Storms blew through the Windy City on Thursday and delayed the first round of the 2023 BMW Championship for two hours.
When the clouds vanished and the sun came out, so did the PGA Tour’s best as nearly half the field was under par at Olympia Fields Country Club’s North Course in near Chicago.
The second of two FedEx Cup Playoffs events, the BMW saw a handful of players on the bubble make an early move up the standings and featured the usual suspects in the mix at the top of the leaderboard. From a Lucas Glover heat check to 103-year-old Grandma Susie, here’s what we learned from the opening round of the 2023 BMW Championship.
After a pair of players took the early clubhouse lead at 4 under, Rory McIlroy then chipped in for birdie from off the green on No. 17 to take a one-shot advantage at 5 under after a first-round 65. Brian Harman then followed suit and did the exact same as McIlroy from the rough around the 17th green and joined the 5-under party atop the leaderboard.
“I mean, only hitting three fairways today and coming up with 65 is a bit of a bonus,” said McIlroy after the round.
“But with the golf course being so soft, it’s almost an advantage to be playing out of the rough going into some of these greens because you know the ball is not going to spin,” he continued. “I’m not saying I was trying to aim for the rough, but I was, I think, a lot of the tee shots I was just being super aggressive because I knew in the back of my mind I wasn’t really being penalized for it.”
McIlroy said the rough is “a little gnarly around the greens” and it’s growing in a lot of different directions.
“It seems like the rough on either side of the fairways is all growing downgrain,” he explained, “so you’re going to get a decent lie more times than not, and then you can get club on the back of the ball and sort of control your distance a little better.”
“I think these greens are really tough to read. There’s a lot of subtlety to them, but there’s a lot of slope,” added Harman. “I left a couple of makeable birdie putts really short. You’ve just got to trust your read and give it a rap.
“Last time we were here, the greens were really, really fast, and it was really firm. It’s been a little bit of an adjustment trying to get a feel for them.”
Matt Fitzpatrick, Sahith Theegala, Chris Kirk, Wyndham Clark, Scottie Scheffler and Rickie Fowler are in tow and a shot back, T-3 at 4 under.
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Tee times were delayed by two hours in the morning due to “forecasted inclement weather” which led to preferred lies in effect for the first round at Olympia Fields. That means that all five rounds thus far in the 2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs have been contested with preferred lies.
There may be a brief argument to be made the PGA Tour shouldn’t host events in the Midwest during storm season or in Memphis in the dead heat of August, but nothing can be done about the weather. The events must go on, and if preferred lies are the only way to play, so be it.
That said … wouldn’t it be fun to see the best of the best in the world challenged just a bit more?
Sahith Theegala entered the week No. 31 on the points list, just one spot away from qualifying for the Tour Championship. Matt Fitzpatrick is even farther back at No. 40 in the FedEx Cup standings.
Needing strong finishes this week, the pair got into contention early after each shot opening rounds of 4-under 66 on Thursday and briefly held the clubhouse lead before McIlroy and Harman.
“Man, I hit it really, really well. Probably one of my best ball-striking rounds on Tour,” said Theegala. “Had a bunch of really good looks that I hit good putts and just didn’t go in. But that’s golf.”
If the results hold, Theegala and Fitzpatrick would each vault all the way into the top 10 of the standings, safely inside the cut for next week’s season finale at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
“Yeah, I think it’s impossible to ignore,” said Theegala of the FedEx Cup standings projections and updates. “I think everyone would be lying if they didn’t know exactly where they stood and — not exactly but somewhat of an idea what it’s going to take to get to next week.”
“I’m definitely paying attention to it but not sweating it too much.”
Across 21 events Fitzpatrick has a win at the RBC Heritage and just four top 10s, which makes for a down year by his lofty standards. Off the tee Fitzpatrick ranks 118th in total driving and 141st in accuracy, down from 15th and 51st, respectfully, last season.
“I wouldn’t say it fell off. I would just say overall my driving has not been where I want it. Not hitting enough fairways, and you just can’t do that out here,” said Fitzpatrick. “For me who’s always been relying on good driving and been a strength of my game hitting fairways to not, it just makes it difficult.”
That said, Fitzpatrick fancies his chances when the going gets tough on Tour, and he showed that the last time the BMW was at Olympia Fields in 2020 with a T-6 finish at even par.
“Yeah, I think it’s a great layout. I think it’s a great design. I think it’s a tough golf course,” he explained. “Obviously the rough is up if you miss the fairway, so there’s a premium on that. If the weather stays like this, windy, dry, gets hot, I think it’ll probably get back to where you were in 2020. Hopefully it gets that way.”
The 43-year-old is riding an absolute heater on the PGA Tour right now with consecutive wins at the last two tournaments, the Wyndham Championship and FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Glover has seen his status rise in the Playoffs and his name has even popped up for Ryder Cup consideration.
After his soaked-in-sweat win last week, Glover has to have cooled off by now, right? Not quite. The 2009 U.S. Open winner shot an even-par 70 on Thursday and walked off the course T-23, just five shots back.
“It’s great to see. He’s a great guy,” said McIlroy of Glover, his playing partner for the first two rounds. “You’re not going to find one person out on Tour that has a bad thing to say about Lucas. I think everyone has been happy to see him play so well.”
A woman known as Grandma Susie is a dedicated golf fan and earned a bit of PGA Tour-fame back in 2020 when a handful of players wished her a happy 100th birthday in a truly sweet video.
Three years later and now 103, the lifelong golf fan made it to her first PGA Tour event.
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