Author: lenz

Rahm improves his chances for a LIV repeat

Spain’s Jon Rahm didn’t win the LIV Tour’s stop in Chicago but he improved his chances of repeating as the circuit’s Individual champion. (Joy Sarver Photo)

Last week’s LIV/Chicago tourney at Bolingbrook Golf Club set the stage for this week’s LIV Individual Championship at the Club of Chatham Hills in Indianapolis.  Last year Bolingbrook hosted that tournament with Jon Rahm winning.

Rahm has a mathematical chance to win the top prize again after finishing tied for second at Bolingbrook. He gained ground on front-runner Joaquin Niemann, who tied for 17th after piling up five early season wins.

Niemann takes a 12.27 point lead on Rahm into Indianapolis. He has 206.43 points to Rahm’s 196.16. No other player can break into the top two in the standings at Indianapolis.  To win again Rahm would have to finish at least in a tie for seventh.  Niemann needs a second-place finish even if Rahm wins.

LIV has confirmed a return to two of its U.S. markets in 2026, but Bolingbrook and Chicago weren’t among them.  The circuit will play in Virginia and Washington D.C. and LIV also confirmed returns to Riyadh, Saudia Arabia for the season opener Feb. 5-7; Adelaide, Australia; Mexico City, the United Kingdom and Singapore.  There will be some course changes at those sites, still to be announced,  and a new tournament is scheduled in South Africa.

Those confirmations account for half of the 2026 season with two weeks left in this one.

Bolingbrook hosted LIV the last two years after Rich Harvest, in Sugar Grove, was the site the first two years of the circuit’s existence. The players liked Bolingbrook, especially the attendance there this year.

“Chicago has such great sports fans, with the way they responded to the tournament,’’ said Phil Mickelson.

 

ILLINOIS OPEN AFTERMATH: Last week’s Illinois Open presented by Troon was a big hit in its first staging at Kemper Lakes, in Kildeer. Troon manages Kemper Lakes now and also made a large contribution to the purse. No site is set for next year’s tourney, though.

Carrie Williams, the Illinois PGA executive director, said the first-round setup of 7,497 yards may have been the longest in the 76-year history of the tournament. In the final round the tee at No.18 was moved up to 287 yards, making it a rare drive-able par-4.

“We wanted to show off the full experience at Kemper Lakes,’’ she said. “Ideally we would like Kemper Lakes to be an anchor site.  We’d come  every two-three years, It wouldn’t be a representative state open if we didn’t travel a little.’’

FEDEX CUP UPDATE:  The Western Golf Association conducts its BMW Championship, second event of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, beginning on Thursday at Caves Valley in Maryland.

The 50-man field includes Illinois alums Thomas Detry and Brian Campbell.  Both need to climb into the top 30 on the FedEx point list to play in the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta next week. Detry stands 36th and Campbell 39th.  Campbell won the John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour stop, in July.

HERE AND THERE: Marty Schiene, who won three Illinois Opens in his tournament-playing days in the 1990s, has retired as the men’s coach at DePaul.  His replacement is Ryan Jamison, a DePaul alum who spent the last five years as a PGA Tour caddie for, among others, Akshay Bhatia and Brandon Wu.

Northern Illinois has named Ryan Stefko as the assistant to both men’s coach John Carlson and women’s coach Kim Keiser.

Jerry Rich has announced that Jasmine Ly, one of NIU’s top players, has become an ambassador for his Kids Golf Foundation.  Ly played in 45 tournaments for the Huskies and was the first NIU golfer to win the Mid American Conference women’s title.

Next big event on the Chicago District Golf Association schedule in the 33rd Illinois State Mid-Amateur Aug. 18-19 at Inverness. Qualifying for the Illinois State Senior Amateur begins the same day play concludes at Inverness. The Illinois PGA will conduct the Illinois Super Senior Open Aug.19-20 at Pine Meadow, in Mundelein.

The GolfPass Academy will bring its clinic program at Chicago’s Harborside International on Aug. 21.  Lauren Thompsosn, former co-host of Golf Channel’s Morning Drive, will be the host.

 

Stinger sweep provides a climax to LIV/Chicago

Happy champs: (from left) Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen, Dean Burmester and Charl Schwartzel celebrate the Stinger GC sweep of both the individual and team titles at LIV/Chicago. (Photos by Joy Sarver)

It was a rare team sweep in the fourth version of the LIV/Chicago tourney Sunday at Bolingbrook Golf Club. Dean Burmester won the individual title and his Stinger unit won the team crown – and both came in one-hole sudden death playoffs.

