Established 2007 Par 71 | Course(s) Conway Farms Golf Club Tour(s) PGA Tour | |
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Location Lake Forest, Illinois (2017) Length 7,198 yards (6,582 m) in 2017 | ||
The BMW Championship is a professional golf tournament which is the third of four FedEx Cup playoff events on the PGA Tour schedule. Introduced in 2007, the BMW Championship was previously known as the Western Open. The Western Golf Association, which founded and ran the Western Open, runs the BMW Championship. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, the PGA Tour named the BMW Championship its Tournament of the Year.
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Tournament format
The BMW Championship is open to the top 70 PGA Tour golfers following the Deutsche Bank Championship. Only 70 players qualify for the event, therefore there is no cut after two days. FedEx Cup points amassed during the regular PGA Tour season and then during the two preceding playoff events determine the participants. The top 30 FedEx Cup points leaders following the BMW Championship advance to The Tour Championship, where the FedEx Cup Champion will be determined.
The BMW Championship was primarily held at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. In 2008, it was held in Missouri at Bellerive Country Club in Town and Country, a suburb west of St. Louis. In 2012, the Ryder Cup was contested at nearby Medinah Country Club, and the championship was moved to Indiana at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, north of Indianapolis. It was contested in Colorado in 2014 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, a suburb south of Denver.
The 2015 BMW Championship was played at the Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Illinois; Jason Day scored a personal record of 61 (−10) during the first round and won the event with a score of −22. The 2016 edition returned to Crooked Stick near Indianapolis, where Dustin Johnson won with a score of −23.
Western Open
For a detailed history of this event, including a list of its champions, see Western Open.The Western Open was first played 118 years ago in 1899. For many years, the Western was played in and out of the state of Illinois, before eventually settling down in the greater Chicago area. The Western Golf Association (WGA) ran the Western Open throughout its entire history (1899–2006), and continues to run the tournament under its new title. These are, however, two entirely different events in terms of playing format and invitational criteria. The Western Open was like any other regular PGA Tour stop – although it was once considered to be one of golf's majors. Its invitational criteria mirrored the PGA Tour Exemption Categories with one exception - the winner of the Western Amateur, another WGA-sponsored event, was invited to play in the Western Open. The BMW Championship is part of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, and only the top 70 FedEx Cup points leaders at the start of the BMW event will be eligible to play.