19th Hole

Vincenzi’s BMW Championship betting preview: Rory primed for glory at Olympia Fields

Published

3 years ago

Aug 14, 2023

The PGA TOUR has reached the penultimate event of the 2023 season as we head to Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Illinois to play the BMW Championship.

The top-50 players left standing in the race for the FedEx Cup will tee it up this week looking to punch their ticket to East Lake.

This is the second time the BMW Championship will be played at Olympia Fields, with the first being in 2020 when Jon Rahm outdueled Dustin Johnson in an epic playoff.

The tournament will be held on Olympia Fields’ North Course, which is a par 70 measuring 7,366 yards and featuring Bluegrass greens similar to Poa annua.

The BMW Championship will be a no-cut event, with the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings moving onto the Tour Championship next week.

Past Winners at the BMW Championship

2022: Patrick Cantlay (-14) Wilmington Country Club
2021: Patrick Cantlay (-27) Caves Valley
2020: Jon Rahm (-4) Olympia Fields
2019: Justin Thomas (-25) Medinah
2018: Keegan Bradley (-20) Aronimink
2017: Marc Leishman (-23) Conway Farms

5 Key Stats For Olympia Fields Country Club

Let’s take a look at five key metrics for Wilmington Country Club to determine which golfers boast top marks in each category over their past 24 rounds.

Strokes Gained: Approach

SG: Approach tells us how close a golfer is getting to the hole on his approach to the green. When players are locked-in on their approach game, they often have far more opportunities to putt for birdie. This should serve as a particularly strong indicator for success at the BMW Championship.

Scottie Scheffler (+38.7)
Lucas Glover (+29.1)
Russell Henley (+25.1)
Rory McIlroy (+23.5)
Hideki Matsuyama (+23.2)

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee is a combination of driving distance and driving accuracy and will be an important factor this week. Olympia Fields’ sizable par 70 includes many long par-4’s. Therefore, driving it long and in the fairway will be the best recipe for success.

Rory McIlroy (+26.4)
Scottie Scheffler (+25.4)
Si Woo Kim (+20.9)
Patrick Cantlay (+19.9)
Byeong Hun An (+18.6)

Proximity 175-200

With many of the holes at Olympia Fields being relatively long, most of the approach shots will be coming from the proximity of 175 to 200 yards. It will be important to target good long-iron players.

Viktor Hovland (22.0)
Scottie Scheffler (+19.7)
Eric Cole (+13.2)
Sepp Straka (+11.9)
Hideki Matsuyama (+11.7)

Par 4’s 450-500

This course features seven par 4s playing at a difficult distance of 450 to 500 yards. Players’ recent success navigating long par 4s will be one of the most important indicators for success at the BMW Championship.

Rory McIlroy (+25.1)
Viktor Hovland (+22.0)
Scottie Scheffler (+22.0)
Tommy Fleetwood (+15.3)
Lucas Glover (+14.7)

Strokes Gained: Tee to Green

Tee-to-green success reports how efficient a player is at getting his ball to the green. It is a combination of Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, Strokes Gained: Approach, and Strokes Gained: Around the Green.

This statistic is especially important on long golf courses like Olympia Fields this weekend. Put simply, it indicates which golfer is in the best current form.

Scottie Scheffler (+3.3)
Rory McIlroy (+2.3)
Lucas Glover (+1.8)
Patrick Cantlay (+1.7)
Viktor Hovland (+1.6)

Statistical Model

Below, I’ve reported overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed.

Scottie Scheffler (+800)
Rory McIlroy (+800)
Lucas Glover (+3300)
Viktor Hovland (+1600)
Tommy Fleetwood (+2200)
Patrick Cantlay (+1000)
Hideki Matsuyama (+3000)
Jon Rahm (+1000)
Si Woo Kim (+5000)
Rickie Fowler (+3300)

BMW Championship Picks

Rory McIlroy +800 (Bet365):

Last week, an underdog was able to emerge victorious at the Fed Ex St. Jude Championship. With a 50-man field at Olympia Fields this week, I don’t believe that will happen again. While there are always outliers, no-cut small field events tend to cause the best players in the world to rise to the top.

Of the best players in the world, none are playing better at the moment than Rory McIlroy. In his past 24 rounds, the 34-year-old ranks 4th in Strokes Gained: Approach, 2nd in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, 2nd in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking and 1st in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. McIlroy has not finished outside of the top-10 in any of his past eight events.

Rory’s majestic ball striking was on full display once again at TPC Southwind last week. He gained 4.4 strokes off the tee and 4.7 strokes on approach on his way to a tie for 3rd place finish. Say what you will about McIlroy’s ability to win majors over the past decade, but his propensity to win FedEx Cup events cannot be denied. The Northern Irishman is currently tied with Dustin Johnson for the most FedEx Cup wins and seems poised to pass him this week.

Olympia Fields is what I call a “big boy” golf course. Last week, iron play and putting was enough to win in Memphis, but this is a completely different golf course. The track is an absolute brute and requires power to contend. In 2020, Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson played bully ball on their way to a playoff, with big hitters Joaquin Niemann, Tony Finau and Hideki Matsuyama (who was hitting it much further in 2023) were the only other players under par.

Rory McIlroy is incredibly difficult to beat at this time of year and has the perfect skill set to tame the extremely difficult Olympia Fields at the BMW Championship.

Cameron Young +4000 (FanDuel):

As I mentioned above, Olympia Fields is a long and difficult golf course. I believe distance off the tee will be more of a benefit at this course than any other course on Tour this season. Although he’s been up and down this season, there’s no denying that Cameron Young is among the world’s best with a driver in his hands. In the field, Rory McIlroy is the only player that beats Young in driving distance.

