BMW Championship: Viewer’s guide, TV times, how to watch

Olympia Fields returns to PGA Tour schedule for FedEx Cup’s 2nd stop as NBC resumes weekend coverage
BMW Championship: Viewer’s guide, TV times, how to watch
BMW Championship: Viewer’s guide, TV times, how to watch /

Dustin Johnson produced a dominating victory last week at the PGA Tour’s Northern Trust that was punctuated by a second-round 60 that felt more like a 57. In any event, he cruised to an 11-stroke victory at TPC Boston while vaulting to the top of the FedEx Cup standings.

This week, the FedEx Cup playoffs move to Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club’s North Course near Chicago for the BMW Championship(tee times).

PGA Tour fans can be excused for not recalling Olympia Fields, which hasn’t hosted the Tour since 2003, when it was the site of Jim Furyk’s U.S. Open victory. In recent years, the course has played host to the 2015 U.S. Amateur and the 2017 Women’s PGA. Tiger Woods is among a handful of players in this week’s BMW field who competed in the ’03 U.S. Open. However, some of the game’s emerging young stars know the course from that 2015 U.S. Amateur, which was won by Bryson DeChambeau. Other BMW entrants who competed in the 2015 U.S. Amateur include future Tour winners Collin Morikawa and Jon Rahm plus Maverick McNealy.

Before German automaker BMW became the presenting sponsor in 2007, the long-running PGA Tour event was known as the Western Open. The Western, which debuted in 1899, was run by the Western Golf Association. The Evans Scholars Foundation, created by prominent Chicago golf champion Chick Evans in 1930 and run by the WGA, provides young caddies across the country with college scholarships. The BMW Championship preserves Evans’ legacy to this day by benefitting the fund.

With the top 70 on the FedEx Cup list gathered this week, look for this major-caliber course to shine once again on the national stage.

Just as golf fans had gotten used to the broadcast combination of Golf Channel and CBS comes a change to the weekend TV viewing. The first and second rounds will be shown by Golf Channel. The weekend rounds will feature early coverage from Golf Channel, with NBC picking up the action in the afternoon. NBC steps back into the driver’s seat with third- and fourth-round afternoon coverage.

Coverage windows follow (all times EDT):

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Network

Thursday (Round 1)

Friday (Round 2)

Saturday (Round 3)

Sunday (Round 4)

Golf Channel

3-7 p.m.

3-7 p.m.

Noon-3 p.m.

1-3 p.m.

NBC

3-6 p.m.

3-7 p.m.


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Ethan Zimman
ETHAN ZIMMAN

Ethan Zimman is a public-relations and marketing manager for Buffalo Agency by day and freelance writer by night (credits range from McKellar Journal to New Jersey Golf). He's an avid golfer who started playing at age 13 and maintains delusions of grandeur to lower his 7.5 handicap index. His passion for golf was ignited by Tiger Woods’ historic 1997 Masters victory and chipping in his grandfather’s backyard. In his (non-golf-related) spare time, he enjoys visiting wineries and breweries with his wife, son, daughter and their goldendoodle, Bodie.