Tournament director Tracy West is excited about the next Valspar Championshp, which tees off on the Coppehead course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, FL., on March 21. (Joy Sarver Photos)
PALM HARBOR, FL. – The first two months of the PGA Tour season were marred by unusually bad weather in California and an overly exuberant crowd in Phoenix. Now – as soon as the last putt drops at the Mexico Open — it’s time to welcome the Florida Swing.
The Sunshine State takes over the month of March, with only one round in the four Florida tournaments played in February. The first one, on Feb. 29, marks the debut of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches at PGA National, in Palm Beach Gardens.
That tourney’s name change might be a problem. Since 1982 the tourney was known as the Honda Classic, and it was the PGA Tour’s long-running uninterrupted title sponsorship until it ended last year.
Since 2007 the Honda was played on the Jack Nicklaus-designed Champions course at PGA National. It has a three-hole stretch of back nine holes dubbed the Bear Trap. They were tough, and still are. The Cognizant Classic will be played on the same course but without the field problems the Honda had in recent years.
Even though nearby Jupiter is home for many PGA Tour stars, those players were reluctant to relish a rare home game after all that travel on the West Coast. Weak fields became a problem, but this time Jupiter residents Daniel Berger and Shane Lowry were among the first entrants in the Cognizant Classic, and other early signups included 2022 U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose and U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson. Chris Kirk is the defending champion.
After the Cognizant Classic’s debut comes two biggies – the March 7-10 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando and the March 14-17 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra. The API is the fourth of the PGA Tour’s eight signature events of 2024 and carries a $20 million purse. The Players, at $25 million, is even bigger. There won’t be any problem getting strong fields at those places, and the Valspar Championship – the climax to the Florida Swing on March 21-24 – apparently won’t have a problem, either.
Taylor Moore told a Media Day gathering what it was like to win the Valspar Championship.
Valspar’s $8.4 million purse is the smallest on the Florida Swing but the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor is universally popular with the players. Valspar tournament director Tracy West included a field list at last week’s Media Day and it included Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth and Will Zalatoris. They could hardly be considered Valspar regulars. Two-time winner Sam Burns, Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Sahith Theegala and Gary Woodland are also in the field.
The defending Valspar champion, Taylor Moore, was on hand for the Media Day and he wanted no part of questions about the controversial LIV Tour. There certainly was no need for discussions on that, given how West and her staff have positioned the paint company sponsored event as “the most colorful PGA tournament in the world.’’
“There’s been a lot of noise around golf these days, but none of that matters,’’ said former football star Ronde Barber, in his third year as Valspar’s general chairman. “We’re trying to put on a great golf tournament, and we’ve got 19 out of the world’s top 50 despite all that’s been going on.’’
“A terrific year is shaping up, and we’re excited about our field, but our product is more than that,’’ said West.
In December the Valspar was named the “Fan-First PGA Tournament of the Year’’ and this year’s event is building on that with a load of special features.
A 5-kilometer run, expected to draw about 700 participants, will kick off the festivities on March 17. In addition to the pro-ams at Copperhead a new celebrity pro-am will be played at the Pelican course in Belleair on Tuesday and a concert by country singer Cole Swindell will follow Saturday’s round.
A double-decker skybox has been added at Copperhead’s 18th green, a new golf shop just opened and a special ticket will be offered for those wanting to visit the soon-to-be re-opened Packard’s Steakhouse following a major renovation.
And, again, the Valspar is the only tournament granted special privileges by the PGA Tour. Players can substitute their nicknames on the caddie bibs and bring a guest of their choice inside the ropes during tournament play.
In short, the PGA Tour will have a refreshing change when it returns to Florida.
One way the Valspar shows it is the PGA’s most colorful tournament is in the decorating of the parking spots for its past champions. This one is for defending champion Taylor Moore.
Carrie Williams, the executive director of the Illinois PGA, has no problem calling this week’s 39th annual Chicago Golf Show “the unofficial kickoff to the Chicago golf season.’’ That is what it has become for more than three decades.
The annual mid-winter event begins its three-day run on Friday (FEB 23) at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. All the major Chicago golf organizations are involved with the Chicago District Golf Association expanding its role in its third year as the event’s presenting sponsor.
Attendees will be greeted by a panoramic view of a new CDGA Town Square that will cover 11,000 square feet and encompass, among other things. two side-by-side Longest Putt competitions.
The CDGA is also partnering with Best Hole-in-One to present a new Break the Glass Challenge in the new club Demo Day area. Attendees will also be offered a free round of golf courtesy of GolfVisions, which operates 14 area courses.
Show hours are noon-6 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday. Adult admission is $7 on Friday and $12 on the weekend days. For youth 12-15 it’s $4 all days and those under 11 will be admitted free.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Batavia-based club manufacturer Tour Edge is lamenting the Achilles injury that sidelined its prime ambassador, Bernhard Langer. Langer was set to defend his title in the Chubb Classic, a Florida event in which he tied Hale Irwin’s record PGA Tour Champions 45 victories in 2023.
