SILVIS, IL. – Saturday’s third round was the traditional moving day at the John Deere Classic, and Jordan Spieth set the tone for that.

His fast start inspired others with later tee times, especially Davis Thompson. Thompson shot the week’s low round – a  9-under-par 62 – and will take a two-stroke lead over Eric Cole, Aaron Rai and Hayden Springer into Sunday’s final round at TPC Deere Run.

Spieth, who skipped the JDC for nine years after his last win here, showed flashes of the spectacular form he displayed in years past, but he had too big a deficit to have much of an impact on the leaderboard at the end of the day.

Starting in a tie for 47^th place, the two-time JDC champion scorched the front nine with a 29, then worked his way in for an 8-under-par 63.  That boosted him 35 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 12^th.

“Just a good solid round. No chip-ins,  nothing spectacular, no crazy ones,’’ said Spieth.  “Anything is going to be a lull from a 29.’’

Spieth was briefly tied for the lead after 12 holes, then got caught in a club choice dilemma at the 13^th. That led to his only bogey and he let a good birdie chance get away at No. 14.

“If I par (at 13) and birdie 14 from the position I was in I shoot 32 on the back and a 61,’’ said Spieth.

Could-a, should-a, would-a!

Spieth goes into Sunday’s  final round seven strokes behind Thompson, who stands at 21-under-par 192 after 54 holes. So, get ready for another first-time PGA Tour winner – a JDC tradition.  There have been 23 of them in the tournament’s 53-year history, with Spieth among them.

Despite his stunning third round, that 24^th first-time winner might not be Thompson. Cole, Rai and Springer all have yet to win on golf’s premier circuit.

Thompson has had three runner-up finishes, with two of them coming in his last six starts. He tied for second last week in the Rocket Mortgage Championship in Detroit and was also a runner-up in the new Myrtle Beach Classic in May. In between his finishes included a tie for ninth in the U.S. Open.

Jon Rahm, now on the LIV Tour, was the first winner to thwart Thompson’s bid for win No. 1. They shared the 54-hole lead before Rahm won by a stroke in their duel at last year’s American Express Championship in California.

“Last week I was four back going into Sunday and didn’t know what it would take to win that golf tournament,’’ said Thompson. “It’s a new week.  I’ve been playing well and will just try to keep it going. Hopefully I’ve got one more good one in me.’’

The last first-time winner at the JDC was Dylan Frittelli in 2019. In addition to Spieth other first-time winners here include TPC Deere Run designer D.A. Weibring, Scott Hoch, Payne Stewart, David Toms, ex-Illinois Amateur and Open champion Mark Hensby, reigning British Open champion Brian Harman and reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.

After three days of beautiful weather tournament officials are expecting a sudden change for the final round.  Bad weather is expected early in the morning and late in the afternoon.  To compensate the 77 survivors will again play in threesomes but play will begin off both the Nos. 1 and 10 tees beginning at 9:25 a.m. Last tee time is 11:37.

 

 

 

 

 

SILVIS, IL. – Friday’s cut day at the John Deere Classic wasn’t pretty, but it produced some popular results.

Jordan Spieth, a playoff champion at TPC Deere Run twice before skipping the Illinois’ only annual PGA stop the previous nine years, was below the projected cut line with six holes remaining in his second round. He made birdies at Nos. 14 and 17 to finish the first 36 holes at 6-under-par 136, meaning he’ll play in the two weekend rounds.

Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman was in more serious jeopardy but made three birdies in the last three holes to survive on the number  at 5-under 137. Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim (-6) and defending champion Sepp Straka (-5) also are still alive, though far behind co-leaders C.T. Pan of Taiwan and Aaron Rai of England. They’re at 8-under 128 after posting 63s on Friday.

Spieth, reflecting on his dramatic wins in  2013 and 2015, thought he was getting into contention.

“I could start attacking by getting some birdies early,’’ he said.  “Then I just messed up 11 and 12.  All of a sudden I was behind the cut line. Unfortunately I’ve been in that position far too often this year, and it’s very frustrating and annoying.’’

Hayden Springer, the unheralded PGA Tour rookie who exploded for a 59 in the opening round on Thursday, was tied with Pan and Rai after 11 holes.  Then he endured a four-hole stretch of bogey-bogey-birdie-double bogey and settled for a par 71. He’s in a six-way tie for fourth, two shots behind the leaders.