Burmester, whose only previous LIV win was at Miami last year, watched two golfers from Spain – Chicago defending champion Jon Rahm and LIV rookie Josele Ballester —  miss birdie putts from 15 and 12 feet in the playoff before he buried his from seven feet to be the winner.

The team playoff involved two-man teams from the Stinger and Torque units. Though Burmester was a member of the four-man Stingers, he didn’t participate in the team playoff. Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace made birdies to eliminate the Torque unit of captain Joaquin Niemann and Carlos Ortiz.

Stinger is an all-South African team, and there were some sidelights to their big week.  LIV recently announced that it will have its first tournament in South Africa next March, and the players can’t wait.

“We’re all very excited, knowing we’re going to play in front of our people,’’ said captain Louis Oosthuizen, who decided the team members and their families would stay together in one home this week.  That hasn’t been the norm in past years, but it worked big-time.

Burmester picked up $4 million for his individual title while Rahm and Ballester earned $1,875,000. The Stinger unit picked up $3 million for the team win. Stinger GC had gone 31 tournaments without a team victory until Sunday.

Dean Burmester sinks the winning putt at LIV/Chicago, then celebrates with caddie, Jason Reynolds.

The Saudi-back LIV circuit introduced a fresh – and somewhat controversial — approach to professional golf after recruiting some stars off the PGA Tour four years ago. That new look – a 14-tournament season spread over five continents with big purses and team competition figuring in — seems to be working.  The circuit – as well as LIV/Chicago – has been growing in popularity and Saturday’s crowd at Bolingbrook was easily the biggest in the four years the tourney was played here.

Burmester had a two-stroke lead entering the final round, but it didn’t last long.  He made bogeys on the first three holes on Sunday.  Ballester, at 21 one of LIV’s youngest players, and Rahm were always hovering around the lead and Harold Varner was among the others joining the battle while posting a 65 – the low round of the day.

“I was down on myself,’’ said Burmester. “After those three bogeys in a row I was like fudge.  I don’t know where I’m going.  My head says nowhere, but I kept at it.’’

The three in the playoff finished regulation play at 9-under-par 213.  Rahm and Ballester shot 69 in the third round and Burmester had 71.

Jon Rahm shows how painful it was to miss a putt on the LIV/Chicago individual playoff.

“This has been emotional,’’ said Burmester.  “I’ve been going through a rough time, some personal stuff, and I’ve been grinding.  I think about my wife and kids back home, and I’m just trying to do the best I can for them. My wife finished an ultra marathon when we played in West Virginia and I was on my phone watching her.  That gave me inspiration.’’

Rahm gained some inspiration for next week’s tournament, the LIV Individual Championship at the Club at Chatham Hills in Indianapolis.  He won that honor last year but has no wins this season.  Still, he is No. 2 behind Chile’s Niemann, a five-time winner, in the season-long point race.

His good showing at Bolingbrook, coupled with Niemann finishing tied for 17th, enabled Rahm to gain ground on Niemann and keep his hopes of repeating as the season individual champion alive.

The galleries were the biggest around the 18th green every day at Bolingbrook.

 

 

 

 

LIV’s top stars are overshadowed by Burmester, Ballester

South African Dean Burmester, who posted a 65,  was in charge in the second round of LIV/Chicago at Bolingbook.  (Joy Sarver Photos)

 

Maybe it was the weather – 91 degrees with winds gusting to 22 miles per hour. Maybe it was the gallery. Though no attendance figures were given it was most certainly the largest of the 14 rounds played by the LIV Tour in Chicago over the past four years.

Whatever the reason, the leaderboard at LIV/Chicago changed quickly, and dramatically, in Round 2 on Saturday. Two long-time stars, Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson, held the first-round lead and Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm were right behind them.

Those five, all among the biggest names in golf, were barely evident on the leaderboard after nine holes in the second round. In that short time the hardly household names in the spotlight were Dean Burmester of South Africa, Josele Ballester of Spain and Richard Bland of England.

Burmester had a win on the LIV circuit last year.  Ballester, at 21, is one of the circuit’s youngest player.  He didn’t play in the first eight tournaments of the season and didn’t break par in the next three after that. Bland, 48, is one of LIV’s oldest players and has been hanging on for three years.

They were the stars of Round 2.  Burmester shot 65 to claim the 36-hole lead at 9-under-par 133. Ballester carded a 66 and is at 7-under 135. Brand hung tough with them until a late double bogey dropped in him into a tie for seventh place.

Spain’s Josele Ballester is thrilled to be paired with Jon Rahm in the final round.

