Author: lenz

Three golfers with Chicago ties await the PGA Championship

 

Next week’s PGA Championship is the second of golf’s four major tournaments of 2024, and it’ll be extremely significant from a Chicago perspective.

Two present Chicago area club professionals – Andy Svoboda of Butler National and Jeff Kellen of North Shore – earned spots in the field by finishing in the top 20 at last week’s PGA Professionals Championship in Texas.

And that’s not all.  A third player with strong Illinois ties, Brad Marek, also cracked the top 20 and earned his second appearance in the PGA.  Marek grew up in Arlington Heights, attended Hersey High School and won the Illinois State Junior in 2002 and the Illinois State Amateur in 2005. He turned pro in 2008 after playing collegiately at Indiana.

Svoboda tied for second in the PGA Professionals Championship at Fields Ranch, in Frisco,  TX,  Marek tied for sixth and Kellen tied for eighth.  That tourney had a 312-player field, with all the participants having survived PGA sectional qualifiers. Now they’ll match skills with the world’s best touring professionals.

The experience is nothing new for Marek, who has been working in  since California since 2015.  In 2021 he qualified after a top-20 finish in the PGA Professionals event, then he made the cut in the PGA Championship at Kiawah, in South Carolina.

At Kiawah Marek finished 78th, beating two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, who finished 80th, in a year when such luminaries as Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele, Adam Scott and Justin Thomas didn’t survive the 36-hole cut.

The Svoboda-Kellen scenario is interesting as well.  Kellen switched head professional jobs, moving from Butler, in Oak Brook, to North Shore, in Glenview, during the winter.  Svoboda, who had been the Connecticut PGA Player of the Year in 2023, was hired at Butler in March.

While a Chicago newcomer, Svoboda is a seasoned tournament player.  Now 44, he topped $1 million in winnings on both the Korn Ferry and PGA Tours. He was a three-time winner on the Korn Ferry and runner-up at the PGA Tour stop in New Orleans. Like Kellen, he’ll be playing in the PGA Championship for the first time.

“It’s a dream come true,’’ said Svoboda.  “(The Professionals Championship) was a great week on an amazing golf course with amazing competition.  It was fun to play at the new home of the PGA of America.’’

Svoboda will be in the field for the Illinois PGA’s first of four majors this week.  The IPGA Match Play began its three-day run on Tuesday at Bull Valley, in Woodstock.

For Kellen making it to Valhalla was even more special.  He did it with his father serving as his caddie in Texas.

“I’m so proud to be a PGA member,’’ said Kellen.  “This was a wild week with all the weather delays, but I was able to buckle down and play some good golf.’’

Getting two Illinois Section members into the PGA Championship is a rarity.  The last time it happened was in 2004 when Roy Biancalana and Mike Small made it.

HERE AND THERE —  Illinois’ Jackson Buchanan has been named joint winner of the Big Ten Player of the Year honor after a ballot review.  He shares the honor with Purdue’s Herman Sekne. The Illini have had a Big Ten Player of the Year for four straight years.

NCAA men’s regional play begins on Monday (MAY 13) with Illinois in the Stanford Regional.  Big Ten champion Northwestern will be in the North Carolina Regional and Notre Dame in the Texas Regional.  Two Illinois State golfers, Valentin Peugnet and Alex McCulla, will compete as individuals in the Purdue Regional.

Jason Day has entered July’s John Deere Classic.  He started his PGA Tour career there in 2006 but hasn’t played in Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event since 2011.

Illinois third, and last, U.S. Open local qualifier will be held Monday (MAY 13) at Illini Country Club in Springfield.  It’ll have 84 players competing for five spots in the final qualifying stage.  Illini CC will be hosting a local for the 45th consecutive year, or every year since the U.S. Golf Assn. has held such qualifiers.  No other club in the country can make that claim.

