BMW Championship: Day One highlights from Medinah

Round two of the FedEx Cup playoffs is underway, and Day One at the BMW Championship is in the books.

I have been hearing mixed feelings about the playoffs. From the structure of it, the shortening to three events, the lack of a caring public. I love it. The BMW Championship is underway, and I wanted to look in at some of the highlights from Thursday’s round.

We have to start at the top of the leaderboard. Both Jason Kokrak and Justin Thomas were able to shoot 65 yesterday, and sit at -7 tied for 1st place. Justin Thomas’s round was the cleaner of the two, as he went bogey-free, along with seven birdies. Kokrak had the more interesting round. He would finish with six birdies, one eagle, and a bogey.

Thomas is in a better position thank Kokrak in the FedEx standings. Sitting at 15th and 32nd, respectively. The fast start this week by Kokrak puts him in a fantastic position to make the 30 man cut to the Tour Championship next week.

More from Pro Golf Now

• Golf Rumors: LIV set to sign Masters Champion in stunning deal
• Fantasy Golf: Grant Thornton Invitational DFS Player Selections
• Brutal return leaves Will Zalatoris looking towards 2024
• Stars You Know at World Champions Cup Starts Thursday at Concession
• Fantasy Golf: An Early Look at the 2024 Masters Tournament

What amazed me about yesterday was the lack of poor scores. It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise if you think about it though, as we are looking at the top 69 golfers from this season.

There were only two players who were unable to shoot even or better yesterday. Vaughn Taylor shot a +1, and Joaquin Niemann shot a +2. Neither one was able to put much of a run together, with Taylor going birdie-bogey-bogey-birdie-birdie-bogey-bogey on his non-par holes.

Of those 67 golfers who shot even or better, half of them are within a few shots of the lead at the start of Friday’s round. 33 of them, in fact, are within four shots of the lead through Thursday at the BMW Championship.

The fact that half of the entire field is at -3 or better is a testament to the strength of the field. You could make the argument that this is the deepest tournament of the year that is played on any tour. Deeper than any major, THE PLAYERS, or any WGC event.

Think about it. There are no exemptions. No random qualifiers from smaller tours. No borderline guys who have an 80 sitting in their bag just ready to slide them to the bottom of the leaderboard.

We have the 70 best golfers of the year. All of these golfers have made over a million dollars so far this year. With so much more on the line, it makes sense that 67 of 69 shot even or better.

A handful of golfers are on the heels of Thomas and Kokrak at the BMW Championship. Jim Furyk, Lucas Glover, Brandt Snedeker, Joel Dahmen, and Patrick Cantlay all shot 66 yesterday, only one shot back. Glover, Furyk, and Dahmen were all able to do so bogey-free, with Furyk throwing an eagle in there for good measure. For Cantlay, he got there with a closing birdie.

Cantlay and Snedeker almost matched them, as they each only had one bogey to go along with seven birdies.

Koepka was able to rebound from a poor start. Starting on the 10th hole, he found himself +2 through two holes. birdie-par-eagle-birdie-birdie would fix that, and he would throw in three more birdies and two more bogeys on his way to -4.

Bryson DeChambeau was able to rebound as well, though not as well as Koepka. with four bogeys through seven holes, he found himself at +3 and in last. A 32 on the back nine would get him up to -1, although he is still T-50th.

Right there alongside Bryson is Tiger Woods. He started hot with two birdies through three holes. He would trade bogeys and birdies the rest of his round, ending at -1.

Although he only shot -3, Rory McIlroy had twitter abuzz with his seemingly aggressive line off the tee box on the par-four 9th hole. It was the smart play on the dogleg left, and for a hitter of Rory’s acumen, it was an easy call.

https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1162182186436460546

Rory wasn’t the only one to hit an impressive and monstrous drive on Thursday at the BMW Championship. If you are ever on a 350-yard par 4 or shorter, be careful on the green if Dustin Johnson is in the group behind you.

https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1162119002346401792

With so many golfers close to the lead, there is bound to be a lot of movement on Friday. Only 30 of the players that are teeing it up this week get to head to the Tour Championship next week. Expect the low scores to continue, and great shots to be seen all day on Friday. Remember also that this is a no-cut event, so we should see great play throughout the weekend as well.

Best of luck to everyone teeing up Friday. I’m looking forward to a boatload of more good scores, and great shots to go along with it.