Pan lost his veteran caddie recently when 76-year old Mike “Fluff’’ Cowan opted to return to Jim Furyk’s bag. Pan called that “unfortunate.’’

“They’ve had a great partnership, and Fluff always wanted to finish his career with Jim,’’ said Pan.  “This week I have Ben Hulka caddying for me.  We worked together for a year or two.  He’s been good.’’

What wasn’t so good was some “conversation’’ that Pan had with the Taiwan Olympic committee Thursday night.  Pan won the bronze medal in the 2020 Olympics and will be in this year’s competition in Paris later this summer.

“I had terrible sleep,’’ said Pan. “We had a really serious conversation, just trying to figure out all the arrangements before I go there.  It didn’t go well.  I can tell you that.’’

Rai shook off a late collapse in last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, where he tied for second.

“I was really pleased with that,’’ he said.  “From the whole of last week there were so many more positives than negatives. I was able to reset and start well obviously this week.’’

The longest of long shots heading into the second half of the tournament is amateur Luke Clanton.  The Florida State product made the cut at the U.S. Open and was 10^th last week in Detroit.  He played on a sponsor’s exemption there and also has one at the JDC. His 63-67 start put him in the six-way tie for fourth after the first half of the tournament.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jordan Spieth was just a kid – albeit a very promising golfer – when he played in the John Deere Classic for the first time in 2013.

To say he took advantage of the opportunity is putting it mildly.  Not only did he win the title in the only annual PGA Tour event left in Illinois, his win was the stuff of legends and the golf community in the Quad Cities area – which embraces Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa – never forgot.

After missing the tournament the last nine years, Spieth returns to the JDC this week. The event begins its 72-hole run on Thursday (TOMORROW) at TPC Deere Run in Silvis.

Spieth was 19 when he won his first title in the John Deere Classic. After barely a year of college golf at Texas he had one runner-up finish and six other top-10s in his first PGA Tour season – but Spieth didn’t win until he got to TPC Deere Run.

Then he holed a 44-foot bunker shot for birdie on the last hole of regulation play – his fifth birdie in six holes – to get into a playoff.  A tense six holes later he  knocked off defending champion  and Iowa favorite Zach Johnson and Canadian David Hearn to  become only the fourth teen-ager to win on the PGA Tour, and the first since 1931.

The Spieth story didn’t end there.  He was no one-day  wonder, winning 11 tournaments in his first four years on tour including three major championships.  After finishing seventh in his title defense in 2014 Spieth won the JDC in another  playoff in 2015 — a season he which he also won both the Masters and U.S. Open.

And then Spieth moved on from the event that got his pro career off to such a great start.

“There’s no shortage of playing opportunities,’’ said Andrew Lehman, who replaced Clair Peterson as JDC tournament director in 2023.  “A player will play in 18 to 24 tournament a year and he’ll have 40 to choose from.’’

Spieth chose the JDC only once since his last appearance, but that didn’t work out well.  He was on the grounds but withdrew because of an injury without teeing off. The JDC staff never gave up on bringing Spieth back, however.

“We never stopped trying,’’ said Lehman. “A lot of people felt he’d never be back, but we kept working with him and his team. This year we worked with them for two-three months, but I thought it wasn’t going to happen because it was taking so long and we weren’t hearing anything.  Then (about two weeks ago) they called and said that he had committed.  We’re super excited. He’s the main guy on our sponsor visits that people always asked about.’’

Signature events — big money, small field, no-cut tournaments put on by the PGA Tour as part of its battle with the LIV Tour – were a threat to smaller tournaments.  The JDC doesn’t have Signature status, but the tournament has coped with that dilemma.

“It’s been a tumultuous 18 months in the game of professional golf,’’ said Lehman, “but the last two years have worked in our favor.’’

This year the last of eight Signature events was the Travelers, in Connecticut.  It was played two weeks before the JDC, and only the British Open (July 18-21) is left among the sport’s four majors. That left the JDC with a good week to get top players.

Spieth wasn’t the only one to fit it into its schedule.  Jason Day is back after making just a few appearances in the Quad Cities early in his career.  Sepp Straka is the defending champion.