Langer, 66, took sole possession of the record by winning last year’s U.S. Senior Open and had announced plans to make his last appearance at the Masters a few days before the injury sidelined him indefinitely.
The Chubb event was shortened from 54 to 36 holes when rain deluged the Tiburon course in Naples last Sunday. Stephen Ames was declared the champion after the course was deemed unplayable
Finishing in a tie for second was Mark Hensby, who has a sterling record in Illinois. He won the Illinois State Amateur in 1994, the Illinois Open in 1996 and the John Deere Classic in 2004.
HERE AND THERE: Illinois will again be limited to three local qualifiers for the men’s U.S. Open but berths in the finals of the U.S. Women’s Open will be on the line at Briarwood, in Deerfield, on May 13. That’s the first of 13 non-local qualifiers for U.S. Golf Assn. championships to be conducted by the CDGA this year.
Pine Meadow, in Mundelein, hosted successful Illinois PGA Super Senior championships for men in recent years. Now Pine Meadow will hold one for women Aug. 27-28. It’ll be conducted in age-based flights – 60-64, 65-69, 70-74 and 75 and over.
Jeff Kawucha, who had been at Oak Brook Golf Club, is now the head professional at The Preserve at Oak Meadows in Addison.
Doug Ghim developed his golf skills first growing up in Arlington Heights and he progressed all the way to the PGA Tour. Last week he even put himself in position to win for the first time at the WM Phoenix Open.
Ghim got off to a good start, shooting 65 in the first round. In the second he was pelted with beer cups after he made birdie at the par-3 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale, and he was tied for third place after seven holes when darkness halted play in Saturday’s weather-delayed third round.
So far, so good. The Phoenix crowds are known for being big and boisterous. Last week’s was even more so. The tourney reported crowds nearing 250,000 for the week, and that was deemed a PGA Tour record. At the par-3 No. 16 hole the fans were particularly unruly, to put it mildly.
Even the usually mild-mannered Zach Johnson, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, snapped at them, he was saying he was “sick of it’’ and to “just shut up.’’
Ghim hung on through the craziness to tie for 12th, his best finish in four starts this year and an indication his game is taking shape after missing the cut in his first two tournaments. Ghim tied for 13th the previous week at the Farmer’s Insurance Open. Phoenix was a bigger money event, and Ghim pocketed $187,000.
His thoughts on the impact of the rowdy weekend crowds weren’t recorded but they may have affected Northbrook’s Nick Hardy, who has had a solid start to the season. He survived all five cuts and was hovering in the top half of the leaderboard at Phoenix until shooting a 78 in the final round,
The always gentlemanly Luke Donald, the European Ryder Cup captain, didn’t survive the cut at Phoenix but got an indication what his Euro squad might experience when the Ryder Cup is played on American soil in 2025.
“This tournament was a nice precursor to what New York and Bethpage might feel like,’’ said Donald. “It’s quite the atmosphere, the rush, the intensity. There’s nothing quite like the energy you feel as a player playing (in Phoenix).’’
SHOW TIME: Nick Anderson, the former University of Illinois basketball star, and long-time NFL place-kicker Robbie Gould will be featured at the 39th Chicago Golf Show, which has a Feb. 23-25 run at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont.
Anderson will be on the show’s Main Stage on both weekend days to promote his Flight 25 Foundation partnership with the Chicago District Golf Association Foundation. Gould, a CDGA ambassador, will also be appearing on the show’s Main Stage.
HERE AND THERE: Ghim won’t play in the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles this week. That’s where Tiger Woods will make his season debut. Hardy will be in the field there.
Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman, battling a back injury the last three weeks, had hoped to return at Phoenix – the PGA Tour stop closest to his Arizona home. He didn’t make it, though, and will also miss the Genesis stop.
Jamie Nieto, formerly head professional at The Preserve at Oak Meadows in Addison, is now assistant professional at The Fox in St. Charles.
The U.S. Golf Association has announced Illinois’ three local qualifying sites for the men’s U.S. Open – Stonewall Orchard, in Grayslake, on April 24; Cantigny, in Wheaton, on April 29; and Illini Country Club, in Springfield, on May 13.
With the LIV Golf League venturing outside of the United States for the first time this season, it’s a good time to reflect on what’s happening with this controversial circuit.
LIV has had events in Mexico and Las Vegas. Both certainly fared well going head-to-head with PGA Tour stops, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Pebble was devastated by bad weather, the event being reduced to 54 holes (just like LIV’s Mayakoba event). A format change – reduced fields for both the pros and amateurs – didn’t help Pebble, either. The event lost the flavor it had built up over the years when Bing Crosby’s Clambake drew all the top pros and many of the best celebrity/amateur players.
Weather was a problem for the PGA Tour in Phoenix, too, but there was a more serious issue there. The tournament announced attendance at nearly 250,000, which would be a record for any golf event, but the raucous behavior of many of those spectators were an embarrassment to the game in general. Not even the players were reluctant to criticizing their own fans. This is a problem that must be addressed before the tourney is held in 2025.
