Racing Post's BMW Championship predictions and free golf betting tips

When to bet

By 2.25pm Thursday

Where to watch the BMW Championship

Live on Sky Sports Golf from 6pm on Thursday

Ian Wilkerson's BMW Championship predictions

Tyrrell Hatton
2pts each-way 30-1 bet365

Corey Conners
1pt each-way 40-1 general

Si Woo Kim
1pt each-way 60-1 bet365

Click here to add Ian Wilkerson's BMW Championship predictions to your bet365 betslip

Paddy Power free bet offer

Join Paddy Power today and get £20 cash back

New customers only. Place your FIRST bet on any market at odds of min 2.0 (EVS) and if it loses we will refund your stake in CASH. Max refund for this offer is £20. Only deposits made using cards will qualify for this promotion. T&Cs apply.

There is plenty of talk about hat-tricks this week as the PGA Tour looks to whittle the race for the FedEx Cup down to the final 30 players who will contest next week's Tour Championship.

Patrick Cantlay heads to Olympia Fields in the Chicago suburbs looking for his third successive BMW Championship - the other two have come at different courses - but he will no doubt still be wondering how he allowed last week's FedEx St Jude Championship to slip away.

Lucas Glover took advantage of his playoff rival finding water with his drive on the first extra hole and he is looking for a third win on the spin following his previous victory at the Wyndham Championship.

However, the big guns jockeying for position with one eye on next week's $18m first prize, so that looks like being no easy task.

Ian Wilkerson's top tip

Tyrrell Hatton 33-1

This is the second time Olympia Fields has hosted this tournament, even though the field is cut to 50 this year from the 70 who lined up at this stage four years ago.

Then the players found the North Course a tough examination, which is to be expected from a former US Open track, and their all-round game looks set to be tested again.

Jon Rahm and LIV defector Dustin Johnson reached a playoff that year and demonstrated strong skills as both were in the top ten for all of the major strokes-gained indicators - tee-to-green, off-the-tee, approach and putting.

If there is a weakness in a player's game, then the North Course will find it. Those at the head of the market possess few but one player a little lower down the list could make an impression.

Tyrrell Hatton's 2020 win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational is his only PGA Tour victory to date, but he is still capable of making strong challenges at this level and this looks a perfect test for him.

He will have been disappointed with 43rd last week when most of the damage was done by an opening 72, but he has claimed top-20 finishes in eight of his last ten tournaments and eight top tens this year including second behind Scottie Scheffler at the Players Championship, so the consistency is there.

And his statistics suggest he is a good match for the course this week at eighth in strokes-gained: tee-to-green, 11th off the tee, 12 on approach and seventh in putting.

Add to that his 16th place at the venue three years ago which was no disgrace and the need for a strong performance from 26th in the FedEx Cup rankings with only the top 30 set to progress, then he could be in for a big week.

Next best bet

Corey Conners 40-1

Canadian Corey Conners is another player to keep a close eye on this week.

He posted his best finish since winning the Texas Open in April when two closing 65s took him to a tie for sixth in Memphis last week, so he looks to be well tuned.

Conners was 33rd at Olympia Fields which was not a bad recovery after an opening 76 and it was a week when his tee-to-green game was in excellent order - he ranked fourth - but his putting let him down.

The flatstick behaved itself last week - he was tenth in strokes gained on the greens - and, like Hatton, he is looking over his shoulder from 25th in the rankings so there will be plenty of motivation to push himself into contention for a big prize at the Tour Championship.

Other selection

Si Woo Kim 60-1

This is a richly competitive event but another player who could make an impression at a big price is South Korea's Si Woo Kim.

He played solidly last week to finish six shots off the pace in a tie for 16th and is tenth in the tee-to-green rankings (fifth last week) in a season where he was runner-up at the Byron Nelson and fourth in a strong field at the Memorial.

Kim finds enough fairways to give himself a chance this week and it is worth chancing that he can be a factor if he can perform better on the greens.

This is a good opportunity for him to push himself up from 17th in the rankings and have a real crack at next week's big prize.

Olympia Fields course guide

Course Olympia Fields Country Club (North Course), Olympia Fields, Illinois
Prize money $20million ($3.6m to the winner)
Length 7,366 yards
Par 70 – Two par-fives; 12 par-fours; four par-threes
Field 50
Highest-ranked players in field (world ranking in brackets) Scottie Scheffler (1), Rory McIlroy (2), Jon Rahm (3), Patrick Cantlay (4), Viktor Hovalnd (5), Xander Schauffele (6)
Course records - 72 holes 272 Jim Furyk (2003 US Open) 18 holes 63 Vijay Singh (2003 US Open)

Course winners taking part Jon Rahm

When to bet By 2.25pm on Thursday

When to watch Live on Sky Sports Golf from 6pm on Thursday

Time difference Illinois is six hours behind the UK & Ireland

Last week – FedEx St Jude Championship 1 L Glover (80-1), 2 P Cantlay (16-1), 3 R McIlroy (9-1), 4 T Fleetwood (30-1), 5 T Moore (125-1)

Course type Parkland

Course overview This is the second time Olympia Fields has been used in the FedEx Cup playoffs and the first time since 2020 when Jon Rahm beat Dustin Johnson in a playoff. It also hosted the 2003 US Open, which was won by Jim Furyk.

The fairways are tree-lined and the rough is expected to be heavy. A creek runs through much of the course and will become a factor in club selection, such as on the par-four 12th where a 320-yard drive will be needed to carry it.

The first hole is one of two par fives and measures a whopping 624 yards. The other long hole is the 15th. There are four par threes, of which the eighth is 290 yards.

Finding the fairways will be key to attacking the small greens which contain plenty of mounds and undulations. They are a mixture of bentgrass and poa annua.

Story of last year Patrick Cantlay won his second successive BMW Championship, beating Scott Stallings by one shot at Wilmington Country Club in Delaware

Weather forecast Any early rain on Thursday is expected to have cleared by the start of play and the rest of the tournament should be fine with temperatures around 31C

Type of player suited to the challenge This should be a demanding test where finding the fairways off the tee will be key and iron play will have to be precise to find the small putting surfaces. Length of the tee wouldn't be a disadvantage so the all-round game will have to be in tip-top shape.

Key attribute Accuracy