It is off to Pennsylvania this week as the FedEx Cup Play Offs enters into the third leg that is the BMW Championship. This is only for the top seventy left standing in the rankings for this seasons’ FedEx Cup Play Offs and this is a tournament with no cut in place.
Last week at the Dell Technologies, six players who had started outside of the top 70 did enough to squeeze themselves through to the next round, pulling out the stops when it matters most.
For the third tournament in a row for the series, Dustin Johnson is the outright favourite this time at 17/2 odds option* (betting odds taken on September 4th, 2018 at 11:20 pm).
BMW Championship 2018 Winner Odds*
Dustin Johnson 17/2
Justin Rose 12/1
Justin Thomas 14/1
Brooks Koepka 14/1
Bryson DeChambeau 16/1
Rory McIlroy 16/1
Jordan Spieth 20/1
Jason Day 22/1
Hideki Matsuyama 22/1
Tiger Woods 22/1
Tony Finau 22/1
Rickie Fowler 25/1
Francesco Molinari 28/1
John Rahm 33/1
* (betting odds taken on September 4th, 2018 at 11:20 pm)
Can DeChambeau make it three in a row?
It is all about that man Bryson DeChambeau then after winning the Northern Trust and the Dell Technologies back to back in the FedEx Cup 2018 play offs. That has been a remarkable return from him and everything he is touching is turning to gold. He won the Northern Trust by four strokes over Tony Finau and then topped out the Dell Technologies by two strokes ahead of Justin Rose.
You are looking at a price of 16/1 odds on Chambeau* (betting odds taken on September 4th, 2018 at 11:20 pm) to pull off the incredible and win this third leg as well. What a time he is having though and has been called up to the Ryder Cup team as well. While he is the sixth player ever to win the opening two tournaments of the Play-Offs, no man before has won three tournaments in a given-seasons’ Playoffs.
Justin Rose’s belief will have been raised a few notches after coming close over the weekend at the Dell Technologies. He always looked a good fit there and he is the only player in this season’s field at the BMW Championship who appeared on the two previous occasions that it was held at this Aronimink Course.
Rose won there in 2010 so has a bit of history and now current from behind him and that has been enough to pull him into the second favourite in the field at 12/1 odds* (betting odds taken on September 4th, 2018 at 11:20 pm).
DJ to rise?
Dustin Johnson seems to be quietly buzzing around in the background. He needs to start stepping it up a little bit more now as he has seen DeChambeau pull out to a 2,328 points lead over him. So he would make a big statement if he could pick up maximum points here this week. Johnson took a share of seventh last weekend thanks to a strong final round and that was after his T11 at the Northern Trust. So he has seen his FedExCup lead whittled away, is there a response?
Another who can’t seem to do anything wrong at the moment is Tony Finau who landed that fantastic second place at the Northern Trust and then a T4 at the Dell Technologies. So he is bang in form and he is just methodically persistent at the moment. That’s eleven straight rounds of golf now that he has produced under 70 and it wouldn’t exactly be a surprise if he got himself towards the top again. Finau is at 4/1 odds for a top-five finish this week* (betting odds taken on September 4th, 2018 at 11:20 pm).
A hot putter the key
Putting is going to be crucial this week because the Aronimink course has some brutal, uneven and fast greens. That could be good news for Rory McIlroy who was putting well from a shot at the Dell Technologies last week where he put in a T12 finish. Still, his all-around game doesn’t quite to be at its peak at the moment. Francesco Molinari looks a good horse for the course in this one and will be looking for some freshness to spark him forth after resting last week, which only cost him one place in the standings.
Jordan Spieth isn’t doing enough, despite some pretty strong work on the greens, to get himself inside the top ten. He hasn’t been in one since the Masters. So he’s probably worth skipping over in terms of the win but in terms of consistency and grind, that’s been there and he is at 2/1 odds for a top ten finish at the BMW Championship 2018* (betting odds taken on September 4th, 2018 at 11:20 pm). Rafa Cabrera Bello is another that has been in a decent consistent grind recently and the Spaniard topped last week for Greens In Regulation and if that keeps up then that puts him in with a chance.
Prediction
We are going to look at a couple of honourable and notable mentions here for some outside looks. Kyle Stanley looks a perfect fit for the course and Cameron Smith is on fire with his putter at the moment and after a T3 and a 3rd so far in the Playoffs represents some quiet value for each way or a top ten finish.
Of the front-runners, then we are going with Johnson to put in a response to all that has gone on around him. He has looked as if he has had more in the tank to go. He may put it all together this week with Tony Finau a strong tip behind him.
