Bradley outlasts the field to capture 2nd BMW

Writing from Castle Rock, Colorado

Sunday, August 26, 2024

This one was for Pops.

Because of his work, golf professional Mark Bradley had never been on site when son Keegan had won a professional tournament. Not even the 2011 PGA Championship. There was always a tournament to run or a lesson to give at Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis in Wyoming.

Sunday, that changed. Mark, who had been on hand numerous times when Bradley hadn’t won, was inside the ropes at Castle Pines Golf Club as Keegan, pressed by Adam Scott and sundry others all the way, captured the BMW Championship for the second time in six years. Bradley, the last man to make the BMW field last week in Memphis, now is not only $3.6 million richer, but has a chance to win the Tour Championship and the circuit’s playoff title next week at East Lake Golf Club.

Bradley’s closing even-par 72 for 12-under 276 beat Scott, Sam Burns and Ludvig Aberg by a stroke. A quartet including Xander Schauffele tied for fifth at 8-under 280.

Bradley’s week was the stuff that dreams are made of. He made the most of being the 50th and final player in the field, leading after the first round, then hanging close enough to 36-hole leader Scott to be in the last pairing with him on Saturday, then taking a one-stroke lead into the final round, then playing gritty golf – his only birdies were on the first and 17th holes, both par 5s – to grasp the J.K. Wadley Trophy for the second time.

“Last Sunday (after finishing early), I walked the range looking at people who were going to determine my future,” Bradley said. “Then I went to my hotel, had the coverage on, had the iPad on the featured holes, and had to unplug my phone twice it had gotten so hot from me refreshing it.”

In the end, Tom Kim’s 6-6-6 finish in Memphis vaulted Bradley into 50th. Then it was off to the airport, and to Denver rather than home to Jupiter, Fla. Now it’s on to Atlanta, where winning isn’t out of the question.

“Maybe I can,” Bradley said. “I’m playing great. I feel very lucky to be in Atlanta. To make the Tour Championship two years in a row is a big deal.”

Scott hung with Bradley like a hunting dog pursuing a pheasant on the front nine, beginning with a 43-foot eagle putt at the first that brought him even with Bradley at 13-under and wowed the gallery of about 32,500. But three straight bogeys to open the back nine and too many visits to Castle Pines’ deep bunkers cost him a chance at the title. But his joint second placed him 14th in the playoff standings, so he goes to East Lake as well.

“Ten-11-12 kind of blew it for me there,” Scott admitted. “I was in position with wedges on every hole and made three bogeys. That's almost unthinkable, really. I definitely struggled on the greens on the weekend. Just didn't quite have the confidence in some of those putts.

“I thought I played well off the tee today, which was nice, but just didn't take advantage from there.”

Scott’s unraveling began with a pulled 9-footer on No. 10, continued with a failed bunker save on No. 11, and accelerated with another failed save from the rough on No. 12. He played the final six holes 1-under, but couldn’t catch Bradley.

Aberg tried to charge but three back-nine bogeys negated an equal number of birdies, while Burns, whose 7-under 65 was the round of the day, finished nearly two hours before Bradley and Scott, and watched the play with hope that fortune would fall in his favor. It did not.

“Overall it was a really, really good round,” Burns said before the wait.

Bradley, who held the lead outright on the final eight holes, had a really, really good week, and at the best possible time, to annex his seventh career victory.

“In the pro-am on the 3rd hole, I hit this 6-iron,” he recalled. “It was blowing harder than it blew all week, and I just absolutely flushed it, and it came out right in my window, and it just flew exactly the way I wanted it to. I was like, geez, that felt really good. To be honest with you, from that point on, I didn't really mis-hit a shot for four days, which doesn't happen a lot. I didn't putt that great this week, and I just struck the ball perfectly.”

Bradley putted fine, with nary a three-putt and 31 one-putts in a 113-putt week that featured 21 birdies. He hit 41 of 56 fairways and 53 greens, right near the average for recent BMW champions.

He called the shot of the tournament his 227-yard 5-iron to 16 feet on the par-5 17th, setting up a two-putt birdie and a two-stroke lead going to the last.

“That 5-iron was as pure of a golf shot as I've ever hit,” Bradley said. “I had 222 to the hole adjusted with the 10 percent, and I hit my 5-iron about 212 yards. It was a little downwind, but on the previous hole I hit 7-iron for 195 adjusted and it just went forever. I think I was a little jacked up.

