BMW Championship, Rd. 1

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Steve Stricker is looking to continue his Playoffs dominance this week at Cog Hill, where he won in 1996.

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BMW Championship

PGATOUR.COM's The Live Report has all the news and notes from the BMW Championship, and we'll be providing updates from Cog Hill all day long for each round, so check back often. (All timestamps are Eastern Time.) PGA TOUR Shot Tracker | Live Scoring | PGA TOUR Network | Facebook | Twitter | FanZone LIVE@: No. 15 | FedExCup LIVE: Follow this week's projected points | PGA TOUR iPhone app

SABBATINI ON HIS 66 (6:40 p.m.): Rory Sabbatini, who has missed each of his last two cuts, apparently found his comfort zone here at Cog Hill, where he has a share of the lead after the first round of the BMW Championship.

"I drove it obviously very well out there, and on this golf course that's key because just since the redesign, they've made it a lot more of a chess game around the greens," Sabbatini said. "You have to put it in the right quadrant on the green and be in the fairway. I hit the ball great out there and obviously if you give yourself opportunities and the putts drop, it takes a little bit of the pressure off and things start to happen." -- Mike McAllister

ESTES WDs (6:30 p.m.): Bob Estes withdrew from the BMW Championship on Thursday, citing a hip injury. The Texan, who shot 77 in the first round, ranked 64th in the FedExCup standings and will not advance to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

He is the second player to withdraw from the third event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Paul Casey, who is ranked No. 4 in the world and was 36th in the FedExCup, withdrew after Wednesday's pro-am due to a lingering rib injury. -- Helen Ross

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (6:15 p.m.): Rory Sabbatini and Steve Marino share the lead the BMW Championship with each shooting 68. For Sabbatini, it's the seventh time in his career he's held at least a share of the lead, though he's never gone on to win in any of those situations. Marino, meanwhile, is 0-for-2 when leading after the first round. ...

Bo Van Pelt drained four putts of 10 feet or more on his back nine today. That's just the the third time in the SHOTLink era, a span covering 648 rounds for Van Pelt, that he has made at least four putts of 10 feet or more on the back nine of a PGA TOUR event. ...

Geoff Ogilvy began the BMW Championship with a 31 on the back nine at Cog Hill, tying the lowest back-nine score in the first round of a TOUR event held there. The last player to play the back nine at Cog Hill this low in an opening round was Ben Curtis in 2005 during the Cialis Western Open. Curtis went on to post a third place finish. ...

Tiger Woods finished his first round in 3 under. When Woods has been 3 under or lower after the first round at Cog Hill, he's 4-for-4 in victories.

HARRINGTON HANGING AROUND (6 p.m.): It was a bogey-free round for Padraig Harrington. But it was hardly one that gives him good vibes, even though at 3-under 68 he's positioned nicely for the rest of the week.

"It was far from steady on the golf course," said Harrington, who has top-10 finishes in his last four starts. "I was a little bit erratic at times out there. I struggled to focus, I suppose."

Harrington said his lack of focus may have been caused by being tired after a long stretch in which he's been in contention each day.

Also, he's really pushing hard to get inside the top five in FedExCup points in order to control his own destiny at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. Harrington entered this week ranked seventh.

Whatever the case, Harrington knows he won't be able to get away with another round like Thursday, in which he hit just six of 14 fairways.

"There's no doubt I got lucky today," he said. "I wouldn't want to play like that for the next three days. ... I won't get away with what I got away with today." -- Mike McAllister

MARINO MATCHES SABBATINI (5:35 p.m.): Steve Marino has been knocking on the door all season long and today was just another example of that with him matching Rory Sabbatini at 5-under 66.

Marino, who has four top-10s, including a runner-up at Colonial, this year, entered the week 26th in FedExCup points -- meaning that he needs to play well to lock up a spot in the field for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

He certainly did that Thursday, missing just two fairways and four greens in regulation all day. "One of these days I'm going to come through on Sunday afternoon," Marino told GOLF CHANNEL afterward.

