Justin Thomas Wins the 2019 BMW Championship at Medinah Country Club in Historic Fashion.
- Phil DiIanni
Thomas Outlasts Patrick Cantlay and Hideki Matsuyama to Capture His First BMW Championship. BMW Announces Renewal of Partnership with PGA TOUR and Western Golf Association to Remain Title Sponsor of BMW Championship.
Medinah, Ill. – August 18, 2019... BMW congratulates Justin Thomas on winning the 2019 BMW Championship today at Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois in record-setting fashion. Thomas put on a sterling four-day performance to capture the title with a final score of 25-under par, to win his first-ever BMW Championship.
“It’s hard, I was really nervous today,” said Thomas. “It’s hard to play with a lead but I was enjoying it though. This is why you play. It’s like I forgot how hard it is to win and this is why it’s taken this long. This game is hard, and you don’t know how often things like this are going to happen but, we’ve been working hard to get back to it and it feels great.”
Thomas’ final four-day score of 263, which was the lowest score in relation to par in the history of the event, capped off a historic week at the tournament-tested Course No. 3 at Medinah. During Thursday’s first round, he tied the then-course record with a 7-under 65. Then, on Saturday, he put on a memorable performance with a record-setting round of 11-under, carding a 61. That round bested the existing course record of 63, set during Friday’s second round by Hideki Matsuyama.
Cantlay, who finished behind Thomas at 22-under, capped his final round off with a birdie on the 72nd hole to secure a second-place finish. Additionally, Matsuyama, who finished at 20-under, concluded a wild championship weekend, which saw him shoot 63 twice in the final three days of the event.
Following his victory, Thomas was presented with the BMW Championship trophy, as well as the historic J.K. Wadley Trophy.
“Congratulations to Justin Thomas on a historic, record-setting performance in winning the 2019 BMW Championship,” said Bernhard Kuhnt, president and CEO, BMW of North America. “We are proud to be returning to the Chicago area next year for the 2020 BMW Championship with him as our defending champion. This event is impactful in the lives of so many young caddies, and we are happy to be continuing our relationship with the Western Golf Association and PGA TOUR.”
Earlier on Sunday, BMW, in conjunction with the PGA TOUR and Western Golf Association announced that the premium auto manufacturer will return as the title sponsor for the BMW Championship through 2022. With the FedExCup Playoffs’ move to the middle of August beginning this year, the BMW Championship was given a premier spot on the PGA TOUR’s schedule.
Once again, all proceeds from the 2019 BMW Championship benefitted the Evans Scholars Foundation, which provides full housing and tuition college scholarships to hardworking young caddies. Since the tournament’s inception in 2007, the BMW Championship has raised more than $30 million for the Evans Scholars Foundation. For the coming 2019-2020 academic year, a record 1,000 caddies will be attending 18 major colleges and universities on Evans Scholarships. Currently, there are more than 11,500 Evans Scholarship alumni nationwide.
Thomas will defend his title when the BMW Championship returns to the Chicago area at Olympia Fields Country Club’s North Course in Olympia Fields, Ill. on August 20-23, 2020.
About the BMW Championship
The BMW Championship, conducted by the Western Golf Association, dates back to 1899 when it debuted as the Western Open, making it the third-oldest tournament on the PGA TOUR schedule, behind only the British Open and U.S. Open. BMW has sponsored the tournament since 2007 when it became the penultimate event of the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs. The BMW Championship features a field of the top 70 players in the FedExCup standings to determine the final 30 players for the FedExCup finale at the TOUR Championship in Atlanta. To learn more, visit www.bmwchampionship.com.
About the Western Golf Association
The Western Golf Association conducts three national golf championships and sponsors the nationally-acclaimed Evans Scholars Foundation. Headquartered in Golf, Illinois, the organization was founded in 1899 by 11 Chicago-area golf clubs to promote their interests in golf. In addition to the BMW Championship, the WGA conducts two prestigious amateur championships, the Western Amateur and the Western Junior. To learn more, visit www.wgaesf.org.
About the Evans Scholars Foundation
The Evans Scholars Foundation, the nation’s largest scholarship program for caddies, provides full housing and tuition college scholarships to young caddies who show academic promise and financial need. Overseen by the Western Golf Association, the golf charity has helped more than 11,500 caddies graduate from college since 1930. This fall, 1,000 Scholars are attending 18 universities nationwide.
BMW Group in the United States.
BMW of North America, LLC was established 50 years ago to support the sales, marketing and distribution of BMW automobiles in the U.S. BMW Motorrad was brought into the fold in 1980. In 1993 BMW Group Financial Services NA, LLC was founded, and one year later BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC began assembling vehicles in South Carolina. In 2002 and 2003, BMW Group established MINI USA, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC relaunching two iconic brands and rounding out its product portfolio.
Today, the BMW Group has a nationwide corporate footprint in the U.S. which consists of nearly 30 locations in 12 different states. Beyond the National Sales Company and Financial Services headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, NJ, its manufacturing plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and numerous other operational facilities, BMW Group in the U.S. also includes Designworks, a strategic design consultancy in Santa Monica, CA, BMW Group Technology Office USA, a technology research and development center in Silicon Valley, and BMW i Ventures, a venture capital fund, also in Silicon Valley.
BMW Group Plant Spartanburg is the largest single BMW production facility in the world, and the global center of competence for BMW Sports Activity Vehicles including the X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, and XM. The plant assembles more than 1,500 vehicles each day, and up to 450,000 annually. Since 1994, Plant Spartanburg has assembled nearly 7 million BMW vehicles in the U.S.