“So we just decided to rip that 5-iron, and I hit it – I was aiming at the tongue of the bunker, and I hit it right there. It's one of those moments when you realize you can hit these shots in contention when it matters most, and to be able to pull that shot off – I mean, for me that was the shot of the tournament and a shot that I'll remember forever.”

It certainly beat his tee shot on the par-5 14th, which he sliced well to the right. It was a couple of steps from going out of bounds and a couple of yards from behind dead behind a tree. Instead, he got a break champions often get, a window to punch out from the trees and scramble for a par.

“Worst shot I hit all day,” Bradley said. “That was a relief to get down there and see I could get it onto the fairway. That was a big moment in the day.”

His victory was notable for several reasons. First, he joined Jack Nicklaus and David Love III as the only American Ryder Cup captains to win on the modern PGA Tour after being named to head the American squad. Second, he became the fourth multiple winner of the Western Open in the BMW Championship era, joining Tiger Woods (2007, 2009), Dustin Johnson (2010, 2016), and Patrick Cantlay (2021-22), and 20th going back to the start of the championship in 1899. Third, it might convince U.S. Presidents Cup captain Jim Furyk, who had already named Bradley an assistant captain, to put him on the 12-man team.

“We’ll see,” Bradley said with a smile.

Mark Bradley, of course, couldn’t have been prouder to see his son triumph. And Keegan was tickled that he finally won with Mark there to give him a bear hug.

“You just have to get lucky (for him) to be at one of these that you win at,” Bradley said. “You never know where you're going to win. I've been fortunate enough to have my family at almost all of my wins. The only one I can think of that I was by myself was my first win at Byron Nelson and then Japan, which no one was there. But it was great to have him here. It's a special thing to win on the PGA Tour, and it's something that you really have to cherish, and to have him here makes it that much more special.”

“This is very, very special day,” Mark Bradley said, beaming on the 18th green.

“What a day,” Keegan Bradley answered.

What a week.

Onward to East Lake

Along with Bradley (from 30th to fourth) and Scott (from 41st to 14th), Tommy Fleetwood (31st to 22nd) and Chris Kirk (32nd to 26th) jumped into the Tour Championship field.

The four knocked out: Brian Harman (29th to 31st), Jason Day (25th to 33rd), Davis Thompson (26th to 34th) and Denny McCarthy (30th to 35th).

Two close calls stood out. Alex Noren, whose closing 75 placed him in a tie for ninth and ended his chance to advance, as he needed to at least tie for fourth. And Justin Thomas just squeezed in at the No. 30 spot after being in and out of the final field all day. His closing 4-under 68 for 2-over 290 was just enough to send him to East Lake.

Tour leader Scottie Scheffler starts at 10-under in the Tour’s “Starting Strokes” gambit. Bradley starts at 6-under. He beat Scheffler by 13 this week.

It doesn’t Fitz

Matt Fitzpatrick was more than a bit annoyed when he discovered a crack in the face of his driver and was told he wasn’t allowed to replace it. He spotted the crack before he played the eighth hole, called a rules official over, and was told no replacement was allowed.

His drive on No. 8 went 288 yards instead of the 326 yards he belted it on Saturday. Another rules official was brought in he concurred with the first official, but took it to the chief referee, Stephen Cox, and he also said no.

“There's an obvious crack there that's causing a defect in the ball flight,” Fitzpatrick said in a discussion caught on PGA Tour Live. “It's outrageous. It's a disgrace. It couldn't be more obvious."

Replied the official as they moved down the eighth fairway: "That's not part of the local rule.”

The officials used USGA Model Local Rule G-9 in making the decision, ruling the damage wasn’t severe enough to allow an in-round replacement. The PGA Tour doesn’t have a local rule covering damaged equipment.

“The rule details a number of situations where the club would be allowed to be replaced, but the rule states that a crack in and of itself does not meet the threshold of being significantly damaged,” Cox explained to PGATour.com.

Cox added later, “Although there was a small crack in the face, there was no separation in the metals, and on that basis, that (damage) threshold wasn’t met, so his only choice in that case was to continue using that club.”

Scottie Scheffler, who was playing with Fitzpatrick, was flabbergasted.

“There’s a crack down the middle of the driver,” he told the official. “You can feel it but apparently it’s not ‘significant enough.’ The damage to the club is making the club non-performing."