Now on to LIV. Tournament No. 3 of this year’s 14 events is March 1-3 in Jeddah – at the Royal Greens in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia. No. 4 is the following week, March 8-10 in Hong Kong.
The competition was great at both Mayakoba and the Las Vegas Country Club. In Mexico it ended with a four-hole playoff in which Joaquin Niemann beat Sergio Garcia for the individual title. In Las Vegas another playoff seemed inevitable with six players tied for the lead late in the final round. Extra holes weren’t needed, though, as Dustin Johnson became the first player to claim wins in each of the three seasons LIV has had events. No one could keep up with DJ playing more like he did in the first LIV season rather than the second.
What I’ll take away the most from the two tournaments, though, shifts to the team competition. How could a team put together at the last minute – Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII – win in Mexico? And, how could Brooks Koepka’s revamped Smash GC squad romp in Las Vegas?
Actually, the issue isn’t so much how Smash won but rather how Koepka worked magic with his roster. How do you wangle Talor Gooch, the best LIV player in 2023, from Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats? That’s the biggest question of the day, but it was also a stroke of genius for Koepka to sign Graeme McDowell, a former U.S. Open champion who played for the Cleeks in Season 2, as a free agent.
Koepka had his under-achieving brother Chase and Matthew Wolff on his roster last season, with Jason Kokrak filling out the team. Smash was a seven-shot winner over Johnson’s 4Aces in Las Vegas.
Without saying how he did it, Koepka wasn’t surprised that his rebuilt team did well.
“That was the plan,’’ he said. “To bring in two guys with experience, that know how to win and to be in this situation where I feel we’re competing every week.’’
I’ve been big on the team concept since LIV’s creation, and the change to have all four players on each team count in the team score on the final day was a wise move. The team competition still needs to get a bigger spotlight in each tournament, though. Team play makes LIV unique among the other pro tours.
Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers won the team title in 2023 but weren’t much of a factor in the first two tournaments of 2024. They will be, though, and that could trigger another level of interest. Koepka and DeChambeau never were buddies on the PGA Tour. Having their teams in head-to-head battles could produce some sparks, and there’d by nothing wrong with that.
LIV won’t play again in the U.S. until the week before the Masters. The fledgling circuit gathers April 5-7 at Trump National Doral, in Florida, before more distant competitions in Australia and Singapore close out the first half of the season.
Elizabeth Szokol (right) shared the spotlight with Annika Sorenstam before an LPGA Florida stop.
Patty Berg, a true golf legend, won 63 professional tournaments from 1937 through 1958 and was the first president of the Ladies PGA Tour. For much of her career she represented Joe Jemsek’s St. Andrew’s facility in West Chicago but since her heyday the LPGA has been tough for Chicago players.
Berwyn native Nicole Jeray toiled on the tour for three decades. Now teaching at Mistwood, in Romeoville, she had recent success on the Legends of the LPGA senior circuit but hasn’t had a win yet. Another Illinois native, Nancy Scranton from downstate Centralia, captured one of the LPGA major titles — the duMaurier Classic, in 1991. She had two other LPGA victories and five wins on the Legends Tour.
Otherwise no Illinois player made an impact on the LPGA Tour — until Elizabeth Szokol earned her playing privileges, that is.
Though she lives in Florida now Szokol has solid Illinois roots. She grew up in Winnetka and was on New Trier’s varsity team for four seasons. The Trevians finished in the top three of the state high school tournament every year and won the title in 2010. Then Szokol spent two seasons at Northwestern before transferring to Virginia.
Last July she broke into the LPGA winner’s circle for the first time at the Dow Great Lakes Invitational in Midland, Mich. It was a team event, with Cheyenne Woods as her partner, but that still counts as a win and it meant a lot to Szokol.
“It’s been amazing,’’ she said. “It was definitely a confidence booster and made the next few years a little bit easier, which is great. It shows me I can compete with the best in the world, and I’m looking forward to doing that.’’
A champion gets more playing opportunities on the LPGA circuit, a perk for winning on most every golf tour. Szokol had a couple of significant wins before turning pro. She captured the Illinois Women’s State Amateur in 2012 and the Stanford NCAA Regional in 2016 after transferring to Virginia for her last two seasons as a collegiate player.
She also earned a victory on the Epson Tour – the LPGA’s developmental circuit, in 2018. Szokol was hot that entire year, finishing it off with four top-10s in her last five starts to finish fourth on the Epson money list and claim her LPGA playing privileges for the next year.
Injuries have been a problem since then. Knee surgery in December of 2017 slowed her start on the LPGA Tour and she missed the first nine tournaments of the 2022 season with a herniated disc. That issue forced her to not touch a club for 12 weeks and kept her away from the LPGA tournaments for nearly six months. No surgery was needed, just injections and rest.
