Crooked Stick made the most of its turn hosting the last week's BMW Championship, complete with marquee leaderboard. So what if Rory McIlroy quashed some of the drama Sunday by proving once again that he's the world's best golfer? Lately, he tends to do that regardless of where he's playing.

Turns out, even before all that, the Carmel, Ind., track had tossed its name into the ring for the 2020 PGA Championship, according to Phil Richards of the Indianapolis Star.

A formal presentation was made to PGA of America CEO Joe Steranka and managing director of championships Kerry Haigh on Aug. 30 and the BMW Championship served as a proving grounds of sorts.

"The golf course works and the market is outstanding," Ted Bishop, vice president of the PGA and director of golf at The Legends Golf Club, Franklin, Ind., said Monday. "It just gets down to logistical issues the site presents and, I think, if they can be worked out, there is a great chance it's going to happen."

First, though, Crooked Stick is working to wiggle itself into the BMW's rotation. Currently, sites are set through 2014, when BMW's sponsorship deal runs out. The Western Golf Association, which throws the party, will need to get another deal in place before picking future locales.

Fair to say the audition went well, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal. Crowds far exceeded last year's event in Chicago, despite some traffic issues. And TV numbers -- aided by a who's who of golf's last decade vying for the title -- saw a big boost, jumping 160 percent over last year, according to Sports Media Watch.

The takeaway: If Crooked Stick stays on the straight and narrow, we'll see it again soon enough.

Golf.com is live-blogging the final round of the BMW Championship.

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LEADERBOARD | PHOTOS

The two most popular golfers on the planet put on a show in the opening round of the BMW Championship.

Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, the first- and third-ranked golfers in the world, played in the same group at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., and the high-wattage duo combined to make 16 birdies and one eagle on the day. McIlroy finished with an eight-under 64 and a share of the lead with Bo Van Pelt and Webb Simpson, while Woods shot a 65 to trail by one.

Starting on the 10th tee, Woods birdied five of his first seven holes en route to a front-nine 32. He made four more birdies on his final nine holes, punctuated by a 30-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-5 ninth hole that drew a roar from the packed stands.

"I scored today; Rory and I played beautifully," Woods said. "I was very fortunate to post the number that I shot."

McIlroy, 23, answered Woods's long putt on the final hole by drilling a five-foot birdie putt of his own to match Simpson and Van Pelt for the day's low round.

"I'm not going out there trying to beat Tiger or anyone else," McIlroy said of his pairing with Woods. "I just try to shoot the best score possible."

Playing alongside Woods and McIlroy, Nick Watney shot a two-under 70.

At 7,516 yards, Crooked Stick is one of the longest courses on Tour this season. But low winds and soft conditions created an opportunity for low scores, and the pros took advantage.

Related Photos: The 2012 BMW Championship

(Photo: Scott Halleran / Getty Images)

Here at Rumors, we rarely take note of Vegas golf odds. Why? Because the favorite is always Tiger.

Until it's not. Then the odds are worth noting.

Like this week, at the BMW Championship, where the Las Vegas Hotel & Casino's Sportsbook unseated Woods in favor of Rory McIlroy, according to Yahoo!'s Jonathan Wall.

As Wall notes, McIlroy opened at 6-to-1, slightly ahead of Woods, who is 7-to-1. Bomber Dustin Johnson rounded out the top three, coming in at 12-to-1, followed by a rash of players at 20-to-1.

Golf.com live blogged the opening round of the BMW Championship. Learn what happened below.

The Tiger-Rory traveling circus will roll into Carmel, Ind., on Thursday. Woods and McIlroy will play together in the first round of the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick, according to The Golf Channel's Jason Sobel.

The top three players in the FedEx Cup standings will make up the glamour group. McIlroy, No. 1 in the standings after winning the Deutsche Bank, and Woods, No. 3, will be joined by second-ranked Nick Watney.

Woods and McIlroy were paired for the first time on the PGA Tour two weeks ago at the Barclays, and, by all accounts, they appeared to have as good a time as possible while playing brutal Bethpage Black.

NBC announcer Johnny Miller defended Rees Jones after Jones got an earful from some Tour players over his redesign of Chicago’s Cog Hill, site of last week’s BMW Championship. Teddy Greenstein and K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune have the details:

At one point during Saturday's broadcast, NBC analyst Johnny Miller weighed in on the Cog Hill debate. As always, he made his feelings crystal clear.

"Anybody who complains about this course," he said, "needs to have his head examined."

After leaving the booth Sunday, Miller told the Tribune: "The guys who complained were the ones who weren't hitting it good. They deserved to do lousy."

Top-five finishers Luke Donald and Geoff Ogilvy left no doubt they don't fancy the 2008 Rees Jones redesign, but the loudest voices in opposition were Phil Mickelson, who tied for 56th, and Steve Stricker, who withdrew after the second round because of neck pain.

"Almost every guy who finished at the top of the leaderboard was in the top five in greens hit and ball-striking," Miller said. "To me, that's the ultimate. That's pure golf, not a bunch of scrambling crap."