Sundays have been Marino's Achilles' Heel this year -- he ranks 69th in final-round scoring average, comapred to 13th before the cut and 25th in the third round. If he can correct that this week, he'll punch his ticket to Atlanta. -- Brian Wacker

Below is a look at Marino's scorecard from today:

WOODS IN WITH A 68 (5:15 p.m.): If there's a hole Tiger Woods would like to have back, it's probably the par-5 ninth, where he missed a 12-footer for birdie. Still, Woods' opening-round 68 is good enough to sit fairly high on the leaderboard. Just as importantly, he played a fairly steady round of golf, something he hasn't done much of so far in the Playoffs.

On the day, Woods hit 11 of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens in regulation. He also took 27 putts and didn't miss from inside 10 feet. He also went 2-for-4 in the 10-15 foot range.

Woods has won this tournament four times previously and with no one going particularly low so far, he should be in good shape heading into the second round. -- Brian Wacker

Below is a look at Woods' scorecard from today:

ON THE CLOCK (5:05 p.m.): Tiger's group was put on the clock after the 18th hole (their ninth) on Thursday. Interestingly, Padraig Harrington was in the group in front of Woods, Steve Stricker, and Heath Slocum. Harrington was famously in the group with Tiger at the Bridgestone Invitational that got timed in the final round. Ben Crane, who has been very open about his struggle with slow play, was in the group right behind Woods.

Since the re-design, the Dubsdread Course can be stretched to 7,616 yards. But, flexibility is key around here and the course played a far more manageable 7,400 yards in the first round. I expect that number to change every day this week as tournament officials move things around. It's also a long walk from the 18th green over to the first tee here at Cog Hill. But the players don't have to make the walk -- they are getting rides in BMWs. -- Brian Katrek

POULTER ON THE BUBBLE (4:55 p.m.): Ian Poulter started the week as the bubble boy at No. 30 on the FedExCup list. He's playing like he wants to make his first trip to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, too.

The colorful Englishman, who tied for 10th at the BMW Championship in 2007, shot a 69 on Thursday to finish three shots off the lead. The highest he could finish in the standings is third -- with a win -- but playing well enough to keep his spot for East Lake is the most important concern. -- Helen Ross

ROUTE 66 (4:40 p.m.): Rory Sabbatini will never tell you that he is motivated this week by the Presidents Cup snub he received this week. If Y.E. Yang hadn't won the PGA Championship, Sabbatini would have secured his spot on the team. As it was, he finished 11th in points and then was not selected by Greg Norman.

Sabbatini will say that if he had played better that he wouldn't have had to worry about it. That is what he will say. He also won't say how much he would like to play great here this week and show that Greg Norman made a mistake in not taking him. As if being 35th in FedExCup points wasn't enough to motivate the fiery Sabbatini, now he has another burr in his saddle and so far it is having the desired effect.

Sabbatini just carded an opening-round 66 to take the early clubhouse lead at the BMW Championship. -- John Maginnes

Below is a look at Sabbatini's scorecard from today:

SABBATINI SHINING (4:10 p.m.): What was Rory Sabbatini's reaction to getting passed over for the International Presidents Cup team? Well, judging by his round today, he's letting his play do the talking.

Sabbatini is 4 under and tied atop the leaderboard for the moment as he finishes up his first round. Sabbatini has missed each of his last two cuts and hasn't had a finish better than 34th since winning at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but today he has six birdies and just two bogeys. -- Brian Wacker

HANGING CHAD (3:35 p.m.): As the last man into the BMW Championship, Chad Campbell faces an uphill battle.

He needs to finish sixth or better at Cog Hill to have a chance at advancing to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola -- and likely third or better.

Campbell missed the cut last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship and dropped from 54th to 70th. But he's headed in the right direction on Thursday after playing his first seven holes in 2 under.

Campbell started on the back nine and immediately broke into red numbers -- rolling in a 7-footer for birdie at No. 2 and holing his third shot from 92 yards for an eagle at the par-5 11th. Bogeys on the 12th and 14th were a momentary setback as he two-putted from 35 feet at the 15th.