“Playing with Phil (Mickelson) for two days in a row was special,’’ said Burmester.  “The crowds are so positive when Phil is around, and the Chicago crowd certainly turned out today. When you walk on the first tee you always get those butterflies, but it felt special today.’’

Burmester, eighth in the point standing to decide LIV’s season-long individual champion, hasn’t ruled himself out of that coveted prize, which will be determined after next week’s tournament at the Club at Chatham Hills in Indianapolis.

When Brand faltered Rahm, the defending champion of LIV/Chicago, climbed into a tie with Ballester and improved his chances to both win on Sunday and repeat as the LIV Individual season champion.  He’s still winless for this season but remains in second place in the standings and closing the gap on five-time winner Joaquin Niemann of Chile.

Niemann is down in a tie for 35th place and may have trouble hanging on to his season-long lead through Sunday’s final round at Bolingbrook Golf Club and next week’s wrapup to LIV’s Individual point race in Indianapolis.

Rahm got his game going with a 4-iron second shot at the 12th hole that set up an eagle.

“That was about as good as I can hit a golf shot,’’ he said, “and making that eagle is what changed the momentum for the rest of the round. The goal is to win, and by winning I’ll get the most amount of points I can possibly get, and then I’ll need a little luck on my side that Joaquin doesn’t have a good week.’’

Ballester gets the honor of playing in the same threesome with Burmester and Rahm in Sunday’s final round. A “dumb’’ bogey detracted from Ballester’s round on Saturday.  It came at the 18th hole.

“I hit a 410-yard drive,’’ he said.  “I was about 20 yards from the green, and hit four shots from there.  I was honestly not expecting to leave that hole with a bogey after the drive that I hit.’’

Should Ballester win on Sunday he’ll be the youngest player to win a LIV tournament.

“I’d think of it like the accomplishment of starting my professional career in not the best way, and in two months turning it around and winning in fashion – especially with Jon in the final pairing and with many great players,’’ said Ballester.

Ballester, like Rahm, is from Spain. He turned pro after completing his college studies at Arizona State.  Though that was Mickelson’s alma mater Garcia,  as captain of the Fireballs, picked him to join his team. The Fireballs are in a three-way tie for the lead in the LIV/Chicago team competition with Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers and Louis Oosthuizen’s Stinger.

Bolingbrook’s island green at No. 6 was an ideal spot for LIV’s traditional Party Hole.

 

 

 

 

Niemann struggles; DJ, Mickelson shine in LIV start

Sergio Garcia tees off with Dustin Johnson looking on. They shared the first-round lead in the LIV/Chicago tourney at Bolingbrook Golf Club. (Joy Sarver Photos)

 

For the moment, at least, there’s some suspense on who will emerge as the individual champion on the LIV Golf Tour. With five wins in the first 11 tournaments Chile’s Joaquin Niemann would seem a shoo-in for the season-long  honor with just this week’s LIV/Chicago event at Bolingbrook Golf Club and next week’s event in Indianapolis remaining.

Niemann had a big lead on second place Jon Rahm, the defending champion, entering the Bolingbrook stop, but Niemann showed his vulnerability in a big way in Friday’s first round.

Playing with Rahm, he made a triple bogey seven on the eighth hole and stumbled in with a 3-over-par 74.  So,  Niemann goes into Saturday’s second round in a tie for 45th place.  He beat only seven in the 54-man field in the first round.

Neither Rahm nor Niemann were doing much talking Friday. Of more immediate significance was how LIV’s biggest name stars performed.

Check out the club flex as Dustin Johnson smacks a tee shot en route to shooting a 67.

Spain’s Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson shot 4-under-par 67s to take the lead after the first 18 holes and six players, most notably Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Rahm, were just one stroke behind. (Also posting 68s were Dean Burmester and Tyrrell Hatton).

Johnson was the clearly dominant player in 2022, when the Saudi-backed circuit made its debut. His game tailed off after that, however, and the American star finished dead last in LIV’s previous tournament in the United Kingdom two weeks ago.

“In the UK I wasn’t nearly as bad as my score,’’ insisted Johnson. “I feel I’m always close to getting my game back.  It just takes a couple of shots here and there to get me going again.’’

He got them on Friday, and it also didn’t hurt that his brother, Austin, was back as his caddie.  Austin had been missing in action for a while, and Dustin admitted “I’d prefer having AJ on my bag.’’

Jon Rahm’s intensity increases as he cuts into Joaquin Niemann’s lead in LIV player race.

