BlogBMW Championship Preview and Picks

The Buzz:

After playing at Cog Hill the last 20 of 22 years, it looks like the BMW Championship will return to it’s roots of when it was the Western Open and will be played at different courses in the mid-west, Rocky Mountains and West Coast.  This year the course is Conway Farms, a gem of a course in the northern part of Chicago.  After this year Cherry Hills in Denver will host the 2014 championship.  Since the sponsorship deal expires after 2014, future sites won’t be finalized until there is a firm commitment.  The rumors on future sites includes Conway Farm if this year is successful, Crooked Stick which held last year’s tournament and there is a very good chance that Harding Park in San Francisco may get a couple BMW’s, the first coming in 2016.  But that is nothing more than a rumor.

The change from Cog Hill or should I say the ditching of Cog Hill was swift and looks permanent.  When Cog Hill took over in 1991, it became the darling on the PGA Tour.  It combined two great things, a great course that was public and open to all.  When the club tried to coax the USGA and hold an Open, they made some changes to the course that wasn’t welcome by some of the players on the PGA Tour.  The course also had some conditioning problems and by 2010 the writing was on the wall, it lost it’s appeal.  The chances of it every holding another PGA Tour or major in the future is slim, but you never know what could change in ten or fifteen years to make it appealing again.

As for Conway Farms it’s a Tom Fazio creation that opened up in 1991.  This will be the first time that a PGA Tour event will be played on the course but it’s held elite college events including the NCAA DIvision I Championship and the Big Ten Championship.  It was the site of the 2009 Western Amateur, the 2012 USGA Mid-Amateur along with U.S. Open sectional qualifying.  So it’s had a fair share of great players and the course should know what it will take to have a great championship.

Here are some of the secrets of what it takes to play well at Conway Farms:

The par 71, 7,149 yard course was designed around the traditions of Scottish links style.  It’s on a lot of acreage, 210 acres with memorable holes that will challenge players.  There are three par 5s, with the last being a 570 yard par 5 with a creek running down the left side and in front of the green.  If tour officials move the tees up it could create a great finish.  That along with the 7th and 15th holes, very short drivable par 4s will bring the gambler out of players.

Not only does the course appeal to ball strikers and those that hit lots of greens, scrambling will be an important element in the way the greens slop off giving players a tough time getting it up and down.  Will the players eat this place up like they did the Deutsche Bank last week, probably not.  But at the same time there are a lot of birdie holes out there for players.

Key stat for the winner:

• Just like in majors, the player that comes in and can adapt his game to the course will have the advantage.  Now this doesn’t mean that a Tiger Woods or a Phil Mickelson has the edge, we could see someone we least expect winning.  The same with Luke Donald, he has a big edge as he is a member of the club and plays there, but you have to also be playing well and Donald hasn’t shown much of a game this year.
• There was a week off before hand, everyone will be fresh.  But for those that didn’t practice and play much last week, they could be a bit rusty early.
•  Really think that long hitters will have a big advantage, this is a course that the Dustin Johnson’s could dominate.</li>
• On the same note, two par 4s could be reachable.  But the par 5s could play tough and unless the Tour moves the tees up all three of them could be three-shot holes.
• Even if Tiger Woods or Henrik Stenson wins it doesn’t mean they will be the FedEx Cup champions, but they will have a big advantage.  As for Player of the year, can’t see Henrk Stenson winning it, even if he runs the tables and wins this week and next.  As for Jason Dufner, he needs to run the table and for Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Justin Rose, they are running out of time and need at least a top-three this week.