(Photo credit: Chris Day-The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

The second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs begins Thursday with the top 50 players in the standings teeing off at the BMW Championship in St. Louis.

Only the top 30 after this week advance to the Tour Championship, and our golf experts preview the event at Bellerive Country Club while sharing their favorite prop picks and best bets to win.

BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

Location: St. Louis, Aug. 20-23

Course: Bellerive Country Club (Par 70, 7,448 Yards)

Purse: $20M (Winner: $3.6M)

Defending Champion: Scottie Scheffler

FedEx Cup Leader: Scheffler

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: Thursday-Friday: 10 a.m.-noon ET (ESPN), 3-7 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday: 1-3 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS); Sunday: noon-2 p.m. (GC), 2-6 p.m. (CBS)

Streaming: Thursday-Friday: 10:15 a.m.-7 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday: 9:15 a.m.-6 p.m. (ESPN+)

X: @BMWChamps

PROP PICKS

--J.J. Spaun to Beat Rickie Fowler (-116 at DraftKings): Both players tied for 34th last week, and Fowler enters this week sitting on the Tour Championship bubble at No. 30. Fowler has put together a solid stretch of golf with three top-20s in his past four starts. Spaun tied for 23rd at last year's BMW, and generally has posted stronger results in marquee events over the past two years, including a T7, a T12 and a T5 in his past three signature events.

--Si Woo Kim Top Asian Finisher (+110 at BetMGM): Kim has yet to win this season but he's up to a career-best 13th in the world rankings following his runner-up finish last week. That was Kim's fifth top-10 finish in his past eight starts. The other two players in this prop are Tom Kim at +188 and Sungjae Im at +260. Im is coming off a T5 that vaulted him into this event, while Tom Kim posted a solid T12 last week as well.

--Hideki Matsuyama Top 10 Finish (+168 at DraftKings): Our top-20 finish prop on Matsuyama paid last week and we're going to keep riding the Japanese star. Matsuyama has grinded through the summer and has quietly stacked up six consecutive finishes of T14 or better. That includes four consecutive top-10s, and he only needs to beat 40 players to run that streak to five this week.

BEST BETS

--Scheffler (+275 at BetMGM) is the defending champion and coming off an eight-stroke victory last week. He has been backed by 17.3% of the outright winner bets and 24.3% of the total money, more than twice as much in both markets than any other player in the field.

--Ludvig Aberg (+1600) also has consecutive top-10s, including a T7 last week and a T9 at The Open Championship.

--Rory McIlroy (+1600) is the only player with three FedExCup titles and has seven top-10 finishes in 15 previous event starts. Despite a 66th-place finish last week, McIlroy is second in the field with 9.1% of all money wagered on this week's winner.

--Tommy Fleetwood (+1600) has finished no lower than T14 in his past seven starts.

--Sam Burns (+1600) has six consecutive top-20 finishes, including a runner-up at the U.S. Open and a T3 last week to reach a career-high seventh in the world rankings. He's the book's second-biggest liability this week, having been backed by 7.4% of the total bets.

--Xander Schauffele (+1800) hasn't won in 2026 but has posted consecutive top-10 finishes entering this week.

--Matt Fitzpatrick (+2200) has three victories this season along with three additional top-3 finishes.

--Si Woo Kim (+2500) at No. 4 is the highest-ranked player in the FedExCup standings without a win in 2026. He is coming off a runner-up last week.

--Viktor Hovland (+2800) won the BMW in 2023 en route to winning the FedExCup title. He has recently returned to his previous swing coach, and is the book's biggest liability this week. The Norwegian has been backed by 8.8% of all money wagered on the winner.

NOTES

--The 50 players who qualified for the second leg of the playoffs also earn entry into all signature events and The Players Championship in 2027.

--There are no cuts in playoff events.

--Fleetwood is seeking to become the first player to successfully defend a FedExCup title.

--The BMW dates back to 1899 and is the oldest non-major event on the PGA Tour. Bellerive also played host to the event in 2008, when it was won by Camilo Villegas. Adam Scott is the only player in this week's field who also played in 2008. There are 17 players who competed in the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive.

--Of the 50 players in the field, 10 will make their debuts at the BMW Championship and 17 will be seeking to advance to the Tour Championship for the first time.

--Im was the lone player to move inside the top 50 after the FedEx St. Jude Championship, which bounced Keith Mitchell out of this week's event.

TOP 30 BUBBLE

Ryan Fox (No. 25), Tom Kim (No. 26), Scott (No. 27), Kurt Kitayama (No. 28), Bud Cauley (No. 29), Fowler (No. 30), Gary Woodland (No. 31), J.T. Poston (No. 32), Nicolai Hojgaard (No. 33), Alex Noren (No. 34), Jake Knapp (No. 35).

--Field Level Media