19th Hole
2022 BMW Championship Betting Tips: Back Rory for glory in Delaware
The PGA TOUR has reached the penultimate event of the 2022 season as we head to Wilmington, Delaware to play the BMW Championship.
The top 70 players left standing in the race for the FedEx Cup will tee it up this week looking to punch their ticket to East Lake.
This is the first time the BMW Championship will be played at Wilmington Country Club and the event has had a different host in each of the past six years.
Wilmington Country Club is a par 71 measuring 7,534 yards and features Bentgrass greens. The course was designed by Robert Trent Jones and renovated by Keith Foster in 2008.
The BMW Championship will be a no-cut event with the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings moving on to next week.
BMW Championship Outright Bets
Rory McIlroy (+1000)
I am all in on Rory McIlroy this week. It’s rare for me to ignore most of the board and put all of my chips on the favorite, but I believe the BMW Championship is one of the few events on TOUR where it’s the most logical strategy.
The FedEx Cup playoffs typically yield elite winners, and I don’t anticipate that this week will be any different. Specifically, the last three winners of the BMW Championship have been Patrick Cantlay who defeated Bryson DeChambeau in a playoff, Jon Rahm who defeated Dustin Johnson in a playoff, and Justin Thomas. All five of the players who’ve either won or had a chance to win in the last three editions of the event have been big name stars. There are plenty of weeks during the course of the season to chase value, but this isn’t one of those weeks.
Rory McIlroy missed the cut at last week’s FedEx Cup St. Jude Championship. For many players on TOUR, that could be a concern. Not for Rory. Three of McIroy’s past eight victories on TOUR have come after a missed cut in his previous start. He won the 2018 Arnold Palmer Invitation after missing the cut at the Valspar Championship, the 2019 Canadian Open after missing the cut at the Memorial Tournament, and the 2021 Wells Fargo after missing the cut at The Masters. In addition to his wins after missed cuts, the 21-time TOUR winner has three top-six finishes after a missed cut as well. It may not seem like that many, but for a player who’s only missed ten cuts since the start of the 2018 season it’s significant sample size.
While this is a new course on TOUR, the first glance course fit for McIlroy at Wilmington Country Club seems ideal. Rory has been excellent on Robert Trent Jones designs and typically plays well on tree-lined classical layouts. He’s also been one of the best putters on Bentgrass this season and ranks 3rd in the field in his past 24 rounds putting on the surface.
In addition to the incredible putting of late, McIlroy also ranks 5th in the field in his past 24 rounds in Strokes Gained: Approach. He’s gained strokes on the field in nine consecutive events and that should prove to be a major advantage this week with the greens at Wilmington Country Club being absolutely massive.
With six of the past seven BMW Championships having a winning score of -20 or better, I believe this week will be another low scoring affair. The 33-year-old ranks first in the field in Birdie or Better and should be able to keep up with the scoring pace if the event turns into a shootout.
It’s been a month since Rory’s heartbreak at St. Andrews, and I believe this is the week he bounces back and adds to his all-time lead in FedEx Cup career earnings.
- LIKE3
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP1
- OB1
- SHANK4
19th Hole
Brandel Chamblee has a surprising new take on the PGA Tour-LIV stand-off
One of the more outspoken analysts throughout the LIV Golf vs. PGA Tour saga has been Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.
This week, Chamblee reversed course, saying he believes the PGA Tour should strike a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund (PIF).
Golf Channel Brandel Chamblee in his biggest about-face since the Framework Agreement on June 6, now says that making a deal with the PIF "is the better end of the bargain."
He says:
"The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone (LIV… pic.twitter.com/XDZaC1I6B8
— JCAGOLFReport (@JCAGOLFReport) May 10, 2024
“The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone who’s not going to go away, who can outspend you”.
“Every move they make that makes their tour better deletes your tour and causes more division within the tour. So the time is now, to Rory’s point about making a deal, I wouldn’t have said that a year ago… but it is the better end of the bargain.”
Chamblee’s new stance seems to be in line with that of Rory McIlroy, who reportedly wanted to rejoin the PGA Tour board with hopes of pushing a deal with the PIF closer to the finish line.
Chamblee will be in the booth for next week’s PGA Championship which has 16 LIV players in the field.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
New here?
