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Rolling parkland course with narrow fairways
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Aberg [22/1] ready to win again
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Burns [33/1] a solid each-way candidate
Tournament and Course Notes
It's the second week of three in this year's FedEx Cup Play-Offs, with the action taking place in Maryland.
Caves Valley Golf Club, which is located approximately 16 miles north-west of Baltimore city centre, is a lush parkland course that has earned a reputation for fast greens. Designed by Tom Fazio and opened in 1991, the course made its PGA Tour debut when hosting this same event four years ago.
Caves Valley offers a rolling landscape and tree-lined fairways, while water comes into play on five holes. There is also plenty of sand and dense vegetation. Both fairways and putting surfaces are laid with Bentgrass.
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Prior to staging the BMW Championship in 2021, the course was given a facelift. Bunkers were renovated, while a new irrigation system was installed. New championship tees were built to lengthen the course, and fairway landing areas were tightened to approximately 25 yards in width. Greens are smaller than the PGA Tour average.
The course has twice hosted senior majors: The US Senior Open of 2002, and Senior Players Championship 15 years later. It also staged an international women's event in 2014.
Those who occupy a top 50 spot in the FedEx Cup standings, following last week's tournament in Tennessee, qualify to tee-up at Caves Valley.
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Four To Watch
After a week's rest, Rory McIlroy 7/18.00 returns to action at the second FedEx Cup Play-Off event in Maryland.
The world No 2 suffered undeserving criticism for being absent from last week's Play-Off opener in Tennessee. But he's back to take on a course where he finished fourth in 2021.
He's a three-time winner this season and it would be highly surprising if he failed to contend at Caves Valley.
Another golfer who posted a top-10 finish when Caves Valley last staged a PGA Tour event four years ago, is Sam Burns 33/134.00.
He's a five-time winner on Tour and is certainly a reasonable each-way choice in a field packed with talent.
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Ludvig Aberg 22/123.00 continues to experience a mixed season that has yielded one victory, three other top 10s, along with eight finishes outside the top 40.
He tied-ninth in the opening FedEx Cup Play-Off event last week when he carded three rounds of 67 at TPC Southwind. And this should augur well for his chances this coming week.
At No 9 in the European qualifying table for next month's Ryder Cup, the Swede will want to further his claim for a Wild Card spot in New York.
And finally, one other each-way option this weekend is Akshay Bhatia 50/151.00 who is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour.
The 23-year-old tied-sixth on Sunday in St Jude to move into the top 30 on this year's FedEx Cup rankings.
Another strong finish is required this week to secure his spot at the Tour Championship and the California-born pro has a habit of playing well in bursts.