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The PGA Tour is reaching the halfway point of the BMW Championship and in turn the FedExCup Playoffs. 69 golfers are competing this week at Olympia Fields to earn one of 30 spots in the season-ending TOUR Championship. Hideki Matsuyama holds a slim lead after one round, putting together a -3 on Thursday. He leads Tyler Duncan by one stroke, Mackenzie Hughes by two strokes, and ten golfers by three strokes. Marc Leishman brings up the rear at +10.
Most PGA Tour events have a cut following Friday’s second round in which upwards of half the field is eliminated from competition. However, with only 69 players competing at the BMW Championship, there will be no cut line and everybody will have the chance to play all four days.
The FedExCup Playoffs feature a field crafted from a season-long points leaderboard. The top 125 golfers competed last week in The Northern Trust. The 70 golfers topping the cumulative points leaderboard advanced to this week’s tournament where 69 are competing. Webb Simpson, ranked third in points elected to sit out to prepare for the TOUR Championship.
The top five in points entering this tournament were Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Simpson, Daniel Berger, and Collin Morikawa. Following the first round, Hidek Matsuyama has climbed to second, moving the rest down a spot.
Tiger Woods finished +3 on Thursday, which tied for 35th on the day. He entered the tournament 57th in points and is now projected to move up to 56th if he does not improve his performance.
The first golfers tee off on Friday at 12:30 p.m. ET.