“Scrambling crap” sounds like a dig at Mickelson, of whom Miller once said, “If he couldn’t chip, he’d be selling cars in San Diego.”

McIlroy, Westwood trash-talk about Seve Trophy

Friends -- or is it frenemies? -- Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood had another one of their entertaining Twitter battles Sunday after McIlroy tweeted that he was rooting for Continental Europe against the Great Britain and Ireland in the Vivendi Seve Trophy, a Ryder Cup-type event for European pros. Westwood was playing for the GB&I team, while McIlroy took the week off. (GB&I won the event, but Thomas Bjorn beat Westwood in singles to make it very close.)

But Holly Sweeney, model and McIlroy ex, got the last word.

 

Tweet of the Day

From Sports Illustrated's Alan Shipnuck...

Rory Can't Catch a Break

It's been a rough ride to Malaysia for Rory McIlroy. The young star has taken his Masters disappointment in stride and even shared a chummy ride to his next tournament with the world's-happiest man, Charl Schwartzel, but according to the UK's Telegraph not all of the 21-year-old phenom's possessions made the trip.

Just days after his Masters meltdown Rory McIlroy arrived in Malaysia ahead of the Open to find his clubs were missing.

Despite saying he would learn vital lessons from his Masters collapse it seems McIlroy's rotten luck has followed him to the other side of the world where he finds himself club-less.

"It hasn't happened often, its one of these things you can't help it, going through so many timezones and so many connecting flights your bags are going to get lost sometimes," McIlroy said.

"Hopefully they turn up tonight and I'll be ready to go tomorrow.

Once again, Mcilroy proves he can handle disappointment with poise and composure. Considering he's reportedly earning a $300,000 appearance fee this week, he could probably play with a rental set and still leave happy.

Major Players

A European didn't win the Masters, but Charl Schwartzel's victory is still a boon for the European Tour. As NBC's Ryan Ballengee reports, there is one tournament in particular that will be reaping the benefits of Schwartzel's latest accomplishment.

Much was made in golf’s semi-offseason when the likes of Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and PGA Champion Martin Kaymer opted to renege or decline their PGA Tour membership for 2011. Several of the sport’s big names would not be playing more than 9 times in the States.

After that, the PGA Tour policy board created an exemption which would allow top nonmembers to compete in The Players Championship in May. It still was not enough of a carrot for Lee Westwood or Rory McIlroy, both under the management of Chubby Chandler.

Though McIlroy came up short at the Masters, another of Chandler’s clients won. And Charl Schwartzel will join buddy Louis Oosthuizen, the aforementioned Kaymer and US Open winner Graeme McDowell in the European version of The Players, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, May 26-29.

It’s the first time in the event’s history, dating back to 1972, that all four active major winners will compete in the tournament.

At first glance, this sounds like bad news for the PGA Tour, as every day there seems to be a story suggesting that the Big Show is losing its influence (even the year's richest tournament is being held in South Africa). But how can globalization be bad for any sport, much less one that has so effectively embraced foreign talent?

Stray Passes

Two football-related golf stories for you:

Jerry Rice has decided to play in the Nationwide charity tournament that he hosts. If that doesn't surprise you, it should: After he opened last year's tourney with a record-breaking 92, Rice said he'd be very reluctant to do anything more than host this year.

Broncos legend John Elway has shepherded the BMW Championship to Cherry Hills, Country Club in Colorado. It's the first time since the 1985 PGA Championship that Cherry Hills has hosted a Tour event.

Daly and the Blowfish

From the Twitter feed of @PGA_JohnDaly

This picture may seem weird if you don't know that John Daly is a friend of Darius Rucker and the rest of the band. Wait, that may make the photo seem even more weird ...

Morning Glory?
The Golf Channel has done a great job over the past few years opening up its branding and getting all sorts of new programming into its schedule. Nearly gone (but not forgotten) are the days when the easiest way to cure insomnia, even in the middle of the day, was to turn on TGC and let the infomercials and dubiously produced swing tips wash over you. According to VP of programing development Keith Allo, the network isn't resting on its recent accomplishments.Talking to Links Magazine's Tom Cunneff, Allo revealed at least one project in the works that could be a game changer for the network:

...We’ll also have a new morning show called “Dawn Patrol” that will air from 7-9. We don’t have hosts yet, but it’ll be our version of “Mike & Mike.” We have a third studio that we’re completely redoing to accommodate the set. It’ll be grounded in golf but it will also cover financial news, other sports. It will be a heavily guest-driven show with people calling in, including players. It will have a real immediacy. We’ll even do the weather. Our ticker will have more than golf news. It’ll have other sports scores and the top line results from the stock market the day before. It’ll be something that will service our viewers so they have a reason to watch us. It’s one of the things that’s been missing. We’ve been talking about launching it for two years but ’11 seems right. I think it will be really popular.

