Power Rankings: BMW Championship

With the rare exceptions of PGA TOUR winners Ryan Palmer at Colonial Country Club and Webb Simpson and Johnson Wagner at Quail Hollow Club, every TOUR stop could be defined as a neutral playing field for every golfer committed to compete. Still, while those guys are members of their respective clubs with perhaps more local support relative to others when they’ve competed in the TOUR events contested there, they still have to hit the shots. To wit, none have prevailed on their home course.

Over time, the potential impact of a neutral arena in golf is diluted with experience. For many on most tracks, it evolves into a home-away-from-home game that often results in success. This week, however, the BMW Championship truly presents a wholly neutral apparatus, and at 6,000 feet above sea level on the longest course in TOUR history no less.

Castle Pines Golf Club south of Denver hosts the 50-man field for the second leg of the FedExCup Playoffs. How it will test, an early look at the weather, what’s at stake and more are detailed below the ranking of those projected to contend.

While sports such as college basketball, college football and the National Football League rely on neutral host sites for their championships, for its FedExCup Playoffs, the PGA TOUR follows the model only for the middle leg of the three-event series. Given the construct of how golfers qualify for the BMW Championship in conjunction with eliminating course history in favor of competitive balance and the perks for thriving in that environment, following a stalwart like TPC Southwind with the mystery of Castle Pines is compelling.

Castle Pines tips at 8,130 yards. That is not a misprint. And yes, while altitude allows for that kind of length, reading yardage beginning with an “8” on the PGA TOUR is new. It’s a stock par 72 on which three of the par 5s exceed 600 yards. Nos. 1 and 14 can stretch beyond 650 yards. Other notable measurements include the 254-yard, par-3 fourth hole and the 545-yard, par-4 10th. Both nines exceed 4,000 yards.

The Jack Nicklaus design isn’t new to the PGA TOUR, however. It hosted The International from 1986-2006, long enough ago that, of the golfers eligible to play this week, only 44-year-old Adam Scott has course experience, albeit limited to one appearance in 2000. In fact, the tournament marked his PGA TOUR debut in a non-major when he was just 20 years of age.

Even if the Aussie had a steel-trap memory and feels for that brief experience at Castle Pines – he missed the cut – it’s likely that he wouldn’t recognize most of it. Since its run as an annual host to the PGA TOUR, it underwent a wide-ranging renovation. Today, bentgrass greens average 5,600 square feet and might eclipse 13 feet on the Stimpmeter, but adjustments for altitude must be made for distance and spin. Because balls fly further and curve less in thinner air, golfers can be aggressive and rely on a wider margin for error.

Outdoor conditions along the Front Range often is dynamic, and it could be again for the BMW Championship. A reasonable chance for rain and storms populates the forecast for the first two rounds. (There is no cut in any of the tournaments in the Playoffs.) Fairer weather is expected on the weekend, but that, too, could change as the days go by. Winds could cause some pause at times, especially as the energy encroaches. Daytime highs in the middle-to-upper 80s are expected.

There’s only one winner of the FedExCup and he will be determined at the TOUR Championship next week, but everyone at Castle Pines has a chance to be among the other 29 in that field to collect a bevy of benefits. They include exemptions into the 2025 editions of the Masters, the U.S. Open and The Open Championship as well as a membership extension through 2026, if necessary.

ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE

MONDAY: Power Rankings
TUESDAY*: Sleepers
WEDNESDAY: Golfbet Insider
SUNDAY: Points and Payouts; Qualifiers; Reshuffle

* - Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.