The reward for her patience and determination was not only the victory. It triggered a return to the form she exhibited in 2021 when she made the cut in 13 of 23 tournaments and earned $530,570 – her best season money-wise. That season was no fluke,
In 2023 she made seven cuts in 12 starts and earned $408,497 to finish 39th on the season money list. In both of those big years she was among the 60 qualifiers for the CME Group Tour Championship, the season-ending tournament that offers one of the biggest purses in women’s golf – $7 million.
Suffice it to say that Szokol has made it on the LPGA Tour. She had two other top 10s in 2023. In March, the second tournament of the season, she shot an opening-round 64 and finished in a tie for eighth at the SBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore. After the win in Michigan she tied for 10th in the Walmart Northwest Arkansas Championship in September. Those finishes helped boost Szokol’s LPGA career winnings to more than $1.4 million.
She was also given celebrity status when she shared a promotional role with Annika Sorenstam at a late-season tournament. The Annika – a rejuvenated event to honor Sorenstam – was held at the Pelican Club in Belleair, FL. Szokol, now a Tampa resident, is a Pelican member and her swing coach is Justin Sheehan, the club’s director of golf.
She learned that the Illinois Women’s Amateur had celebrated its 90th anniversary in the days leading into The Annika tourney. (At that time the Illinois Amateur’s future was in doubt until the Chicago District Golf Association took over the event in December).
“Hopefully that’ll inspire other Illinois girls to come out here (on the LPGA Tour) with me,’’ said Szokol. “When I was young it was great that I had that as a place to play. When I went to college at Virginia I met some teammates, and we had a contingent of players who were wanting to play on the LPGA. It was helpful for me to follow in their footsteps.’’
Szokol can attest to the fact that getting to the LPGA won’t be easy.
“Hopefully there’s enough information out there for any girl to get an understanding of it, an understanding of the process,’’ said Szokol.
The controversial LIV Golf League has only 14 tournaments in its third season, but the first one of 2024 couldn’t have gone any better for the fledgling circuit.
LIV’s debut in Mexico went head-to-head with the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which underwent a major format change, was elevated to a “signature’’ event for the first time and couldn’t shake its history of challenging weather.
Both events featured great individual rounds. Joaquin Niemann shot 59 – the second sub-60 round in LIV history — in the first round at Mayakoba, a former PGA Tour tournament site. Reigning U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark set the Pebble Beach course record with a 60 in the third round in California. Both won on Sunday, but there the similarity ends.
LIV had all the drama, as Clark didn’t hit another shot. A threatening weather forecast led PGA Tour officials to eliminate Sunday’s final round, so both events were 54-hole tests this time. LIV had Sunday television time all to itself. Most of the national golf media didn’t take much note of it, focusing more on the travails at Pebble Beach, but the ones that did missed out on an extraordinarily captivating wrapup in Mexico.
Niemann, a 25-year old from Chile, had a particularly interesting Sunday. After arriving at the course he was told by tournament officials that he had been assessed a two-stroke penalty for taking an “improper’’ drop the day before. Niemann was entitled to a drop when his ball stopped on a cart path, but he took two club lengths of relief and was entitled to only one.
That turned his Saturday 70 to a 72 and tightened up the individual race considerably. It brought several other players, most notably Spain’s Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm, into contention. Reigning Masters champion Rahm was LIV’s major roster acquisition in the offseason and he didn’t disappoint.
Rahm made five birdies in his first seven holes on Friday but couldn’t keep up with Niemann. He got close again on Sunday before finishing bogey-bogey but did have some consolation. His new Legion XIII team, put together less than a week before the tournament, captured the team title. Team victories are celebrated in style at LIV events.
In a format change LIV counts three scores per team in the first two days of a tournament and all four in the final round. Rahm’s 70 was the highest final round score on his team as Tyrrell Hatton shot 64, Kieran Vincent 69 and Caleb Surratt 67. Surratt, 19, was a story by himself. He was playing in his first professional tournament after leaving his dormitory room at the University of Tennessee just a few days ago.
The PGA and DP World tours don’t have team competition, but Rahm bought into it in his first LIV start.
“It was very nice in a day in which in any normal tournament I would have been upset at my finish to actually have something to celebrate,’’ said Rahm. “This is one of the reasons why I decided to transition.’’
What was “normal’’ for Rahm is no longer normal on the LIV circuit, and neither was Sunday’s individual battle.
Niemann and Garcia wound up in a playoff for the title, and that created a story worth telling. Garcia, 43, was Niemann’s boyhood hero. Only 25, Niemann is going to be a prominent player in the game – and not just on the LIV circuit. Late last year he won the Australian Open, and that earned him a place on the DP World Tour. Membership on that circuit gave him a place in the Dubai Desert Classic two weeks ago, and he finished fourth there.
Though the now Official World Golf Rankings still haven’t adequately recognized good play by LIV members, Niemann is now eligible for the British Open and will probably get into the PGA Championship as well.