My colleague Mike Walker and I have very different takes on the Dawn Patrol idea. What we both agree on is that the concept itself is a no-brainer: they've got the footage, the access and the built-in viewership to keep overhead low and provide plenty of content. What we don't agree on is how well the show will be able to split its time between golf and other news/sports without stepping into actual competition with ESPN (and, specifically, the aforementioned Mike and Mike). Mr. Walker thinks they'll have no problem, while I anticipate growing pains at best, and a complete lack of identity at worst. I like TGC's gumption and their willingness to take a chance and expand their horizons, and I honestly hope Dawn Patrol is a smashing success, but I'm not afraid to go on record and predict that this show will flop bigger than Phil's 64-degree wedge. Still, anything will be better than those infomercials. Give me your take below.

It's Miller Time...Again
Johnny Miller hasn't been making a whole lot of friends on the PGA Tour this week. After Paul Casey called out the controversial NBC broadcaster at the BMW Championship, Ian Poulter took exception to Miller's take on the young Brit's ball striking ability. After Brad Faxon completely punked Poulter with a fake gift from Miller, it seemed like Poulter had finally decided to let the broadcaster's comments roll off his back. Until this morning that is: 

The link on that Tweet? It brings you to the European Tour's rankings for Greens in Regulation, which Poulter tops with 75.9% of greens hit in his 12 rounds on the Euro tour. A stunning stat...sort of. As you may have heard, Poulter also plays a bit on the PGA Tour, where his GIR is a more modest 62.47% (good for 171st on Tour).

The joke of this entire "feud" is that there are two undeniable facts. First, Ian Poulter is an extremely good golfer (and Johnny Miller never said he wasn't). Second, Ian Poulter is (by PGA Tour standards) a terrible ball striker. Poulter is currently ranked 159th on the Tour in ball striking (a combination of driving accuracy, driving distance and greens in regulation), and it's no aberration--he has finished better than 164th only once in his career. The joke is that there's no reason for Poulter to be ashamed of this--he still managed to be 20th in scoring average (the only stat that really matters) last year, despite his poor ball striking stats. Still, I can't wait to see how Miller reacts to Poulter's Twitter assault, especially since he actually has the stats on his side.

Slam Set Sold
Here's an update on a weird story from a few months ago. You may remember the saga of Steve Mata, the former Titleist director of Tour operations who tried to sell the irons that he claimed Tiger used while completing the "Tiger Slam" in '00 and '01 (a claim Woods denied). The good news for Mata? He had the clubs at least somewhat authenticated and managed to sell them. The bad news? He didn't quite manage to get the $250,000 he was looking for. From foxnews.com:

It seems everybody at Nucci's Italian Cafe knows Steve Mata. He lives down the street. He comes here all the time. Now might be a time for celebration, but Mata is subdued, thoughtful. He wonders about the future.

For a pricetag of $57,242.40, Mata just sold a set of 11 Titleist irons and wedges that once belonged to Tiger Woods. Mata says they were used by Woods to win the Tiger Slam in 2000 and 2001. Woods says otherwise, but a few touring pros have supported Mata's story.

Announcement of the sale, coming on Sept. 12 from Green Jacket Auctions, caught many observers by surprise. Mata was asking $250,000. It was widely assumed he would hold out for a six-figure bid (the name of the successful bidder was not released).

"It's time to put this behind me and move on," Mata said. "I need to find a job. I'm dedicated to golf. I'm a great employee. I know what I'm doing. I work hard."

The real story here is the state of golf memorabilia in this economy. I don't think anybody expected Mata to get his a quarter-million dollars, but just over $57,000 seems like a steal for these clubs. If and when Tiger finally breaks Jack's record for major wins, expect these babies to go back on the market, most likely at their original asking price.

SI's Farrell Evans live blogged the second round of the BMW Championship.

Leaderboard | Photos | Course Profile | TV Schedule

6:00: So long until perhaps the Tour championship.  You'll see me here for the Ryder Cup, where you can get  play-by-play from Wales. This weekend could be the crowning of Kuchar as the star that we all thought he would be when he won the US Am in 97. Don't be surprised to see Tiger in the middle of his swing change struggle on the weekend. Take care and putt everything out.

5:52: Charley Hoffman just made a double bogey at the 18th to finish a 6 over 77 for the day. He's playing with Kuchar who toughed it out for a 1 over 72 to finish in a tie for the lead at 6 under with Wi. Kuchar might be the best player in the world right now. Remember I'm the guy who believes that the best player in the world changes every week.

5:43: Retief Goosen has been in 11 greenside bunkers in two days of golf at Cog Hill. Amazing. 

5:40: Reader Mike Z has a nice scenario: 

"I'd argue that if Kuchar wins this week, and Stricker wins next week, Stricker would be Player of the Year. Assuming he stays in the top five, a win next week would give Strick the FedEx cup. Three wins, the FedEx cup, and a very consistent year (except for the slow spot when he was injured) would be very hard to overlook."

5:31: This from Paul Azinger on Cog Hill: "They ruined another good course."  Zinger is talking about Rees Jones, who got the charge to revamp the course in 2008. Most notably Jones made the green complexes more difficult, the bunkers deeper, and more tee boxes to allow a wider range of setups.  

5:25: Cink should take the difficulty of Cog Hill in stride. The players have been feasting on easy courses all year. I don't know what bothers him most about the course. It's a heavily bunkered course. I don't know when I've seen so many guys hitting bunker shots around the greens.