Said Fitzpatrick when he was handed the club back, “It's the most obvious crack I've ever seen.”

He pulled the club out of play and used his 3-wood on the tee the rest of the round, scoring 2-under 70 with four birdies on the inward nine.

Fitzpatrick wasn’t the only player with driver trouble. Rory McIlroy snapped the shaft of his driver by leaning on it after hitting his tee shot near the stream on No. 9. He took his shoes and socks off and stood in the stream, left foot on a rock, to play a brilliant recovery en route to saving par, but like Fitzpatrick, was such with a 3-wood for driver the rest of the way.

Around Castle Pines

Keegan Bradley’s winning total of 12-under 276 is the second-highest score relative to par since 2011, with only the 4-under 276 of Jon Rahm at Olympia Fields in 2020, when COVID-19 prevented galleries from attending, higher in relation to par. … He jumped to ninth on the Tour money list with $ 6,879,454.71. … It’s the first time in 11 attempts that Bradley has won having had the lead after 18 holes. … Sunday’s play also locked in the automatic qualifiers for the Presidents’ Cup teams. For the U.S.: Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay and Sahith Theegala. For the hosting International squad, Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Adam Scott, Tom Kim, Jason Day and Byeong Hun An. … Bradley, 38, is the oldest player in the current top 30 of the world rankings and the oldest Western Open/BMW winner in 20 years. Stephen Ames was 40 when he won at Cog Hill in 2004. … Bradley plays a mix of clubs, starting with a Ping G430 LST 10.5-degree driver. He uses TaylorMade Qi10 3- and 5-woods, Srixon ZX5 Mk II 3-, 4- and 5-irons, ZX7 Mk II 6-iron through pitching wedge, a pair of Cleveland RTX ZipCore wedges, and an Odyssey Versa Jailbird Midsize putter to maneuver a Srizon Z-Star Diamond ball about. .. Disproving his age, Bradley has won three straight years, capturing the Travelers last year and the ZOZO in 2022.

– Tim Cronin

Bradley climbs past Scott to BMW lead

Writing from Castle Rock, Colorado

Saturday, August 24, 2024

If Sunday’s final round of the BMW Championship offers as much intrigue and drama as did Saturday’s third round, the echoes from the cheers will rattle around this little mountain that Castle Pines Golf Club’s members call home for weeks on end.

What mid-round had been a case study of leaders in retreat turned into a festival of birdies over the last five holes. Incoming Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley’s four birds in the last five holes – including an 8-footer for a birdie 3 at the last which prompted a long bellow from the lubricated gallery – completed a 2-under-par 70 and vaulted him back into the lead at 12-under 204, a stroke ahead of Adam Scott and two ahead of the Swedish duo of Ludvig Aberg and Alex Noren.

Bradley, who won the BMW at Aronimink near Philadelphia in 2018, is feeling the love from the gallery partly because of his play but more because of his captaincy. The “U-S-A! U-S-A!” chants have turned Castle Pines into Lake Placid at times.

“I haven't felt that since I played in the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, what I felt out there today,” Bradley said. “That was really cool. For now, I feel like I need to carry the torch for the United States Ryder Cup team, and I hope I'm doing that.”

Bradley, who hit only half the greens in regulation, bogeyed the 11th, 12th and 13th, and but kept his wits about him.

“I told myself after those three bogeys in a row that I was either tied for the lead or maybe one back,” Bradley said. “I would have been happy with that to start the week this late in the tournament. Kept trying to tell myself that.”

Scott, who lost the lead by hitting his first shot out of bounds and dropping four strokes in the first four holes, rallied to a degree, with birdies at the 16th and 17th, the latter a 6-footer, to assume solo second at 11-under 205.

“I didn't feel like I did that much wrong,” Scott said. “A couple of drives were just not quite right, and a three-putt, and all of a sudden I'm kind of chasing. I really struggled mostly on the greens today. They were just so different from yesterday's round speed-wise and firmness and look and everything.

“Felt like I was on a different course almost, and I just battled that most of the round. The good shots I hit, I didn't really get the reward. I'm in a good spot in the end of it to be one back.”

Aberg, who opened the day with a nosebleed on the first fairway, scattered the native hummingbirds with a 34-foot eagle putt at the par-5 14th – his second there in three days – and held station there en route to a 1-under 71 for 10-under 206. Noren, after early stumbles, came home in 4-under 32, including a 36-foot birdie at the last for 2-under 70 and 206.

