The field is set for the 2021 BMW Championship following Will Zalatoris capturing his first PGA win last week at the St. Jude Championship. Zalatoris won a three-hole playoff over Sepp Straka who moved from the 36th spot in the standings to No. 8 on the rankings. Zalatoris jumped from the 12th position to the top spot.
Despite the Zalatoris and Straka’s battle and upward movement, it’s Rory McIlroy who comes in as the favorite this week at +1100. That’s even though McIlroy missed the cut last week in Memphis during the opening round of the playoffs. This week is a no-cut event so the limited field of 70 players with everyone playing all four days.
John Rahm was the favorite last year at this event and comes in at +1200 with last year’s winner, Patrick Cantlay, at +1400 with a few other heavy-hitters.
Here are the favorites to win the 2022 edition of The BMW Championship outright:
Rory McIlroy +1100
Jon Rahm +1200
Justin Thomas +1400
Patrick Cantlay +1400
Tony Finau +1400
Rahm won the BMW at Olympia Fields in 2020 while Justin Thomas captured the title in 2019. That year the tournament was held at Medinah Country Club. This year the BMW Championship is being held at the Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, Deleware. This is the first time a PGA Tour event has been held at the venue but it has hosted several USGA events over the years.
That means there’s not too much prior experience for most of the players to pull from. Justin Thomas played here in 2013 but the course has completely changed since then. Practice rounds will mean a bunch this week!
2022 BMW Championship Preview
Where: Wilmington, Delaware
Course: Wilmington Country Club South Course
Format: Stroke Play
Par: 71
Length: 7,534
When: August 18-21, 2022
Purse: $15 Million
TV Coverage: NBC/Golf Channel/Peacock/PGA Live
Wilmington Country Club has changed dramatically since 2013 when the USGA Palmer Cup was held there. There have been several projects done to the course that was planned but the biggest change came when a tornado struck the course in 2020. Over 300 trees were knocked down including a giant, 250+-year-old, oak tree.
Andrew Green was tapped to reimagine the Robert Trent Jones-designed course and he took full advantage. The loss of trees allowed Green to extend fairways and move the course to a look more suitable for PGA Tour play.
Fairways play long with an open look but with narrow landing areas. The rough will be four inches with a deeper secondary cut. Greens average 8000 sq ft and are Bentgrass protected by massive bunkers. Water comes into play several times including a tricky par three (No. 15) with a partial island green with rear bunkers.
2022 BMW Championship Predictions
Jon Rahm +1200
John Rahm looked better last week in Memphis than he has in several outings. He made a move late but ran out of holes to continue his stroke shaving. He ended the St Jude Classic T5 while leading the field in Greens in Regulation and Scrambling. That could be a big plus this week on a course that now has a more overseas feel due to the number of trees lost during the 2020 tornado.
Tony Finau +1400
Tony Finau has had an impressive stretch of outings to wind down the season. His last three tournaments include two wins and a T5 last week in Memphis. He has managed to shave an average of two strokes a tournament since his T2 finish at the Mexico Open while only having missed the weekend once since then. Finau has also improved his GIR average to 71% which is 5th on Tour.
Sam Burns +2200
Sam Burns didn’t have the best outing last week at the St Jude Championship as he finished T20 following a disappointing round of 71 on Sunday. But he looked great the opening three days with a style of target golf play that’s perfect for Willmington. Burns can display some impressive short iron play and that’s something that has helped him win three times this season.
Others: I want to go with Rory McIlroy (+1100) but his missed cut last week seems a bit troubling. His rise as the “voice” for the PGA against the LIV golf exhibition tour may be taking a mental toll. Still, this course fits him well. This week, let’s take a look at the bottom of the odds list. Talk about a crazy long shot… Luke List (+20000) can burn things up with his putter. This is a no-cut event that will give List plenty of time to fire up his blade.
2022 The BMW Championship Betting Lines
Rory McIlroy +1100
Jon Rahm +1200
Justin Thomas +1400
Patrick Cantlay +1400
Tony Finau +1400
Matt Fitzpatrick +1600
Will Zalatoris +1600
Xander Schauffele +1800
Scottie Scheffler +1800
Collin Morikawa +2000
Sam Burns +2200
Sungjae Im +2500
Viktor Hovland +2800
Cameron Young +2800
Joohyung Kim +3000
Joaquin Niemann +3500
Jordan Spieth +3500
Shane Lowry +4000
Tyrrell Hatton +5000
Corey Conners +5000
Max Homa +5000
Hideki Matsuyama +5000
Adam Scott +5500
Aaron Wise +6000
Billy Horschel +6000
Russell Henley +6000
Brian Harman +6600
Cam Davis +7000
Davis Riley +7000
Keith Mitchell +8000
Sahith Theegala +8000
JT Poston +8000
Taylor Pendrith +9000
Mito Pereira +10000
Seamus Power +10000
Maverick McNealy +10000
Denny McCarthy +10000
Keegan Bradley +10000
Alex Noren +10000
Si-Woo Kim +10000
Harold Varner III +12500
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +12500
Kyoung-Hoon Lee +12500
Chris Kirk +12500
Wyndham Clark +12500
Scott Stallings +12500
Emiliano Grillo +12500
Kevin Kisner +12500
Trey Mullinax +12500
Troy Merritt +15000
Taylor Moore +15000
Andrew Putnam +15000
Sebastian Munoz +15000
Adam Hadwin +15000
Lucas Glover +15000
Marc Leishman +15000
Cameron Tringale +15000
Tom Hoge +15000
Sepp Straka +15000
Brendan Steele +17500
Chez Reavie +17500
Alex Smalley +17500
Lucas Herbert +20000
JJ Spaun +20000
Matt Kuchar +20000
Luke List +20000
Kurt Kitayama +25000
Mackenzie Hughes +30000
