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And then there were 50. As in, there are now 50 golfers left in the 2025 FedEx Cup Playoffs. But due to a withdrawal, the size of the field is 49 this week for the 2025 BMW Championship, the second leg of the three-tournament postseason on the PGA Tour.
A week ago, the top 70 made the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where Justin Rose outlasted J.J. Spaun in a playoff. Those two combatants had each lost a PGA Tour playoff earlier in the season to Rory McIlroy (Spaun at the Players, Rose at the Masters). McIlroy didn't play in Memphis last week but he's in the field at the BMW.
Follow along all day Thursday during the first round of the BMW for tee times, live leaderboard updates, highlights, breaking news and more.
2025 BMW Championship leaderboard
Keep an eye on this link for all the latest scores on the BMW leaderboard.
Where to watch, stream, listen to BMW Championship 2025
This is the TV channel, streaming and radio schedule for the 2025 BMW Championship, with NBC, Golf Channel, Peacock, ESPN+ and PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM all teaming up for the coverage. All times listed are ET.
First round, Thursday, August 14
- 9:15 a.m. - 6 p.m., PGA Tour Live on ESPN+
- 12 p.m. - 6 p.m., PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM
- 2 p.m. - 6 p.m., Golf Channel, NBC Sports App
Watch Golf Channel for free on Fubo
Robert MacIntyre makes six birdies in a row, takes four-shot lead
Talk about catching fire. Robert MacIntyre was 2 under through nine holes and then made another birdie No. 11 and took a bogey on 12. Then, he went on a tear, making five straight birdies on Nos. 13 through 17 to get to 7 under and take a three-shot lead.
Bobby Mac was 20th in the FedEx standings when the day started but he has shot up to No. 3.
But he wasn't done. On the par-4 closing hole, which measures 474 yards, his approach ended up just inside five feet and he made yet another putt for six straight closing birdies.
All in all, it's an 8-under 62 for the Scottish lefty, who leads the BMW by four shots over Scottie Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood, who has two to go.
"Yeah, probably the last six holes is probably as good as I've ever putted in a stretch of holes. Just so consistent," he said after his round. "But since I changed coach at Pebble Beach this year on the putting, I've turned the right corner. I've got back to doing what I'm used to doing. You don't expect to hole the big long putts. I don't even know how long that one was on the par 3, but it was a long way away. But I expect to roll in putts. I work hard at it. I do a lot on my reads. I do a lot on my touch. When you get the eye on, it's free flowing, and it's nice."
Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood in hot pursuit of lead
Scottie Scheffler is the clubhouse leader but there are two others – Tommy Fleetwood and Robert MacIntyre – who have tied him at 4 under. Fleetwood is through 12 holes and Bobby Mac is through 14.
Scheffler said he hung out with family and friends during the weather delay. He described how the course played different after the rain.
"If you look at a pin, like the pin on 16, the par 5, with how firm it was earlier, it can be a tough pin to get to, as well as the pin on 15. There's a lot of slope there, and I hit a cut and it landed right of the pin and it stays on the green, whereas if I played that hole before the rain delay, it may have landed there and kicked off into the first cut, maybe even the rough," he said. "Golf course definitely got a bit easier but did a good job of taking advantage of the holes I had left."
Meanwhile, Viktor Hovland shot 3-under 67 and is in a group of three golfers, along with Ben Griffin and Rickie Fowler, a shot back.
Jason Day makes move; Scottie Scheffler posts 66
Day birdied the 14th and 15th holes to get to 4 under and take the solo lead at the BMW with three holes to go. A few minutes later, Scottie Scheffler drained a long, breaking birdie putt on the 18th hole to get to 4 under. His 66 is the best score signed for on this Thursday.
Viktor Hovland and Ben Griffin are in the clubhouse at 3 under. Rickie Fowler is at 3 under through 16 holes.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy shot even-par 70 after finding himself 2 over through six holes. Over his last 12 holes, though, McIlroy made two birdies and 10 pars.
And they're back. BMW Championship continues after weather delay
The weather has lifted and the golfers are back on the golf course. At 4:49 p.m. ET the horn blew to alert everyone the action is back on.
First round of the BMW is scheduled to resume at 4:45 p.m. ET
PGA Tour officials said golfers will back on the course playing at 4:45 p.m. ET. That would give this delay a time of 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Rickie Fowler tied for BMW lead with six holes left
Fowler, who played well enough last week to climb inside the top 50 for this week, is off to a good start at the BMW. He's at 3 under through 12 holes and tied Viktor Hovland for the lead just before play was suspended. He opened par-birdie-bogey-bogey but then rattled off four birdies over a five-hole stretch (Nos. 7 through 11) before making par at 12. He hit his tee shot on the par-3 13th just ahead of the horn.
Horn blows for weather, play halted at the BMW Championship
Just as Rory McIlroy was hitting his tee shot (which missed the fairway right and landed in a bunker) on the par-4 15th hole, tournament officials blew the horn to stop play. There were reports of lightning in the area, so the golf course was cleared at 2:35 p.m. ET.
3:40 p.m. ET update: No update, as the tournament is still suspended.
Viktor Hovland birdies the 17th, takes clubhouse lead at 3 under
About 45 minutes after Michael Kim signed for a 68, Hovland did him one better, posting a 3-under 67 on Thursday. Hovland, the 2023 BMW Championship winner, is seeking his second win this season and eighth overall. He entered the week No. 28 in the FedEx Cup standings and he's solidifying a top-30 spot with a strong showing so far in Maryland.
When asked why he always seems to play well at the FedEx Cup, Hovland joked that he hasn't played enough to warrant that comment. He did, of course, win the Tour Championship in 2023, winning an $18 million payday in the process.