“It was sneaky hard,” Aberg said of the course. “The wind (south, some 10-15 mph) was tricky. The greens were firmer from not having that much rain.”

It was compelling golf in the picturesque theater that is Castle Pines Golf Club, and that wasn’t all of it. Sneaking back into the picture we find Xander Schauffele, whose 5-under 67 for 7-under 209 was built on a 4-under inward nine, a splendid turnaround from his approach on No. 3, a devilish par 4. It sailed left, hit the rock wall in front of the green and caromed into the water. The result: a double-bogey 6.

“I had to dig deep in my little patience bucket that's running thin this late in the year on a Saturday,” Schauffele said.

Then there’s Wyndham Clark, who grew up playing Castle Pines and whose third round 3-under 69 was punctuated by a 16-foot eagle putt at the par-5 17th. He’s tied with Schauffele at 209, five strokes in arrears.

All that sets up this: Bradley and Scott in the final twosome for the second day running, and Aberg and Noren the duo right ahead of them, same as today. Schauffele and Clark lurking. But this time, the $4 million first prize will be hanging in the clubhouse window as bait.

“House money,” Scott called it, knowing that he can chase the win with his spot in next week’s Tour Championship, where the winner scoops up $25 million, secure.

“I'm right in this golf tournament,” Scott continued. “I don't know how many times this year I reckon I've been in contention going into Sunday, so I'm excited for tomorrow.”

Even if you’re only watching, it’s hard not to be.

Around Castle Pines

Defending champion Viktor Hovland is in the middle of the pack this week, but he’s hardly playing quiet golf. Saturday, he came within 16 inches of an ace on the par-3 16th, deftly using the side slope on the right side of the green to steer his tee shot toward the cup. He made the birdie putt and finished with a 1-under 71, and is tied for 24th. … World rankings leader Scottie Scheffler scored 2-over 74 and is at 1-over 217, tied for 35th. … The course average of 71.709 found the par-4 third hole the most testing, playing more than a half-stroke over par (4.646), while the par-5 17th was the pushover hole, at 4.250 strokes. … Robert MacIntyre withdrew after nine holes Saturday because of back pain. He was 2-over for the front nine. With Hideki Matsuyama’s WD because of back trouble before the second round, that leaves 48 players in the field. MacIntyre and Matsuyama will be paid for 49th and 50th place, but the money will be unofficial. … Sunday TV (Central time): ESPN+ 8-11 a.m. (plus feature group coverage until conclusion), Golf Channel 11 a.m.-1 p.m., NBC 1 p.m. until the finish.

– Tim Cronin

Great Scott races to the front

Writing from Castle Rock, Colorado

Friday, August 23, 2024

Adam Scott wasted no time chasing down Keegan Bradley on the BMW Championship leader board on Friday. Bradley might not even have been out of bed when Scott teed off at 7:35 a.m., and promptly birdied the first hole.

Scott, who had opened with a 4-under 68 at Castle Pines Golf Club compared to Bradley’s leading 66, would make eight more birdies before his day was done, and that 9-under 63 for a 36-hole aggregate of 13-under 131 made his lunch all the sweeter. Scott will go into Saturday’s third round with a three-stroke lead over Bradley, who was bogey-free until a mishap at the last brought him in with a 68 for 10-under 134.

In other words, Scott made his move a day before Moving Day.

“I think I took advantage of good conditions this morning and hopefully set myself up to have a real run at this thing on Sunday now,” Scott said. “Your mindset changes so much. Leaving the range, I just kind of wanted to keep moving in the right direction, grind out and shoot under par and keep going that way. Then by the middle of the round I was thinking of how many birdies can I make. It's funny how that happens.”
The answer – nine – added up to a new course record. About 3 1/2 hours later, Ludvig Aberg, a playoff rookie, matched him with a 63 of his own and sits solo third at 9-under 135.

Scott, whose first PGA Tour start came in the 2000 International, when he’d barely been a pro for a month, played Castle Pines like a member, hitting 11 fairways, 15 greens, and taking only 24 putts. He averaged 24 fewer yards off the tee on Friday – 320 compared to 344 – but hitting the ball in the right places on a Jack Nicklaus course has its benefits.

