Baltimore bound. 

The last 50 standing in the season-long FedExCup race have made it to the BMW Championship at Caves Valley for the penultimate event of the PGA Tour season. The top 30 in points will advance to the Tour Championship, but first, 49 players will vie for part of the $20 million purse, with the BMW champion collecting $3.6 million in the no-cut event. 

From its field, course, history, tee times and how to watch, here’s everything you need to know for the 2025 BMW Championship. 

The field 

The top 50 in the FedExCup standings qualified for this week but Sepp Straka will sit out, having withdrawn due to a private family matter. 

That means Rory McIlroy, who sparked debate last week by skipping the FedEx St. Jude Championship, is back. It’ll be his first start since the British Open. 

Getting a little more in the weeds of who the top 50 is, there are six past FedEx Cup champions: Scottie Scheffler (2024), Viktor Hovland (2023), McIlroy (2016, 2019, 2022), Patrick Cantlay (2021), Justin Rose (2018) and Justin Thomas (2017). 

Plus, seven past winners of the BMW Championship: Keegan Bradley (2018, 2024), Hovland (2023), Cantlay (2022, 2021), Thomas (2019), Jason Day (2015), McIlroy (2012) and Justin Rose (2011). 

And nine players making their debut in the PGA Tour’s longest-running non-major tournament (dating to 1899): Jacob Bridgeman, Brian Campbell, Ryan Fox, Ryan Gerard, Chris Gotterup, Ben Griffin, Harry Hall, Andrew Novak and Sam Stevens. 

Of course, 19 players are looking to move into the top 30 in points following this tournament (view that list here). And there’s a lot at stake with a trip to the Tour Championship: an exemption on Tour through 2027, a spot in all four 2026 majors and every signature event and a large payday. 

The course 

In 2021, Caves Valley hosted the Baltimore area’s first PGA Tour event since 1962. 

At that year’s BMW Championship, the par-72 yielded a scoring average of 69.20, making it the 50th easiest course on Tour that season out of 51. Its hardest hole was the 465-yard par-4 18th, which played .152 strokes over par, making it the 199th toughest hole on Tour (out of 918) in ‘21. And only four holes played over par. Its easiest hole, meanwhile, was the par-5 2nd hole, playing .583 under par, making it the 18th least difficult hole on Tour. 

Four years ago, Patrick Cantlay won by shooting 27 under par in regulation. That was the lowest winning score on Tour all year. 

For 2025, though, changes were made to make the layout more challenging. 

The majority of holes were reworked and every green complex was newly built, some entirely. Different grass types were implemented to firm up the course and 10 miles of a new drainage system was installed underneath. Plus, the course has been altered from a par-72 to a par-70, and about 60 yards have been added to the course, now stretching to 7,600 yards. It’ll be the fourth-longest course on Tour this year. 

And the changes are noticeable. 

“I’ve only played nine holes so far, so I’ve only seen half the holes,” Cantlay said in his pre-tournament presser Tuesday at Caves Valley. “It’s much different and it’s in very good shape. Obviously, with it being par-70, that’s an easy way to make it play closer to par.”

Twenty-two players who played in the 2021 BMW are in the field this week. 

History: Six (crazy) extra holes 

The BMW finish in ‘21 at Caves Valley was quite a doozy.

After Cantlay holed putt after putt late in the final round, he found himself in a playoff against Bryson DeChambeau, who shot a second-round 60 that week, missing a 6-footer for 59 on the last hole. 

In the six-hole playoff, DeChambeau missed several opportunities for the win: a 6-footer that kissed the cup without dropping on the second extra hole and an 18-footer that kissed the cup on the third go-round. 

Three sudden-death holes later, Cantlay won with an 18-footer for birdie. 

DeChambeau became the first player in Tour history to post a score of 261 without winning. And for Cantlay, it was the best statistical putting performance in a tournament since strokes-gained became a category in 2004.

Tensions were high for DeChambeau after the loss. He continued his media boycott after that round, which stemmed from comments he made regarding the COVID-19 vaccine earlier that month in Memphis, and he reportedly shouted, “Get the f--- out” to a heckling fan in defeat. 

How to watch (all times ET)

  • Thursday: 2–6 p.m. (Golf Channel)
  • Friday:  2–6 p.m. (Golf Channel)
  • Saturday: 1–3 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 3–6 p.m. ET (NBC)
  • Sunday: 12–2 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 2–6 p.m. ET (NBC)

ESPN+ will also have featured coverage during each round. 

First and second round tee times


This article was originally published on www.si.com as BMW Championship Preview: Field, Course, History, Tee Times, How to Watch.

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