Stadler on BMW: “Just Another Golf Tournament”

Denny Dressman

It would seem that Kevin Stadler might have an advantage over half the golfers in this week’s BMW Championship at Cherry Hills, and another edge on the entire field of 69 PGA Tour players.

Ranked 32nd in FedEx Cup points going into the last playoff leg before the Tour Championship in Atlanta next week, Stadler is one of only 34 qualifiers to be playing in the BMW for the third straight season.  Eighteen players in the field are one step from Atlanta for the first time in the last three years, and 11 have reached the final step to the Tour Championship for the first time ever.

At his press conference prior to Wednesday’s Pro-Am round, though, Stadler shrugged off that history.

“We play upwards of, like, 30 events a year,” he said, “and when it comes down to it right here, it’s kind of crunch time. It’s a little bit different when you get a field this small. It has a different feel to it. But, once you start playing, it’s just another golf tournament.

“You want to progress and move on to next week. Obviously, everyone here wants to go to Atlanta. But it’s not live or die, really. If I play well, I’ll move on.”

Stadler grew up in Denver and attended Kent Denver, which is less than 10 minutes from Cherry Hills Country Club. Logic says he might enjoy some kind of “home field” advantage, but Stadler dismissed such talk.

“I grew up not far at all from here, but I haven’t really played it a whole lot,” he said. “I’ve probably played it less than 10 times. I played here twice, I think, when I was a kid, and they were both in the winter. It was certainly different than we’re playing this week.”

Cherry Hills has been the site of 10 previous national tournaments, and five of them came after Kevin Stadler was born. He was five years old when the PGA Championship was played at Cherry Hills in 1985; 10 during the 1990 U.S. Amateur (won by BMW participant Phil Mickelson), and 13 during the 1993 U.S. Senior Open.

Yet this is the first time he’s been on the grounds for one of these events. He said he was never a spectator.

Stadler won the Waste Management Open in Phoenix; played in his first Masters Tournament; made 20 cuts in 25 tournaments; and had three top 10 finishes in the 2013-14 season. At 32nd in the FedEx Cup standings, he’s one position higher than last year at this point.

With such a successful resume, he seems qualified to predict the BMW winner. But experience speaks:

“There are 69 guys out here; any of them can win. Whoever gets hot with the putter, which could be pretty much anybody out here any given week, can win it.

“I think we’re going to see some low scores,” he said. “But at the same time, if you’re off your game a little bit, it’s pretty severe.”

RELATED LINKS

The BMW Championship: How to Watch

David Duval on Course Conditions at Cherry Hills Country Club

BMW Championship Preview: Are These Players Wadley Worthy?

Top Holes to Watch at the BMW Championship

Andy North Knows What it Takes to Win at Cherry Hills

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