Winning $4 million at Mayakoba was nice, but the way he did it will be hard to forget by anyone with even a passing interest in professional golf. The playoff with Garcia went on until daylight was gone and only the light of the 18th hole scoreboard was available to keep it going.
Niemann and Garcia made pars on the first three playoff holes, all on No. 18. Faced with the option of returning on Monday, they agreed to play it one more time even in what Niemann called “super darkness.’’ Niemann won it with a birdie putt from the back of the green.
Now the LIV players are headed for their second tournament in Las Vegas and the PGA Tour goes to one of its most fun stops – the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Both will be hard to match the excitement produced at Mayakoba.
Bernhard Langer’s posted an historic victory at the Chubb Classic in 2023 but an injury will keep him out of this year’s event at Tiburon. (Joy Sarver Photos)
OCALA, FL. – Bernhard Langer, appropriately enough, has always been the focal point of the upcoming Chubb Classic but now – due an unfortunate circumstance – it’s for the wrong reason.
Langer tied Hale Irwin’s record for PGA Tour Champions wins with his 46th at last year’s Chubb event, a tournament he has won five times. This year he was poised to tie another Irwin mark, for victories in the same event on the 50-and over circuit.
That possibility evaporated on Friday when Langer revealed he had suffered a torn Achilles tendon in a Thursday practice session in Boca Raton. He had surgery on Friday.
“It will cause me to miss time playing competitive golf as I recover,’’ Langer said in a statement. “Throughout my career, faith and family have been my bedrocks, providing me strength and guiding me through difficult times. I will lean on both again as I work towards a return to competition. I look forward to seeing the fans and my fellow competitors back on the course soon.’’
How soon is yet to be determined, but no doubt he’ll be missed when the Chubb returns to Tiburon in Naples, FL. That’s where he won last season to tie Irwin’s career win record on the Champions circuit with his 45th victory. He passed Irwin with another win at the U.S. Senior Open in July.
Had Langer been able to pull off a three-peat at Tiburon he would have tied Irwin’s mark with six victories in the same event. Irwin won six times at Hawaii’s Turtle Run Resort from 1997 to 2005.
With Langer now on the mend, it’s time to wonder if his record of 46 victories on the 50-and-over circuit will ever be broken. Not many records in golf have seemed as insurmountable as that one, but Steve Stricker is 10 years younger and lurking – at least sort of.
Stricker turns 57 the week after the 37th playing of a Champions Tour event in Naples. The Chubb, which is Feb. 16-18 on Tiburon’s Black Course, is the longest-running title sponsor on PGA Tour Champions.
Now 66, Langer has lived in Boca Raton – near Naples – for 40 years. He’s used to the Bermuda grasses and grainy greens of that area and was particularly disappointed to miss an event at Tiburon.
“It feels like a home game to me,’’ he said. “and I’ve played some of my best golf in the Naples area.’’
But, like all of us, Langer is getting older. Earlier this year he announced that he’ll be making his final competitive appearance at the Masters in April. Whether he’ll be recovered in time to play at Augusta National is uncertain.
The first PGA Tour Champions event of the season didn’t find Langer at his best. He tied for 22nd in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii, where Steven Alker won. Langer dismissed that showing for good reasons.
“I felt rusty,’’ he said. “They also changed that golf course. It’s almost the opposite from Tiburon. It’s wide open. There’s no rough at all. There’s very little punishment if you spray it, and the bombers have a huge advantage.’’
Langer was also still shaking off the death of his mother, who was 100 and living in Germany at the time of her passing.
“We traveled to Germany for a couple of weeks and no golf, obviously. There was snow and cold weather,’’ he said.
Now, back to the possibility of his Champions Tour win record withstanding the tests of time. Irwin, now 78, won’t be a factor because he rarely competes any more. His last win was in 2007.
The leading candidate to chase down Langer now is Steve Stricker, who won six times in 16 starts in 2023 and has 17 career victories on the 50-and-over circuit. He’s coming off a third-place finish in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship.
Stricker’s task is a daunting one. He got his 17 wins in 64 Champions starts. Irwin needed 481 to win 45 times. Langer’s 46 came in 341 tournaments. To pass Langer’s present total Stricker would have to average six wins a season for the next five campaigns.
At this point Stricker’s not motivated by catching Langer.
“My family’s into golf,’’ he said. “My wife caddies and plays a lot. My kids are big golfers, and they’ve been on the bag, so it’s been a family affair. If it wasn’t that way I don’t know if I’d be out there.’’
Langer was considering a reduction in his tournaments, from 25 a season to maybe as few as 20 even before the Achilles injury. Some courses, Augusta National being one, have changed a lot and don’t suit Langer’s game as well as they had in the past. He still has playing goals, however.
“My overall goal has always been to get better,’’ he said. “If I can achieve that I am confident I will have a chance to win more tournaments.’’
The Chubb Classic will have 78 players competing for $1.8 million. They include Davis Love III, making his tournament debut; Hall of Famer Colin Montgomerie and soon-to-be Hall of Famer Padraig Harrington; two former world No. 1s in David Duval and Tom Lehman and six past Chubb champions. Among them is Stricker, who won the title in 2021 and is a former Naples resident.
Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman has been the Chicago area’s most successful PGA Tour player since joining the circuit in 2008, and has $26.7 milllion in career winnings to show for it. This season, though, hasn’t started well.
Now 45, Streelman has been one of the circuit’s most durable players but this season started with missed cuts at the Sony Open and American Express Championship. Last week’s Farmer’s Insurance Open was even more painful however.
Streelman shot 71 in the first round, then withdrew. He later tweeted that he had “strained something in my lower back badly.’’ The injury happened when he hit a wedge shot out of heavy rough. He won’t be playing in this week’s AT & T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the next stop on the West Coast swing. That’s an event Streelman has played well in. He finished inside the top 20 as an individual every year since 2016 and was the runner-up in 2020.
He also teamed with football player Larry Fitzgerald to win the team title in 2018 and 2020, leading Streelman to call Pebble Beach “my favorite stop on tour.’’
Streelman lives in the Phoenix area now. “I hope to rest for a week and hopefully be 100 percent for the Waste Management (Phoenix Open). One of the most popular tournaments on tour, it’s two weeks away.
HARDY’S HOT: Northbrook’s Nick Hardy is off to the best start of the Chicago connected players. He made the cut in all three of his starts, the best finish being a tie for 37th at the Farmer’s Insurance Open last week. He’s in the field at Pebble Beach.
Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim had missed cuts in his first two starts but bounced back with a tie for 13th at the Farmer’s. He didn’t enter the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
LIV GETS GOING: The LIV Tour, which added Masters champion Jon Rahm to its roster for its third season, opens its 14-tournament campaign in Mexico on Friday. Rahm also brings in his own team, with Tyrrell Hatton the most notable of the other three members. That’ll boost the field from 12 to 13 teams.
LIV shifted its pre-Masters tourney from Florida to Trump Doral in Florida in March, leaving Chicago’s chances of having an event this season in serious jeopardy. Rich Harvest Farms, in Sugar Grove, hosted tournaments in the fledgling circuit’s first two campaigns and owner Jerry Rich invited the tour back for 2024 but the invitation hasn’t been accepted yet. The only hopes left are for Rich Harvest to be picked for one of LIV’s two season-ending events in September. No sites have been announced for those.
SHOW TIME: The Chicago Golf Show returns to the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont Feb. 23-25. Show hours will be noon-6 p.m. on Feb. 23, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. On Feb. 24 and 9 a.m.-4 p.m.on Feb. 25. Tickets are $7 for adults and youth 16 and over on Friday and $12 on the weekend days. Rates will be $4 on the weekend for youth 12-15 and there’ll be free admission for those 11 and under.
PGA SHOW AFTERMATH: Two frequent winners in International Network of Golf contests – John Iacono of Zero Friction and David Glod of club manufacturer Tour Edge – were successful again in the ING Industry Awards presented Thursday at the 71st PGA Show in Orlando, FL.
Both Chicago area companies were honored in the Product Ingenuity categories, Iacono for his just-introduced Stride remote control golf bag and Glod for his company’s latest driver model.
The ING Media Awards were also announced, with Steve Kashul’s Golf Scene topping the television show category. The Chicago area also had four Outstanding Achievers in the Media Awards – Dave Lockhart (TV show), Ed Sherman (features), Rory Spears (radio) and Len Ziehm (features).
Gary DiSalvo shows how Poptical sunglasses can benefit golfers. (Joy Sarver Photos)
ORLANDO, FL. – Every year it’s the same thing – only different.
The 71st PGA Show again showcased the newest of the new in golf gear and attire. There were more than 1,000 companies and brands to entice the approximately 30,000 industry members who gathered at Orange County National Golf Center, for the traditional Demo Day, and the Orange County Convention Center for three days of indoor browsing.
This massive gathering began with merchandisers showing their wares from the trunks of cars in 1954 and grew into one that had representatives from 84 countries and all 50 states this year. More than 7,000 PGA professionals attended this year’s gathering, and they’ll be bringing much of what they saw to their shops and stores back home.
That should intrigue the reported 41.1 million Americans who play golf and create a $22.6 billion total economic impact in America.
It’s not easy to wade through the lines of exhibits at the OCCC, where each day began with traffic nightmares for attendees trying to find parking spots. It was all worthwhile once they got inside, however. The products were diverse and – in most cases – worthwhile additions to American golf consumers.
Enough said for the scene-setting. Let’s get to the good stuff, and there was a lot of that. Interestingly much of it was brand new to the show, and organizers made a well-received change in how the newbies were displayed. The New Products section was expanded and easier to walk through. It was a busy place and included some items judged – by me at least – as the most interesting at the overall show.
Whether they work is up to the golfers who try them. Golf’s an individual sport and some things work better for some than others. We stayed clear of the major equipment companies for this report because they have their own promotional styles, but these are worthy of your attention, too.
