BMW Championship 2020: Your form guide for the second of three FedEx Cup Play-Off events

The PGA Tour is visiting Illinois for the one and only time this season.

It was due to arrive in this Midwest state in early July but, because of Covid-19, the John Deere Classic had to be cancelled.

This week's BMW Championship will take place at Olympia Fields, some 25 miles south of Chicago's central business district.

Not since 2003, has Olympia Fields appeared on the PGA Tour schedule. Back then it staged the US Open, won by former Ryder Cup skipper and player Jim Furyk.

Some 17 years on, the club's North Course will host the penultimate event of this season's much depleted FedEx Cup calendar.

Founded more than a century ago, the club has staged four major championships - two US Opens and the same number of PGAs - with the North Course designed by Scotland's former Open winner Willie Park junior.

A largely flat parkland course with tree-lined fairways, there are plenty of bunkers to watch out for, as well as a handful of tricky dog-legs.

Technically, water comes into play on five holes, although all but one of these hazards is a ditch, rather than a sizeable pond or lake.

Two events remaining

Those qualified to tee-up in Thursday's opening round are the leading 70 golfers in the FedEx Cup standings, following the completion of last Sunday's tournament in Boston.

This week's event is the second of three play-off tournaments, after which only 30 will travel to Georgia for the Tour finale at East Lake.

With regards to this week's qualifiers, only four played in the US Open all those years ago: Tiger Woods sneaked into the top-20, Charles Howell tied-53rd, while Adam Scott and Paul Casey both missed the cut.

Twelve of the world's top-13 ranked pros are among the qualifiers. The odd one out is major king Brooks Koepka who withdrew from last week's event with hip and knee injuries, so will now be focusing on getting fit for September's US Open.

Flying up the rankings

One player who has taken the PGA Tour by storm since the end of lockdown in early June is American Daniel Berger.

The 27-year-old from Florida is currently at a career-high No 13 in the World Ranking, thanks to four podium finishes from his last six starts - which includes a victory at Colonial.

And the stats don't lie either, with Berger third in the Strokes Gained: Total category behind Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas.

Check out the latest betting ahead of this week's BMW Championship

Thomas, who relinquished top spot in the FedEx Cup table on Sunday, is on the starting line once again having failed to finish inside the top-30 in each of his last two outings, although there doesn't appear to be too much wrong with his game right now.

Dustin Johnson has regained the No 1 ranking following his sensational 11-shot victory in Boston.

This week's layout will be a lot tougher, although it is unlikely to quell the talents of DJ when he is in this sort of form.

Outside of the world's top 25, Kevin Kisner is enjoying a good run while former No 1 Jason Day should bounce back in Illinois after missing the cut at TPC Boston.

The Aussie tends to perform better on tough courses and Olympia Fields should certainly test the world's leading group of stars this coming weekend.

Four others on a roll are Harris English, Scottie Scheffler, Russell Henley and Alexander Noren.

However, due to their current positions in the FedEx Cup standings, Noren (47th) and Henley (61st) will find it difficult to force their way into next week's season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta.

Twitter: Andy Swales@GolfStatsAlive

Table below shows form over last 10 weeks