The FedEx Cup moves to its second leg this week with the top 50 players converging in St. Louis at the Bellerive Country Club for the BMW Championship Aug. 20-23.
World No. 1-ranked Scottie Scheffler has the obvious momentum. He routed the field at the FedEx St. Jude Classic last week at TPC Southwind, posting a 61 in the second round and going on to win by eight shots. Scheffler is also the defending BMW champion, winning at Caves Valley in Baltimore last year.
Not that Scheffler ever relaxes but he can't, with 19 of the top 20 players in the world in the field. The top 30 on the FedEx points list after the BMW will advance to the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta Aug. 27-30 for the Tour Championship and a $40 million purse. It's the end to the Tour's
FedEx Cup season.
BMW Championship favorites, odds
Of course Scheffler is the favorite. After his dominating victory last week, who else? BetMGM has Scheffler at +250 on the money line, with Sam Burns next at +1400 and Rory McIlroy after that at +1600.
Some big names are getting +1800: Ludvig Åberg, Tommy Fleetwood and Xander Schauffele. Cameron Young is +2000 and Hideki Matsuyama, Si Woo Kim and Matthew Fitzpatrick are +2200.
BMW Championship picks
Scottie Scheffler: He's the defending BMW Championship, winning at Caves Valley in Baltimore last year. Bellerive is a different track but Scheffler can win anywhere and he seems to have rediscovered his putting touch last week. He's got a pattern of using a dominating victory to spark a hot streak and that's coming at just the right time.
Sam Burns: He hasn't won since May of 2023, one of the most mystifying dry spells on the PGA Tour. That's got to end sometime. Here's his summer since The Memorial: T4, T20, 2, T12, 3, T3, with 16 of 24 rounds in the 60s.
Si Woo Kim: Another guy who hasn't won in more than three years, equally as baffling as Burns. Kim posted his third runner-up finish last week and he has three top-10s in his last four starts.
Past BMW Championship winners
(With tournament as part of the FedEx Cup Playoffs)
- 2025: Scottie Scheffler
- 2024: Keegan Bradley
- 2023: Viktor Hovland
- 2022: Patrick Cantlay
- 2021: Patrick Cantlay
- 2020: Jon Rahm
- 2019: Justin Thomas
- 2018: Keegan Bradley
- 2017: Marc Leishman
- 2016: Dustin Johnson
- 2015: Jason Day
- 2014: Billy Horschel
- 2013: Zach Johnson
- 2012: Rory McIlroy
- 2011: Justin Rose
- 2010: Dustin Johnson
- 2009: Tiger Woods
- 2008: Camilo Villegas
- 2007: Tiger Woods
PGA Tour winners this season
- FedEx St. Jude Classic: Scottie Scheffler
- Wyndham Championship: Michael Brennan
- Rocket Classic: Michael Thorbjornsen
- 3M Open: Jackson Koivun
- Open Championship: Ryan Fox
- Corales Puntacana Championship: Stefano Mazzoli
- Scottish Open: Tom Kim
- ISCO Championship: Steven Fisk
- John Deere Classic: Chris Gotterup
- The Travelers: Viktor Hovland
- U.S. Open: Wyndham Clark
- RBC Canadian Open: Bud Cauley
- The Memorial: J.T. Poston
- Charles Schwab Challenge: Russell Henley
- CJ Cup Byron Nelson: Wyndham Clark
- PGA Championship: Aaron Rai
- Truist Championship: Kristoffer Reitan
- ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic: Brandt Snedeker
- Cadillac Championship: Cameron Young
- Zurich Classic: Matt Fitzpatrick-Alex Fitzpatrick
- RBC Heritage: Matt Fitzpatrick
- Masters: Rory McIlroy
- Valero Texas Open: J.J. Spaun
- Texas Children’s Houston Open: Gary Woodland
- Valspar Championship: Matt Fitzpatrick
- Players Championship: Cameron Young
- Arnold Palmer Invitational: Akshay Bhatia
- Cognizant Classic: Nico Echavarria
- Genesis Invitational: Jacob Bridgeman
- AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Collin Morikawa
- WM Phoenix Open: Chris Gotterup
- Farmers Insurance Open: Justin Rose
- The American Express: Scottie Scheffler
- Sony Open: Chris Gotterup
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: BMW Championship opener picks, predictions, odds: Who wins FedEx Cup Playoffs event?
