Philadelphia, PA – PGA TOUR - BMW CHAMPIONSHIP, Crooked Stick Golf Club, Carmel, Ind. - Rory McIlroy had seemingly lost his game earlier in the year when he missed the cut in four of five starts at one point.
Now, the PGA Champion has won two of his last three starts and has three top-5 finishes in his last four events. That has helped him climb to No. 1 in the world rankings and to the No. 1 spot in the FedExCup playoff race.
He'll take his hot game to Crooked Stick this week for the BMW Championship, the third of four FedExCup playoff events.
Crooked Stick, home of the 1991 PGA Championship won by John Daly, is hosting this playoff event for the first time. This tournament is rotating courses, much like the first playoff event, The Barclays.
Last year at Cog Hill, Justin Rose opened with an 8-under 63, then hung on to beat John Senden by two strokes. The victory was Rose's third on the PGA Tour and he won his fourth title earlier this year at the WGC - Cadillac Championship, which was his first World Golf Championships title.
The field was cut down to 70 after McIlroy's win Monday at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Among those that failed to advance were, John Rollins, Aaron Baddeley, J.J. Henry, Sean O'Hair, Charles Howell III, Ricky Barnes and K.J. Choi.
Golf Channel has the broadcast the first two days. NBC and Golf Channel will split coverage on Saturday and Sunday.
The top 30 players on the FedExCup points list will be in Atlanta on Sept. 20 for the Tour Championship, where Bill Haas won last year and helped him win the FedExCup title as well.
EUROPEAN TOUR
KLM OPEN, Hilversumsche Golf Club, Hilversum, The Netherlands - Simon Dyson fended off David Lynn by a single stroke last year to win this title for the third time in six years.
Dyson closed with a 66 for the 1-shot win. He also win this crown in 2006 and 2009.
Among those Dyson topped last year were Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood. However, those two are playing in the FedExCup playoffs and won't be in the field this week.
Martin Kaymer, Darren Clarke and Ross Fisher are among the former champions in the field this week. They will be joined at Hilversumsche Golf Club by former major champions Todd Hamilton, Michael Campbell, Shaun Micheel and Rich Beem.
Golf Channel has TV coverage for all four rounds.
The European Tour heads to Turin next week for the Italian Open, where Robert Rock fired four rounds in the 60s last year to win by a shot over Gary Boyd and Thorbjorn Olesen.
LPGA TOUR
KINGSMILL CHAMPIONSHIP, Kingsmill Resort (River Course), Williamsburg, Va. - The LPGA Tour returns to Kingsmill for the first time since 2009.
Cristie Kerr is the last player to win at this course, when the event was known as the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill. She headlines the field this week as Yani Tseng is taking off.
Some of the biggest names in golf have won at Kingsmill. The Michelob tournament was won by Annika Sorenstam, Suzann Pettersen, Karrie Webb, Grace Pak and Se Ri Pak.
This event will serve as the final tune-up for the year's last major, the Women's British Open. However, next year the tournament will be played in early May.
Golf Channel has coverage of all four rounds this week.
Tseng will defend her title next week at the Women's British Open at Royal Liverpool.
CANADIAN TOUR
THE GREAT WATERWAY CLASSIC, Smuggler's Glen Golf Course, Gananoque, Ontario, Canada - The Canadian Tour also has a new event this week.
The field will included seven of the top-10 and 14 of the top-20 players on the money list
Included in that group are six of the season's seven winners.
There is no television coverage this week.
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