“I thought everyone would be going low, and then it played a bit tougher yesterday,” Scott said. “I think when you actually have to count your score out of the rough in the tournament, you see how thick the rough is. But there's plenty of room off the tee. The fairways are wide and the greens are receiving. After the rain yesterday, they're a bit softer. You can definitely attack. If you're on, guys should be going at pins.”

Scott, with Adam Hadwin in the second twosome off, took advantage of the half-inch rain that soaked the course during Friday’s thunderstorm delay. Others did as well – the scoring average of 70.040 was two strokes lower than the first round – but Scott made the most of every shot, considering an up-and-down on the par-3 fourth the key to his round. He missed the green on the 234-yard hole, but pitched to six feet and made the putt to save par.

Scott was more precise on the 229-yard 16th, dropping his shot to 4 feet and making birdie.

“That's one of the ones that came out pretty much how you drew it up in your head. That was a nice way to close out the round,” Scott said. “I played within myself. I picked fairly conservative targets. But it was a good day to be aggressive when you had the right number, like on 16. There were a couple other holes where I had wedges or shorter clubs where I brought it in close because the greens were soft and receiving. I didn't play overly aggressive, but I think I executed well, and I putted very well today.”

Bradley played the front nine in 1-under 35, but got going on the back, with a birdie on the 10th and three straight beginning at the 13th. But he made a dog’s breakfast of the 18th, going from the right rough to the left rough, then watching his pitch to the green roll back 20 yards. He was fortunate to finish with a bogey 5.

"I just have basically hit every shot the way I wanted this week,” Bradley said. “Even that drive on 18, I hit really well. Just the wind got it a little bit.”

He’ll be paired with Scott in Saturday’s final group, which he relishes.

“Adam is a world-class Hall-of-Fame type player,” Bradley said. “He went out and did what he does, and I'll have to play really well to hang with him this weekend.”

Aberg had made seven birdies in the first round, but finished at even par 72 thanks to a pair of double-bogeys and three bogeys. Friday, he cleaned up his card with eight birdies and an eagle, offset by a solitary bogey.

“I was still very aggressive, which I like,” Aberg said. “Yeah, I'm going to keep doing that and try to keep up and make a few birdies to catch Adam. It was just a little bit more efficient. The misses that I had were a bit tighter. I had a couple misses yesterday that were quite big. I just didn't make those two doubles that I made yesterday, and I made a few more putts.

“Adam for me is an inspiration,” Aberg, 24, said of the 44-year-old Australian. “He's been there for a long time, and what he's doing with that longevity is amazing. I look up to him a lot. It'll be fun to try to catch him this weekend.”

Alex Noren was in the day’s first pairing and went around in 4-under 68 for the second straight day to settle in color fourth at 8-under 136. Even with five 5s on his card, it was a solid effort.

“I know yesterday was firmer and more wind, so that made it a little tougher,” Noren said. “But I hit the ball better today. I hit a lot more fairways, hit the iron shots better, wedges better. Got some more chances. I'm happy."

Friday’s drama was played out without one of the leading men, Hideki Matsuyama. He withdrew before his 9:10 a.m. tee time because of lower back pain. He had finished up the first round after a 3 hour 10 minute delay, missing a two-foot birdie putt, which erased the gain from his 73-foot 11-inch birdie putt on the fourth hole on Thursday. Matsuyama’s withdrawal meant Collin Morikawa had to play alone.

Matsuyama, ranked third in the playoff standings entering the week, is in the field for next week’s Tour Championship. He also withdrew from last year’s tournament at Olympia Fields with back trouble after an opening 71.

Around Castle Pines

Notables: Collin Morikawa is tied for 10th at 4-under 140. Rory McIlroy’s 1-under 71 puts him at 3-under 141 and a tie for 15th. Xander Schauffele and defending champion Viktor Hovland are among those in 23rd at 2-under 142. Playoff and world points leader Scottie Scheffler scored even par 72 for 1-under 143 and a tie for 29th. He was flummoxed on at least one occasion by a poor approach yardage. He also couldn’t believe he missed a short putt coming in. … Keegan Bradley smiled when he heard the chant on the first tee: “U-S-A! U-S-A!” You get that when you’re the new Ryder Cup captain. … The PGA Tour stat crunchers report Adam Scott’s nine birdies bring his career total into fourth place in Tour history. He’s played 1,414 rounds on the circuit. … Castle Pines played a mere 7,960 yards on Friday. … Golf Channel’s Golf Central set is on a hillside above everything else on the grounds, matching the altitude of the Castle Pines clubhouse clock tower.