Two of the most eye-catching products are the PGA Show were the Omnix golf bags (left) and LagMaster training aid.
MY MOST INTERESTING PGA SHOW PRODUCTS
1, POPTICALS – This is a sunglass company with its products hand-made in Italy. What’s intriguing here is that the company makes sunglasses designed specifically for various sports and needs.
“Our most popular is our golf line,’’ said Gary DiSalvo, chief executive officer for the company’s headquarters in Ellisville, Mo. “These glasses are specifically made for golf. ”
The violet-tinted lens accentuate the contour of the greens on the course.
DiSalvo says the difference in viewing will be immediate.
“As soon as you put on a pair on a golf course you’ll notice something different. You’ll see different shades of green and that’ll help in putting,’’ he said. “You’ll be able to tell the levels of the green and whether your putt is uphill or downhill. The second you put these glasses on they’ll show miniscule differences in the grass — the elevation changes and where the break in your putt might be.’’
The golf sunglasses, listed on the Popticals website at $143, are collapsible for storage. Dr. Craig Farnsworth, “The Putt Doctor,” endorsed the product, and he works with the likes Dustin Johnson and Nick Faldo.
2, PERFECT HANDS GOLF – Training devices abound at all PGA Shows, but this one was billed as “the world’s first ever swing and strength trainer.’’ It’s equipped with a belt, four accleration bands that come in 10-, 20-, 30- and 40-pound increments, gloves for both hands and a carry case.
If used as suggested, this device is said to help a player both get his swing on plane and increase his strength and range of motion. In short, Perfect Hands can develop proper technique and increase swing speed. The listed website price is $199.99.
Chicago-based Zero Friction’s last creation is the Stride, and it comes in a variety of colors.
3, WHEEL PRO STRIDE – This electric bag trolley, is the newest innovation by Chicago-based Zero Friction, one of the most active creators of new golf products in recent years. The Stride is an offshoot of the Wheel Pro, which was part of the 2023 show, and the Stride was a winner in the International Network of Golf’s Industry Honors at this year’s show.
The Stride’s 35-pound bag has a pocket-sized remote control that uses Smart Technology to follow within three feet of the golfer. It’s a versatile product, though, as you can push it, carry it or put it on a cart.
It comes with an umbrella holder, a cooler that can hold up to six cans or bottles, two invisible magnets to secure a rangefinder or Bluetooth speaker and a built-in USB port. Its price at the PGA Show was $2,499.
4, OMNIX BAGS – This company specializes in customizing bags, and some of its creations were the most eye-catching items at the show. They had an interchangeable outer shell, seven multiple pockets, 14-way club dividers – and, most importantly, a distinctive appearance. The company calls it “revolutionary’’ with its combination of advanced technology, functionality and edgy style.
The models that caught my eye the most were mostly in the company’s Rainbow Series. The Black Vodka and Sex on the Beach models in that series are both priced at $540.
“Omnix bags will illuminate the course and feed free spirits,’’ according to the company’s website. No argument there.
Want a beer on the course? Chris Hurry might be able to help you with his Zigit Dispenser.
5, ZIGIT BEER AND DRINK DISPENSER – This one could be controversial because it might involve dispensing alcoholic beverages on golf courses. The Phoenix-based company has it in operation at, among other places, the American Airlines Center in Dallas and wants to make inroads into the golf community
“We’re targeting golfers because they could use it year-around,’’ said Zigit’s Chris Hurry.
Zigits can serve beverages on the course, but the choice of which ones is up to the course owners. They’ll decide what beverages are offered, but Zigit has technology that can screen out under-age buyers and limit the alcoholic daily intake of others.
6, RIMAC BALL TESTER – Golfers want to know the compression of their golf balls to ensure they’re all the same. This machine, patterned after one used in the auto industry starting in 1930, can do this.
Rimac isn’t just a clever tool. It reveals the precise compression of each ball far beyond the vague labels like “firm,’’ “soft,’’ “softer’’ or “soft feel.’’
Understanding compression enables golfers to select balls more knowledgeably and find the best-suited ball for their style of play. The company’s website lists the price at $1,495.
Alcide Deschesnes’ One Club trainer can also double as a warmup tool.
7, ONE CLUB TRAINING DEVICE – This One is engineered to enhance a golfer’s swing mechanics and engrains the correct neuromuscular paths for swing consistency. Thanks to technology it provides instantaneous tactile, audible and sensory feedback.
Alcide Deschesnes, a Canadian-born mechanical engineer, was an outstanding athlete in multiple sports. He developed the One Club and sells it with a training guide designed to increase golfers’ swing speeds.
“It’s more than a weighted club,’’ said Deschesnes. “It combines the principles of dynamic inertia resistance with instant feedback and can be used as an exercise tool.’’ It retails for $197.98.
8, TOWELTAG – A Canadian company, TowelTag manufactures popular golf towels, I have two versions on my bags, one customizes a radio show and the other a golf organization. The company’s product that intrigues me this year is a ball marker that can help golfers draw straight lines on their balls for identification purposes but is more valuable after play begins.