Campbell's best finish of the season was that playoff loss to Kenny Perry at the Masters. He hasn't had a top-10 since but did tie for 11th at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. -- Helen Ross

MAHAN STRUGGLING (3:14 p.m.): There's no question Hunter Mahan has had a Presidents Cup-worthy season -- especially given his past record in that competition and the Ryder Cup. But the recent Captain's pick hasn't exactly been blowing away the competition lately. Each of the last three weeks, Mahan has finished progressively worse, and he's struggling this week, too, at 4 over through his first 14 holes.

Below is a look at how Mahan has fared since finishing in a tie for fourth at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, which was his fourth finish in the top six in five events. -- Brian Wacker

Tournament Result Scores World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational T4 68-69-70-66 -- 273 -7 PGA Championship T16 69-75-74-71 -- 289 +1 The Barclays T20 72-72-68-70 -- 282 -2 Deutsche Bank Championship T36 73-66-69-71 -- 279 -5

Sip of Maginnes

ROOKIES ON A ROLL (3 p.m): Two PGA TOUR rookies remain in these playoffs and they are both off to good starts. Webb Simpson and Mark Leishman both played their way into the BMW Championship through good play all season and then raising their games in the Playoffs. Simpson was part of the conversation until late on Sunday at The Barclays, and Leishman played a sold Deutsche Bank Championship that included an eagle on the final hole to solidify his tee time here this week. Perhaps the most important part of the equation for these guys is the fact that they have fulfilled the No. 1 goal of a rookie -- finishing in the top 125 on the money list and securing exempt status for 2010. Now both players are looking to do more than that. A good week here would push either one of them into the top 30 and give them a date in Atlanta next week. That would net an exemption into all the majors for next year. -- John Maginnes

TIGER AT THE TURN (2:35 p.m.): Tiger Woods' round isn't exactly going the way his last one did, when he shot a final-round 63 in the final round of last week's Deutsche Bank Championship, but he's still off to a solid start. Woods made a birdie on the par-5 11th and added another one at the par-4 18th to make the turn in 2 under.

The front side at Cog Hill is a bit more difficult than the back, but Woods has been accurate off the tee and with his irons, hitting 5 of 7 fairways and 7 of 9 greens in regulation. He's also putting well, too, with 14 putts, including a perfect 9-for-9 mark from inside 10 feet. -- Brian Wacker

NOT SO FAST (2:15 p.m.): Evidently, you didn't have to be a fast starter to win a major this year.

Of the four major winners in 2009, none are ranked higher than 35th this season in first-round scoring average on TOUR.

Masters winner Angel Cabrera is the lowest ranked of the four major winners at 147th on TOUR, and his average of 71.50 is even lower than the TOUR average of 71.35. But he comes off his best first-round of the year, a 65 at the Deutsche Bank Championship, and he opened with two consecutive birdies in Thursday's first round of the BMW Championship. -- Mike McAllister

Here is how the major winners rank in first-round scoring average:

OGILVY OUT FAST (2 p.m.): Since winning the World Golf Championship-Accenture Match Play Championship, Geoff Ogilvy had all of two top-10s -- until last week, when he finished seventh at the Deutsche Bank Championship on the strength of a final-round 66.

So far, it looks like Ogilvy has picked up right where he left off in Boston. He's 4 under through his first eight holes with birdies at Nos. 10, 12, 15 and 16.

Sitting eighth in the FedExCup standings, Ogilvy is already assured a spot in THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola -- a tournament he missed last year when he finished two spots outside the top-30 cutoff. -- Brian Wacker

HONORING THE KING (1:40 p.m.): In honor of Arnold Palmer's 80th birthday today, players and caddies are wearing the King's signature Bay Hill multi-colored umbrella. The pins, which are a joing effort between the TOUR and the BMW Championship, are being distributed on the first tee. To view PGATOUR.COM's tribute to Palmer, click here. -- Helen Ross

COURSE CHANGES (1:28 p.m.): According to ShotLink data, the course set-up for the first round at Cog Hill includes five holes in which the tees have been moved up.