“Our field this year is the deepest we’ve ever been,’’ said Lehman.  “It’s hard to put a field together, especially when you throw in a holiday with it (the first round coincides with Thursday’s Fourth of July). But the dates this year benefitted us.’’

CDGA Amateur final

Winnetka’s Tyler Greeenspahn, a 19-year old Southern California student, was two-down with two holes to play in the 36-hole championship match of the 104^th Chicago District Amateur but he rallied to beat Roselle’s Dan Stringfellow, a Medinah member, on the third hole of a sudden death playoff at Chicago’s Beverly Country Club.

Jarrett Fultz, of Queen City, Ariz., was the overall champion at the Chicago Adaptive Open on Cog Hill’s No. 3 course.  Fultz, 23, was born with cerebral palsy that impacts his putting stroke but he shot 77-71 in the tournament rounds.  Ryanne Jackson, of Madeira Beach, FL, was the women’s overall winner and Kirk Holmberg, of Hutchinson, KS., was the senior overall champion.

Andy Svoboda, the new head pro at Butler National in Oak Brook, has been named to the 10-man U.S. team for the 31^st PGA Cup matches against Great Britain and Ireland Sept. 10-15 at Sunriver, in Oregon.

 

 

Marty Neal, the Libertyville Township Highway Commissioner, has long been an avid golfer. Now 61, he’s been playing for 40 years – and that’s since he lost his right hand after it got caught in a meat-grinder when he was 15.

On May 10 he made his first hole-in-one when his tee shot on the 11^th hole at Shepherd’s Crook, in Zion, fell into the cup.  That was a thrill, but not nearly as excited as Neal felt after learning about the inaugural Chicago Adaptive Open.

Created by the Chicago District Golf Association with guidance from Jonathan Snyder, head of the Chicago-based United States Adaptive Golf Alliance, the event will bring together the world’s best golfers with physical and intellectuual disabilities on Cog Hill’s No. 3 course in Lemont this weekend.

There will be 53 competitors, 49 of them men and 20 in the senior category.  They’ll have a practice round on Friday (JUNE 28) and tournament rounds Saturday and Sunday (JUNE 29-30). The tournament rounds will start at 10:10 a.m. both days.

Adaptive golf is growing, and the Chicago event on one of that city’s premier courses, is further evidence of that.

The Cog Hill complex has 72 holes and its No. 4 course, Dubsdread, was the long-time site of the Western Open and hosted a variety of competitions including the U.S. Amateur and BMW Championship. Now the facility will  host one of the first Adaptive tournaments on Dubsdread’s companion course.

Neal, son of the late Libertyville mayor Paul Ryan, has a handicap index of 16 —  not too shabby for a senior player who swings a club with just his left arm.  He plays in a weekly league and frequents suburban courses like Countryside and Pine Meadow, in Mundelein; White Deer Run, in Vernon Hills; and Lake Bluff.

The Chicago Adaptive Open will be an entirely different golf experience, however. Neal promptly paid the $200 entry fee,  went through an elaborate registration process with the European  Handicapped Golf Association,  lined up two sons and his older brother to be his caddies and then took the adventure even further.

“I’m just a regular guy, an average golfer who – on a good day – can shoot in the high 80s or low 90s,’’ said Neal.  “It’ll be so cool to meet someone who is good at golf who has a disability like mine, but I’m also a research participant at the Shirley Ryan Rehabilitating Lab (formerly the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago).’’

He also serves as a model for students learning to build prosthetics in a Masters program at Northwestern University. He wanted to connect the CDGA, the Shirley Ryan Lab and Northwestern, figuring that all three parties would want to have a presence in the Chicago Adaptive Open. He’ll wear Shirley Ryan apparel in the competition.

The competition will be serious stuff, too.   The event a $15,000 purse, which Snyder says marks the first time prize money will be part of an adaptive golf competition.  The first three finishers in each of 17 sports classifications will get cash prizes. Adaptive events are on the rise since the U.S. Golf Association created a national championship a couple years ago.  Some states, notably Georgia and Indiana, also have their own competitions.

Competitive categories are based on impairment, such as lower limb, arm and visual. Adaptive golf already has its celebrity competitors who are expected at Cog Hill.  Dennis Walters is a World Golf Hall of Famer who has his own television show.  Paralyzed from the waist down he’ll compete in the seated golfers category.