"Always? Do we have a large enough sample size to claim that? I don't know. I guess there's something about kind of having your back against the wall and having to perform," he said. "I think sometimes I can get too much into my head about swing mechanics and all that stuff, which I still think is important, but I think when you're in the playoff and I'm 28th and top 30 advances, it's like, all right, we kind of have to forget about that stuff a little bit this week and just go out there and play, and I do think that's definitely helping me in the short term."
Remembering Patrick Cantlay's 2021 putting masterpiece
What Patrick Cantlay did at the 2021 BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club was nothing short of brilliant, shooting a total of 27-under for 72 holes — and 31 birdies for the week — and it still wasn’t enough to win in regulation. Cantlay would have to duel six holes in a sudden-death playoff with Bryson DeChambeau before he could drive off with his third trophy of the season.
Cantlay made more than 537 feet of putts for the week and gained 14.58 strokes on the field with his putting, the most strokes gained putting in a 72-hole event since tracking began on the Tour in 2004.
Here's a piece from our Adam Schupak about a truly impressive showing.
And by the way, through 16 holes on Thursday, Cantlay is even.
Michael Kim is the clubhouse leader at 2 under
They said Caves Valley wouldn't be a birdie-fest anymore, not after a massive renovation, and so far, they're right. Kim parred the last and signed for a 2 under 68 and that has him as the clubhouse leader. There are still a handful of golfers who have yet to start their first rounds, but the course seems to be showing its teeth already.
Where is Sepp Straka this week?
Sepp Straka, the 10th-ranked player in the world and a two-time winner this season, is missing out on the action at the BMW Championship after he skipped the event due to a private family matter.
Straka is fifth in the FedEx Cup Playoffs standings. He tied for 17th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Sunday. He's also currently sixth in the Ryder Cup European team rankings.
Straka won The American Express and the Truist Championship earlier this season. He's one of six golfers to have won at least two events in 2025. He has six top-10s this season and in his PGA Tour career, he's collected four wins.
Scottie Scheffler (yawn) tied for early lead at BMW
Scheffler birdied Nos. 1, 2 and 4 and is at 3 under through five holes already in his Thursday round. Ben Griffin birdies Nos. 3, 4 and 5 and is also at 3 under, so he's tied for the lead in the early going.
Rory McIlroy, Scheffler's playing partner the first two days, is 1 over through 5.
Caves Valley renovation 'looked like a bomb went off'
Soft conditions, wide fairways and barely a breeze made Caves Valley vulnerable the last time the BMW Championship was held here in 2021. That was the impetus for the club signing off on a full-scale renovation of the Tom Fazio-designed layout in the northwest suburb of Baltimore in October 2022. Fazio worked with former U.S. Amateur champion Buddy Marucci, a longtime member, as consultant on the project.
Beginning on July 31, 2023, they blew up the course and built a better one in 103 days, moving more than 45,000 cubic feet of dirt on the first hole alone.
“It almost looked like a bomb went off,” said Kyle Steidel, the course superintendent.
Here's more from our Adam Schupak on the rebuild.
Shane Lowry nearly holes out on first hole, birdies first three
Shane Lowry's start to the BMW Championship couldn't have gone much better. On the first hole of the day, Lowry nearly holed out as his 105-yard approach rolled to a few inches. He followed up with an 11-foot birdie putt on the second hole and then an 8-footer for birdie on the third hole to get to 3 under in as many holes.
Lowry has only broken 70 twice in his last 10 rounds on Tour, but he's in a great position to do so on Thursday. Lowry entered the BMW in 23rd on the FedEx Cup standings, so a good start will help put him a great position to reach the Tour Championship, but after a great start to the 2025 season, he hasn't finished in the top 12 in any of his last seven starts, after placing in the top dozen spots six times in his first 11 events.
Michael Kim says no crazy low scores, then starts hot
After playing a practice round and seeing the newly renovated Caves Valley, Michael Kim said via X that the scores would not be as low as the last time the course hosted the BMW Championship.
But then Kim came out firing on Thursday morning, posting birdies on two of the first three holes to get out to an early edge. And he could have gone even lower — he just missed a 15-footer for birdie on the second hole.
UPDATE (10:22 a.m.): He then made birdie on No. 4, as well, to get to 3 under.
What is the cut at the 2025 BMW Championship?
Just like last week, there is no 36-hole cut on the PGA Tour this week, but there will be a top-30 cutoff come Sunday to determine who will advance to the Tour Championship next week.
What is the prize money at the 2025 BMW Championship?
The BMW has a $20 million purse and a $3.6 million first-place prize. This will also be the final week for PGA Tour golfers to compile earnings for the official money list, as the Tour Championship payouts are considered "bonus" money.
What's the weather forecast for Thursday at BMW Championship?
There could be a thunderstorm this afternoon in Maryland.
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What is the weather forecast for the 2025 BMW Championship?
The temperatures in Owings Mills, Maryland, during the four tournament rounds are expected to be high 80s, perhaps reaching 90 by Sunday, according to Accuweather. There is an 80 percent chance of a thunderstorm during Thursday's first round. Expect it to be hot and humid all week, especially on the weekend.
Hole locations for the first round of the BMW Championship
Here are the hole locations for the topening round of play at Caves Valley.
BMW Championship has changed locations every year since 2011
The BMW is the only one of the three FedEx Cup Playoff events to not have a permanent home. In 2025, Castle Pines served as the host venue. This year's locale, Caves Valley Golf Club, hosted in 2021. Other recent golf courses that had the BMW include Olympia Fields (2023, 2020), Wilmington Country Club (2022), Medinah (2019) and Aronimink (2018).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: BMW Championship updates: Robert MacIntyre makes six straight birdies, leads by four shots
Reporting by Todd Kelly and Tim Schmitt, Golfweek / Golfweek
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