish to place a bet before the event begins:
Collin Morikawa - 22/1 @ William Hill
GBC favourite Collin Morikawa is the pick of the top players for us this week despite missing his second PGA Tour cut last week. At 22/1, we don't think the bookmakers have fully given Collin credit yet for what he is achieving and are we are happy to keep championing him until they do. The missed cut isn't a major issue as the last time he missed the cut, he bounced back with a win at Muirfield. Collin usually arrives at events with the disadvantage of not knowing the course as well as his competitors, but arrives at Olympia Fields with a 13th place in 2017 and 2nd in 2018 on the amateur circuit. He showed at the PGA Championship just what he can do when it's a level playing field in terms of competitive course experience.
Matthew Wolff - 45/1 @ Bet365
Matt played 3 really solid rounds last week but a disaster Saturday 77 cost him a good finish. In spite of this he still managed to finish 7th SG: Off the tee and he performed similar at the PGA Championship on the way to a 4th place finish. The clincher for us is that Wolff arrives at Olympia Fields with more course experience than most, including a 13th place finish in 2017 and a WIN in 2018. He won that by one shot ahead of Collin Morikawa and it wouldn't be a big surprise to see a similar result.
Cameron Champ - 80/1 @ Bet365
Cameron is another young gun we are willing to forgive for his missed cut last week in what will be a completely different test here. We much prefer to look at how he performed in his previous appearance at the PGA Championship. Although he dropped to 10th place, he was right in the thick of it throughout and will have learned lots from that experience. As an added bonus he won the Illini Invitational in 2016 at Olympia Fields.
Jason Kokrak - 90/1 @Bet365
Although we aren't overly enthused with the price, we didn't feel we could leave Jason out. He appears to have a liking of for the playoffs, playing them in 12-19-9 last year and finishing 13th last week. That also followed a 15th place finish at Wyndham and he just appears to be bubbling under the surface. A strong driver of the ball, currently 10th for SG: Off the tee on the season rankings, we think he has all the requirements to challenge this week.
Corey Conners - 125/1 @ Bet365
Corey caught our eye last week with his 25th place despite a slow start, which was his first made cut in three weeks. Impressively, he played his last three rounds in 12 under par and improved his SG: Off the tee stats every day, eventually finishing 4th. Last year he finished 21st in the Northern Trust and then improved with a 7th place finish at the BMW and we can see him making a similar improvement here this week.
Brian Harman - 150/1 @ Bet365
Brian had a similar four rounds to Matthew Wolff last week, with his Saturday 73 preventing him placing in the top 10. However, he is trending in the right direction, with finishes of 58-27-11 in the last three weeks. He ranked 1st for driving accuracy and 5th for SG: Off the tee last week, so his driving is in great shape. An 8th place finish for SG: Tee to green means his irons aren't bad either. He will take great momentum form his Sunday 64 last week and seems a generous price at 150/1.
Collin Morikawa - 22/1 @ William Hill
GBC favourite Collin Morikawa is the pick of the top players for us this week despite missing his second PGA Tour cut last week. At 22/1, we don't think the bookmakers have fully given Collin credit yet for what he is achieving and are we are happy to keep championing him until they do. The missed cut isn't a major issue as the last time he missed the cut, he bounced back with a win at Muirfield. Collin usually arrives at events with the disadvantage of not knowing the course as well as his competitors, but arrives at Olympia Fields with a 13th place in 2017 and 2nd in 2018 on the amateur circuit. He showed at the PGA Championship just what he can do when it's a level playing field in terms of competitive course experience.
Matthew Wolff - 45/1 @ Bet365
Matt played 3 really solid rounds last week but a disaster Saturday 77 cost him a good finish. In spite of this he still managed to finish 7th SG: Off the tee and he performed similar at the PGA Championship on the way to a 4th place finish. The clincher for us is that Wolff arrives at Olympia Fields with more course experience than most, including a 13th place finish in 2017 and a WIN in 2018. He won that by one shot ahead of Collin Morikawa and it wouldn't be a big surprise to see a similar result.
Cameron Champ - 80/1 @ Bet365
Cameron is another young gun we are willing to forgive for his missed cut last week in what will be a completely different test here. We much prefer to look at how he performed in his previous appearance at the PGA Championship. Although he dropped to 10th place, he was right in the thick of it throughout and will have learned lots from that experience. As an added bonus he won the Illini Invitational in 2016 at Olympia Fields.
Jason Kokrak - 90/1 @Bet365
Although we aren't overly enthused with the price, we didn't feel we could leave Jason out. He appears to have a liking of for the playoffs, playing them in 12-19-9 last year and finishing 13th last week. That also followed a 15th place finish at Wyndham and he just appears to be bubbling under the surface. A strong driver of the ball, currently 10th for SG: Off the tee on the season rankings, we think he has all the requirements to challenge this week.
Corey Conners - 125/1 @ Bet365
Corey caught our eye last week with his 25th place despite a slow start, which was his first made cut in three weeks. Impressively, he played his last three rounds in 12 under par and improved his SG: Off the tee stats every day, eventually finishing 4th. Last year he finished 21st in the Northern Trust and then improved with a 7th place finish at the BMW and we can see him making a similar improvement here this week.
Brian Harman - 150/1 @ Bet365
Brian had a similar four rounds to Matthew Wolff last week, with his Saturday 73 preventing him placing in the top 10. However, he is trending in the right direction, with finishes of 58-27-11 in the last three weeks. He ranked 1st for driving accuracy and 5th for SG: Off the tee last week, so his driving is in great shape. An 8th place finish for SG: Tee to green means his irons aren't bad either. He will take great momentum form his Sunday 64 last week and seems a generous price at 150/1.
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