The 2025 FedEx Cup Playoffs roll on this week as players travel to Maryland for the 2025 BMW Championship. Welcoming those who were able to sneak inside the top 50 cutoff following a dramatic first leg of the postseason, Caves Valley Golf Club will host a PGA Tour postseason event for the first time since 2021.
Not all 50 players who made it to this point in the season will tee it up, though, as Sepp Straka withdrew from the tournament on Monday for personal reasons. In his absence, the top 49 will compete to climb inside the top 30 bubble with three-time FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy makes his postseason debut.
Skipping last week’s St. Jude Championship, McIlroy lost no ground in the standings as he remains No. 2 to Scottie Scheffler in the season-long race. Well-rested for the final two tournaments of the PGA Tour season, McIlroy is looking to grab his first win since the Masters at a venue where he finished inside the top five the last time this tournament was held.
The winner that week was none other than Patrick Cantlay, who parlayed his success in Baltimore to more of the same in Atlanta to win the FedEx Cup crown. The former champion looks to summon the same type of magic on the greens that he experienced that week as he looks for his first win in three years.
A man who has no sense of what a winless drought is Scheffler, who narrowly claimed his fifth title of the season last week but ultimately settled for a T3 finish as his red-hot putter surprisingly failed him Sunday. The world No. 1 is seeking to win the BMW Championship for the first time in his career and become the first player since Tiger Woods in 2006-07 to have back-to-back seasons of at least five wins.
While Scheffler, McIlroy and Cantlay will be at East Lake no matter the result, the same cannot be said for those notable names outside the top 30 with Xander Schauffele chief among them. The world No. 3 enters the BMW Championship at No. 43 in the FedEx Cup standings in need of a major surge to secure a place at the Tour Championship.
Schauffele has never missed the Tour Championship in his career, and he’s actually become synonymous with East Lake given his success at the golf course. Other stars such as Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and Matt Fitzpatrick find themselves in a similar position on the outside looking in and with only four rounds to change that.
2025 BMW Championship schedule
Dates: Aug. 14-17
Location: Caves Valley Golf Club — Owings Mills, Maryland
Par: 70 | Yardage: 7,601
Purse: $20,000,000
2025 FedEx Cup Playoffs top 30 bubble
|
26 |
Chris Gotterup |
1,331 |
|
27 |
Jacob Bridgeman |
1,299 |
|
28 |
Viktor Hovland |
1,297 |
|
29 |
Akshay Bhatia |
1,276 |
|
30 |
Lucas Glover |
1,234 |
|
31 |
Sam Stevens |
1,207 |
|
32 |
Ryan Gerard |
1,202 |
|
33 |
Daniel Berger |
1,180 |
|
34 |
Ryan Fox |
1,157 |
|
35 |
Taylor Pendrith |
1,150 |
2025 BMW Championship field, odds
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
- Scottie Scheffler (23/10): He is the heavy favorite for good reason as Scheffler continues to have a chance to win any tournament at which he tees it up. The four-time major champion held a share of the lead at various points in the final round at TPC Southwind but unfortunately saw some putts burn the edge, which proved to be the difference between a win and another close call. He has not finished outside the top 10 since the Players Championship in March and has not finished outside the top 25 all season. Stupid consistency.
- Rory McIlroy (7-1): The rest should serve him well as this year’s FedEx Cup Playoffs is one where endurance could factor. Skipping a hot week in Memphis, McIlroy will be rearing to pick up where he left off with finishes of T6, T2 and T7 in his last three outings. His driving numbers have yet to fully recover from the PGA Championship (outside the U.S. Open, which served as an exception), but the putter has been brilliant. McIlroy is gaining 0.71 strokes on the field per round on the greens — the best mark of his career by a wide margin.
- Tommy Fleetwood (20-1): Fleetwood experienced some serious déjà vu down the stretch at TPC Southwind. Finding his footing on the greens in the middle of his back nine — much like he did at the Travelers Championship — the Englishman faltered late and settled for another close call. The win will come eventually, but it is clear something switches in his brain when in the heat of the battle. He has five top 10s — four of which have doubled as top fives — in 10 starts since the middle of April.
- Xander Schauffele (20-1)
- Patrick Cantlay (22-1): His play at major championships and his lack of presence on televisions late on Sunday have some thinking he is playing poorly, but Cantlay appears close. He ranks 10th in strokes gained tee to green and fifth in strokes gained approach the last three months and continues to search for answers on the greens. He gained strokes with the putter last week for the first time since the Memorial and a return to Caves Valley should only help the cause given his performance in 2021.
- Justin Thomas (22-1)
- Ludvig Åberg (25-1)
- Russell Henley (30-1)
- J.J. Spaun (30-1): He is a couple playoff losses away from being a Players Championship winner, a major championship winner and a postseason tournament winner in 2025. Instead, Spaun has to settle for just that one win at Oakmont and three runner-up finishes in 2025. The reliable right hander has found a new level with his iron play where he checks in inside the top 10 on the PGA Tour on the season. He’ll go as far as his putter will take him this week as the statistics are checkered.
- Cameron Young (30-1)
- Collin Morikawa (30-1)
- Sam Burns (30-1)
2025 BMW Championship picks
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