The FedExCup Playoffs continue with the BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club (par 70, 7,448 yards, bentgrass greens) in St. Louis, Missouri. Bellerive most recently hosted the 2018 PGA Championship and the 2008 BMW Championship. In 2018, Brooks Koepka (-16) won by two strokes.
The BMW Championship is hosting 50 players and there will be no cut this week. After this event, only the top-30 players in the FedExCup standings will advance to next week’s TOUR Championship, which will conclude the FedExCup Playoffs.
Bellerive is a long parkland course that was designed by Robert Trent Jones. The venue presents wide fairways, large greens, 76 bunkers and water in play on eight holes. With the fairways easy to hit at Bellerive, players can freely swing their driver, so this is a course that favors longer hitters. When Koepka won here in 2018, he finished the event top-three in both SG OTT and driving distance.
Iron play is also very important at Bellerive. Koepka ranked T8th in SG APP during his win at this par 70 in 2018 and five of the top-10 finishers that week finished the event top-10 in SG APP. Lastly, scoring on the par fours is most crucial, as Bellerive is a standard par 70 with 12 par fours. During his two-shot win in 2018, Koepka led his field in par four performance.
Let’s dive into three of my favorite DraftKings bargain plays for the BMW Championship, each costing less than $7.5K.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $750K Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
Top DraftKings PGA TOUR DFS Bargain Plays for the BMW Championship
Michael Brennan ($7,300) – With elite drivers having an advantage at Bellerive, it’s hard not to love Brennan at this price. The Wake Forest product has been one of the best drivers on the PGA TOUR this season, ranking third in both SG OTT and driving distance.
Brennan just secured his second PGA TOUR win at the Wyndham Championship two weeks ago and did so by three strokes. The bomber has finished inside the top-15 in four of his last 10 starts – to complement his elite driver, Brennan has gained strokes on approach and with his putter in three of his last four starts. Brennan ranks 11th in total strokes gained when we compare this field’s last 24 rounds and ranks seventh in this field in strokes gained per round at courses in the Midwest.
Sungjae Im ($7,000) – Im has been playing great golf recently, finishing inside the top-15 in four of his last five starts. At the FedEx St. Jude Championship this past week, Im finished T5th at TPC Southwind, including back-to-back 4-under 66s to begin the tournament.
Im gained strokes on approach and with his putter at TPC Southwind, and he has shot under par in all but one of his last 12 rounds. Im finished a respectable T42nd at Bellerive for the 2018 PGA Championship as the No. 105th ranked player in the world and now returns to the venue as the No. 62 ranked player. Im has won twice on the PGA TOUR since his first attempt at Bellerive, so finishing inside the top-15 this time around is a possibility.
Justin Rose ($6,800) – Rose finished an average T39th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship this past week, but he really found his groove in the final round, posting a 6-under 64 at TPC Southwind. This was the lowest score of the day by two shots as Rose led the world-class field in SG APP during this excellent closing round.
If the Englishman can in any way maintain this ball-striking form at Bellerive, he will effortlessly outproduce this low salary, possibly with a top-10 finish. Rose finished T19th at Bellerive for the 2018 PGA Championship and has been tremendous at past BMW Championships, winning in 2011 and finishing runner-up in 2017 and 2018. This season, Rose has made 11-of-17 cuts with seven top-25 finishes – most notably with a win at the Farmers Insurance Open in February – and he ranks 16th in SG APP and 36th in total driving.