And then there was Mickelson who, with Johnson, were the key signees for LIV when they made controversial decisions to break from the PGA Tour.  Mickelson hasn’t won on the LIV circuit yet but could have his best finish with two strong rounds this weekend. He strung four birdies in a row, had five in his first 16 holes and was tied for the lead briefly on Friday.

“I just need to finish rounds off better,’’ said Mickelson.  “I’m trying to get back to the top 10 (on the LIV standings).  I want to finish this year off right.  At 55 that’d be a good accomplishment against competition like this.  It would mean a lot to me.’’

Garcia has been searching for putting help, and he brought back one of his old blades for this week.  While it worked Friday, it may not stay in his bag for long.

“I have a new one coming in the next couple weeks, and I’m excited about it,’’ said Garcia. “We’re always searching for things to help us improve.’’

Meanwhile, Rahm and DeChambeau – second and third in the battle for the season individual honors – put themselves in position to challenge Niemann in the final 10 days of the season.

“Joaco (Niemann) has played pretty bad golf before in the first round and come back and almost won tournaments,’’ said DeChambeau.  “He’s incredible out here.  He’ll do fine the next couple days.’’

In the team competition captain Louis Oosthuizen’s Stingers were 6-under par and one shot ahead of Garcia’s Fireballs.  DeChambeau’s Crushers and Johnson’s 4Aces were tied for third, three strokes behind the Stingers.

Striking signage was easily evident around the Bolingbrook course.

 

Another Rahm-Niemann duel at LIV/Chicago?

 

Jon Rahm did the celebrating at last year’s LIV/Chicago tournament at Bolingbrook with Joaquin Niemann watching. This week their roles could be reversed. (Joy Sarver Photo)

In 2022 – the first season for the LIV Golf League – the dominant player, by far, was Dustin Johnson. Every year since the race for that top honor has gotten tighter and the winner has changed.

In 2023 it was Talor Gooch. Last year it was Spain’s Jon Rahm. And now – going into Friday’s start of LIV/Chicago at the Bolingbrook Golf Club – it figures to be Chile’s Joaquin Niemann. He’s won five tournaments this year including the last one, in the United Kingdom two weeks ago.

“I don’t know if that’s momentum or not,’’ said Niemann after returning to Bolingbrook.  “I feel like I’ve just got to keep doing what I’ve been doing.’’

Last year he couldn’t chase down Rahm.  He won their head-to-head battle at Bolingbrook in what was then the LIV Individual Championship for the season.  This year the tourney designated for that honor is next week in Indianapolis. Point standings when it’s over will decide the winner, and Niemann has 206.80 points to Rahm’s 169.16.

That sounds onesided, but Rahm still believes he has a chance and Niemann agrees.

“I know it’s going to be tough,’’ said Niemann.  “Jon’s playing amazing golf.  I know how good a player he is. I was in a similar position last year, and I don’t want to finish it the same way. I’ve just got to go out and play golf.’’

The stop at Bolingbrook, a course designed by Arthur Hills, proved tougher than expected for LIV’s started studded 54-man field last year.

“I played great.  I remember the course was a lot of fun to play.  It was really firm and windy.  Conditions were unbelievable,’’ said Niemann. “I was happy with my performance.  I gave it everything I had.  That was the best I could do, and it wasn’t enough.’’

Though his wins have been piling up this season Niemann recently changed his coach and his caddie.  When asked about it this week he said it was a “tough question’’, wouldn’t discuss it further and quickly ended the press conference.

Though he’s second in the point stands Rahm hasn’t won this year.

“The only thing left to do this year is get a win,’’ he said.  “For there to be a realistic chance for me to win it all again starts with a win here, obviously combined with Joaquin maybe not having a great week.  I need that going into next week (in Indianapolis) with a realistic chance and hopefully have a showdown again in the last event.’’

Niemann and Rahm will play together in Friday’s first round with Bubba Watson completing the threesome off Hole 1.  The shotgun start is at 11:05 p.m. Friday, 12:05 on Saturday and it moves up to 10:05 a.m. for Sunday’s final round.

LIV NOTES: Last pre-tourney event was a pro-am at Bolingbrook on Thursday….The tour announced that the season-ending Team Championship Aug. 22-24 at The Cardinal at St. John’s Resort in Plymouth, MI., will have a new format.  The event will start with a Wednesday play-in match between the Nos. 12 and 13 teams from the season-long standings. The remain 12 teams will go through two days of match play starting on Aug. 22  with the survivors deciding the title on Sunday at stroke play.

