The Top of the Stack
Scottie Scheffler’s rolling into the BMW Championship with a lot of confidence. He just torched the FedEx St. Jude Championship by eight shots, which is a margin that usually ends tournaments before they really begin. Now the whole show moves to Bellerive in Missouri for the second leg of the FedExCup Playoffs. According to Golf Monthly, the world number one is teeing it up alongside Matt Fitzpatrick, who’s sitting pretty in second place in the standings. The stakes are huge as the field narrows down to the elite contenders for the season-ending title.
Round One And Two Groupings
The schedule for these top contenders is locked in tight. Golf Monthly reported that Scheffler and Fitzpatrick will begin their first round at 2:33pm EDT, which converts to 7:33pm BST. Their second round starts at 12:07pm EDT or 5:07pm BST. In their own bracket, the third and fourth ranked competitors clash while the standings settle. Cameron Young and Si Woo Kim are paired together, with Golf Monthly noting they tee off at 12:07pm EDT on Thursday and 2:44pm EDT on Friday. Rory McIlroy remains firmly inside the top 30 despite a poor showing at the previous event. He is paired with Xander Schauffele for the first two rounds, starting at 1:20pm EDT on Thursday and 10:47am EDT on Friday. Tommy Fleetwood, who won the FedExCup last year, sits eighth in the standings. He is grouped with seventh-placed Chris Gotterup, with tee times set for 2:22pm EDT on Thursday and 11:49am EDT on Friday.
Watching Scheffler and Fitzpatrick walk the fairways together shifts the entire dynamic of the tournament. Most fans know that playing with another top player can speed up the round or slow it down, but here, both men are hunting the same leaderboard. Scheffler won the BMW Championship a year ago, so he knows exactly what it takes to win at Bellerive. Fitzpatrick, sitting just behind him, needs to make a move to keep the pressure on. The data from Golf Monthly shows these tee times are late in the day, which often means better conditions but also higher wind. For Young and Kim, the mid-day slot on Thursday puts them in a position to react to the early leaders. McIlroy and Schauffele have an early start on Friday, giving them a chance to build momentum before the weekend crowds arrive. Every shot counts when you are fighting for a spot in the Tour Championship.
For numerous others, it is crunch time, even though a few have the assurance of securing a Tour Championship spot no matter what happens this week.
