2014 BMW Championship: Tee times, pairings for Friday’s round

A late storm and the threat of lightning suspended play late in Thursday’s round of the BMW Championship, but because there are just 70 players left in the FedEx Cup playoffs, everything should stay on the normal schedule for Friday.

The first round was scheduled to conclude around 8 p.m. ET, and the horn sounded at about 7:50 p.m. on Thursday. So there are only nine players out on the course and the first round will resume 1 p.m. ET (or 11 a.m. local at Cherry Hills). Henrik Stenson has the lowest score of the remaining group still out on the course, sitting one shot off the current lead at 2-under. But again, he has just one more hole to finish up in his opening round. Those nine players should officially wrap up the first round in about 15 or 20 minutes after the resumption at 1 p.m.

Then the second round will proceed as planned, unless, of course, there are more weather disruptions on Friday morning. With just 70 players in the field, there’s a lot of flexibility and room in the schedule to get a full 18-hole round in during the day. For the first two rounds, the Tour has opted to keep the normal protocol of sending players off split tees in groups of three. This is typical for a normal pre-cut field around 150 players, but with just 70 guys left, that condenses the entire tee sheet into two hours. So the whole field is on the course at the same time for at least a portion of the round, giving the broadcast plenty of options for players to feature

The current co-leader and projected No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings should get a lot of that camera time. Rory McIlroy was expected to bomb it through the thin air of Colorado and challenge the tight, classic layout of Cherry Hills. The course is holding its own against the modern bombers and their equipment, but McIlroy is still the biggest threat to overwhelm it and the rest of the field. The No. 1 player in the world will go out later in the draw at 2:46 p.m. ET, so most of his round should fall within the 4 to 8 p.m. coverage window on Golf Channel.

Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott will also play later in the afternoon and are among the heavy hitters for the late Friday viewers. Here’s the full tee sheet for Friday’s second round.