GolfLowdowns

BMW Championship to be played on longest course in PGA Tour history

Old Course at St Andrews to host AIG Women’s Open for the third time

Rory McIlroy, playing in Colorado. Photograph: Andy Lyons/Getty
Rory McIlroy, playing in Colorado. Photograph: Andy Lyons/Getty
Philip Reid
Wed Aug 21 2024 - 16:58

BMW Championship

Purse: €18 million (€3.6m to the winner)

Where: Castle Rock, Colorado, USA

The course: Castle Pines Golf Club – 8,130 yards par 72 – is the longest course in the PGA Tour’s history and is situated at altitude of 2,000 metres. The Jack Nicklaus-design is playing host to the tournament for the first time. In the past, the course played host to the old International tournament (a modified stableford) event on the PGA Tour (which ran from 1986 to 2006). The course has been renovated, featuring new bunkers, tee complexes and greens, with a number of new water features. The signature hole is the par 3 11th, which features a drop in elevation of 75 feet from tee to green.

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The field: A stellar line up comprising the leading 50 players on the FedEx Cup standings, headed by world number one and Olympic gold medallist Scottie Scheffler. Keegan Bradley, next year’s USA Ryder Cup captain, secured the 50th qualifying spot by the skin of his teeth at the St Jude Classic but will need a special week to break into the top 30 who advance onwards to the Tour Championship in Atlanta. Denny McCarthy holds down the 30th spot heading into this week’s penultimate event of the FedEx Cup with Tommy Fleetwood in 31st.

Quote-Unquote: “He’s been playing unbelievable golf. I feel like we’re all just chasing him. I’ve done probably the best job of getting the closest to him, but it’s still very far away” – Xander Schauffele on playing second fiddle to Scottie Scheffler.

Irish in the field: Shane Lowry (6.00pm Irish time) and Rory McIlroy (6.10pm). Lowry is currently 11th in the FedEx Cup standings while McIlroy is fifth. Both players are guaranteed to advance to next week’s Tour Championship.

Betting: No surprise to see Scottie Scheffler (again!) at the head of the market, priced at 3-1 as he seeks an eighth win of the year with Xander Schauffele, who has emerged as his main rival, rated an 11-2 shot. Rory McIlroy, who struggled at last week’s St Jude Classic, is 12-1 while Shane Lowry is rated a 60-1 shot which looks decent each-way value as does the 90-1 about Thomas Detry.

On TV: Live coverage on Sky Sports Golf from 7pm.

AIG Women ‘s Open

Purse: €8.5 million (€1.3m to the winner)

Where: St Andrews, Scotland

The course: The Old Course – 6,784 yards par 72 – will play host to the AIG Women’s Open for the third time in its history (Lorena Ochoa-2007 and Stacy Lewis-2013) and, with strong winds anticipated, is set to prove a stern challenge for the 144 players. The Road Hole – the 17th – is likely to be the deal-breaker for those with title aspirations and will play to 439 yards, the longest par 4 on the links.

The field: World number one Nelly Korda – a six-time winner on the LPGA Tour this season – heads the field, while world number two Lilia Vu defends the title she won last year. Lydia Ko, the gold medallist at the Paris Olympics, has three top-10s in her last three outings, while Scottish Open winner Lauren Coughlin is on a rich vein of form (two wins in her last four outings).

Quote-Unquote: “I haven’t really thought about this being my last because there’s more opportunities next year if I wanted” – Lexi Thompson not entirely closing the door just yet on her professional career in the Majors. The American plans to take a break from tournament play at the end of the season and veer towards a limited schedule.

Irish in the field: Three of them: Leona Maguire is in a three-ball with Ashleigh Buhai and Jin Young Ko (12.37pm); Stephanie Meadow is grouped with Yuna Nishimura and Pei-yun Chien (12.37pm); and Lauren Walsh is in the final group with Marta Martin and Jana Melichova (2.16pm).

Betting: Nelly Korda has gone off the boil since her stunning start to the season (six wins) but remains the market leader at 10-1 while Evian winner Ayaka Furue is rated 12-1 in her quest to win back-to-back majors this season. Lauren Coughlin is the in-form player and is worth a look at 20-1. Leona Maguire is available at 80-1, Lauren Walsh at 375-1 and Stephanie Meadow at 500-1.

On TV: Live coverage on Sky Sports Golf from 12pm.

Philip Reid

Philip Reid

Philip Reid is Golf Correspondent of The Irish Times