BMW Championship opener picks, predictions, odds: Who wins FedEx Cup Playoffs event?

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 Southwi

What is the story about?

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.

Scottie Scheffler walks from the third tee during the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship 2026 at TPC Southwind on August 16, 2026 in Memphis, Tennessee. Scheffler won by eight to remain on top of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup points standings.

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.