The second event of the PGA Tour’s FedExCup playoffs is set to get underway from Olympia Fields Country Club North Course in Olympia Fields, Illinois. Located a few miles south of downtown Chicago, the top 50 golfers in the FedExCup rankings have advanced from the first playoff event held at TPC Southwind last week, where 42-year-old Lucas Glover continued his dominant run, rattling off consecutive outright wins to climb into fourth in the FedExCup standings. Glover defeated Patrick Cantlay on the first playoff hole due to an errant tee shot from Cantlay that rolled into the water.
Speaking of Patrick Cantlay, he’s looking to add his third consecutive win at the BMW Championship this week. While the Californian has yet to secure an outright win on the PGA Tour this season, he’s logged seven T10 finishes and has been hovering near the winning podium on several occasions, including last week. It seems like when the stakes are highest, Cantlay excels. Golfers attempting a three-peat at an event this year have all been unsuccessful. Insert Jon Rahm into this equation.
The 28-year-old Spaniard is ranked first in the FedExCup, primarily due to his incredible run early in 2023, stringing together four outright wins, including his first win at The Masters, which has him sitting slightly ahead of Scottie Scheffler for the top spot in the FedExCup rankings. Rahm was victorious at the 2020 BMW Championship held at Olympia Fields, recording a final round of -6-under-par, setting a course record for the lowest round en route to a victory at just -4-under-par. This showcases how difficult the conditions at Olympia Fields will be against a talented field this week.
While we don’t have over a hundred different golfers to roster compared to normal DFS slates, the silver lining is that we get a few of the PGA Tour’s top players available to roster at a huge discount in DraftKings and FanDuel DFS lineups. Let’s get right into looking at previous winners, relevant betting stats, and an in-depth review of Olympia Fields’ North course before revealing the six golfers to prioritize inserting into DFS lineups ahead of Thursday’s opening round at the 2023 BMW Championship.
PGA DraftKings and FanDuel DFS Primer: BMW Championship (2023)
Previous Winners
- 2022 – Patrick Cantlay (-14)
- 2021 – Patrick Cantlay (-27)
- 2020 – Jon Rahm (-4)
- 2019 – Justin Thomas (-25)
- 2018 – Keegan Bradley (-20)
Relevant Betting Stats
- Total Driving
- Greens in Regulation percentage
- Scrambling
- Strokes Gained Off-the-Tee
- Strokes Gained Approaching the Green
- Birdie Average
Course Overview
Olympia Fields is a stock par 70 that reaches over 7,300 yards in length. Filled with doglegged, tree-lined fairways that are some of the most difficult to hit in regulation, combined with water hazards and plenty of sand bunkers flanking fairways and greens, it becomes obvious that golfers will need to rely on multiple clubs to climb the leaderboard here.
The course starts with a lengthy par 5, measuring up to 626 yards, with players not seeing another par 5 until the 15th hole. Two of the four par 3s are over 200 yards, including the eighth hole, running over 250 yards, creating even more difficulty to navigate. Bluegrass rough stands at two inches, which isn’t terrible, but the Poa Annua-Bentgrass greens are small, measuring roughly 5,200 square feet, while running up to 12 feet via Stimpmeter. Ball striking and strong driving will be beneficial, while scrambling and clutch putting are the recipe to recover from errant lies.
Recommended Plays: DraftKings
DraftKings maximum salary is set at $50,000
Jon Rahm: $11,200
Recommending Jon Rahm is a chalky play, however, we need to roster a complete golfer who has experienced success at a difficult course like Olympia Fields. Not only has Rahm won at this course during this event in 2020, he is a premiere driver, ball striker, and putter. He just needs to maintain consistency. Buy the dip on his value, which is less than Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler at $11,200 on DraftKings, to obtain decent value by anchoring your lineups with a strong blue-chip prospect like Rahm.
Brian Harman: $8,100
Brian Harman had a disappointing follow-up performance at TPC Southwind last week, compared to his dominant win at The Open Championship. We must take advantage of this mispriced value on Harman, who recorded a T12 finish at the 2020 BMW Championship. Harman still managed 16 birdies during a T31 finish at the St. Jude Championship, while he’s generated 107.5 to 123 FPPG on DraftKings this season. He’s a meticulous driver and ball striker, often avoiding bad lies, which is key to success at Olympia Fields. Don’t hesitate to plug Harman into lineups this week.
Keegan Bradley: $7,100
Somehow, we’re getting Keegan Bradley at just over $7,000 on DraftKings. Bradley fluctuated between -3-under-par and +1 during TPC Southwind, but he’s a solid ball striker who recently won the Travelers Championship with a flurry of 27 birdies. When he’s hot, Bradley generates a ton of production in DFS lineups. He didn’t compete at the 2020 BMW Championship at this course, however, he ranks 28th in strokes gained putting, which puts him over the edge for me as the biggest salary-saving prospect on this slate.
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Recommended Plays: FanDuel
FanDuel maximum salary is set at $60,000
Patrick Cantlay: $12,000
We don’t have to overthink drafting Patrick Cantlay. He’s locked into a rhythm right now, recording three T14 finishes, including two inside of the top four, across his last five events played since mid-June at the U.S. Open. Cantlay is seeking his third consecutive outright win at the BMW Championship and will likely have plenty of motivation following his untimely water shot against Glover during the playoff at TPC Southwind last weekend. Cantlay managed a T12 finish at Olympia Fields in 2020, plus he’s among the best ball strikers and putters left in contention, so we need to pay up to acquire his skillset.
Cam Davis: $9,300
I’ve been high on Cam Davis for weeks and he continues to deliver. The Aussie qualified for his first BMW Championship appearance with an impressive run of T10, T7, and T6 finishes down the stretch. Davis ranks ninth in strokes gained off-the-tee. which will bode well for his outlook battling the narrow fairways and small greens at Olympia Fields this week. At $9,300 on FanDuel, this feels like a huge steal.
Adam Schenk: $8,000
Adam Schenk didn’t compete at Olympia Fields in 2020 either, but he’s been rocketing up leaderboards for most of the summer. The Indiana native bounced back from a missed cut and a T64 finish to end the regular season with a T6 finish at TPC Southwind, sinking 20 birdies and going -4-under-par twice to climb into 20th in the FedExCup rankings. Schenk ranks 33rd in strokes gained putting, 11th in total hole outs, and top-50 scrambling. At $8,000 on FanDuel, Schenk is a strong value play to occupy the sixth roster spot in FanDuel DFS lineups this week.
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Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.
