ST LOUIS, MISSOURI – AUGUST 20: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his shot from the fourth tee during the first round of the BMW Championship 2026 at Bellerive Country Club on August 20, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Getty Images
The playoffs are in full swing as the PGA Tour wraps up its first round at the BMW Championship, while LIV completes the first round of its individual and team championships.
There is additional scrutiny on LIV this week as it cancels its planned event in Michigan and the future of the tour remains in question. Under the shadow of uncertainty, an unlikely team leads after the first round of team play.
Twelfth-ranked Majesticks GC are two strokes ahead of Ripper GC at 16 under par. Leading the charge was Laurie Canter, who shot 8 under par. Canter was one over par through his first three holes before making nine birdies and six pars over his final 15 holes.
“I didn’t get off to the best of starts,” Canter said in a LIV Golf interview. “I think I bogeyed 8, hit it in the right trap, but it still got me going. I think I had three birdies off the back of that. Drove the ball great. I hit a lot of fairways, and kind of the way the golf course is playing with no wind and you have to take it at pretty much all the pins, I stayed aggressive for the day and made a lot of birdies.”
A strong next three rounds from Canter could earn him $4 million in winnings, while his team would split $30 million if they win. Their victory would be a true Cinderella story, having finished in last place in the 2025 season.
A few states away, Scottie Scheffler was the talk of St. Louis as he sat dead last on the leaderboard at one point during his first round. Scheffler would show a glimmer of his usual form on the back nine, shooting one under par and resulting in a final score of 2-over 70.
“Days like this are encouraging, obviously,” Rory McIlroy said in a PGA Tour article. “There’s still a lot of work to be done. But for, you know, first round with what I’m trying to do, middle rehearsal on the takeaway, all that sort of stuff, it went as well as it could have today, for sure.”
McIlroy had described his own game as a work in progress coming into the tournament but is tied for first at 6 under par. Those tied at the top are Gary Woodland, Wyndham Clark, J.J. Spaun and Chris Gotterup.
Regardless of which event you watch this weekend, both leagues’ playoffs have great storylines.
Timothy is a founding member of Break80 Golf and a contributing golf and sports writer for Forbes with PGA Tour and LIV Golf media credentials. Timothy can be reached at break80podcast@gmail.com for inquiries or story leads.