Scottie Scheffler enters the BMW Championship as the man to beat, while Rory McIlroy searches for answers and the FedEx Cup bubble faces a brutal test.
The 2026 BMW Championship has everything the PGA Tour could want from the second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs: Scottie Scheffler rolling, Rory McIlroy searching and 50 players fighting over only 30 tickets to East Lake.
And Bellerive Country Club isn't exactly offering a comfortable place to settle in.
The St. Louis layout stretches 7,448 yards as a par 70, immediately putting an emphasis on power and elite ball-striking. That sounds suspiciously like another course designed to let Scheffler terrorize everybody.
Scheffler arrives with 21 PGA Tour victories and four major championships, fresh off another dominant performance at the St. Jude Championship. He's also the defending BMW champion after beating Robert MacIntyre at Caves Valley last season.
At 3-1, the market isn't exactly hiding who's expected to win.
McIlroy presents the more fascinating question.
The world No. 2 returned in Memphis and struggled badly, finishing ahead of only two players. He's already secured his Tour Championship position, so Bellerive becomes equal parts playoff tournament and laboratory. Does Rory rediscover his game before East Lake, or do the problems follow him into the season finale?
Then there's Si Woo Kim.
Kim finished second to Scheffler in Memphis and enters Bellerive at No. 4 in the FedEx Cup standings. His remarkable 2026 season includes 11 top-10 finishes and five podiums, but no victory. At 27-1, he's one of the week's most intriguing players because the only thing missing from his career year is hardware.
Sam Burns brings another compelling case. He's produced four top-four finishes over his last six starts and has been one of golf's hottest iron players. Ludvig Åberg, meanwhile, arrives after a top-10 finish in Memphis fueled by his best driving performance of the season.
But Sunday could ultimately belong to the bubble.
Rickie Fowler begins the week at No. 30, sitting directly on the Tour Championship cutoff. Gary Woodland is 31st, followed by J.T. Poston, Nicolai Højgaard, Alex Noren, Jake Knapp and MacIntyre.
That's where the BMW Championship gets vicious.
There isn't another playoff event for anyone finishing outside the top 30.
For Scheffler, Bellerive represents another opportunity to remind everyone who's running professional golf.
For the players around the bubble, it's considerably simpler. Make a move or go home.
