Jason Day Wins the 2015 BMW Championship, Becomes World Number One

It may have been pretty clear from the start, but Jason Day dominated the entire field this week for an easy victory at the BMW Championship at Conway Farms Golf Club. He finished off with a score of 22-under thanks to a pair of 69's over the weekend, a six shot lead over rookie Daniel Berger.  With it, he maintains his top spot on the FedEx Cup Rankings and also ousts Rory McIlroy to become the World Number One golfer on the World Golf Rankings, the youngest Australian to do so in history.

This is Day's second playoff win this year, and fifth PGA win of the year (including a major)! His streak kicked off near the end of July with his win at the Canadian Open. As of now, he's won four of his last six tournaments he's played in, a feat which has only been done by the likes of Tiger Woods, Nick Price, Vijay Singh, and a few more.

I've been saying this for years, but for most of Jason's career he's had great finishes but barely any wins. You could always count on him to have a great finish, especially in majors where we calculated that he had a 50% chance of finishing in the top 10 of any major he played. His win at the Farmers Insurance Open in February was his first in four year, and only his second of his PGA career. Many have called him the best player to not win a major or the best player who hasn't won a lot of tournaments, but he silenced them all these last couple of months. And considering his past and how golf has helped him get through it, there's no one more deserving of this success.

Like we said in our previous post, it's going to be hard to decide who the player of the year is. Is it Jordan Spieth, who won two majors, and nearly could have had them all? Or is it Jason Day, who's last couple of months has been career defining, full of broken records? Both are equally deserving, but who will it be?

Lastly, our picks finished pretty well too:

1) Louis Oosthuizen: T19 at 10-under
2) Rory McIlroy: T4 at 14-under
3) Justin Rose: T13 at 11-under

Funny enough, it was Rory who just a year ago was having a winning streak like Jason Day.

Next week is the final tournament of the playoffs and the season, the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. Up for grabs is the FedEx Cup and over $10 million. Only the top 30 as of this week are invited, making it one of the most action-packed tournaments of the year. Be sure to check out our picks for it.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Jason Day: World Number One

Jason Day Holds Steady Going Into Weekend at BMW Championship

Two rounds have been played at the BMW Championship at Conway Farms Golf Club, although with the current scoreline, you'd think four have been played...

That's right, the current leading score is an 18-under, which is held by none other than Jason Day. The Australian shot an impressive 61/63 on his opening rounds and was actually on 59 watch most of the time. With that, he tied the PGA Tour record for lowest 36-hole score. In fact, due to the weather delay, Day had to finish his opening round yesterday morning. On his final hole, he had a 44-yard pitch shot, which he needed to hole to shoot that 59. It would have been the first 59 shot since Jim Furyk's 59 two years ago at this event.

Day's second round yesterday included seven birdies, an eagle, and a bogey; good enough to earn him a five shot lead over Daniel Berger and Brenden Todd. At this rate, Day's on track to win his second playoff event of the year. If he does (or finishes a solo second), he'll surpass Rory McIlroy as World Number One on the WGC rankings and may even beat out Jordan Spieth for PGA Tour Player of the Year (keep in mind that Spieth won two majors this year).

Weather conditions at Conway Farms were not the best and did result in the suspension of the opening round as we said. They didn't seem to affect the players too much though, as low scores were shot all around. Traditionally, players seem to always score low at Conway Farms (see Furyk's 59 in 2013) and the score average this year seems to be around the high 60's .

In other news, a unique streak is on the line for Hunter Mahan this week. He is the only player to play in every Tour Championship event (since it's inception in 2007). Mahan sits at T29 as of now and is projected to finish at 52nd on the FedEx Cup Rankings. He likely won't make it into the Tour Championship this year (keep in mind that only the Top 30 make it), unless he can do something big.

Finally, here's how our picks are doing:

1) Louis Oosthuizen: T34 at 5-under
2) Rory McIlroy: T9 at 9-under
3) Justin Rose: T12 at 8-under


Pretty good results so far!

The third round is set to start later today. Be sure to check it out!


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Jason Day is playing some of the best golf of his career at the moment

2015 BMW Championship Picks

We're back from our little break this week to give you coverage of the third event in the PGA Tour Playoffs, the BMW Championship, being played this year at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Illinois. Since it is the third stage of the playoffs, the field only consists of the top 70 players on the FedEx Cup Rankings, as of last week, making it one of the smaller fields in golf. On the line is a $8.25 million purse as well as entry into the final playoff event next week, the Tour Championship (only open to the Top 30 in the rankings).

The BMW Championship was historically played as the Western Open, before the Tour went to the current playoff format. The Western Open was one of the oldest events on tour, first being played in 1899, and was won by many golfing greats like Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, etc.

This is the first time that the BMW Championship has been played at Conway Farms Golf Club since 2013. During that edition of the tournament, Jim Furyk set the course record with a stunning 59, which was also only the 6th 59 ever shot in PGA Tour history. The club has also hosted many amateur events in the past, like the USGA Junior Amateur, as well major qualifying events. This week, the course will measure 7,149 yards long and play as a par 71.

As for our picks, though the field is getting smaller and smaller every week, the decision for making picks becomes tougher, since the field is filled with so many quality players who earned their way into the tournament. Given that, here's our picks this week:

1) Louis Oosthuizen
2) Rory McIlroy
3) Justin Rose


Play starts Thursday morning but be sure to check out our Weekend Update post Friday evening,


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Louis Oosthuizen is our top pick this week