The Golfers on Golf Radio show kicked off its 34th season last week on WNDZ (750-AM).  The longest-running golf radio show in Chicago history has a new starting time – 9 a.m., on Saturdays.  It has three co-hosts at the moment – Rory Spears, Ed Stevenson and Len Ziehm —  with Bill Berger fighting a battle with cancer.

 

 

NU golfers show Illini aren’t invincible in the Big Ten

Illinois’ record eight-year run as the Big Ten champion in men’s golf is over.  Northwestern, led by medalist Daniel Svard, was a winner by 15 strokes at Ohio’s Scioto Country Club on Sunday with the Illini second.

Both schools will get their regional assignments in the NCAA tournament today on The Golf Channel’s Selection Show.

“Hats off to Northwestern,’’ said Illini coach Mike Small.  “They controlled the narrative from Day 1. Nobody else played to that level. They had four guys in the top 10.  We didn’t have much answer for that.’’

Svard, a sophomore, won the individual title for the second straight year and was NU’s third multiple winner following Sid Richardson (1937-38) and Luke Donald (2000-01). It was the Wildcats’ first team title since 2006.

Illinois junior Jackson Buchanan was second individually, finishing one stroke behind Svard’s 1-over par 211 in the 54-hole test.

OPEN LOCALS: The two Chicago area local qualifiers for June’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst, N.C., are now official.

Northern Illinois alum Bryce Emory, the 2020 Illinois Open champion from Aurora, and new Butler National head professional Andrew Svoboda shared medalist honors last week at Stonewall Orchard in Gurnee and Hinsdale’s Mac McClear dominated Monday’s session at Cantigny in Wheaton.

David Nyfjall, a Northwestern alum from Sweden, and Charlie Nikitas, of Glenview, survived a four-man playoff for the final two berths in the final qualifying stage at Stonewall and Libertyville’s Graham O’Connor Brooks and Bloomington’s T.J. Barger were among five players sharing second place at Cantigny.

McClear, a Big Ten medalist twice at Iowa, shot a five-under-par 67 in his Open qualifier, was five strokes better than his nearest rivals.

Final qualifiers begin on May 20 to decide the 156 finalists for the Open proper at Pinehurst, N.C. on June 13-16.

HERE AND THERE:  Nick Hardy’s title defense with partner Davis Riley in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans ended with the pair finishing in a tie for 28th place on Sunday.  Hardy, from Northbrook, had local company at that spot.  Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim, paired with Chan Kim, and Northwestern alum Dylan Wu, playing with Justin Lower, also were in the group tied for 28th.  Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry won the PGA Tour’s lone annual two-man team event.

Winnetka’s Elizabeth Szokol, Illinois only LPGA Tour player, tied for 61st in the Jim Eagle LA Championship.  Szokol has survived the 36-hole cut in six of her eight starts in 2024 with a best finish of a tie for 30th in the season-opening Tournament of Champions.

Northwestern has earned a spot in the women’s NCAA tourney, which begins its three-day regional run on Monday in East Lansing, Mich.  Illinois didn’t qualify as a team but senior Isabel Sy will compete there as an individual.

The first of the Illinois PGA’s four major tournaments – the Match Play Championship – tees off on Monday at Bull Valley, in Woodstock. Chris French, of Aldeen in Rockford, is the defending champion.

Twelve IPGA members, among them French and Svoboda, are competing in the PGA Professional Championship this week in Texas.  Illinois has the fifth-most  players in the 312-man field among the PGA’s 41 sections.  The tourney ends today and the top 20 qualify for the PGA Championship May 13-19 at Valhalla, in Kentucky.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. will hold a qualifier for its Senior Mid Amateur on Wednesday at Bloomingdale and the first qualifier for its Mid Am Thursday  at Kankakee Elks.

 

 

 

 

Australia tourney gives the LIV Tour a big boost

 

OCALA, FL. – No, I wasn’t at LIV GOLF/Adelaide. Last week’s tournament was played in Australia. This was also one of the few LIV events that I didn’t watch on television.

Still, from all I can gather, it provided an opportunity for the fledgling circuit to celebrate.

