BMW Championship: Preview, Tee Times and Live Coverage Info

Carlos TorresSep 14, 2011

The BMW Championship will start this Thursday Sept. 15 at the Cog Hill Golf and Country Club. It’s the penultimate leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

A field of just 70 players will be competing for a place among the top 30 in the point standings, in order for a chance to play in the Tour Championship next week.

The threesomes are organized according to the point standings. As the pressure mounts, it gets more interesting to see groupings from the ones battling at the top to the ones just above the cut line and beyond.

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At the top of the FedEx Cup standings is red-hot Webb Simpson. He is coming off an exciting win in a playoff over Chez Reavie at the Deutsche Bank Championship. He is playing the best golf of his career, and with back-to-back wins he could run off with the FedEx Cup.

Dustin Johnson is second in the standings behind Simpson. He is the defending champion and has been playing solid golf since winning the Barclays last month. A win here will put him atop the standings and could very well hold on next week for the championship.

Matt Kuchar is third in the standings. He is winless in 2011, but has played solid golf with two second-place finishes and six times in the top 25. Kuchar has done well at Cog Hill so a win here is not out of reach and would place him atop the standings.

Luke Donald is the World No. 1 player and fourth in the FedEx Cup standings. Like Kuchar, he is also winless in American soil, but has been lurking in the leaderboard. Consistency is his trademark—he has been in the top 10 in three out of his last four tournaments. He is dangerous this weekend.

Brandt Snedeker is fifth and playing excellent golf. He has two straight T3 finishes, at the Barclays and Deutsche Bank. He is looking for his first win and is peaking at the right time.

Jason Day is sixth in the standings. He was second at the Masters and the US Open and is improving every week. He is a streaky player, who when he has the hot hand, challenges the top of the leaderboard, and he is on the upswing right now.

Nick Watney is seventh in the standings. His T61 finish at the Deutsche Bank is his worst finish this year. His previous three finishes were average, so he must play much better than that to contend here.

Steve Stricker is eighth and is a player that I believe will be contending for the win this weekend. While he seems to have lost his mid-year form, he is still leading the PGA in strokes gained and birdie average. His familiarity with this tough course should work to his advantage.

Chez Reavie and Phil Mickelson round out the top 10.

Reavie lost in a playoff to Simpson at the Deutsche Bank and Mickelson finished T10. Reavie had the tournament in his pocket until his disaster on the 18th hole that led to his eventual loss. Take that away and he is playing very good lately, and could challenge again this weekend.

Mickelson seems to have lost the magic touch he showed at the Open, and was virtually invisible until his top 10 in the Deutsche Bank. He needs some of that magic touch back this weekend in order to stay close in the standings.

Charl Schwartzel is among the players just inside the top 30 in danger of not playing next week. He is 27th.

Among the notables just outside that need a strong finish is FedEx Cup defending champ Jim Furyk at 35th, but he is playing his best at the right time. At 37th is Rickie Fowler, who is playing his worst golf at the worst possible moment.

Let’s take a look at the Tee Times for the top 30 players in the point standings and the next nine who are on the outside looking in.

Tee No. 1

10:42 am – Keegan Bradley (19), David Toms (20), Charles Howell III (21)

10:31 am – Y.E. Yang (28), Jason Dufner (29), Kyle Stanley (30)

10:53 am - Jonathan Byrd (13), Vijay Singh (14), K.J. Choi (15)

11:48 am - Phil Mickelson (10), Gary Woodland (11), Bubba Watson (12)

11:59 am – Luke Donald (4), Brandt Snedeker (5), Jason Day (6)

Tee No. 10

10:20 am - Rickie Fowler (37), Steve Marino (38), Ryan Moore (39)

10:31 am – Justin Rose (34), Jim Furyk (35), Zach Johnson (36)

10:42 am - Nick Watney (7), Steve Stricker (8), Chez Reavie (9)

10:53 am – Webb Simpson (1), Dustin Johnson (2), Matt Kuchar (3)