Medinah Moments: Scenes from the second round of the BMW Championship
The second round of the BMW Championship is in the books at Medinah with a new course record, and it's time to take another look at our own version of the leaderboard.
Birdie: Serious shade
A visit to Medinah is like a visit to a tree museum. But make a point of seeing this spectacular specimen.
Read the plaque on the trunk, and you'll think this Bur oak will outlast us all. It's the oldest tree on the property, and it germinated in 1662.
Spectators who want to get out of the sun will enjoy its shady canopy near a high-traffic area of the golf course. Cog Hill, a previous BMW venue, has "Pork Chop Hill," and Medinah's equivalent is this converging spot around the 11th green, 15th tee and 12th tee.
Birdie: 'TW' sandwiches
Michael Ponzio is the club's executive chef and an author of Italian cookbooks.
With those culinary chops, why did he post an Instagram picture of peanut butter and banana sandwiches?
"Chunky peanut butter and banana sandwiches for a certain someone's golf bag ... guess who," Ponzio captioned the photo, along with an eyes emoji.
The "TW" initials written on the plastic wrap give it away. But we already knew who likes peanut butter and banana sandwiches because of the delightful GolfTV videos of a relaxed Tiger Woods and his caddie Joe
LaCava answering fan questions about sports heroes, their mutual trust and the strangest items in Tiger's bag.
"I would say two things that people might not know: Your crunchy peanut butter banana sandwiches, and then the fact that you have to have a Milwaukee Sharpie versus just a regular Sharpie," LaCava said during the sit-down at last week's Northern Trust.
Our compliments to the chef for keeping Tiger fueled. Let's hope that peanut butter protein translates to more birdies heading into the weekend.
Birdie: Helpful neighbors
Parking passes are still available for the lot at Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale, a Western Golf Association spokeswoman said. To access the lot, you must pay the $20 fee in advance, either with your ticket purchase or separately at ticketmaster.com. Shuttles from the Stratford lot to Medinah are running continuously, starting 30 minutes before gates open and ending one hour after play concludes.
Businesses and homeowners are cashing in on tournament week by hawking spaces in their driveways within walking distance to Medinah. Many are charging the same $20 fee as the official lot nearly 6 miles away.
But we applaud the Medinah Road neighbor who was offering thirsty fans $1 bottles of water.
Birdie: Pest prevention
The rain has softened Medinah's "Monster" course, but we're not swatting away mosquitoes. So here's a tip of the hat to tournament organizers for installing DynaTrap insect traps by spectator pavilions.
Bogey: Fan favorites
And while we're on the topic of buzz, the FedExCup points leaders and media darlings are nowhere near the top of the leaderboard. Brooks Koepka is 7 shots back from leader Hideki Matsuyama. Dustin Johnson is tied for 48th at 2 under. Open champion Shane Lowry is tied for 67th at 2 over.
Birdie: Group photos C.T. Pan capped off his 67 with a nice photo with his wife, Michelle, and Woods, his playing partner for the first two rounds. Pan's wife asked him Thursday night for the picture with Tiger.
"Really crazy," Pan said of the crowds that followed the group. "I don't know how he - it definitely affects your game a little bit."
Birdie: Beef jerky
If you always wondered what pros like Ricky Fowler and Dustin Johnson munch on to keep their energy going at Medinah, you have a chance to find out at one of the BMW Championship's vendor tents.
Representatives of Kingsmade Jerky were on hand to provide a taste of the "Official Jerky and Official Meat Snack of the PGA Tour."
The Florida-based company recently signed a multiyear marketing deal with the PGA. Kingsmade Jerky and golf do share a connection. Company founder Jeff King, a native of Hammond, Indiana, grew up caddying for a local golf course before becoming a PGA and LPGA caddie.