2020 BMW Championship Picks and Odds for First Round Leader

• The BMW Championship tees off Thursday, August 27th from Olympia Fields just outside of Chicago
• Tournament favorite Dustin Johnson is the slight favorite to grab the first round lead over Jon Rahm
• See the best bets and odds to grab the first round lead in the article below 

The first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs saw Dustin Johnson absolutely annihilate the field at The Northern Trust to the tune of an epic eleven stroke victory. The field has been cut down from 125 to 70 for this week’s BMW Championship, with the top 30 after this week making it to the Tour Championship to compete for the $15 million prize.

Unsurprisingly, after that resounding victory, DJ is the favorite to go back-to-back this week at Olympia Fields Country Club just outside of Chicago.

This course hasn’t hosted a PGA Tour event since way back at the 2003 US Open, won by Jim Furyk. The course also hosted the 2015 US Amateur, which was won by Bryson DeChambeau – another top favorite to win outright this week.

In this article, we’ll explore which players have the best chance of being the leader after day one, which to nobody’s surprise is expected to be Dustin Johnson or Jon Rahm.

2020 BMW Championship First Round Leader Odds

Odds taken August 24th

The forecast is expected to be sunny throughout the day with a temperature high of 93 degrees and no chance of precipitation. The wind will be steady for the round with gusts as high as 17 MPH which will die down as it enters the early evening.

The only potential benefit from playing in the morning is the exact same as it is every week – less bumpy greens with fewer players chewing them up. Tee times are typically not released until later in the day on Tuesday.

Dustin Johnson Primed to Keep Rolling

Looking up first round scoring average this year will result in a stunning statistic – Dustin Johnson is a woeful 190th in that category this season. That is mostly due to the fact he had two crooked numbers in a two-week span at the Memorial (80), and an opening 78 at the 3M Open before he withdrew due to injury.

Outside of those rounds, he’s been solid on the first day, with five rounds in the 60’s sandwiched in between those bad outings.

Dustin Johnson has FIVE eagles this week.

No other player has more than two.

He leads @THENTGolf by 9. 😳 pic.twitter.com/I1S7LJ5RIl

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 23, 2020

He decimated the field at TPC Boston to the tune of an eleven stroke romp, where he was one shot off matching the lowest score in relation to par for a four-day event in PGA Tour history.

DJ gained a ridiculous 18 shots on the field tee-to-green and he’s gained shots on the field in seven of the last nine events in that category. What’s stopping Johnson from picking up right where he left off?

Pick: Dustin Johnson (+1500)

Daniel Berger Has Been Red Hot

Not many players can claim to be playing as good of golf as Daniel Berger is right now, as he’s leading the PGA Tour in strokes gained since the restart. In seven of his last nine tournaments he’s finished inside the top 10, including victory at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Daniel Berger’s rounds since the restart:

65
67
67
66 (🏆, Colonial)
67
69
63
65 (T3, RBC Heritage)
73
75 (MC, Memorial)
71
67
67
65 (T2, WGC FedEx)
67
67
70
69 (T13, PGA Champ)
66
66
67 (Currently T4, Northern Trust)

Still not into Augusta.

— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) August 22, 2020

He also has been strong in opening rounds, ranking 13th in first round scoring this season, with seven of his last ten first day’s resulting in a score in the 60’s.

Berger is coming off a third place showing at The Northern Trust, his sixth top-5 in his last eight events and he’s gained strokes tee-to-green in ten of his last eleven tourneys.

Pick: Daniel Berger (+2900)

Harris English Racking Up Quality Tournaments

In nine of his last ten tournaments, Harris English has finished inside the top 25, including a runner-up at last week’s Northern Trust. This season, English is tops in first round scoring average on tour, opening up with rounds of 64 in each of his last two events.

How about that?!

It's a tie at the top as @Harris_English chips in for birdie at the 14th.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/PmS4fyOXbS

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 22, 2020

His worst opening round in the eighteen times he’s teed it up on the campaign was a 72. English has gained shots on the field in each of his last ten tournaments and tee-to-green in ten of his last eleven events.

He’s not one of the bigger names so you’re getting him at pretty good value relative to how well he’s been playing of late.

Pick: Harris English (+3100)