 

 

Another Illini win: this time it’s Feagles at the Illinois Open

Michael Feagles (left) went on to win the Illinois Open, and it helped that he was playing with former Illinois teammate Dylan Meyer in the final round at Kemper Lakes. (Joy Sarver Photos)

 

 

Mike Small, the University of Illinois coach who has won 14 Illinois PGA titles, was bidding for a recording tying fifth Illinois Open crown on Friday.  He had an uncharacteristically bad day at Kemper Lakes in Kildeer and didn’t get it,  but the day wasn’t a complete downer.

In July one of Small’s former Illini players, Brian Campbell, won the John Deere Classic – Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event.  Then, on Wednesday, another Small pupil – Michael Feagles – captured the 76th Illinois Open,  the state’s biggest event for Illinois golfers.

Feagles, who lives in Arizona, took advantage of a recent rule change by the Illinois PGA that allowed non-residents of the state to play in the Illinois Open as long as they had some connection to the state. Feagles, thanks to going to college in Champaign, was the first non-Illinois resident to win the tournament.

“It was a little surreal,’’ he said.  “The way I played this week I didn’t think I would win.  I struggled the whole week, but now it’s great to be on the list of champions with the legendary Mike Small.’’

Feagles was paired with Dylan Meyer, a former Illini teammate from Indiana, and they teed off in the twosome immediately behind Small.

“I came to Illinois when I was an 18-year old wide-eyed kid,’’ said Feagles.  “The coach has been a role model to me, like a second father.  After I finished my round he told me to `get it done’ if I was in a playoff.  And he did it in a very coach-like fashion.’’

It was all laughs after Michael Feagles (left) outdueled Brian Ohr (right) to win the Illinois Open.

A three-hole playoff for the title was a definite possibility after Feagles finished with a 69 for a 54-hole score of 1-under-par 215 and Butler National head professional Andy Svoboda, Medinah teaching pro Travis Johns and 36-hole leader Brian Ohr were still on the course with a chance to win.

“The worst thing was not being able to control anything,’’ said Feagles.  “Golfers are all control freaks.’’

Svoboda finished at even par to finish solo second and was the low pro for the second straight year.  Ohr came in with bogeys at Nos. 14, 17 and 18 to lose the lead and wound up in a tie for third with Tommy Kuhl, another Illinois alum who shot a 66 – the day’s low round.  Glen Ellyn’s Grant Roscich, in a tie for fifth with Johns, was low amateur.

Pierce Grieve, who won last year’s Illinois State Amateur and this year’s Chicago District Amateur, also made a run at the title by shooting a 67. Preparing for the U.S. Amateur, Grieve climbed into a tie for 10th in his first Illinois Open appearances.

Feagles’ Illini background created a comfort zone for him.  He won and then lost his playing privileges on the Korn Ferry Tour after his Illini days were over.  He also didn’t survive a session of PGA qualifying school and spent the last two years grabbing tournaments where he could.

This is the form that made Michael Feagles the only player under par in the 76th Illinois Open.

“Last year I won a lot.  I learned how to win, and that’s huge,’’ he said.  Among his wins were the Arizona and Nevada state opens.

“I have no (tour) status, as I’ve had in the past,’’ he said.  “I learned how to win in college, but you have to also learn how to win at the next level. Now I’ll continue to go to Q-School and hope to keep my head on straight, catch lightning in a bottle and get to the PGA Tour.’’

Getting paired with Meyer was a big help in Wednesday’s pressure-packed situation.

“Playing with Dylan reminded me of college golf, where pars were very valuable,’’ said Feagles.  “Pro golf has become so birdie-crazy.  Dylan and I had a blast.  We were teammates for two years and played together on great teams at Illinois.’’

Meyer, who lost an Illinois Open title to Vince India in in a playoff two years ago, tied for 13th this time. At one point in the tournament there was an Illinois alum in five consecutive pairings.

TO THE VICTORS: Grant Roscich (left) was low amateur and Andy Svoboda (right was low pro at the Illinois Open, but Michael Feagles was the center of attention at the awards ceremony.

 

 

It’s Ohr by four with a round to go in the Illinois Open

Travis Johns, a teaching professional at Medinah Country Club, and Brian Ohr, who is “transitioning’’ to instruction after focusing on tournament play, were paired together in the first two rounds of the 76th Illinois Open and benefitted from it at Kemper Lakes, in Kildeer.

John, 47, took the first-round lead with a 68 when Kemper was set up at 7,497 yards – the longest in tournament history. Ohr, playing the same 18 holes but with a shorter setup,  shot 69 on Tuesday and now owns a four-stroke lead on the field at the 36-hole.

