Power rankings: BMW Championship
The back half of the FedEx Cup playoffs kick off on Thursday with the BMW Championship at Conway Farms Golf Club just north of Chicago. This venue hosts again after a year off so Cherry Hills could show off for a year.
Last time the BMW was here, Zach Johnson won despite Jim Furyk shooting 59 and holding the 36-hole lead.
Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Deutsche Bank Championship winner Rickie Fowler are the top three in the remaining field of 70, which will be cut to just 30 for the Tour Championship after this week. The top five in the standings going into East Lake in Atlanta can win the FedEx Cup with a Tour Championship victory.
Here are our top five players this week:
1. Jason Day — Day looked like a tired man at TPC Boston, where his streak of 22 consecutive rounds at par or better on the PGA Tour came to an end. He still finished T-12. He was T-4 at Conway Farms in 2013. A week off should be a big help.
2. Henrik Stenson — Stenson may have crapped the bed on the 70th hole of the Deutsche Bank, but he’s played pretty flawless golf throughout the first two playoff events. When he plays this way, he makes a ton of birdies. However, the catch is that the last time he played here in 2013, he snapped his driver in two.
3. Rickie Fowler — How does Fowler go from off the radar to third? Winning. We’ve seen he doesn’t always have a carry-over from a win to his next start (see the Scottish and British Opens), but if he’s in it, he’s in it to win it.
4. Jordan Spieth — Good news, Spieth loyalists! He’s guaranteed four rounds this week. Spieth tends to get over poor performances pretty quickly, but four bad rounds in a row, leading to two missed cuts, is a concern.
5. Rory McIlroy — McIlroy made his playoff debut at the Deutsche Bank, and, as expected, it looked rusty. His putting was atrocious. If he can make the adjustment and see the lines well at Conway Farms, McIlroy should have a good week.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
