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BMW Championship practice begins

CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) — The sports world focuses on Central Indiana today as 70 of the world’s top golfers prepare for the BMW Championship. The tournament which is part of the Fed Ex Cup, returns to Crooked Stick in Carmel this week.

150,000 people are expected to attend the event. It’s the third of four legs on the road to that $10 million Fed Ex Championship for the PGA.

Many of these players played Crooked Stick back in 2012, the last time the BMW Championship was hosted in Carmel, but there will also be some new faces. Jason Day and Jordan Speith are just a couple big names making their debut at Crooked Stick this year.

In 2012, the course was hit hard by rain tournament week. The conditions made it easy for players to rack up the birdies and Rory McIlroy took home the prize 20 under par.

Now, course staff has made some drainage improvements to prevent that and hope the players will be more challenged by the Pete Dye course.

One thing the PGA knew they could count on coming to Central Indiana was support.

“We filled up on volunteers, 2,600 volunteers earlier in the year, in February for this year’s tournament, which is just a true testament of the support we’ve received from the local community not only in volunteerism, but the corporate hospitality and the ticket buyers, they’ve really supported the championship and that’s one of the reasons we wanted to come back, because the people really embrace the championship,” Vince Pellegrino, BMW Tournament Director, said.

Practice kicks off Tuesday, followed by a pro-am Wednesday. Then four rounds of golf begin Thursday, with no cut this week. The top 30 golfers will then move on to the Tour Championship September 22 through September 25, 2016.

There are still tickets available for the event. Practice tickets begin at just $25. Click here to purchase a ticket.