Ryanne Jackson, from Florida, was the overall women’s champion at the 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open, staged at Pinehurst – the North Carolina base for the recent U.S. Open. Diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at the age of 19, she competed collegiately at Eastern Illinois.

Evan Mathias, born with congenital defects to both legs, has been on prosthetics since he was one year old.  He won the Indiana Adaptive Championship in May, shooting 5-under-par golf over 36 holes and then taking the title in a four-hole playoff.

HERE AND THERE: The Evanston Wilmette Golf Course Association and Kemper Sports have announced the rebranding of Canal Shores, a 100-year old par-60 course that is being upgraded in preparation for a re-opening in 2025.  The course will be renamed The Evans at Canal Shores, underscoring its connection to the Western Golf Association’s Evans Scholars Foundation.

David Paeglow, head professional at Kishwaukee in DeKalb, captured the Illinois Senior Open for the second time.  He was the only player under par, posting a 2-under 142 over 36 holes at Hawthorn Woods. Next stop for him is this week’s U.S. Senior Open in Newport, R.I.

Parker Sands, of Edmond, Okla., captured the 106^th playing of the Western Junior at Ruth Lake, in Hinsdale.  Sand won by six strokes after posting a 72-hole scored of 10-under-par 270

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Illinois Women’s State Amateur had been conducted by the downstate-based Illinois Women’s Golf Association for 90 years before the IWGA – beset by a loss of members – turned the event over to the Chicago District Golf Association this year.

While the site remained at The Grove, in Long Grove, the shift in leadership produced a significant boost to women’s golf in the state.

The CDGA changed the format from match play to a 54-hole stroke play event, and last week’s tourney produced a wire-to-wire winner in Buffalo Grove’s Haeri Lee. The 24-year old Drake University alum posted rounds of 72, 70 and 76, and her 2-over-par 218 was good for a one-stroke win over Geneva’s Sarah Arnold.

Not only did Lee benefit from the format change, her reward for winning was upgraded, too.  An exemption into the U.S. Women’s Amateur, coming up Aug. 5-11 at Southern Hills in Oklahoma, was also part of the winner’s prize and that was a major incentive in getting Lee to enter. In past years the field for the national tourney was decided only in a series of nation-wide qualifiers.

“It’s been a long-time goal of mine,’’ said Lee.  “I was always kind of close, but I was struggling the last few years, and this was a confidence boost. I’m super excited, and super happy.’’

Now the Women’s State Am has become a more demanding test than the Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open, in which both pros and amateurs compete together.  The 29^th IWO, coming up July 22-23 at Mistwood in Romeoveille, is played at only 36 holes.

While Lee never surrendered the lead in the Amateur, she did have to survive a final-round charge by playing partner Arnold, who made four birdies in a five-hole stretch to pull into a share of the lead with five holes left in regulation.

Arnold, who plays collegiately at Western Kentucky, won the State Am in 2019 and 2023.  She is the only multiple-winner  since Kerry Postillion won the last of her five titles in 2007.

RADIX CUP ROUT:  The Illinois PGA’s top players walloped the Chicago District’s amateur stars 16-2 in the 62^nd playing of the Radix Cup matches at Oak Park Country Club.  It was the largest margin of victory in the series and gave the IPGA a 38-22-2 lead in the rivalry.

This Radix Cup was special, as the professionals honored long-time Oak Park head pro Steve Dunning, who passed away less than a week before last week’s competition.  Carson Solien, the club’s host pro, was part of the IPGA victory and honored Dunning.

“We’ll miss him,’’ said Solien.  “He was an integral part of Oak Park, and a great guy.’’ The American flag behind the clubhouse flew at half staff in Dunning’s memory during the competition.

HERE AND THERE: Samantha Brown, of Westfield, Ind., had been eliminated in the Round of 16 the last two years in the Women’s Western Junior, but not this year.  She defeated Texan Isabel Emanuels in the final at Hinsdale Golf Club.  Both players earned exemptions into the Women’s Western Amateur, coming to Onwentsia in Lake Forest July 15-20.

Kevin Flack of Mauh-Nah-Tee-See, in Rockford, led wire to wire in winning his fourth title in the Illinois PGA Assistants Championship on his home course. He had also won the title in 2019, 2021 and 2022.  Flack, Kevin Healy of Beverly and Matthew Rion of Briarwood all qualified for the national Assistants event in Florida in November.