So, both have had a taste of leading the biggest championship in Illinois golf and liked playing together. Ohr goes into the last 18 with a four-stroke lead on Johns and Timmy Crawford, of Arlington Heights, who also had a 69 on Tuesday.

This is more than a three-man race, however.  Two of the Illinois PGA best players are just a stroke behind Johns and Crawford in a tie for fourth. Mike Small, coach of the University of Illinois men’s team, is one of them and he’s won the Illinois Open four times.  Andy Svoboda, head pro at Butler National in Oak Brook, had success on both the Korn Ferry and PGA tours before shifting to the club pro ranks.

Johns, though, may have a psychological edge on his rivals.  He’s already won at Kemper Lakes, in the Illinois PGA Match Play Championship in 2010, and has an added incentive.  He needs an Illinois Open win to complete an IPGA Grand Slam.

He already owns wins in the Match Play (two times), Illinois PGA Section Championship and IPGA Players Championship and hopes to become the first club professional to win the Illinois Open since Todd Tremaglio in 1998.

“I’ve thought about that,’’ said Johns, “but my last one is the hardest to get because tour players are here.’’

Johns, 47, struggled with his putting in the second round, three-putting four times.

“Normally I’m pretty good at putting, and I can’t remember when I last had a nine-hole round like that,’’ he said.  “There’s still a score out there if you can get it rolling.  A 66 isn’t impossible.’’

Ohr, 26, took a fling at the Korn Ferry Tour last year without much success.  This year’s he’s teaching at Next Level Golf in Northbrook.

“Moving to the instructional side has given structure to my life,’’ said Ohr, “but I haven’t completely closed the door on competing.  I’ll try to jump on the opportunity when it comes. I’m playing the best in my career.’’

His track record in the Illinois Open hasn’t been good – only two top-20 finishes in eight appearances – but he’s found a  new avenue for competition. The competing this year has been done on the Advocates Professional Golf Tour.

“It’s a great place to compete,’’ he said.  “I’ve had eight-nine events so I’m still staying sharp.  That Tour plays on good courses and has prepared me well.’’

Crawford, 24, has also struggled as a budding tournament player. He spent four years of collegiate golf at Loyola and then had a “bonus year’’ at Illinois for enduring a Covid year. He had five starts on the Korn Ferry Tour last year but none this year, so his recent tournaments have been on mini tours.

The low 50 and ties – 52 players who were 11 over par or better  after 36 holes — will wrap up the tournament Wednesday. The  final rounds begin at 7:30 a.m. with play in twosomes.

 

 

LIV Tour brings its stars back to Bolingbrook

The best golf you’ll see in the Chicago area this year begins on Friday when the LIV/Chicago tournament tees off at Bolingbrook Golf Club.

LIV, in its fourth straight year with a Chicago stop, has three events remaining on its 14-tournament season.  Last year only 22 of 54 bettered par at Bolingbrook in what then the LIV Individual Championship. Spain’s Jon Rahm won it in a duel with Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, who is the Saudi-backed circuit’s top player this season with five victories.

Tournaments rounds are Friday through Sunday with a $25 million in prize money on the line. The individual winner gets $4 million.

LIV is a very global tour, with its 14 tournaments spread over nine countries and four continents.  The last three of this season are in the U.S. with the two following Bolingbrook being in the Indianapolis and Detroit areas.

Niemann may be this year’s star so far, but his two closest competitors this week are Chicago area favorites.  Rahm, No. 2 on the LIV point list, won the PGA Tour’s 2020 BMW Championship at Olympia Fields in addition to his victory at Bolingbrook and he had top-five finishes in the BMW Championship of 2017 at Conway Farms and 2019 at Medinah.

Bryson DeChambeau is No. 3 on the point list. He won the U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields in 2015, notched his first PGA Tour  win at that circuit’s only annual Illinois stop – the John Deere Classic – in 2017 and was the champion in LIV/Chicago when it was played at Rich Harvest Farms in 2023.

DeChambeau won nine times on the PGA Tour before moving to LIV.  He won the U.S. Open in 2020 and 2024 and was the runner-up twice in the PGA Championship.

LIV’s 13 four-man teams include 14 players who have won major championships, and that group has a combined 28 wins in those four most significant events. The Bolingbrook field also includes high profiles stars Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia.

WESTERN ROMP:  The 123rd Western Amateur had two Oklahoma collegians who are from Texas in the tournament final last week, and it turned out a blowout.  Oklahoma’s Jase Summy defeated Oklahoma State’s Ethan Fang 6 and 5 at Skokie Country Club in Glencoe. Summy was the first Sooner to win the Western since Charlie Coe in 1950.

