After an exciting finish to the first event of the 2025 PGA Tour playoffs, we have our field locked in for the 2025 BMW Championship. Taking place in Owings Mills, Maryland, at Cave Valley Golf Club, the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings get their chance to qualify for the Tour Championship, their share of $20,000,000, and their chance to lock up even more money next week.

Let’s dive in!

 

BMW Championship 2025: Daily Fantasy Golf Picks & Projections

The 2nd round of the PGA Playoffs, the BMW Championship has been a mainstay event since 2007. Prior to this though, it was previously known as the Western Open, which had been played since 1899. It was originally hosted right down the road from me at Cog Hill, who hosted 4 of the first 5 years as the BMW Championship. This year, we will see Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland as the host venue for just the 2nd time making it just the 5th venue to host multiple BMW Championships.

 

Caves Valley Golf Club: Course Breakdown This Week

Located in Owings Mills, Maryland, Caves Valley, this venue last hosted this event in 2021, where Patrick Cantlay defeated Bryson DeChambeau after 6 playoff holes. Known for its fast greens and fairways, this course went through some changes recently to make some of the landing zones more difficult and add some complexity to approach shots. Playing at a Par of 70 and just over 7,600 yards, this course will favor some of the bombers in the field.

The course is comprised of a 4/12/2 layout, with both par 5s playing between 590 and 600 yards. The par 3s are also fairly closely grouped, ranging between 197 and 245 yards, with the par 4s playing between 334 and 525 yards. The front nine has a bit more trouble, so I’m projecting this to be the more difficult side of the course, though the back nine does play about 100 yards longer. I’m still expecting most of the fairways to be very welcoming, especially considering the bentgrass greens tend to be the defense of this course. The greens are fast, tricky, and are often either thin and long, or thick but shallow. Players will need to be cognizant of their misses at this venue, as there is trouble strewn throughout. 

When looking at key stats for this venue, I’m putting almost zero weight into course history, given we’ve gotten just one previous event and only 22 of the 50 players in the field appeared in that event. Given the no cut status of this event and the first iteration of this venue giving us the scoring record for this event , it would not be surprising to see a need to score often, giving extra weight to Birdies or Better Gained. Bogey Avoidance will also see a large uptick this week. Driving distance and SG: Putting will get a boost as well, as they’re the only major stats that shows clear priority over tour average. 

Looking a bit deeper into the statistics, approach play is clearly going to matter, specifically from 175 to 250 plus and 125 and in, as each bracket of yardages in this range sees more shots than tour average. Being on with the putter is flat out the most important part of the game this week. In 2021, only 3 of the top 22 players in the field lost strokes with the flat-stick, and all of those players lost only .25 of a stroke or less on the greens. Bogey Avoidance will also see a large uptick this week.

 

Top Players in Key Stats:

Bogey Avoidance: Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama, Sam Stevens, Tommy Fleetwood, Jason Day, Collin Morikawa, Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg

Birdies or Better Gained: Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns, Harry Hall, Corey Conners, Sungjae Im, Sam Stevens, Taylor Pendrith, Kury Kitayama, Justin Thomas, Keegan Bradley

 

 

BMW Championship 2025 Field: Golf DFS

The BMW Championship field always consists of the top 50 players in the FedEx cup standings, though this year we do have one notable player missing. Sepp Straka, currently No.5 in the standings, has withdrawn due to a private family matter. Given the postseason has no alternates, we will see just 49 players in this field. Two time and defending champion Keegan Bradley will look to be able to repeat, much like Patrick Cantlay did in the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons. Viktor Hovland, Justin Thomas, Jason Day, and Rory McIlroy round out the former champions in this field. As previously stated, less than half the field has history on this course, but the expected names who appeared here were near the top in 2021. One of the strongest fields we will see this season, let’s try and find some of my favorites in each tier.

