BMW Championship next for PGA

By: Brian Gabrielle | bgsports.com

The Cog Hill Golf & Country Club outside Chicago is the site for this week's third leg of the PGA Playoffs. Steve Stricker's hot putter and shot-making abilities make him one to watch.

With all the attention on Phil Mickelson holding off Tiger Woods to win the Deutsche Bank Championship, Steve Stricker is flying under the radar at this week’s BMW Championship. He’s currently second in the FedEx Cup standings. I don’t know what that means except that he has a good chance with two strong tournaments to win the whole shebang.

After starting off the four-tourney playoffs with a win, Stricker followed up with a T9 in Boston. Cog Hill outside of Chicago is a shot maker’s course and Stricker can make his shots, but he’s riding this recent success on the strength of his putting. A strong field of 70 and major-like pressure is not a problem for Stricker who has excelled in the majors these last two years.

Mickelson has bowed out of the BMW this week. He has as good a chance as any to win the 10 mil. Padraig Harrington is out this week, too, citing fatigue. We’re not talking about a boycott, but the PGA Tour can’t be pleased with high profile players not showing up for all four playoff tournaments.

Last week: Go figure; Mickelson beats Woods in an important tournament, the two playing in the same group on Sunday. It had choke written all over it.

At this week’s BMW Championship, take Steve Stricker (33-1), 1/6 unit: He’s not a great driver -- distance or accuracy -- but he still manages to find greens,where the flat stick takes over.

Take Tiger Woods (6-4), 1/6 unit: He’s won at Cog Hill three times and finished runner-up twice in each of the last two years. It’s never a bargain with Tiger but you have to take him to cover.

Take Luke Donald (50-1), 1/6 unit: Donald went to college in Chicago (Northwestern) and lives there. Playing at home isn’t going to win the championship for him, but it could be just the right nudge to get him back to the form he had earlier in the year. Five times he’s played this tournament and never finished worse than T28 (he had a T3 in 2004).