First round of BMW Championship tees off at Wilmington Country Club in Delaware
WILMINGTON, Del.(CBS) -- Some of the world's best golfers are teeing off in Delaware for the BMW Championship Thursday morning. The event is expected to bring more than 140,000 people to the Wilmington area as the first round of the PGA Tour event gets underway at the Wilmington Country Club.
"I just like watching them play, I like to follow them around, especially Rory, he's my favorite," Wilmington resident Amy Shenyo said.
This is new territory for the players too. From Hotel Du Pont, where some are staying, to Wilmington Country club for the event, this is their first taste of the first state.
"It's good to be back, actually this is how bad my knowledge of the area is, we landed in Philly and I was like, that seems like it's a long way away, but it's only 25 minutes," Rory McIlroy said.
"Incredible, I've never been here before, this is my first time in Delaware, this is a big boy golf course, 7,500 yards, all three par 5s reachable, this is how I would design a golf course," PGA Tour golfer Will Zalatoris said.
With Wilmington at the epicenter of the golf universe this week, local courses are already seeing a spike in tee time reservations and believe this kind of exposure will only help continue to grow the game locally.
"This is the first time a men's tour event is here locally, which is going to be a huge buzz for Wilmington and the state of Delaware, but also for the local golf courses here. I think it's going to really bring a buzz to the small state of Delaware and set us on a pace that we're going to continue to go up and up and up," general manager Ryan Kidwell said.
Every fan CBS3 spoke to said they'd like to see Delaware become a regular stop on the PGA tour.
You can expect tour officials will be paying close attention to how successful this tournament is over the next four days.