The BMW Group sales organization in the U.S. is represented through a network of 350 BMW retailers, 144 BMW motorcycle retailers, 105 MINI passenger car dealers, and 38 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. The company’s activities provide and support over 120,000 jobs across the U.S. and contribute more than 43.3 billion to the U.S. economy annually.
Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwusanews.com www.miniusanews.com and www.press.bmwna.com
“It’s hard, I was really nervous today,” said Thomas. “It’s hard to play with a lead but I was enjoying it though. This is why you play. It’s like I forgot how hard it is to win and this is why it’s taken this long. This game is hard, and you don’t know how often things like this are going to happen but, we’ve been working hard to get back to it and it feels great.”
Thomas’ final four-day score of 263, which was the lowest score in relation to par in the history of the event, capped off a historic week at the tournament-tested Course No. 3 at Medinah. During Thursday’s first round, he tied the then-course record with a 7-under 65. Then, on Saturday, he put on a memorable performance with a record-setting round of 11-under, carding a 61. That round bested the existing course record of 63, set during Friday’s second round by Hideki Matsuyama.
Cantlay, who finished behind Thomas at 22-under, capped his final round off with a birdie on the 72nd hole to secure a second-place finish. Additionally, Matsuyama, who finished at 20-under, concluded a wild championship weekend, which saw him shoot 63 twice in the final three days of the event.
Following his victory, Thomas was presented with the BMW Championship trophy, as well as the historic J.K. Wadley Trophy.
“Congratulations to Justin Thomas on a historic, record-setting performance in winning the 2019 BMW Championship,” said Bernhard Kuhnt, president and CEO, BMW of North America. “We are proud to be returning to the Chicago area next year for the 2020 BMW Championship with him as our defending champion. This event is impactful in the lives of so many young caddies, and we are happy to be continuing our relationship with the Western Golf Association and PGA TOUR.”
Earlier on Sunday, BMW, in conjunction with the PGA TOUR and Western Golf Association announced that the premium auto manufacturer will return as the title sponsor for the BMW Championship through 2022. With the FedExCup Playoffs’ move to the middle of August beginning this year, the BMW Championship was given a premier spot on the PGA TOUR’s schedule.
Once again, all proceeds from the 2019 BMW Championship benefitted the Evans Scholars Foundation, which provides full housing and tuition college scholarships to hardworking young caddies. Since the tournament’s inception in 2007, the BMW Championship has raised more than $30 million for the Evans Scholars Foundation. For the coming 2019-2020 academic year, a record 1,000 caddies will be attending 18 major colleges and universities on Evans Scholarships. Currently, there are more than 11,500 Evans Scholarship alumni nationwide.
Thomas will defend his title when the BMW Championship returns to the Chicago area at Olympia Fields Country Club’s North Course in Olympia Fields, Ill. on August 20-23, 2020.
About the BMW Championship
The BMW Championship, conducted by the Western Golf Association, dates back to 1899 when it debuted as the Western Open, making it the third-oldest tournament on the PGA TOUR schedule, behind only the British Open and U.S. Open. BMW has sponsored the tournament since 2007 when it became the penultimate event of the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs. The BMW Championship features a field of the top 70 players in the FedExCup standings to determine the final 30 players for the FedExCup finale at the TOUR Championship in Atlanta. To learn more, visit www.bmwchampionship.com.
About the Western Golf Association
The Western Golf Association conducts three national golf championships and sponsors the nationally-acclaimed Evans Scholars Foundation. Headquartered in Golf, Illinois, the organization was founded in 1899 by 11 Chicago-area golf clubs to promote their interests in golf. In addition to the BMW Championship, the WGA conducts two prestigious amateur championships, the Western Amateur and the Western Junior. To learn more, visit www.wgaesf.org.
About the Evans Scholars Foundation
The Evans Scholars Foundation, the nation’s largest scholarship program for caddies, provides full housing and tuition college scholarships to young caddies who show academic promise and financial need. Overseen by the Western Golf Association, the golf charity has helped more than 11,500 caddies graduate from college since 1930. This fall, 1,000 Scholars are attending 18 universities nationwide.
BMW Group in the United States.
BMW of North America, LLC was established 50 years ago to support the sales, marketing and distribution of BMW automobiles in the U.S. BMW Motorrad was brought into the fold in 1980. In 1993 BMW Group Financial Services NA, LLC was founded, and one year later BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC began assembling vehicles in South Carolina. In 2002 and 2003, BMW Group established MINI USA, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC relaunching two iconic brands and rounding out its product portfolio.
Today, the BMW Group has a nationwide corporate footprint in the U.S. which consists of nearly 30 locations in 12 different states. Beyond the National Sales Company and Financial Services headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, NJ, its manufacturing plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and numerous other operational facilities, BMW Group in the U.S. also includes Designworks, a strategic design consultancy in Santa Monica, CA, BMW Group Technology Office USA, a technology research and development center in Silicon Valley, and BMW i Ventures, a venture capital fund, also in Silicon Valley.
BMW Group Plant Spartanburg is the largest single BMW production facility in the world, and the global center of competence for BMW Sports Activity Vehicles including the X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, and XM. The plant assembles more than 1,500 vehicles each day, and up to 450,000 annually. Since 1994, Plant Spartanburg has assembled nearly 7 million BMW vehicles in the U.S.
The BMW Group sales organization in the U.S. is represented through a network of 350 BMW retailers, 144 BMW motorcycle retailers, 105 MINI passenger car dealers, and 38 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. The company’s activities provide and support over 120,000 jobs across the U.S. and contribute more than 43.3 billion to the U.S. economy annually.
Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwusanews.com www.miniusanews.com and www.press.bmwna.com