Why the 2021 BMW Championship Might be the Best Yet...

image source: pgatour.com

    Before diving into the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club, we have to acknowledge the events that transpired last week at the Northern Trust Open. A sudden-death playoff between two of the most like-able players on tour, Tony Finau and Cameron Smith provided golf fans with the perfect start to the FedEx Cup Playoffs experience. Finau finally found himself back in the winners’ circle after a drought dating back to 2016. Everyone in the world of golf knows how talented Finau is as a player, however over the past few years there were many questions of whether he could close under pressure given his numerous runner-up finishes. Well, the doubters have been silenced by this most recent performance and he has moved himself to the top of the FedEx Cup Rankings. If you were looking for gut-wrenching golf coverage on Monday, you certainly got what you asked for in the Northern Trust Open.

    The BMW Championship has been the site of countless fantastic finishes over the past few years. In 2020, we had Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm battle it out in a playoff which lead to Rahm making a 66-foot putt to beat the then world number one player for an all-time walk-off win. The 2021 rendition of the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland will have expectations equally as high. Jon Rahm finished 3^rd last week to continue his unbelievable play and we saw sparks of greatness from Justin Thomas throughout the tournament. Everyone will be competing to qualify in the Top-30 of the FedEx Cup Rankings in order play in the Tour Championship next week at East Lake and the stakes could not be any higher. The volatility of the FedEx Cup Rankings are never more apparent than in these last two tournaments of the year and we are completely here for it. While some fans may speculate the prestige in points near the end of the year may hinder from those who performed well all year long, however in sports we are always looking for a Cinderella story. The perfect example comes out of Tony Finau’s win last week, when he jumped up 22 spots in the rankings and now has a legitimate opportunity to win the FedEx Cup. Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and several others have the exact same opportunity as Finau this week. The suspense is killing us leading up to the BMW Championship and hopefully everyone has the opportunity to sit in front of the TV and watch it all go down. PLAY MORE, COMPLAIN LESS!

Standings headed into the BMW CHAMPIONSHIP: total points/points trailing

1. Tony Finau – 3,348 – 0
2. Jon Rahm – 2,763 – 585
3. Cameron Smith – 2,739 – 609
4. Patrick Cantlay – 2,302 – 1,046
5. Justin Thomas – 2,218 – 1,130
6. Collin Morikawa – 2,171 – 1,177
7. Jordan Spieth – 2,150 – 1,198
8. Harris English – 2,118 – 1,230
9. Bryson DeChambeau – 1,989 – 1,359
10. Abraham Ancer – 1,941 – 1,407
11. Louis Oosthuizen – 1,877 – 1,471
12. Sam Burns – 1,874 – 1,474
13. Xander Schauffele – 1,819 – 1,529
14. Viktor Hovland – 1,763 – 1,585
15. Brooks Koepka – 1,641 – 1,707
16. Hideki Matsuyama – 1,640 – 1,708
17. Jason Kokrak – 1,631 – 1,717
18. Kevin Na – 1,628 – 1,720
19. Stewart Cink – 1,598 – 1,750
20. Corey Conners – 1,532 – 1,816
21. Joaquin Neimann – 1,523 – 1,825
22. Dustin Johnson – 1,510 – 1,838
23. Daniel Berger – 1,464 – 1,884
24. Scottie Scheffler – 1,456 – 1,892
25. Sungjae Im – 1,381 – 1,967
26. Patrick Reed – 1,381 – 1,987
27. Billy Horschel – 1,371 – 1,977
28. Rory McIlroy – 1,338 – 2,010
29. Charley Hoffman – 1,280 – 2,068
30. Max Homa – 1,252 – 2,096