– Tim Cronin

Bradley owns Castle Pines for a day

Writing from Castle Rock, Colorado

Thursday, August 22, 2024

The day began with a Jack Nicklaus sighting and a flyover of four F-16s. It ended, after a 3 hour 10 minute lightning delay, with Keegan Bradley atop the leader board.

In between, plenty happened in the opening round of the BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club, that veritable cathedral of golf high above the madding crowd – some of whom were in attendance, judging by their flip-flops – some 20 miles south of Denver.

Nicklaus was on hand because he built the golf course, and thus was introduced at the opening ceremony which concluded with the flyover from the Colorado Air National Guard. Most every living winner of The International, the modified-Stableford tournament that took root here, was also introduced, proving Castle Pines knows how to do things up.

Bradley had just arrived at the practice range, which is adjacent to the first tee, when the F-16s roared over the landscape at 8:30 a.m. (It would not have been a good day for residents of Castle Pines to sleep in.) Immediately upon teeing off, Bradley made noise of his own, with birdies on the first two holes, the first a kick-in bird and the second from just under seven feet.

The BMW winner at Aronimink in 2018, Bradley kept it up all the way around, up and down Castle Pines, right down to his 10-foot birdie at the last, the final stitch in a bogey-free 6-under 66 for the first round lead.

That effort came four days after he’d sweated out the final hour of the first playoff tournament in Memphis, where he’d come into the day ranked 39th in the standings and ended up 50th – the last spot to qualify for the BMW, and lock in a spot at all of next year’s top-tier tournaments – thanks to Tom Kim’s devilishly untidy 6-6-6 finish.

“The top 50 is one of our most important numbers for us as players to be playing in these big tournaments and FedExCup points,” Bradley said. “I want to be out there with the guys and the Ryder Cup team (which he captains next year). I want to be playing with them, on the range with them, in the locker room, in the tournament. It was really important for me to be in this top 50.

“Sunday afternoon was one of the toughest afternoons of my PGA Tour career. It was really brutal. It's such a relief to be here. I just felt a lot calmer today.”

The calm, and diligent work beginning Monday on figuring out stock yardages at 6,311 feet, created a storm of birdies.

“It's worked out,” Bradley said. “It’s definitely a little bit more stressful because there's a lot more going on, numbers, but we did a good job of it today.”

Bradley leads Hideki Matsuyama by a stroke, thanks to Matsuyama missing a two-foot birdie putt at the last after play resumed at 6:43 p.m. Mountain Time.

It’s not just Matsuyama who is chasing. A who’s who of PGA Tour golf is in pursuit. Adam Scott, who played The International in 2000 in his first Tour start, Sungjae Im, Alex Noren and Corey Conners are joint third at 4-under 68. That didn’t satisfy Im, who on back on the range after his round. But Scott was reasonably satisfied.

“Fell in a good rhythm quickly,” Scott said. “Didn't make any putts on the front but then got a few to go off some good shots on the back, and got the momentum going in the right direction. You're going to make a mistake or two (with distance) or just hit a good one and it just doesn't quite go the number you were hoping. But overall if you keep making good swings, I think we've got it figured out well enough, and if I can keep trusting it, give myself enough chances to be around at the end of Sunday.”

Another bevy of stars are three strokes back at 3-under 69, including Xander Schauffele, who had one miscue with the altitude-to-club distance conversion along the way.

“I messed up today on 10, which was my fault. I think we had 110 or 112 (yards to the) pin and I ended up hitting a full 60 (degree wedge), and I remember him saying something like close to 100 yards or 95 yards, and I hit it like 108 yards, and I was like, man, why did that go so far, and I was walking up, and I literally got lost in the sauce of one of those 10 numbers that I just listed.”

Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1 with whom Schauffele was paired, sits in a tie for 15th place after a ho-hum 1-under 71. With seven wins on his resume this season, the BMW would be yet another gaudy bauble in a career year. He was runner-up to Viktor Hovland at Olympia Fields last year. His scare on Thursday was a surprise twinge in his back, notably on the 17th tee.

“Really I woke up just a little sore this morning,” Scheffler said. “I had trouble kind of loosening it up. With it being a little bit tight it was hard for me to get through it and I was laboring most of the day to get through the ball. On 17 I was trying to hit a high draw, and that's a shot where I've really got to use a big turn, big motion. Really just felt it a little bit. But other than that, all good.”

