BMW Championship: Exploring past champions, eligibility and more

Less than 48 hours remain before the tee off at the BMW Championship 2023. The top 50 players of the season are already at Olympia Fields Country Club, and there are several historic names and a few surprises among them.

The BMW Championship is the second postseason playoff tournament on the PGA Tour. The qualifying method is fairly simple: the top fifty players in the FedEx Cup ranking earn a spot, including points earned at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

The first playoff tournament (as the second will also do) quadrupled the points to be awarded, according to the places occupied. This meant, for example, that Lucas Glover moved from 49th to 4th place thanks to the 2,000 points he earned with his victory in Memphis.

Other interesting movements in the ranking were made by Patrick Cantlay, who moved from 13th to 5th place, and Tommy Fleetwood, who climbed from 26th to 10th. At the other extreme were Jason Day, who fell from 11th to 21st, and Sam Burns, from 19th to 30th.

Among the 50 players on the field at the BMW Championship will be seven of the 13 previous champions of this event. Patrick Cantlay stands out, who has won the previous two editions in a row.

Jon Rahm (2020) was the most recent winner at Olympia Fields Country Club, which is once again hosting the BMW Championship. Keegan Bradley, Billy Horschel, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Justin Rose are some of the other previous champions.

BMW Championship: some storylines to follow

In addition to the previous champions, the BMW Championship field includes Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, current numbers 1 and 2 of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).

Three of the four major winners of the season (Jon Rahm, Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman), as well as the champion of The PLAYERS (Scheffler) will also be in the field.

Just over half of the field (28 players) won at least one tournament during the season. They are led by Jon Rahm, who recorded four wins this season and is also leader of the FedEx Cup ranking.

Lucas Glover will be looking for his third consecutive victory in the BMW Championship. Given his performances since the Wyndham Championship, he will be confident in his ability to do so.

If he succeeds, he will add his name to a select list of 26 PGA Tour players who have won three or more tournaments in a row.