The BMW Championship tees off this week at Caves Valley Golf Club.
This is a look at the best first-round leader bets to make for the event on DraftKings Sportsbook.
The BMW Championship: First Round Leader Picks
The BMW Championship is being played at Caves Valley Golf Club in Baltimore, Maryland. Caves Valley Golf Club is a par 70 golf course and ranges 7,601 yards. The Tom Fazio-designed course is hosting the BMW Championship for the second time. It should be a challenging test, but good iron players can excel here. The defending champion is Keegan Bradley, but Patrick Cantlay won the last time it was at Caves Valley.
This tournament is the second round of the FedEx Cup playoffs. There is a progressive cut throughout the playoffs, so all 50 players in the field will play the whole tournament, then the top 30 will advance to the TOUR Championship. This field will be stocked with all of the best players on the PGA TOUR. Players like Viktor Hovland, Akshay Bhatia and Chris Gotterup are looking to stay inside the top 30, while Daniel Berger, Ryan Fox and others will look to break their way into the TOUR Championship field.
Patrick Cantlay FRL (+2500)
It hasn’t been the best season of Patrick Cantlay’s career. He has failed to win a tournament for the third consecutive season and missed the cut at three of the four majors. However, outside of the majors, he has found some form in the latter part of the year. He has finished T-13 or better in five of his past six non-major starts. That includes a strong T-9 finish at the FedEx St. Jude Championship last week in the first round of the playoffs. Cantlay currently ranks 19th in the FedEx Cup standings, and a decent performance this week should cement his spot in the TOUR Championship. However, there is a lot to play for Cantlay on a larger scale. Cantlay currently ranks 15th in the U.S. Ryder Cup team points list. He needs a strong next two weeks to push himself over some other names on the list if he wants to get picked by Keegan Bradley.
The BMW Championship is a great chance for Cantlay to break his long winless stretch on the PGA TOUR, make a lot of money and cement himself onto the Ryder Cup team. Cantlay is a two-time winner of the BMW Championship, including the last time it was played here at Caves Valley. He should feel confident at this course and tournament, where he has had so much success in the past. Despite some struggles on TOUR this season, Cantlay ranks 10th in strokes gained: total and eighth in strokes gained: approach to green. His iron game is great and if he can get his putter hot, he could be the first-round leader after Thursday.
Kurt Kitayama FRL (+3500)
Kurt Kitayama was one of the players who performed his way into the BMW Championship last week. Kitayama was 52nd in the FedEx Cup standings entering the FedEx St. Jude Championship, and his exceptional T-9 finish propelled him to 37th in the standings. He not only earned a spot in this tournament, but is well within striking distance to break into the top 30 and qualify for the TOUR Championship as well. Kitayama just secured his second career PGA TOUR victory at the 3M Open two weeks ago and should be feeling very good about his game. While this is a loaded field, Kitayama’s Friday round of 63 last week proved that he is capable of going low and competing with players of this caliber.
There is no real weakness in Kitayama’s game. It’s all about avoiding mistakes and finding consistency. He can drive the ball great, ranking eighth in driving distance this season. He ranks first on the PGA TOUR in approach from more than 200 yards and second in proximity, so his iron play is also exceptional. He then ranks seventh in putting average as well. When all three aspects of his game come together is how he ranks fourth on the PGA TOUR in scoring average this season. Kitayama will be motivated to break into the top 30 and should start the tournament off with a strong Thursday performance.
