The Starter, Round 3: BMW Championship

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Sep. 11, 2010

The third round of the BMW Championship is set to begin Saturday. Here's a preview:

Groups we're watching:

Tee time	Players
8:35 a.m. ET No. 10		Ryan Palmer, Tiger Woods, Brian Davis Tiger's swing is coming around but he's having trouble around the greens. Will he put it all together?
10:05 a.m. ET, No. 1		Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, Luke Donald Two European Ryder Cup team members and the probable closest miss get to play in a group Saturday.
1:50 a.m. ET, No. 1		Charlie Wi, Matt Kuchar, Marc Leishman Will Kuchar continue to grind and have success? Will Wi or Leishman break through with a win? Stay tuned.

MORE ROUND 3: Tee times | Inside the field | Inside the course | Transcripts

EXPERT PREVIEW: PGA TOUR NETWORK on-site correspondent Bob Stevens previews Saturday's action:

Saturday's forecast

Showers
Temp: 69 high/53 low
Chance of precipitation 60 percent. Winds from SW around 10 mph.

Weather will be the wild card for the third round of the BMW Championship. After two dry, semi-cloudless days with low humidities, showers and possible thundershowers are expected for Saturday morning, and with the field squeezed on tee times with the hope of a 3 p.m. local time finish so that NBC can cut to Notre Dame/Michigan college football game, most all of the field is expected to deal with similar conditions. (Programming note, our coverage on the PGA TOUR Network, Sirius 209 and XM146 will begin at 10 a.m. eastern, 9 a.m. in Chicagoland). What those showers will do to the already inconsistent greens is anyone's guess. Cog Hill does have the sophisticated sub-air system that can suck the moisture out of the greens if they take on too much water.

Charlie Wi thought the greens were better in the second round than the first, opining that cooler temperatures and less traffic (just 70 players instead of the hundreds that would play on a normal day at this public course) have given the bent grass surfaces a chance to rejuvenate. Other players weren't so generous. It seems quite interesting that a course re-built to possibly host a major championship someday is playing like it, with firm, bumpy greens and deep bunkers.

Matt Kuchar has been through this top-of-the-leaderboard-on-the-weekend nervousness often this year, but for Charlie Wi, its still fairly new on the PGA TOUR. Wi gave me an interesting perspective on playing a no-cut tournament like this one, saying he has often gotten caught looking ahead to where he can make his next birdie, instead of playing the holes one-at-a-time. He's trying very hard this week to "stay in the moment" and it showed after his triple-bogey at the 16th, he fought back to birdie the 17th and save par at 18 to stay right on the lead.

The Film Room

	PGA TOUR Today: September 11, 2010 Matt Kuchar and Charlie Wi are tied atop the leaderboard heading into the weekend at the BMW Championship. Casey Black previews what to expect Saturday. Watch it
	BMW Championship: Round 2 Highlights Matt Kuchar recovers from a rough start to share the 36-hole lead with Charlie Wi at the BMW Championship. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Luke Donald also featured. Watch it
	Shot of the Day: Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson displays his short game magic at the par-4 8th with a chip in from 75 feet away during the second round of the BMW Championship at Cog Hill. Watch it