The BMW Championship begins with the Gardner Heidrick Pro-Am.

+++ American Sports Stars Open BMW Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club (Chicago, USA) +++ Gardner Heidrick Pro-Am to Benefit Evans Scholars Foundation +++ 50 World Class Golfers in PGA TOUR Playoff Championship +++ Hole-in-One Award: All-electric BMW i5 for the player and box +++

Chicago. The BMW Championship is the penultimate FedExCup playoff event, only the top 50 professionals of the PGA TOUR season are eligible to play. It’s hard for golf enthusiasts to experience a higher caliber course than this week’s show at Olympia Fields Country Club in Chicago, Illinois. As the defending champion, Patrick Cantlay (USA), who recently won the BMW Championship twice in a row, is aiming for a historic treble.

With the top 20 in the world rankings nearly all starting, Cantlay’s task couldn’t be more daunting. John Rahm (ESP), FedExCup Major, Masters Champion and winner of the only BMW Championship to date at Olympia Fields Country Club (2020), World No. 1 Scotty Scheffler (USA), World No. 3 Rory McElroy (NIR) and Major winners Windham Clark (USA, The US Open) and Brian Harman (USA, The Open) are just some of the world class pros to watch out for.

Championship week kicked off on Wednesday with the traditional Gardner Heydrick Pro Am. Among the amateurs who have chosen their golf clubs in Chicago are U.S. sports greats like CC Sabathia, former baseball player and World Series winner, former football player and Super Bowl champion Victor Cruz, and BMW Motorsport driver Conner De Filippi.

The Gardner Heidrick Pro-Am is the single most important event benefiting the Evans Scholars Foundation (ESF) in the tournament. All proceeds from the BMW Championship go to the tournament organizers’ foundation, the Western Golf Association, which awards full college scholarships to carts in need. Since 2007, when the BMW Championship celebrated its debut, the championship has provided more than 45 million US dollars to the Egyptian Youth Forum, making the dreams of 3,300 young people come true.

BMW will traditionally fund an additional full scholarship on behalf of the first player to hit an ace in the 2023 BMW Championship round. This has happened six times in the championship’s history, most recently last year when Viktor Hofland (NOR) made one hole-in-one on the second hole in the final round.

If a professional makes the hole on the 16th hole, the encouragement of the player and the bearer must be particularly great. Because the reward for these acrobatics are two all-electric BMW i5 sedans. In the championship dedicated to supporting small caddies, it is logical that the caddy would win the first BMW 5 Series in history alongside the pros.

In addition to the sporting battle for one of the PGA Tour’s most prestigious titles, with $20 million in total prize money and one of 30 starting points in the TOUR Championship season finale, the Ryder Cup also plays a role in the BMW Championship. This week is the last chance for the Americans to earn points to qualify for the team of captain Zack Johnson (USA). The top six players on the leaderboard secure their place in the defending champion squad. With the captain’s choice, Johnson and six other professionals will complete the team that will face selection Europe in Rome (ITA) from September 25 to October 1, 2023. BMW will accompany the legendary team competition as a global partner.