If you looked at last week’s Northern Trust at TPC Boston, where there were two 59 watches on the same day and 30 below was the final winning score, the first round of the BMW Championship was basically just the opposite.
Only three players played Olympia Fields below par in Round 1 on Thursday, and if you were 2 over 18 holes, you would win streaks on the field. That’s good news for a lot of big names in this event, because there were a lot of 2 overs (and worse!) On Thursday. Let’s take a look at the leaderboard that goes into the second round of Friday.
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Hideki Matsuyama (-3) – He was first in the field from tea to green and first on the rankings to Round 1. This should come as no surprise. Olympia Fields will identify almost the best ball striker in the field this week, and it could end up as Matsuyama. He certainly has the chops to stay on top. It is normally true that a course identifies the best ball striker in a given week, but it will be even more true this week, given how fast and steady this course plays out.
2. Tyler Duncan (-2) – To give you an idea of how good a 68 was on Thursday, consider the fact that it was almost five strokes better than the field average in Round 1. An equal score last week at TPC Boston in Round 1 would have been a 64. Duncan needs it too, as he started the bubble this week to make it to next week’s Tour Championship (which would bring him into several mass events in 2021). There’s always a lot at stake when this involves so much money, but it’s more life – changing for someone like Duncan, who has not had a top 10 since winning last fall. Also, don’t expect it to last as Duncan leads the field in putts, which is not a super sustainable way to win a tournament like this.
Mackenzie Hughes (-1) – Good run for Hughes, who is a solid player, but he barely got strokes from the tee and with his irons. If he’s down at the end of the day on Friday, I would be shocked.
T4. Tony Finau, Harry Higgs, Billy Horschel, Lanto Griffin, Sebastian Munoz, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Carlos Ortiz, Mark Hubbard, Rory McIlroy, Abraham Ancer (E) – McIlroy should probably be the new favorite, given how he beat it on Thursday. He shot 70, but was top five in both riding and iron play, and missed three (!) Putts of 4 feet and inside. He went home to TPC Boston last week in search of a driver who felt lost, and he absolutely missed it in Round 1. Good sign for the rest of the week.
T14. Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland (+1) – Hovland hit a driver of the deck that made me weak in the knees Thursday. Think how awful it is for DJ to go 60-64-63 over the last three rounds at TPC Boston and then come to this track and post a 71 that is actually a really solid score! He has to adjust the driver a bit on Friday as he hit only six fairways and lost strokes to the field with his most dangerous club.
T21. Alex Noren, Adam Scott, Matthew Wolff (+2) – I’m bringing up this group only because Noren came to my sleeper during the week. He throws his irons and puts it well (which he normally does), but he will have to ride more than six fairways in each of the next three rounds to be considered a factor.
T35. Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas (+3) – Last week was 3 over all the way out to Round 1. This week? It’s all in the hunt that goes on Friday. Woods is the biggest name among those who shot 73 on Thursday, and he stumbled late to that number by buoying at the last three holes in his round. He had a fair miss for most of the day off the tee, and that was what bit him on two of the last three holes and led to those bogeys. You do not have to ride it perfectly at Olympia Fields, but with how fast and solid the greens play in Round 1, it becomes very, very difficult to stop your ball in any kind of scoring position from some of the longer things, even with short irons. Woods hit the ball well, and he used his creativity on and around the interesting greens at Olympia Fields, but he will have to be generally cleaner (and especially with driver) over the last three days if he really wants to be in the hunt,
CBS Sports was with you all the way updating this story with the latest points, updates and highlights below. Check out the live scores at the top of this story, a more detailed leaderboard and our full viewer guide.