In addition to the major distance advantage Young will have on the field, he also does a lot of his best work in difficult events. He’s been excellent in major championships as well as difficult tracks such as Riviera and Quail Hollow. Last week, Young gained 3.6 strokes off the tee at TPC Southwind, and I believe will have the chance to gain even more this week on a course where he can let the driver loose on just about every hole.

Young is yet to win on the PGA Tour, but he’s been knocking at the door in all of the biggest events. The BMW Championship will play like a major championship, which means the 25-year-old should find himself right in the thick of it yet again.

19th Hole

How much each player won at the 2026 Masters

Published

1 month ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Rory McIlroy made it two wins in as many years at Augusta National, seeing off the challengers on a dramatic Sunday to slip on the green jacket once again. The victory earned Rory a whopping payday of $4.5 million, with Scottie Scheffler his closest challenger earning $2.43 million for his sole runner-up finish.

With a total prize purse of $22.5 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Masters tournament.

For players that did not make the cut, they still earned $25k for their efforts at the year’s opening major.

1: Rory McIlroy, $4.5 million
2: Scottie Scheffler, $2.43 million
T3: Tyrrell Hatton, $1.08 million
T3: Russell Henley, $1.08 million
T3: Justin Rose, $1.08 million
T3: Cameron Young, $1.08 million
T7: Collin Morikawa, $725,625
T7: Sam Burns, $725,625
T9: Xander Schauffele, $630,00
T9: Max Homa, $630,00
11: Jake Knapp, $562,500
T12: Jordan Spieth, $427,500
T12: Brooks Koepka, $427,500
T12: Hideki Matsuyama, $427,500
T12: Patrick Reed, $427,500
T12: Patrick Cantlay, $427,500
T12: Jason Day, $427,500
T18: Viktor Hovland, $315,000
T18: Maverick McNealy, $315,000
T18: Matt Fitzpatrick, $315,000
T21: Keegan Bradley, $252,000
T21: Ludvig Aberg, $252,000
T21: Wyndham Clark, $252,000
T24: Matt McCarty, $182,083
T24: Adam Scott, $182,083
T24: Sam Stevens, $182,083
T24: Chris Gotterup, $182,083
T24: Michael Brennan, $182,083
T24: Brian Campbell, $182,083
T30: Alex Noren, $146,250
T30: Harris English, $146,250
T30: Shane Lowry, $146,250
T33: Gary Woodland, $121,500
T33: Dustin Johnson, $121,500
T33: Brian Harman, $121,500
T33: Tommy Fleetwood, $121,500
T33: Ben Griffin, $121,500
T38: Jon Rahm, $105,750
T38: Ryan Gerard, $101,250
T38: Haotong Li, $96,750
T41: Justin Thomas, $92,250
T41: Sepp Straka, $87,750
T41: Jacob Bridgeman, $83,250
T41: Kristoffer Reitan, $78,750
T41: Nick Taylor, $74,250
46: Sungjae Im, $69,750
47: Si Woo Kim, $65,250
48: Aaron Rai, $61,650
T49: Corey Conners, $57,600
T49: Marco Penge, $57,600
51: Kurt Kitayama, $55,250
52: Sergio Garcia, $54,000
53: Rasmus Hojgaard, $52,650
54: Charl Schwartzel, $51,300

19th Hole

CBS’s Sunday Masters coverage slammed by golf fans

Published

1 month ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

While Sunday was a dramatic day at the Masters, many golf fans were left feeling frustrated by the CBS final round coverage.

There were plenty of moments that golf fans took to social media to air their frustrations on Sunday over, including a lack of shots being shown throughout the day, being behind the live action, confusion over the approach shots of the final group on 18, and providing an angle for the winning putt where the cup couldn’t be seen.

Here’s a look at some of the criticisms that were directed at the CBS coverage throughout the day on X:

This has been a brutal broadcast for CBS. When the folks from Augusta sit down with them this year, you can bet they’ll talk about this 15 seconds where we have no idea where Rory’s ball went, and Dottie moans. #TheMasters pic.twitter.com/ak3mkpIN7V

— Ryan (@PossiblyRy) April 12, 2026

It’s rare criticism coming in for CBS, who are usually heavily praised for their Masters coverage each year.

19th Hole

The surprise club Tommy Fleetwood says is key to his Masters chances

Published

1 month ago

Apr 7, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Tommy Fleetwood goes in search for the first major victory of his career again this week, with the Englishman proving to be a popular pick at Augusta National.

Fleetwood’s best showing at Augusta came back in 2024 where he finished T3, and while speaking at his pre-tournament press conference, the 35-year-old emphasized the importance of his 9-wood in his pursuit of the green jacket.

Speaking on Tuesday to media, Fleetwood said:

“It’s a great 9-wood golf course. I think it’s always been — I can’t remember when I first put like a 9-wood in or a high lofted club, but it’s a perfect like 9-wood golf course. I’ve had that in the bag for a few years.”

The Englishman continued, revealing that his strategy for the week won’t just be to hit driver off the tee as much as possible:

“Yeah, it’s funny really because I know Augusta is probably associated with being fairly forgiving off the tee in a way, so you think you can whale around driver a little bit. But I don’t necessarily think that’s always the play for me. I think there’s holes that set up really well where I can draw it with the mini driver if I’m feeling less comfortable with the driver and things like that.”

That strategy he believes will make his TaylorMade Qi10 9-wood extra critical this week in Georgia:

“The biggest thing is the 9-wood for me. If I can put myself in position on the par-5s or the 4th long par-3, like it — for me, I can’t really hit that high 4-iron, so 9-wood helps me a lot.”