The BMW Championship begins on Thursday at 11:20 a.m. when Ernie Els, Steven Bowditch and J.B. Holmes tee off on the first hole and Marc Leishman, George McNeill and Brian Stuard tee off on the tenth. Zach Johnson looks to defend last year's victory.
The third FedExCup playoff event will take place at Cherry Hills Country Club in Englewood, Colorado - the home of Arnold Palmer's lone U.S. Open victory in 1960. It's arguably the birthplace of the modern Grand Slam, and that's where 69 of the PGA Tour's golfers will descend upon tomorrow morning.
Jim Furyk is projected to win this year's event according to ESPN's FOREcaster. In his last five starts at the BMW Championship, Furyk has finished in 3rd, 9th, 22nd, 15th, and 2nd. The 2013 winner, Zach Johnson, has the seventh-best odds to win the event with Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia, Ryan Moore, Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy ahead of him. The event's purse is $8 million and the winner is awarded 2,500 points toward the FedExCup standings.
The par 70, 7,352-yard course previously hosted the 1938, 1960, and 1978 U.S. Open's along with the 1941 and 1985 PGA Championship's. The last significant event that took place at Cherry Hills Country Club was the 2012 U.S. Amateur Championship. The club will now host the third playoff event of the PGA season, which has enormous implications for the professional standings.
Other notable groups teeing off on Thursday include Jason Day, Jim Furyk and Jordan Spieth (11:42 a.m. ET), Adam Scott, Russell Henley and Martin Kaymer (11:53 a.m.), Chris Kirk, Rory McIlroy and Hunter Mahan (11:53 a.m. 10th hole), Rickie Fowler, Zach Johnson and Patrick Reed (12:48 p.m.), Sergio Garcia, Geoff Oglivy and Brendon Todd (12:48 p.m. 10th hole), and Jimmy Walker, Matt Kuchar and Bubba Watson (12:59 p.m.).
Check out the golf expert's picks for the BMW Championship on ESPN.
