Well, what do you know. I doubt the 70 Tour players remaining in the FedExCup Playoffs petitioned officials to toughen up the North Course at Olympia Fields country club, for this weekend’s BMW championship. Nevertheless, the scores which were absurdly low in last week’s Northern Trust have gone from the ridiculous to the sublime during the first three days of the BMW Championship (for those that prefer that professional golfers strain to tame a golf course, like the rest of us.)
To refresh our collective memories, Dustin Johnson won last week’s first leg of the FedExCup Playoffs in the Northern Trust tournament by posting a score of 30 under par, pitch and putt course numbers. This week at the BMW Championship only three players posted a round under par in the first round, and after three rounds only two players, the aforementioned Dustin Johnson and one Hideki Matsuyama are under par, and only one shot under par at that.
I observed last week that the pros rampaging under par at the Northern Trust would experience a rude awakening when they got to the U.S. Open and the narrow fairways of the West Course at Winged Foot. It appears that I jumped to conclusions.
Just for the record, according to PGA Tour records, the last players to finish a non-major tour event with an even par or worse score was Billy Mayfair in the 1995 Tour Championship at even par, and Greg Norman at the 1990 Memorial Tournament at even par. The last golfer to win a non-major tour event with a score over par in a non-major PGA tour event was Bruce Lietzke at the 1981 Byron Nelson Golf Classic. It’s not likely the BMW winner will finish level with par or below, but the lower scores are a welcome respite from the absurd scores from the prior week.
AMDG
© R. E. Kelly 2012-2020
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