Olympia Fields lined up for 2028 BMW

Writing from Town and Country, Missouri

Wednesday, August 19, 2026

The Western Open, as Rory McIlroy called it after his pro-am round, will return to Olympia Fields Country Club in 2028, billed, of course, as the BMW Championship, two sources confirmed Wednesday.

The third visit to Olympia in nine years and eighth overall was expected, given the strong relationship between the club and the Western Golf Association. Olympia Fields trails only Beverly Country Club in the number of caddies who earned Evans Scholarships.

Preliminary work on Olympia’s already-testing North Course is already going on, accelerated by last week’s derecho, which took out a number of trees. The course shuts down completely on October 1 for the heavy lifting and is expected to reopen on or near Memorial Day 2027. Among the changes is a new par-3 sixth hole.

The 2028 BMW is expected to effectively be the penultimate playoff tournament, as it is now, in the PGA Tour’s restructured season, but the field is expected to be larger than the current 50 players and it is also expected to have a cut after 36 holes.

Along with work on a contract renewal with BMW that could run through 2032, the WGA is expected to return its big championship to several familiar haunts. Castle Pines in the suburbs of Denver is expected to host again in 2029 after a rousing success in 2024, and Medinah Country Club, currently gearing up for next month’s Presidents Cup, is in line for the 2030 BMW, which will coincide with the 100th anniversary of the first two Evans Scholars entering Northwestern.

Medinah last hosted on its No. 3 Course in 2019, when Justin Thomas obliterated the course record with a 61, triggering a massive renovation that cost $30 million. A 61, by North Carolina star Grant Roscich, has already been registered on the revamped No 3, albeit from the member tees.

– Tim Cronin