Australia Golf Digest reported a crowd of 35,000 for the final round.  The LIV Golf League announced an attendance of 94,000 for the week.  I’ve been on hand for four LIV tournaments and attendance – while not insignificant – didn’t approach those numbers.

I don’t doubt the numbers in Adelaide, though.  This is Australia, where LIV commissioner Greg Norman grew up. The tournament also had a dramatic finish.  The team competition, a staple at LIV events, was ideal.  For the first time a playoff was needed to decide the team winner and the all-Australian Rippers were in it.

That didn’t hurt attendance or crowd enthusiasm, nor did the fact that the Rippers beat the all-South African Stingers.  LIV team playoffs call for two players on each team competing with total score counting. Captain Cameron Smith and his mates – Mark Leishman, Matt Jones and Lucas Herbert – were the heroes of the day.

Said Smith:  “This week has far exceeded my vision for what was ahead.  I always knew internally that Australia would really embrace LIV with the culture, with the music, with the entertainment, with all of that goes on around it.  I always felt like this was the place it was going to make it big, and how it’s been (in the Australia events) the last couple years has been insane.’’

The show on his home turf understandably uplifted Norman, who said he was “feeling proud.’’

“With what we’ve gone through over the past 16 months, both as a league and what I’ve copped personally – the hatred – this makes it all worth while,’’ he said.

And that’s not all.

“Vindication is not the right word,’’ said Norman.  “It’s  the ignorance of others who simply don’t understand what we’re trying to do.  “I actually feel sorry for them because they now see the true value of LIV golf and want to be part of it.’’

Well, whether “they want to be part of it’’ remains to be seen, but if LIV supporters needed a boost, the happenings in Australia provided it.

The timing is good, too.  LIV has another event this week, in Singapore, and then two in the U.S., in Houston and Nashville in June. After heading overseas for July tournments in Spain and the United Kingdom the circuit concludes its regular season at the Greeenbrier, in West Virginia, Aug. 16-18.

Two season-ending tournaments – billed as the climax to the third season – follow in September. I feel especially close to this issue because I was told (or at least strongly advised) that one event is coming to the Chicago area, my long-time home base. That was nearly a month ago.

The event wasn’t to be held at Rich Harvest Farms, which hosted LIV tournaments the last two years, and I was unofficially advised that it will be held at Bolingbrook Golf Club, an Arthur Hills design in Chicago’s South suburbs.  A radio station – again unofficially – said it’ll be the individual championship and the dates will be Sept. 13-15.

As I was finishing up this piece I was advised that Bolingbrook would host a press conference on Tuesday.  Could this finally make it official?  We’ll let you know soon.

 

 

 

 

At 66 Langer is making a comeback from Achilles surgery

 

OCALA, FL. – Yes, I know that there has been some monumental golf news  the last few weeks – Nelly Korda winning five LPGA tournaments in a row and Scottie Scheffler getting four wins and a runner-up finish in his last five starts, and both winning major titles during those hot streaks.

Those are huge developments, but this is pretty significant, too.  Bernhard Langer, the winningest player in the history of PGA Tour Champions, reports that he’s on the mend from a serious injury and is even ready to set a target date for his return to competition.

Langer is 66 years old.  He won three Masters (1985, 1993) and wpjm42 times on the DP World Tour and three times on the PGA Tour in addition to his 46 Champions victories.

And then came a game of pickleball in February.

Langer took a tumble Langer and underwent surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon. One of the most fit players in golf went down with a career-threatening injury.

Last week, with help from Tour Edge – his Illinois-based club provider – Langer was ready to talk about it.

“I was at a country club in Boca Raton (FL), where I live, and I do other sports there – like ping pong and pickleball,’’ said Langer.  “This time I was playing pickleball and my opponent lobbed me.  I took a few steps back and heard a loud noise and felt pain in my leg. At first I thought I’d hit something but saw that there was nothing there.’’