- LIKE29
- LEGIT10
- WOW5
- LOL3
- IDHT1
- FLOP4
- OB1
- SHANK38
19th Hole
Xander Schauffele explains free drop ruling during round one of Wells Fargo Championship
During Thursday’s opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship, Xander Schauffele blasted his tee shot in the woods to the right of the fairway on the par-4 8th hole.
The ball was almost not found, but Xander’s group managed to track it down just before the three-minute time limit was reached.
When the ball was found, it was just beyond the penalty area close to a fence. In the moment, it seemed incredibly unlikely that Schauffele would be able to hit the ball through the trees towards the green.
However, through the woods and above the fairway, there was a hanging wire from a ShotLink tower that Xander claimed was in his way. He was then granted relief, and two club lengths from the spot positioned him all the way out of trouble. He played his ball onto the front of the green and two-putted for par.
Here is the full video of the interaction between Schauffele and the rules official.
??? #WATCH — The full video of the Xander Schauffele #DropGate situation ?
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 9, 2024
After the round, Xander said he “got really lucky.”
“Got really lucky multiple times, on 1 with Wyndham finding it, 2, being able to move the rocks, and 3, the ShotLink tower being in like my only shot line possible. To walk out there with sort of a no breeze 4 with what I thought was almost out was a really good break.”
“Yeah, I hit it in the trees. My ball was probably like a foot, two feet from the fence. If I — ball was here, fence was kind of here, hitting back this direction.
“If I went towards the green, the fence kind of worked this way so I had what I could hit, a 4-iron or something low and just kind of run it through. If it gets stuck, I’ll just kind of hit my next one out. But I brought the rules official in there with me because I was like, you’ve got to be OK with this because this is literally the only shot I can hit.”
“So Austin [Kaiser] and I moved two massive rocks that weren’t embedded and then I got relief out of the junk and then hit a pretty good shot on the green from there. What was a very stressful moment turned into a pretty stressless par.”
Schauffele finished the round at seven under, which gives him a three-shot lead going into Friday’s second round.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
New here?
- LIKE8
- LEGIT5
- WOW4
- LOL4
- IDHT0
- FLOP1
- OB1
- SHANK20
19th Hole
Report: Tiger Woods voted against Rory McIlroy returning to policy board; Will be the only player negotiating directly with Saudis
According to a report from The Telegraph, the relationship between Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy has soured.
Last week, reports surfaced that McIlroy, who was a member of the PGA Tour policy board during most of the past few years, was looking to rejoin the board, presumably taking Webb Simpson’s seat.
However, on Wednesday, McIlroy revealed that he will not be rejoining the policy board, due to people on the board being “uncomfortable” with that “for some reason.”
Here's Rory McIlroy talking about the PGA Tour policy board and the "subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason." pic.twitter.com/0skNOwtWxz
— Patrick McDonald (@pmcdonaldCBS) May 8, 2024
The Telegraph has reported that Tiger Woods was among the players who voted against McIlroy returning to the policy board.
The divide is apparently due to McIlroy pushing for the game of golf to unify, whereas Woods, reportedly, believes the PGA Tour is in a fine position where it currently stands.
The Associated Press added another wrinkle to the situation, reporting that Woods is the only player who will be negotiating directly with the Saudis.
The other members of the committee are PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, board chairman Joe Gorder, John W. Henry of Fenway Sports Group, and Joe Ogilvie, who was a former PGA Tour player.
- LIKE31
- LEGIT7
- WOW14
- LOL6
- IDHT1
- FLOP3
- OB2
- SHANK34
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Justin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
LET pro gives detailed financial breakdown of first week on tour…and the net result may shock you
-
19th Hole4 days ago
Report: LIV star turns down PGA Championship invite due to ‘personal commitments’
-
19th Hole1 week ago
Gary Player claims this is what ‘completely ruined’ Tiger Woods’ career
-
Equipment3 days ago
Details on Justin Thomas’ driver switch at the Wells Fargo Championship
-
Whats in the Bag2 weeks ago
Team McIlowry (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry) winning WITBs: 2024 Zurich Classic
-
Whats in the Bag4 days ago
Keegan Bradley WITB 2024 (May)