The semifinals and finals are held on the same day in the Western, and Summy had to struggle through 19 holes  before beating Florida’s Zack Swanwick in his semifinal while Fang had an easy one in that round,  beating Notre Dame’s Jacob Modelski 5 and 3.

One of the most physically demanding tournaments in golf, the Western has four rounds of stroke play qualifying to determine 16 finalists for the three-day match play elimination. Summy went into the tournament ranked No. 9 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

“It was the biggest win over my life – by far,’’ said Summy.  “I knew my game was there, but I hadn’t quite broken through.  This time I did.’’

HERE AND THERE: Cousins Jackson Hulsay, of St. Charles, and Joseph Luchtenburg, of West Chicago, teamed up to win the Chicago District Golf Association’s Amateur Four Ball Championship at Eagle Brook, in Geneva.

Roy Biancalana, of The Hawk in St. Charles, posted a 67 for a one-stroke victory over Kyle Bauer, of Glenview, in the Illinois PGA Senior Masters at Onwentsia in Lake Forest.

Stacy Lewis, an LPGA mainstay who won the Women’s Western Golf Association Amateur title in 2006, will receive the WWGA’s Woman of Distinction Award at the group’s annual meeting on Sept. 25 at Sunset Ridge, in Northfield.

The First Tee of Greater Chicago has scheduled its 25th anniversary celebration for Nov. 13 at Venue West, in Chicago.

Michigan’s Island Resort will have a unique new course

Sage Run superintendent Matt Sly checks out the third hole of the new Cedar Course.

HARRIS, MI. – The Island Resort & Casino in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula already has two golf courses that offer variety for their players.  So, now they have a third course that will split the different style-wise between the two.

Michigan architect Paul Albanese, who designed the first two courses – Sweetgrass and Sage Run – has also designed the third one.  Officially it’s called Kishke.  That’s the term for Cedar in the Potawatomi language.  When it opens, projected for August of 2026, it’ll be known as the Cedar Course.

Sweetgrass was the first course built on the property and is widely recognized as one of the best in golf-rich Michigan.  Sage Run opened in 2018. It’s a fun course to play, but somewhat controversial.  It is certainly not easy.

Matt Sly, the course superintendent at Sage Run, says Cedar will be “a hybrid.’’

“It’ll be similar in yardage to the other two, but it’ll be a little more challenging than Sweetgrass, but not as hard as Sage Run,’’ said Sly. “It’ll have the wide, bentgrass fairways like Sweetgrass and rolling terrain like Sage Run.’’

Church pew bunkers, under construction, will emerge as a striking feature of the No. 9 hole when the Cedar Course opens at Sage Run.

There are a few more things you should know about this two-year project, planned as a $19 million investment.

While the new course will have no replica holes, it is being inspired by “the golden age of golf architecture.’’ That wasn’t the case at either Sweetgrass or Sage Run, and players will notice the difference.

“We wanted to give them a flavor of what it would be like to play overseas or from that era in the early 1900s,’’ said Albanese. “We are taking some great concepts from that era and incorporating them into the Cedar Course.’’

Most easily recognizable will be the church pew bunker on the ninth hole, reminiscent of Pennsylvania’s Oakmont – site of the 2025 U.S. Open. No. 6 has an enormous bunker left of the green and is called the Sahara hole.  No. 7 resembles the Juniper hole at Augusta National, annual site of the Masters. The par-5 second hole also looks intriguing with a long row of railroad ties clearly evident at this early stage of construction.

One other thing: the Cedar Course will have a six-hole partner.  An unusual short course is being constructed near the ninth green.  It’ll have two double greens and two regular greens.

The new addition to the Island Resort & Casino’s Convention Center  features six viewing screens and provides space for a wide variety of events.

Sweetgrass, Sage Run and Cedar are all names of the Indian tribe’s medicinal plants.  A fourth, Tobacco, is also being mentioned.  That suggests another course project could be in the works.

“We are building nine holes now with the hope of adding another nine in a few years,’’ said Sly.

A Michigan State graduate, Sly arrived on the scene 18 years ago as part of the crew that built Sweetgrass. He stayed around and is now more involved than just being superintendent at Sage Run.  He also coaches the boys and girls teams at Bark River Harris High School, which is located next to the Island Resort & Casino.  The teams play their matches at Sage Run, and the girls team was recently crowned the champion of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula schools.

