BMW Championship: Power ranking the top 10 at Aronimink

Thirty spots in the Tour Championship are on the line for the 70 players teeing it up this week at the BMW Championship. Who will advance to East Lake?

This week’s purse at the BMW Championship is $9 million. Nearly half that amount was what went into renovations at Aronimink Golf Club, our stop this week in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The project has been led by renowned course architect Gil Hanse, along with Aronimink staff over the last two years. It seeks to restore the course back to its look when Donald Ross built the course in the late 1920s.

One of the biggest differences from when the PGA Tour stopped at Aronimink in 2010 and 2011 for the AT&T National to now is sand. There are 176 new bunkers added that embody Ross’ original vision.

In exchange, the fairways and greens are larger. Like most of Ross’ courses, though, there’s often incentive to play the proper angles to attack his sloped greens. Players who hit targets are rewarded; those who miss can be heavily punished.

Aronimink is a 7,237-yard par 70. It’s been regarded as one of the country’s toughest courses and was a respectable challenge for the AT&T, holding winners to 10- and 13-under par.

It’s tough to say how challenging it will now play. Marc Leishman thought it would be like “learning a new golf course.” Plus, those AT&T Nationals were so long ago that it’s hard to glean too much from them.

In the FedEx Cup Playoffs, catching fire is everything, so we’re rolling with players riding good form into the Keystone State.

Just a reminder, this is a 70-player and no-cut event. The top 30 players advance to the Tour Championship in two weeks. That means a lot of guys will be incentivized to play hard on Sunday even if the lead is out of reach.