 

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PGA Best Bets & Predictions: 2025 BMW Championship (21-33 Overall, +9.8 Units)

  • Akshay Bhatia: Top 20 (+115)
  • Keegan Bradley: Top 10 (+280) 
  • BMW Championship One and Done Picks: 
    • Patrick Cantlay
    • Keegan Bradley
    • Sam Stevens
 

GOLF DFS PICKS THIS WEEK: Top Tier

Scottie Scheffler ($13,400 DraftKings/$13,100 FanDuel)

While I usually shy away from paying up like this, especially when the price is as high as it is for Scottie this week, it would be a disservice to everyone if he wasn’t considered for your lineups. He’s the No.1 player in the FedEx cup standings and OWGR for a reason. He lines up incredibly well for what we expect to matter this week, with Putting and Driving Distance stats that are still in the top half of all players in the field. No one scores and avoids bogeys like Scottie. I will be shocked to see many winning lineups without him this week. 

Rory McIlroy ($11,400 DraftKings/$11,600 FanDuel)

If I have the No.1, it should be no surprise that I also have the No.2 player in the field. Rory can absolutely mash the ball off the tee, leading the field in driving distance, and is a top 20 putter on tour, and he has as much scoring upside as any player on tour. Rory has won this event before, and came in 4th in his previous appearance here, and I’d argue the course is set up more favorably for him this season than the last. Rory is always someone I expect at the top, and this week is no exception.

 

GOLF DFS PICKS THIS WEEK: MID-TIER

Patrick Cantlay ($10,100 DraftKings/$10,800 FanDuel)

It should be no surprise that I have Cantlay here given his previous win here. Cantlay remains one of the best players in the world off the tee, and while other parts of his game have struggled, most notably his putter. I’m going to go against my own advice and put extra weight in his experience at this course. He’s coming off a great performance at the FedEx St. Jude Championship as well, as he finished T9th last weekend and has his best week with the putter since June. 

Keegan Bradley ($8,700 DraftKings/$9,300 FanDuel)

While Captain America doesn’t standout in this field in any major way, his overall skillset lines up so well for this course. He’s one of the top 10 longest hitters in this field, has solid scoring and bogey avoidance numbers, and has great results this year when putting on bentgrass greens. As the defending champion as well, it’s going to hard to fade Keegan this week.

Sam Burns ($9,300 DraftKings/$9,600 FanDuel)

Burns is another player who lines up extremely well for Caves Valley. He ranks in the top half of the field in Bogey Avoidance, SG: Off-the-tee, SG: Tee-2-Green, Birdies or Better Gained and SG: Putting, with the final two stats being his best of the bunch. Burns presents a great mid-tier value that has as much of a chance to come out on top as anyone else priced above him.

 

GOLF DFS PICKS THIS WEEK: VALUE TIER

Sam Stevens ($6,500 DraftKings/$7,000 FanDuel)

While Stevens did not perform well at the St. Jude last week, he lines up so well here that I’m going to ignore that. He ranks top 12 in the field in many key stats, and his biggest issue has been his play on approach. If his irons are even remotely locked in, his ability off the tee and with the flatstick should see him in the top 20 in this field at bottom 10 prices.

Kurt Kitayama ($7,600 DraftKings/$8,400 FanDuel)

Kitayama is the risk-reward play in this article. We’re all painfully aware that the dude struggles with the putter. Outside of that, he ranks top 12 in nearly every other important statistic, with most of those inside the top 6. I can’t ignore that type of upside in this field. He’s gained strokes with the flatstick in each of his last 4 starts as well, so maybe he’s finally turned that corner.

Harris English ($8,300 DraftKings/$8,100 FanDuel)

English is just flat out the best putter in this field and only Scottie avoids bogeys at a higher rate. While the remainder of his profile is generally fine, this is the type of venue where being lights out with the putter can carry you to a win. If he keeps up his historical standard with the flat-stick, he could sneak into the winners circle this week.

 

PGA DFS Picks This Week (Cheat Sheet)

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