It didn’t hurt Scheffler too badly. He parred the 17th, but made three birdies along the way to go with a pair of bogeys and is tied with, among others, Hovland.

If form holds, the field, which averaged 71.960 strokes, just a bit under par, on Thursday, will have figured things out more perfectly by tomorrow and many more players will go low.

Around Castle Pines

Rory McIlroy might have copped shot of the day honors with a wedge to the 17th green while standing on rocks adjacent to a pond. It wasn’t near the pin, but it stayed on the back edge of the green to the delight of the big gallery. He settled for par, and after some back-and-forth, is 2-under courtesy of his 21-foot eagle putt on the par-5 14th. … The long lightning delay was nothing new at Castle Pines. They were a nearly-annual occurrence in the days of The International. The usually dry air is replaced most each afternoon by more humid air flowing over the Front Range, clouds form, and more often than not electricity is produced. And while the PGA Tour usually doesn’t call a halt to play until a bolt is detected within about 10 miles of the course, here on the top of a mountain, you can see lighting 40 or 50 miles away. … Jack Nicklaus, the course designer, and the winners of The International were honored at a Wednesday night dinner that also included the induction of the brothers Solich, George and Duffy, into the Caddie Hall of Fame. Both were Evans Scholars and both hit it big in the oil business, just like Castle Pines and International founder Jack Vickers. … Nicklaus won the Western Open, of which this is the 121st edition, in 1967 at Beverly and in 1968 at Olympia Fields.

– Tim Cronin

High times for the circuit riders

Writing from Castle Rock, Colorado

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

The password for this week in golf is high.

High altitude.

High revenue.

High stakes.

First things first. Castle Pines Golf Club is the highest-elevation course on the PGA Tour. It was in the days of the International, the modified-Stableford tournament that, like this course, was the realized dream of oil tycoon Jack Vickers. The clubhouse sits – or teeters – at 6,332 feet, more than a thousand feet higher than a mile. Sherpas handle the valet parking.

That elevation makes for both exalted views – of the Jack Nicklaus-designed course, of the fine homes of the local mountain climbers, of the breathtaking Front Range – and a dire dearth of short hitters in this week’s BMW Championship. Ludvig Aberg, who is not short, is even longer this week. He said he took Tuesday’s practice round and today’s back nine of the pro-am “to adjust the baseline.” His normal 170-yard 7-iron goes 190 up here near the treeline. His driver? That’s classified.

Billy Horschel knows about this kind of thing. He won the BMW at Cherry Hills, 20 miles closer to Denver and 1,000 feet lower, a decade ago, then won the following week at East Lake.

“I think it's set up for some risk-reward and you're going to see some stuff with that altitude and the ball going,” Horschel said. “You're going to see some shots fly a long ways and you're going to see some shots come up way short.”

Justin Thomas, noting that a pause before a shot after walking uphill would be a good plan, said of contending, “it's just going to be who can control their distance the best and take advantage of those opportunities when they get them.”

The scorecard maxes the yardage out at 8,130, a world record, though it won’t play quite that long. Still, when an eight is the first number, it draws attention.

Second, the return of the BMW – ye olde 121st Western Open to those with more white hair than black – to the Denver area means a bonanza for the Western Golf Association.

The WGA has sold more hospitality for this year’s tournament than last year’s record-setter at Olympia Fields, which netted $5.5 million for the caddies-to-college Evans Scholars Foundation while hosting about 120,000 spectators. Regular tickets sold out weeks ago, though tournament director Vince Pellegrino said Tuesday some individual hospitality tickets remained. How many people will walk the course is unknown. The threat of hypoxia may be a factor.

Whereas a generation ago the Western Open was happily ensconced at Butler National Golf Club, and thence at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club, BMW, which arrived on the scene in 2007, wanted to move the renamed tournament around the country because it wanted to move cars.

The WGA went along because it wanted to please its then-new sponsor, and then discovered a double plus. Bringing the circus to a town that hadn’t seen it – St. Louis, Indianapolis, Denver, Baltimore, Philadelphia – meant boffo box office, and offered the WGA the chance to expand the Evans program, lining up with similar organizations around the country.  That in part is how the WGA now has more than a thousand caddie-scholars in school.

This year’s carnival, next year’s BMW is at Caves Valley near Baltimore, 2026’s at Bellerive near St. Louis, and 2027’s at Liberty National, across New York Harbor from the Big Apple. A Western Open in the east. Go figure.

