Updated Aug. 20, 2026, 7:30 p.m. ET
The BMW Championship is the second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs and there are only 50 players in the field.
Last week, Scottie Scheffler hoisted a trophy for the 21st time in his PGA Tour career and this week, he’s at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis as the defending champion.
Get caught up on all the Thursday first-round action from Golfweek from the 2026 BMW Championship.
Keep tabs on every score posted on the BMW Championship live leaderboard. You can also monitor the ever-changing FedEx Cup standings here. At the end of the first round, Rickie Fowler was the “bubble boy” at No. 30.
Explore how to live where you love to play Access community guides, golf real estate insights, trusted agent connections, and content built for passionate golfers.Is there a cut at the BMW Championship?
No. Like the other two FedEx Cup Playoff events, there is no cut.
Watch PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ Watch Golf Channel for free on Fubo TV Chris Gotterup makes it a five-way tie atop BMW leaderboard
Gotterup has three wins in 2026. Will he find win No. 4 in St. Louis? He was the last of the five leaders to sign for his Thursday 64.
J.J. Spaun has climbed into a tie for the lead
Spaun has joined Gary Woodland, Wyndham Clark and Rory McIlroy at 6 under and tied for the BMW lead.
Rory McIlroy shoots 64, joins the hunt at the BMW Wyndham Clark ties Gary Woodland for the lead
Clark birdied five of his last six holes including Nos. 16, 17 and 18 and has tied Woodland for the lead at 6 under. And to think he was even through seven holes.
Gary Woodland shoots 64, leads by two
Woodland, with one win already this season, is aiming for another one in St. Louis. He was bogey-free Thursday until the 18th hole. Woodland is also up from 31 to 12 in the FedEx Cup standings. Only the top 30 advance to Atlanta so it’s so far, so good for Woodland. This week is kinda/sorta a home game for the former Kansas Jayhawk.
“Three and a half hours,” he said of the distance to his hometown. “Which is as close. 18 years on Tour, this is as close as I’ll ever get to home. So this is special. When it’s on the calendar I look forward to coming back, for sure.”
Gary Woodland leads by 3 in the early going
Woodland just spun one back for an eagle on the par-4 11th hole to get to 6 under on the day. He leads by three over Justin Thomas and by four over Aaron Rai and Akshay Bhatia.
“It was a good number,” Woodland said. “I was just trying to get it past the hole. It’s a little bit elevated so we couldn’t see it go in. So I knew I hit it nice, but when you see the crowd jump up that was definitely a bonus.”
BMW Championship 2026 tee times
Click here to see every tee time for the first round of the 2026 BMW Championship.
BMW Championship 2026 betting odds
Whenever Scheffler and McIlroy compete in the same tournament, they’re almost always clearly first and second on the list of betting odds, with the rest of the field following behind. Of course, it will come as no surprise that sportsbooks have tabbed Scheffler as the significant favorite to win again this week, but there has been a bit of a shakeup right below him. Check out all the pre-tournament betting odds courtesy of BetMGM.
BMW Championship weather forecast
Thursday’s forecast for St. Louis, according to accuweather, says to expect “humid with clouds and sun” and an expected high temp of 84 with a 25 percent chance of rain. This is the PGA Tour’s forecast:
BMW Championship 2026 field
The 50-man field comes after 20 were lopped off at last week’s St. Jude’s. There was one pre-tournament WD and one more WD after the first round last week. All 50 golfers are signed up and ready to go for this one.
Inside the numbers at the BMW Championship
17. That is the number of players seeking to advance and make their first Tour Championship appearance: Ryan Gerard, Min Woo Lee, Kristoffer Reitan, Alex Fitzpatrick, Alex Smalley, Ryan Fox, Kurt Kitayama, Bud Cauley, Nicolai Hojgaard, Alex Noren, Jake Knapp, Michael Thorbjornsen, Nico Echavarria, Ryo Hisatsune, Michael Brennan, Eric Cole and Matt McCarty.
BMW Championship past winners
Here are the last 10 winners of the BMW:
YearWinnerGolf course2025Scottie SchefflerCaves Valley GC2024Keegan BradleyCastle Pines GC2023Viktor HovlandOlympia Fields CC2022Patrick CantlayWilmington CC2021Patrick CantlayCaves Valley GC2020Jon RahmOlympia Fields CC2019Justin ThomasMedinah CC2018Keegan BradleyAronimink GC2017Marc LeishmanConway Farms GC2016Dustin JohnsonCrooked Stick GC