Brennan's Blog - BMW Championship

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:13:14

Last week was a great week and if it wasn't a great Sunday round from Vijay, Mike would have had a great chance to win. He really played well all week and more importantly his short game was in top form. He has really made a point in the past month to work hard on his wedges and putting and it has paid off. I know he wasn't that pleased with his ball striking but it really goes to show how important a hot putter is in golf. That Sunday round that Vijay put together was incredible. The course got very fast and it was difficult to get the ball close to the hole. The course did a complete 360 change from Thursday when it played soft and there was no wind. Overall it was a great week and Mike has moved up to third place in the FedEx standings which is the important thing. I'm looking forward to this week and our run at winning the cup!

The third playoff event is the BMW Championship which is played at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis. The last time we were here in 2001 was the tragic day of 9-11 and as you may remember the tournament was cancelled. This week has been a great week so far as Mike and I are staying with John Davidson who is now the president of the St. Louis Blues. On Monday we went down to the practice rink and saw some of the guys skate a bit as they are getting ready for camp in a few weeks. We got a nice tour of the facility and got to meet some of the guys and coaches so I really enjoyed myself. Former Dallas Stars GM Doug Armstrong is now the Assistant GM in St. Louis so I'm hoping things turn around here and they start doing well again. I enjoy being around the hockey atmosphere and actually like talking hockey more than golf!

The top 70 have advanced this week which by tour standards makes the field quite small. There is also no cut this week so that's nice because you can change your mentality a little bit and not have to worry about how you play the first few days. Obviously the guys are trying to play their best each and everyday but with a cut, if things don't go well at the start you don't have to change your plan and force things. It's important to play well throughout each round and try to be consistent for all four days. You know with the limited field you can just chip away at the lead and hopefully on the back nine on Sunday you have a chance to win the tournament.

Bellerive is much different than I remember it back in 2001 and for good reason. Reese Jones came in and revamped the course a few years back and made quite a few changes. Like all courses nowadays it is much longer and the greens have changed dramatically. The greens are quite similar to the ones we just played at Oakland Hills; they are very large and very slopey. These are some of the craziest greens I've seen in a while and unlike the PGA where the greens got hard and fast I don't think we will see that this week. The weather is calling for lots of rain on the first few days so I expect the greens to be very soft and therefore slow.

The course is not that demanding off the tee as the fairways are wide and with the rain it will make them that much easier to hit. The balls won't be landing and bouncing one way or another into the rough. The negative with this weather is that it is going to play very long. The course is already 7500 yards and going to play all of that. It is unfortunate that it will play this way but everyone has to play the same course.

I am very excited about this week and would love to see Mike give Vijay a run for the FedEx Cup. It's going to be very difficult to catch him now but you never know what might play out over the next two events. The only thing we can do is go out and try and win and let things fall where they may. It's also good to know we will be playing in the Tour Championship in a few weeks. Let's just hope the weather cooperates and we can complete the BMW Championship in time!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more from MikeWeir.com!