Third, and of most interest to the spectators, is this week’s competition, which happens to be the last real tournament of the PGA Tour season, and with $20 million on offer – $4 million to be stuffed in the winner’s wallet. In Castle Pines, currently 46th in Golf Digest’s top 100 American courses, they’ll find a Nicklausian layout which allows one to belt it in places and demands precision in others.

Rare is the non-major layout where few in the field have played, but this is one of them. There’s a lot of turnover on the PGA Tour in 18 years.

Jason Day, who played in the International finale in 2006, didn’t remember a lot beyond the first hole’s drop and noted chances on the sixth and seventh holes.

“It’s all kind of fuzzy after that,” Day said.

Thus so is the outlook for who’ll grab the J.K. Wadley Trophy on Sunday afternoon, but the usual suspects – Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, no longer confused for each other, at the top of the point and money lists, is where to start looking.

We note the BMW as the last legit tournament because next week’s cash grab at East Lake once again will be a handicap affair, with the top player starting 10 strokes ahead of the poor guy in 30th – and last – place, and the rest of the field allotted a commensurate number of strokes. So the low scorer for 72 holes may not win if he wasn’t gifted with a fat red number going into the week. (Smartly, the operation running the world ranking pays no mind to the nonsense and awards ranking points based on the real 72-hole score.)

The favored 50 this week are already rich beyond their dreams, so the cash flow is really for accounting and tax purposes. Scheffler, for instance, is the leader of the Tour pack at $29,108,691, a fantastic figure which includes the $8 million he pocketed a fortnight ago for leading the regular season. Whatever money he earns will only keep his accountant busy. But as for glory …

“He's been playing unbelievable golf,” Schauffele said of Scheffler. “I feel like we're all just chasing him. I've done probably the best job of getting the closest to him, but it's still very far away.”

Scheffler, with the Masters, the Olympics, the Players and five other wins, is the player of the year favorite, with Schauffele, owner of the PGA and British Open, a close second.

“I think since I'm in the running I probably would just refrain from voting. I think it would be a bit weird to vote for myself,” said Scheffler, who clearly wasn’t born in Chicago.

Hail to the Viktor

It took Viktor Hovland to finish in a tie for second last week at Memphis to guarantee he’d return as BMW defending champion and have a chance to repeat as Tour Championship winner (and thus playoff winner) at East Lake as well. “I kinda squeaked by,” Hovland said. “And if I have a couple good weeks, I can still win this thing,” he added of the playoff. “I think that’s an exciting thing. It is a playoff for a reason.”

Around Castle Pines

One other name bears mentioning as a contender this week: Wyndham Clark grew up in these parts and has played Castle Pines countless times. If anyone has local knowledge, he does. “Yes, I know some of the nuances that maybe other people don't know. And then maybe where it shows up, altitude is tough to play at, and I'm not here that much playing golf. So I'm a little rusty on my altitude game. But the good thing is I am used to it, and I feel like I have some tricks up my sleeve when I get into certain situations. Maybe it'll come with shot selection and distance control,” Clark said. … Castle Pines course superintendent Scott Pavalko has tournament experience. His previous stops include Cog Hill, where he replaced Ken Lapp in time for the 2011 BMW. He also was an assistant for eight years at Muirfield Village Golf Club, host of the Memorial Tournament. … Beautiful as Castle Pines is, it is not an easy walk, which is to be expected when you build something on the side of a mountain. The course runs up, down and across hills dotted with eight-figure homes, including a few under construction, with a 335-foot difference between the lowest and highest points, about twice that of Augusta National. Some holes probably have 80 to 100 feet of elevation change. The driving range goes up 50 feet from tee to the last target, which means the person driving the picker has to be careful. In comparison, Butler National, host of the Western Open from 1974 to 1990, has about 30 feet of elevation change, most all of it from the first tee on a bluff down to the fairway. … Thursday’s first round will take a page from auto racing and start with a flyover by four F-16s from the Colorado Air National Guard. … Wednesday’s pro-am included a few celebrities, including former Broncos quarterbacks John Elway and Peyton Manning, Chicago industrialist and horse lover Craig Duchossois, and former U.S. Senior Amateur champion and Walker Cup captain Buddy Marucci. Manning topped his tee shot on No. 1, prompting some gallery members to say, “One of us!”

– Tim Cronin