“It can be used as an alignment tool,’’ said Craig Holub, who labels himself as TowelTag’s “founder and visionary.’’
The ball marker comes with a dial that can help line up putts, be it on the putting green before a round or on the course. Listed price at the PGA Show was $19.99.
9, LAGMASTER – Another training aid, this one looks like the drain pipe under your kitchen sink. Mike Dickson is the founder and believes it can accomplish big things for golfers who use it.
The Lagmaster is said to “teach movement that gets the body, arms, hands and club synced correctly and trains the power swing, weight shift, sequence, low point and finish.’’
And, according to promotional material, “it keeps it simple.’’ You’ve got to see it and use it to believe it. Cost is $119.99.
10, ZOOM BREEZE – This product is the golf version of the Zoom Broom — a name that I love because it has a nice ring to it. It’s also fun to use. On a windy day it can be a ball-saver. Turn the battery-powered gadget on, and the leaves get out of your way.
It weighs only two pounds, fits in a golf bag and the sound it makes – according to creator Randy Kuckuck – isn’t a negative.“In a room it’s a little noisy, but on a wide open course it isn’t bad,’’ Kuckuck said.
Kuckuck, a Michigan State alum, got the idea for the Zoom Broom after a few of his rounds as a retiree were negatively impacted by too many leaves. The Zoom Broom can also be used around the house and is priced at $189. The golf-specific version is $179.
Randy Kuckuck’s Zoom Broom and Zoom Breeze can eliminate leaves as a problem for golfers.
ORLANDO, FL. – PGA Tour Champions opens its season in Hawaii and the PGA Tour has shifted its events to California, but — for the next couple weeks, at least — Orlando is where most of the action is in professional golf.
The Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions – first event of the Ladies PGA Tour season – tees off on Thursday at Lake Nona. The Golf Writers Association of America Championship starts its two-day run on Sunday at recently renamed Mission Resort and Club (formerly Mission Inn). The 71st PGA Merchandise Show begins with a Demo Day on Tuesday at Orange County National and then moves to the Orange County Convention Center for three more days.
After that flurry of activity the LPGA begins its regular season just a few miles away, with the Drive On Championship at a new site, Bradenton Country Club.
The LPGA’s Tournament of Champions, in its sixth staging, starts it all with an event that includes celebrities, but Canadian Brooke Henderson dominated last year with a wire-to-wire four-stroke victory.
Legendary Annika Sorenstam, a Lake Nona member who can still play with the best women, will be competing in the celebrity division. The 72-hole no-cut event has a record 36 LPGA players competing. Only those who won tournaments in the last two years get invitations.
“We’re really, really excited,’’ said tournament director Aaron Stewart, son of the late, great Payne Stewart. “We’re thrilled to have the Tour represented in a little deeper field (the previous high was 29), but that means there’s been a lot more first-time winners.’’
“Winning last year was a huge boost for my confidence,’’ said Henderson. “This is a great way to start the season. It’s an amazing atmosphere and a lot of fun.’’
Sorenstam has contended for the celebrity title in the past and entered several women’s senior events in recent years. She’s not sure what her competitive schedule will be going forward, however.
“I’m going to take it week by week,’’ she said. “I’m not playing the U.S. Open. I’m not playing any LPGA events. I’m not playing in the LET (Ladies European Tour). Nothing like that. If it’s a celebrity event, I appreciate the invites.’’
Now starting her 10th LPGA season Henderson changed virtually all her clubs in the last two months and continues to struggle with a thumb problem that has hampered her off and on since 2017. A bad omen for her is that none of the previous Tournament of Champions winners won any tournament in the following year.
The PGA Merchandise Show has recovered from a few lean years caused by the pandemic. The industry-only event is being held for the 71st time with a staggering array of new equipment and apparel. Over 1,000 brands of golf and golf lifestyle products will be on display.
Rather than analyze the newest products I’ve decided to take the easy way out and play the name game. Catchy names are nothing new in the golf industry, and this year’s best are the Zoom Broom, a fun-to-use product that is used to blow leaves away from hard-to-find golf balls, and the Caddy Daddy, a cart bag.
After all that the LPGA will hold its first regular season event at the Bradenton Country Club’s Donald Ross-designed course. The club is celebrating its 100th anniversary and the LPGA player turnout is excellent.
Lilia Vu, Ruoning Yin and Celine Boutier – the top three players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings – will be there. So will 31 players who competed in the 2020 Olympics including all three medal winners – Nelly Korda (gold), Mone Inami (silver) and Lydia Ko (bronze).
Inami won the Japan Classic on the LPGA Tour last year but didn’t immediately turn pro. She made her official LPGA debut at Lake Nona.
PALM HARBOR, FL. – The first two months of the PGA Tour season were marred by unusually bad weather in California and an overly exuberant crowd in Phoenix. Now – as soon as the last putt drops at the Mexico Open — it’s time to welcome the Florida Swing.
