Is this the week Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods win on Tour?
WEEK 32, MATCH 1: Jim McCabe (14-15-2, $7,800,358) vs. Sean Martin (16-14-1, $7,846,933)
BMW Championship
Site: Lemont, Ill.
Course: Cog Hill Golf and Country Club (Dubsdread)
Purse: $7.5 million
Winner’s share: $1.35 million
Best bet: Tiger Woods. I do believe I said this last week, but it deserves repeating: Tiger Woods cannot possibly go winless the entire season. Can he?
Ace up my sleeve: Vijay Singh. Hard to believe he’s still well down in the standings, but hey, consider it a free pick. But don’t pick him for sympathetic reasons; pick him because he’s playing good enough to win.
• • •
Best bet: Luke Donald. Donald, a grad of nearby Northwestern, finished 15th at the Barclays and second last week after posting four rounds in the 60s. Donald finished 10th at last year’s BMW.
Ace up my sleeve: John Senden. Senden finished 15th at the Barclays and eighth at Deutsche Bank. He looks to be repeating last year’s playoff performance, when he finished in the top 20 in the last three events, including a 20th-place finish at the BMW.
WEEK 31, MATCH 2: Jeff Babineau (13-17-1, $5,970,872) vs. Lance Ringler (15-15-1, $5,738,732)
Best bet: Tiger Woods. The Ryder Cup team is now a go, the swing is starting to feel more comfortable, and now he returns to a place where he’s had great success (Cog Hill,) needing a high finish to get to the Tour Championship. Do the math, and it all adds up to the Big Guy starting to return to No. 1 form. Anything but a top 5 this week will be a step backwards.
Ace up my sleeve: Geoff Ogilvy. Had Charley Hoffman not run away from the pack with a brilliant closing 62 on Labor Day at the Deutsche Bank Championship, Ogilvy would have been right in the thick of contention. Being there is a welcome relief after not posting a top 10 since January. Now he has a chance to make some nice hay in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
• • •
Best Bet: Matt Kuchar. Kuchar is No. 2 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, and that’s more than enough reason for me to pick him this week in Chicago. But if you want more, Kuchar is No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings, has 13 top-15 finishes this year, leads the PGA Tour money list, leads the PGA Tour in top-10 finishes, leads the tour in scrambling and scoring average, and ranks No. 1 in par-4 and par-5 scoring average.
Ace up my sleeve: Vijay Singh. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut, and Singh is sure to show up in the winner’s circle again sometime. Why not this week, against a short field?
The BMW Championship field based on the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index:
- 2. Matt Kuchar
- 3. Steve Stricker
- 4. Tiger Woods
- 5. Phil Mickelson
- 6. Jim Furyk
- 7. Retief Goosen
- 9. Luke Donald
- 10. Rory McIlroy
- 12. Adam Scott
- 13. Bo Van Pelt
- 14. K.J. Choi
- 16. Dustin Johnson
- 17. Paul Casey
- 18. Ben Crane
- 19. Camilo Villegas
- 22. Zach Johnson
- 23. Ernie Els
- 24. Tim Clark
- 26. J.B. Holmes
- 27. Stewart Cink
- 28. Justin Rose
- 30. Nick Watney
- 31. Robert Allenby
- 33. Jason Day
- 34. Stephen Ames
- 37. Kevin Na
- 38. Sean O'Hair
- 40. Bubba Watson
- 41. Ricky Barnes
- 42. Heath Slocum
- 44. Fredrik Jacobson
- 46. Angel Cabrera
- 47. Hunter Mahan
- 49. Brandt Snedeker
- 52. Ian Poulter
- 55. David Toms
- 56. D.J. Trahan
- 57. Geoff Ogilvy
- 58. Scott Verplank
- 60. Carl Pettersson
- 61. Greg Chalmers
- 62. Bill Haas
- 63. Ryan Moore
- 64. Anthony Kim
- 65. Bryce Molder
- 70. Charley Hoffman
- 73. Rickie Fowler
- 75. Justin Leonard
- 76. Jason Bohn
- 77. Andres Romero
- 78. Martin Laird
- 80. Vaughn Taylor
- 81. Y.E. Yang
- 84. Vijay Singh
- 86. Jason Dufner
- 87. Brendon de Jonge
- 88. Charlie Wi
- 89. Tom Gillis
- 90. Michael Sim
- 92. Jeff Overton
- 95. John Senden
- 105. Matt Jones
- 106. Marc Leishman
- 112. Brian Gay
- 120. Stuart Appleby
- 123. Tim Petrovic
- 134. Rory Sabbatini
- 142. Kevin Streelman
- 194. Brian Davis
- 228. Ryan Palmer
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