Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy and the rest of the top 70 players in the 2019 FedEx Cup Playoffs will descend on Medinah Country Club outside Chicago this week for the BMW Championship. The second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs 2019 begin Thursday from Course No. 3 at Medinah, site of five major championships and the 2012 Ryder Cup. It's a lengthy 7,613-yard course with three par-5s measuring 575 yards or greater, and players missing the fairway will find the rough four inches or longer. Only 30 players will advance to next week's Tour Championship, and the first 2019 BMW Championship tee times begin at 10:15 a.m. ET on Thursday. Bookmakers list Koepka and McIlroy as the 8-1 co-favorites in the latest 2019 BMW Championship odds, followed by Jon Rahm (10-1), Dustin Johnson (14-1), Justin Thomas (16-1) and Justin Rose (16-1). Tiger Woods, who withdrew from last week's Northern Trust with an oblique strain, is getting 50-1 BMW Championship odds. Before you make your 2019 BMW Championship picks, check out the PGA predictions from SportsLine's resident golf insider, Sal Johnson.
A media legend and consummate golf insider, Johnson is red-hot this year. He featured Woods in his best bets for the Masters, and Woods walked away with his fifth green jacket. Then, Johnson promoted Koepka in his PGA Championship best bets, and Koepka made a mockery of that major, building a seven-shot lead entering the weekend and cruising to victory.
At the Travelers Championship in June, Johnson promoted 50-1 long shot Chez Reavie as a possible winner, noting his game suited TPC River Highlands to a tee. The result: Reavie cruised to a four-stroke victory, finishing 17-under for his first PGA title in 11 years. Last month at TPC Southwind, Johnson again promoted Koepka as one of his PGA best bets. The result: Koepka went 16-under to win the WGC-FedEx Invitational.
Now, Johnson -- the first producer of "Inside the PGA Tour," a longtime ABC Sports golf producer and the founder of the world's biggest golf stats database -- has issued his highly confident 2019 BMW Championship picks.
We can tell you he wants no part of Dustin Johnson, one of the top Vegas favorites at 14-1. In fact, he says Johnson doesn't even crack the top 10. "As we have said all summer, his biggest problem is putting," Sal Johnson told SportsLine. "He's 186th in putting inside 10 feet, and he's also lackluster at scrambling, ranking tied for 107th. Since his runner-up finish at the PGA Championship, he hasn't been better than 20th in his last six starts. His game seems lost right now."
Sal Johnson also has a strong read on Koepka, the world's top-ranked player. Koepka has three wins and eight top-10 finishes this year, making him the FedEx Cup leader with 2,980 points, 206 more than Patrick Reed and 310 ahead of McIlroy. Koepka stumbled in last week's Northern Trust, tying for 30th, but according to Johnson, Medinah sets up well for the 2019 PGA Championship winner. "Koepka is strong in stats that will be important at Medinah," Johnson told SportsLine. "He is 16th in strokes gained off the tee, 10th in greens in regulation and 31st in scrambling."
Johnson also has locked in the fate of Woods, who won both PGA Championships held at Medinah (2006, 1999). The 2006 title was his 12th major win, and he cruised to victory by five shots. But since winning the 2019 Masters, his 15th major title, Woods has played only five times, his best finish a tie for ninth at the Memorial. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship and British Open and withdrew from the Northern Trust last weekend. Woods is 38th in the FedEx Cup standings, so he knows he'll have to play well for 72 holes to crack the top 30 and give himself a shot to defend his Tour Championship crown from last year.
Strikingly, Johnson is high on a colossal long shot who's getting no respect despite rocketing up the FedEx Cup standings in recent weeks. This overlooked player ranks near the top in strokes gained off the tee, the key metric for success at Medinah Country Club. Anyone who backs this underdog could hit it big.
So who wins the BMW Championship 2019? Where do Koepka, Johnson and Woods finish? And which long shot stuns the golfing world? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Sal Johnson's full leaderboard, picks and analysis for the 2019 BMW Championship, all from the PGA Tour insider who nailed the Masters and PGA Championship.
Brooks Koepka 8-1
Rory McIlroy 8-1
Jon Rahm 10-1
Dustin Johnson 14-1
Justin Thomas 16-1
Justin Rose 16-1
Patrick Cantlay 18-1
Webb Simpson 20-1
Patrick Reed 25-1
Adam Scott 25-1
Rickie Fowler 25-1
Tommy Fleetwood 25-1
Jordan Spieth 30-1
Xander Schauffele 30-1
Louis Oosthuizen 30-1
Paul Casey 40-1
Tony Finau 40-1
Bryson DeChambeau 40-1
Tiger Woods 50-1
Hideki Matsuyama 50-1
Jason Day 50-1
Matt Kuchar 50-1
Billy Horschel 50-1
Collin Morikawa 50-1