The 104^th Chicago District Amateur begins its four-day run on Monday (JUNE 24)   at Chicago’s Beverly Country Club.

Arlington Lakes will accept 40 teams into its Patriot Cup, a two-person gross scramble to be played on the Fourth of July.

 

 

 

In most years there are two, maybe three, Illinois-connected players in the finals of the U.S. Open.  This year, for the 124^th Open that tees off on Thursday  in Pinehurst, N.C., there will be four such players among the 156 starters.

Interestingly, though, none of them are among the area’s regular PGA Tour players. The four range in age from 22 to 44 and three are products of the University of Illinois’ powerhouse program. The other is a club professional who took a job in the area in March.

Just getting on the tee sheet for a U.S. Open is a commendable accomplishment, as only declared professionals or amateurs with a handicap index that does not exceed 0.4 can enter.  Even with those stringent requirements a record 10,187 entered last year.

While some players are exempted into the final field through past peformances most had to survive 109 local qualifying rounds held around the country and then get through one of the thirteen 36-hole final qualifiers held in the U.S., England, Japan and Canada.

Two of the four local participants survived both stages of qualifiers, and only two players in tournament history have done that and gone on to win the coveted title – Ken Venturi in 1964 and Orville Moody in 1969.

Here are this year’s Illinois-connected participants at Pinehurst:

JACKSON BUCHANAN – This 22-year old University of Illinois junior earned a spot in his first U.S. Open proper by shooting 64-67 in the final qualifier in his native Georgia.  Buchanan shared medalist honors in that event and has been a great player for the Illini for three years. He was Big Ten player-of-the-year in helping Illinois win the stroke play portion of the NCAA Championship. As a sophomore, he was the NCAA runner-up in the individual competition.

BRIAN CAMPBELL – This 31-year old Californian was playing for the Illini when he finished as low amateur (tied for 27^th place) in the 2015 U.S. Open at Washington’s Chambers Bay.  He also qualified for the Open proper when it was played at Pinehurst in 2014 but didn’t survive the 36-hole cut.  Since turning pro in 2015 he has been a regular on the Korn Ferry Tour.

THOMAS DETRY – Also 31, Detry grew up in Belgium before Illini coach Mike Small recruited him. He got into this week’s field off his position in the top 60 point leaders in the Official World Golf Rankings. Detry climbed into that level with a tie for fourth at the PGA Championship last month. He was the Big Ten champion in 2016 after representing Belgium in three World Amateur Team Championships and Europe in the 2010 Junior Ryder Cup. He’s played in two previous U.S. Opens, tying for 49^th at New York’s Winged Foot in 2020 and missing the cut at California’s Torrey Pines in 2021.

ANDY SVOBODA – Named the new head professional at Butler National in Oak Brook in March, the 44-year old graduate of St. John’s University advanced to his sixth U.S. Open by shooting 68-65 at a New Jersey qualifier.  Svoboda had more that $1 million in winnings on both the Korn Ferry and PGA Tours before switching to the club professional ranks. He missed the cut in five of his six previous Opens, surviving all 72 holes en route to a tie for 71^st in 2008. He was  in last year’s Open field at Los Angeles Country Club, his first appearance in the finals since 2013. This year qualified for the PGA Championship and was runner-up in the Illinois PGA March Play Championship.

HERE AND THERE: The 91^st Illinois Women’s State Amateur runs through Thursday at The Grove in Long Grove. The Chicago District Golf Association is conducting the event for the first time, replacing the Illinois Women’s Golf Association which ran the event for 90 years.

The 62^nd Radix Cup matches between the top professionals in the Illinois PGA and top amateurs of the CDGA will be held Thursday at Oak Park Country Club.  The IPGA leads the series 37-22-2.

Brad Key, an Arlington Heights resident and Ivanhoe Club member, won the 21^st CDGA Senior Championship at Kishwaukee, in DeKalb.

The Women’s Western Junior runs through Friday at Hinsdale Golf Club, and the Western Junior for boys begins its four-day run at Ruth Lake on Monday. The Illinois Senior Open is Monday and Tuesday at Hawthorn Woods.