The BMW Championship is heading to Baltimore next season, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Teddy Greenstein writes that Caves Valley, located in Owings Mills, Md., will be named as the BMW host in 2021 in an announcement on Monday. The Tom Fazio design—which has the reputation of a player’s course—has previously held the 1995 U.S. Mid-Am, 2002 U.S Senior Open, 2005 NCAA Championship, the inaugural International Crown in 2014 and the 2017 Senior Players, but never a Tour event. It is ranked No. 152 in Golf Digest’s America’s Second Greatest 100 list.
The tournament, one of three FedEx Cup Playoff events, is run by the Chicago-based Western Golf Association. Since the BMW’s rebranding from the Western Open in 2007, the WGA’s philosophy had been moving the competition outside Illinois—with trips to Indiana, Missouri, Colorado and Pennsylvania—every other season. That cadence was paused this year, as the tournament goes to Olympia Fields after visiting Medinah last summer.
After indicating the company was pulling its sponsorship last summer, BMW made an about-face in August and renewed its patronage until 2022. As the second playoff event, the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings will advance to this year’s BMW, which begins Aug. 20. Justin Thomas is the defending champ.