Colorado deserves more love from PGA Tour after smash-hit BMW Championship | Golf Insider
Players and fans praised the BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club.
The reviews are in, and they are positive.
The BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club was a hit among fans, most of the golfers and some in the national golf media. The venue was a change for the PGA Tour, and it has brought up an important question.
Why is Colorado not a regular (or semi-regular) stop on the PGA Tour?
Colorado has hosted several prestigious golf tournaments over the last decade. The U.S. Amateur went to Cherry Hills Country Club and the U.S. Girls’ Junior was played in at Eisenhower Golf Course in Colorado Springs.
The U.S. Senior Open is going to The Broadmoor Golf Club in 2025.
The Korn Ferry Tour has made Colorado an annual stop for the last six years at TPC Colorado in Berthoud.
The USGA and the Korn Ferry Tour seem to like Colorado. What about the PGA Tour? The International stopped in 2006 and the BMW Championship was in 2014. Ten years is too long between tournaments in the Centennial State.
“You know what doesn’t make sense? That we don’t get back to Colorado more,” Nathan Hubbard, who is the brother of PGA player Mark, said on The Ringer’s Fairway Rollin podcast. “I got texts all weekend from guys saying, this was one of the best setups, top-five setups of the year on tour.”
There was plenty of talk about PGA players coming to Castle Pines and posting scorching scores. There were two 63s — course records by Adam Scott and Ludvig Åberg on Friday — but other than that scores were normal. Keegan Bradley won at 12-under for the week. The week before at the St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Hideki Matsuyama finished at 17-under.
“It was a great week,” Neil Shuster said on the No Laying Up podcast. “I got here Tuesday to wet my beak at the pro-am, which was great to understand the course, get a sense of how penal the rough was. No. 14 and 15 were my two favorites. The tournament’s been really good.”
Players viewed the course as tough as well. The two 63s came the day after a thunderstorm dumped plenty of rain in the area. It was windy and dry on the other days, conditions that made the course hard and fast.
“It was hard. It was sneaky hard,” Aberg said after his third round on Saturday. “The wind was tricky. Obviously those first couple of holes were straight into, so they played very different from what they played (Friday). Plus, the greens were firmer today, as well, from not having that much rain.”
The true problem is the PGA Tour doesn’t go to different venues as much as it should. The FedEx Cup Playoffs are set to go to Memphis the first week and then East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta for the Tour Championship. The BMW Championship is the only playoff tournament to rotate venues.
Not much is changing on the 2025 schedule. The Truist Championship, which was the Wells Fargo Championship in the past, is usually played at Quail Hollow Club but is moved to Philadelphia Cricket Club this year. The PGA Championship will be held at Quail Hollow this year.
The PGA Tour does not have stops in markets like New York, Boston or Chicago. And, of course, nothing in Denver.
“I would say complete affirmation of the need for new markets,” Tron Carter said about Caste Pines on the No Laying Up podcast. “No offense to Greensboro or six places in Texas and all that. There’s wide swaths of the country that are being totally ignored by the tour. There’s a buzz around Denver this week and they showed out in a big way.”
It would be tough to add a yearly stop in Denver, but every four or five years would be possible. The Front Range supports golf, which has been evident by attendance at the BMW Championship and last year’s U.S. Amateur.
“This is a great town,” Billy Horschel, who won the BMW Championship at Cherry Hills in 2014. “I’ve said this since 2014, that this is a big sports town. They love sports. They love to be outside. They love to be outdoors, being the great weather that they have, especially this time of year.”
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Jennifer Kupcho named to U.S. Solheim Cup team
Colorado native Jennifer Kupcho was one of three captain picks for the United States Solheim Cup team.
Captain Stacy Lewis selected Lexi Thompson, Sarah Schmelzel and Kupcho as her three picks. The matches are set for Sept. 13-15 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Alabama.
This is Kupcho’s third appearance on the team. She was part of last year’s team that tied Europe in Spain. Europe retained the Solheim Cup.