Moving up the tees was expected by the players after they played from the back tees during Wednesday's pro-am and mentioned afterward how lengthy the course had played. At 7,616 yards on the scorecard, Cog Hill is the fifth-longest course played on the PGA TOUR since 1989. -- Mike McAllister

Here are the tees that were moved up:

SNEDEKER STILL GOING STRONG (1:19 p.m.): As mentioned in a previous note in the Live Report, the quick turnaround between the Deutsche Bank Championship and BMW Championship has been a source of discussion this week.

Players have talked about how draining the first three weeks of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup are -- particularly coming on the heels of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship in the three weeks prior to The Barclays.

Maybe someone should ask Brandt Snedeker about it, though. He has played 13 of the last 14 tournaments, missing only the Bridgestone Invitational. Slocum, who had a rib injury earlier in the year, knew he needed to make up for lost time and it's paid off.

Snedeker has had four top-10s during that stretch, including a tie for second at the John Deere Classic and three ties for fifth. He tied for 12th at The Barclays and 32nd last week at TPC Boston. He's ranked 42nd in the FedExCup, though, so he'll need a big week at Cog Hill to advance to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. -- Helen Ross

HEATH HOLDING HIS OWN (1:07 p.m.): Heath Slocum is playing with Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker for the second straight week after his win at The Barclays moved him up to No. 3 in the FedExCup race. Pairings for the PGA TOUR Playoffs at the FedExCup are based on those standings.

So far, Slocum is holding his own well. He bogeyed the 11th hole, but has birdies on either side of it so he's 1 under. SO is Woods, after a birdie at No. 12, while Stricker is even par through three holes.

"I haven't got to play a lot of golf with him, and like I said last week, I think it's good to play with those two," Slocum said. "I really feel like you're going to see some good shots. You're going to see good tempo.

"You're going to see two good golfers, and a lot of times if things aren't going as well, it is easy to kind of look over and try to just get in their rhythm, either one of them or both, and kind of let them maybe pull you along, and if not, just if you're playing well, they're a good pair to play with." -- Helen Ross

TRACKING TIGER (12:55 p.m.): Tiger Woods has a very good record in this event, having won it four times in 1997, 1999, 2003 and 2007. And Woods is off to a good start today with a birdie on the par-5 11th to get to 1 under through his first three holes. (Click here to follow his round live with Shot Tracker.)

While Woods obviously hadn't won this tournament since the redesign took place, he can take a whole bunch of comfort in the fact he's finished in the top 10 here eight times in 10 appearances and is an absurd 113 under in his career at Cog Hill.

He has company though -- seven other former winners of this tournament are in the field, including Robert Allenby, Stephen Ames, Jim Furyk, Jerry Kelly, Steve Stricker, Scott Verplank and Camilo Villegas. -- Brian Wacker

FEDEXCUP UPDATE (12:42 p.m.): We're early in the first round here at the BMW Championship, but there's a lot of potential movement out there over the next three-plus days.

There were seven players who started last week outside the top 70 in the FedExCup standings who played their way into this week's field and there will likely be more to do so this week in regards to the top 30.

In fact, every player in the field of 70 this week has a mathematical chance to move into the top 30 and qualify for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola in two weeks. And anyone ranked 15th or better is assured of finishing among the top 30.

Only two of those players -- Webb Simpson (No. 51) and Marc Leishman (No. 67) -- are rookies. Both will need significantly high finishes to make it to Atlanta.

As for the FedExCup leader, Steve Stricker can only be passed by Tiger Woods, who enters the week No. 2 in points. Woods would have to finish no worse than third to surpass Stricker. -- Brian Wacker

LEFT OUT (12:25 p.m.): Rory Sabbatini can forget about The Presidents Cup. Could he miss out on THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, too?

Sabbatini

Sabbatini is ranked No. 35 in the FedExCup standings going into today's first round at the BMW Championship, leaving him five spots outside the cutoff for Atlanta.