While the new course is the major talking point going forward, other big projects have already been undertaken.  The Convention Center at the Island Resort & Casino received a 17,000 square foot addition that opened in June. Now there’s 30,000 square feet of convention space.

A new pro shop at Sweetgrass is also open now.  It offers a great view of the double green complex that serves both the No. 9 and 18 holes. That becomes a major focal point of the course, which already has an island green at No. 15.

Sweetgrass has a new pro shop (top photo) and it offers a view of the double green (below) that serves as the finishing hole on both nines. (Joy Sarver Photos)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, check islandresortandcasino.com.

 

Grieve has just two big events left in his amateur career

 

Lake Forest’s Pierce Grieve has a big stretch of golf ahead, and his game is ready for it.

Last week the 6-6 Grieve, who finished his collegiate career at West Virginia after starting it  at Louisville, was low man in the final qualifier for the 125th U.S. Amateur at Olympic Club in San Francisco. He’s  the only Chicago area player to make it to the finals, and that Aug. 11-17 event will mark the end of his solid amateur career that includes titles in both the Illinois State Amateur and Chicago District Amateur.

Not only that, but Grieve will bid farewell to the amateur ranks when he plays in the Illinois Open for the first time next week at Kemper Lakes, in Kildeer.

“The Illinois Open is the last win in Illinois that I’m missing,’’ said Grieve. “I’ve played Kemper Lakes a good amount and feel it fits my game really well.  Everything came together (at Aldeen). My game is in a pretty good place.’’

Getting to the U.S. Amateur was his main focus going into this key part of the competitive season for Chicago area players.  He shot a 7-under-par 65 to top the field in the final U.S. Am qualifier at Aldeen, in Rockford. Last week he entered the qualifier for the Korn Ferry Tour’s NV5 Invitational at the Glen Club, in Glenview, and missed a chance to make the final field by one stroke.

The seventh and last qualifier for the 76th Illinois Open is Wednesday at Countryside, in Mundelein.  The 54-hole tournament proper tees on Monday.

STREELMAN IS BACK:   Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman, Illinois’ most successful PGA Tour player, returned to action at last week’s NV5 Invitational.  He had been sidelined since March after surgery to repair a torn meniscus.

Coming off a mediocre season the 46-year old Streelman made three of four cuts to start the 2025 campaign before his knee injury.  He made 300 cuts in PGA Tour events since joining the circuit in 2008.  In his return to action he shot 67-70, 5 -under-par at the Glen, and missed the cut.

Californian Johnny Keefer was the NV5 champion, shooting 28-under to win by two.  He’s No. 1 on the Korn Ferry’s point list with seven tournaments remaining and has already clinched a spot on the PGA Tour for 2026.

LIV UPDATE:  Next stop for the Saudi-backed tour is the LIV/Chicago stop coming to Bolingbrook Golf Club Aug. 8-10. LIV completed its non-U.S. schedule with a tournament in the United Kingdom last week with Chile’s Joaquin Niemann winning by nine shots over runner-up Bubba Watson.

Niemann was second in LIV’s individual standings behind Jon Rahm last season after Rahm won at Bolingbrook with Niemann the runner-up. Rahm’s Legion XIII unit leads the circuit’s team competition.

WOMEN’S U.S. AMATEUR:  Barrington’s Bridget Butler won the Illlinois State Women’s Amateur earlier this season and will chase a bigger prize at next week’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bandon Dunes, in Oregon.

Butler was a redshirt at Nebraska as a college freshman after being sidelined 11 months with a torn ACL.  She bounced back with her victory in the State Am.

HERE AND THERE:  One of the biggest Chicago junior tournaments, the 45th Chick Evans Junior Amateur, crowned its champions at Itasca Country Club.  Northbrook’s Alexis Meyers, headed for the University of Illinois, won the girls’ division by beating Long Grove’s Campbell Ray, who is headed for her junior year at Stevenson High School, in the title match.  Tyler Samaan, of Elgin, won the boys division. He defeated Rayden Tee, of Hoffman Estates, in the final. Meyers will play in this week’s Junior PGA Championship on Purdue’s course in West Lafayette, Ind.

Northbrook’s Nick Hardy and Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim are both in the field at this week’s Wyndham Championship in North Carolina, the last event of the PGA Tour’s regular season.  Hardy used a final round 67 to climb into a tie for 28th at last week’s 3M Open in Minnesota while Ghim missed the cut.

The Chicago District Golf Association’s Four-Ball Championship concludes Wednesday  with semifinal and championship matches at Eagle Brook, in Geneva.