Golf’s biggest showdown’s coming to Maryland! The 2025 BMW Championship blasts into Caves Valley Golf Club August 14-17, throwing the PGA Tour’s top 50 FedExCup contenders into a fierce fight for 30 prized spots in the season-capping TOUR Championship. Caves Valley’s demanding 7,601-yard, par-70 course will have a massive $20 million purse up for grabs. But here’s the $20M worth question: is there a cut at the 2025 BMW Championship? Moreover, will all the pros have an equal chance at making it to the TOUR Championship?

The BMW Championship’s got a different kind of cut compared to regular PGA Tour events. Instead of cutting players based on scores after two rounds, the field is limited to the top 50 players in the FedEx Cup standings heading into the tournament. This is part of the FedEx Cup Playoffs structure, where 70 players start at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and then narrow down.

After the BMW Championship, the field shrinks again. Only the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings advance to the TOUR Championship, the final playoff event. So while there’s no traditional cut during the BMW Championship based on scores, the tournament’s field is limited by FedEx Cup points. This setup is all about narrowing down the playoff contenders based on standings rather than scores midway through the event.

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The Maryland course last hosted the BMW Championship in 2021, when Patrick Cantlay edged Bryson DeChambeau in a marathon six-hole playoff, winning with a score of 20 on the extra holes after both finished at 27-under. The finish showed that even a demanding 7,600-yard layout can yield fireworks when conditions allow.

This unique structure’s part of what makes the FedEx Cup Playoffs intense – players are competing for spots in the next round of the playoffs based on their FedEx Cup points. So, now that you know how this particular second leg of the playoff works, here are some of the players you can vouch for this week.

The beloved stars of the 2025 BMW Championship

Scottie Scheffler is storming into the BMW Championship fresh off a historic win at The Open Championship at Royal Portrush, his fourth major title and second this season after nailing the PGA Championship. Scheffler’s stats are off the charts: a T3 at St. Jude pushes his 2025 numbers to 14 top-10 finishes in 17 tournaments.

He’s teeing off with Rory McIlroy, the world No. 2, for the opening rounds. McIlroy is jumping into the 2025 playoffs after scoring wins at the Masters, Players Championship, and AT&T Pebble Beach. Rory McIlroy should have a good chance at Caves Valley – he landed fourth here back in 2021.

Justin Rose, the guy who took Olympic gold in Rio 2016, is riding a wave of momentum after grabbing a win in Memphis. Defending champ Keegan Bradley’s gunning for back-to-back BMW wins, something Patrick Cantlay last pulled off; Cantlay’s in the field too after a T9 at St. Jude.

Ludvig Åberg is keeping his momentum going with another top-10 at St. Jude. Åberg boosted his ball-striking by over a stroke in seven straight outings, and his putter’s finally starting to fire. This could be the week everything comes together for the young Swede. There are more promising pros in the field, like Xander Schauffele and Tommy Fleetwood, among others. Which of them is your favorite, however?