And he's familiar with that position.

Sabbatini finished just out of the top 10 in the final Presidents Cup standings when Y.E. Yang won the PGA Championship in August. Yang moved in, and Sabbatini slid to No. 11.

Still, he had a good chance at being a Captain's Pick, but Greg Norman rounded out his squad with fellow Aussie Adam Scott (No. 14 in The Presidents Cup standings) and Japan's Ryo Ishikawa (No. 20).

Sabbatini's recent results likely played a major role in being left out.

The South African missed his last two cuts and hasn't finished in the top 30 since his win at the HP Byron Nelson Championship in May.

After his missed cut at the Deutsche Bank Championship last week, he finally fell out of the top 30 in the FedExCup standings. -- Nick Zaccardi

TWEET OF THE DAY (12 p.m.): "I'm wearing white pants today. Does anyone know when Labor Day is this year?" -- Stewart Cink (@stewartcink) on his attire today.

The golf course might be about the only place -- other than, say, Miami -- you can get away wearing white after Labor Day, at least if you ask Golf Digest fashion director Marty Hackel.

ON THE BUBBLE (11:44 a.m.): Ian Poulter comes into this week's BMW Championship as the latest bubble boy. Ranked 30th in the FedExCup standings entering today's play, Poulter needs to at least hold that position to reach THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola in two weeks (click here to follow the projected standings).

If Poulter's warm-up this morning is any indication of how he'll play today -- he just teed off a few minutes ago -- then he should be just fine. Poulter, who is coming off a missed cut at the Deutsche Bank Championship after a tie for ninth at The Barclays, "tweeted" earlier that he holed three 20-foot putts in a row.

Interestingly enough, Poulter has never qualified for THE TOUR Championship, though he did finish in a tie for seventh in this event in 2007. Another performance like that would obviously earn him a trip to Atlanta. -- Brian Wacker

PRESSURE OF THE PLAYOFFS (11:30 a.m.): One of the biggest topics among the players at Cog Hill is the quick turnaround for this week's BMW Championship, which of course comes on the heels of the Monday Labor Day finish at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

And one of the ideas being bandied about is moving the week off from next week to this one, meaning the BMW Championship and THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola would be held in consecutive weeks.

"It would give you another little breather in there," Tiger Woods said. "You've got a big event in the Bridgestone, and then you have the PGA, and then you have these three big events right in a row."

Camilo Villegas, who's every bit as fit as Woods with his notorious workout routine and weekly 50-mile bike-riding jaunts, seems to agree that it's a lot of golf. "It has been [a busy stretch]," he conceded.

Villegas is also playing this week with a slightly bothered left wrist, which he tweaked while hitting out of the rough a couple of weeks ago.

Scott Verplank likened this week's quick turnaround to playing the Indianapolis Colts on a Sunday night, then playing the Pittsburgh Steelers on a Thursday night.

"I think that most players would prefer to finish on Sunday last week, just because I was -- it is, it's pretty tough," Verplank said. "You don't have a lot of time for rest and relaxation."

Last week's winner, Steve Stricker, wouldn't mind a week in between, either -- even though he's quickly earned the nickname Mr. September for his Playoffs prowess.

"We basically lose our one day of rest that we have," Stricker said. "For people that are in contention and finishing late on Sunday, it's even that much more worse."

Not that all of Stricker's fatigue is due to the short week. "I haven't slept good nights just because of the fact that I still can't believe I won, I guess." -- Brian Wacker

Groups We're Watching

Tee time Players   12:03 p.m. ET, Hole No. 10 Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker, Heath Slocum The same top three in the FedExCup standings are paired together for the second consecutive opening round. 12:58 p.m. ET, Hole No. 10 Sean O'Hair, Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk All three players are safely in the top 30, but they can certainly afford to make a move in the standings. 12:58 p.m. ET, Hole No. 1 Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Nick Watney Ranked Nos. 10-12 in the standings, these three are in great position to start making a run at the title.

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