Kupcho was a two-time CHSAA state champion at Jefferson Academy. She also won a NCAA championship at Wake Forest and has three wins on the LPGA Tour.
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Skins game
Odds to win the Tour Championship
Scottie Scheffler +100
Xander Schauffele +220
Hideki Matsuyama +1200
Keegan Bradley +3000
Ludvig Åberg +1800
Rory McIlroy +1800
Collin Morikawa +3500
Wyndham Clark +4000
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This week in golf
PGA Tour
TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Site: Atlanta.
Course: East Lake GC. Yardage: 7,490. Par: 71.
Prize money: $100 million. Winner’s share: $25 million.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (Golf), 12:30 p.m.-5 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 10-11 a.m. (Golf), 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. (NBC).
Defending champion: Viktor Hovland.
LPGA Tour
FM CHAMPIONSHIP
Site: Norton, Mass.
Course: TPC Boston. Yardage: 6,598. Par: 72.
Prize money: $3.8 million. Winner’s share: $570,000.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 1-4 p.m. (NBC Sports app), 5-7 p.m. (Golf-tape delay). Saturday, 12:30-3:30 p.m. (Golf); Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (Golf).
Defending champion: New tournament.
European Tour
BETFRED BRITISH MASTERS
Site: Sutton Coldfield, England.
Course: The Belfry (Brabazon). Yardage: 7,336. Par: 72.
Prize money: $3.5 million. Winner’s share: $583,333.
Television: Thursday, 7:30-10:30 a.m. (Golf); Friday, 5:30-11 a.m. (NBC Sports app); Saturday, 5:30-10:30 a.m. (NBC Sports app); Sunday, 5-10 a.m (NBC Sports app).
Defending champion: Daniel Hillier.
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FedEx Cup standings
| 1. | Scottie Scheffler | 6,615 | $29,228,357 |
| 2. | Xander Schauffele | 5,422 | $18,355,910 |
| 3. | Hideki Matsuyama | 3,899 | $11,237,611 |
| 4. | Keegan Bradley | 3,096 | $6,879,455 |
| 5. | Ludvig Aberg | 2,980 | $9,728,857 |
| 6. | Rory McIlroy | 2,829 | $10,893,790 |
| 7. | Collin Morikawa | 2,714 | $8,365,977 |
| 8. | Wyndham Clark | 2,708 | $10,901,416 |
| 9. | Sam Burns | 2,518 | $6,185,830 |
| 10. | Patrick Cantlay | 2,221 | $6,279,965 |
| 11. | Sungjae Im | 2,220 | $6,122,325 |
| 12. | Sahith Theegala | 2,114 | $8,281,285 |
| 13. | Shane Lowry | 2,099 | $6,095,881 |
| 14. | Adam Scott | 2,058 | $4,753,172 |
| 15. | Tony Finau | 2,047 | $5,706,467 |
| 16. | Byeong Hun An | 2,040 | $5,871,643 |
| 17. | Viktor Hovland | 1,967 | $4,616,727 |
| 18. | Russell Henley | 1,933 | $5,080,969 |
| 19. | Akshay Bhatia | 1,891 | $5,344,905 |
| 20. | Robert Macintyre | 1,885 | $5,400,384 |
| 21. | Billy Horschel | 1,838 | $5,037,278 |
| 22. | Tommy Fleetwood | 1,747 | $4,609,158 |
| 23. | Sepp Straka | 1,721 | $4,601,079 |
| 24. | Matthieu Pavon | 1,690 | $5,254,412 |
| 25. | Taylor Pendrith | 1,668 | $4,579,104 |
| 26. | Chris Kirk | 1,656 | $6,023,786 |
| 27. | Tom Hoge | 1,655 | $4,628,329 |
| 28. | Aaron Rai | 1,639 | $4,613,515 |
| 29. | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | 1,628 | $5,026,363 |
| 30. | Justin Thomas | 1,617 | $4,475,561 |
