(photo courtesy of BMW Championship)

Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel is ready for the best PGA players in the world.

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The BMW Championships begin Thursday at the Pete Dye designed course. Crooked Stick Golf and Club Operations Director Tony Pancake says planning for the event began in 2004 when club officials met with the PGA about hosting the tournament outside of Chicago.

Pancake says it's the third of four events in the PGA FedEx Cup, which is the PGA playoffs. The top 70 players in the world will compete over four days to decide the top 30 who continue to the championship two weeks after the BMW Championship.

Pancake says course renovations began last fall, including 5 new tee boxes, adding some bunkers and narrowing some fairways. Pancake says he feels hole 14 will give the players the most trouble.

The players only get one practice round, which is on Tuesday. A Pro-Am will be held Wednesday before BMW Championship play begins on Thursday.