He had surgery the following day while fearing what the results might bring.

“ I started to wonder what this meant.  I had no idea how long I’d be out, if I’d ever be back,’’ he said.

Those fears have subsided considerably, Langer has been practicing golf and has a goal in mind:  play in the Insperity Championship May 3-5 at The Woodlands in Texas.  It’s a tournament Langer has won four times over an 11-year span, the wins coming in 2007, 2008, 2014 and 2018.

“That’s what I’m training for,’’ he said.  “Everything has to go perfectly for me to be competing in Houston.’’

Immediately after surgery Langer’s leg was put in a heavy boot, much like skiers use.  Eventually he was switched to a less cumbersome one and was told by his medical advisors to stand up.

“At first I had a mental block,’’ said Langer. “I didn’t stand for weeks.  I’d been laying on a couch for weeks and losing muscle stretngth, which I didn’t want to do.’’

So, Langer made an effort to stand up.

“I got up with no issues,’’ he said, and his healing increased immediately.

He does upper body issues every day and has some exercises designed to strengthen his Achilles. He carries a band with him for those, which have improved his rotation.

“Other athletes have had similar injuries, and I’ve followed the story of Aaron Rodgers, the New York Jets quarterback,’’ said Langer.  “He had the same procedure as me and came back fairly quickly.  When I learned he was on the field throwing the ball after eight-nine weeks that encouraged me.  It lifted my spirits.’’

Langer had intended to make his last appearance in the Masters in April, but the surgery ruled that out. He vows it won’t end his tournament career, though.

“My goal has always been to be the best I can be,’’ he said.  “I still think I can be competitive and win on certain courses. I can be productive for a few more years.  I’ve still got some good golf in me.’’

I believe he does, too, and look forward to seeing it.  The golf world needs more players like Bernhard Langer.

 

 

Arthur Hills influence perks up golf options in Daytona

The par-3 16th  hole at Florida’s Cypress Head course doesn’t look like much — but sometimes looks can be deceiving. That’s the case with this one. (Joy Sarver Photos)

DAYTONA BEACH, FL. – Because we do what we do, it’s golf that is our first target when we make our visits to the Daytona Beach area, and that’s a shame.  Daytona offers so much more than golf.

There’s the beach, of course – 11 miles of oceanfront famous for its wide, firm sands that allow for vehicle usage. There’s even been automobile speed trials and stock car races there.

Then there’s the Daytona International Speedway, of course. It houses the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America but the stagings of the Daytona 500 since 1959 are the primary reason the facility has been dubbed the “World Center of Racing’’ and the “Birthplace of Speed.’’

Significant signage highlights some of  the Daytona area’s must-see spots — Millie’s Restaurant (upper left) and Buc-ee’s (upper right) and Tiano’s Restaurant at New Smyrna Beach.

Those attractions are tough to beat, but golf can’t be ignored – especially when LPGA Boulevard is one of the main drags as you exit I-95. The Ladies Professional Golf Assn. has called Daytona home since 1996 and that’s somewhat where our golf journey begins this time. The late Arthur Hills is one of the most popular course architects of this generation, and he designed one of the two 18-holers at LPGA International.

The LPGA’s Hills Course had been closed for five months, primarily for a comprehensive greens renovation project that restored the putting surfaces to their original size and U.S. Golf Association specifications.  The result was that the greens netted an additional 26,600 square feet.  Prior to the installation of the new TifEagle bermudagrass the Hills Course had 65,340 square feet of putting surface.  Now it has 92,000 square feet.

TifEagle had previously been installed at the LPGA’s Jones Course and was found to be ideally suited to Daytona Beach’s climate.  The Hills project, though, was more extensive.  The bunker complexes were also restored with the addition of 300 tons of sand and the cart paths were resurfaced.

We’re also happy to report that we uncovered another Hills design that we weren’t aware was in the area on our previous trips.  This one is at the Cypress Head course in Port Orange. Hills, who died in 2021, designed it in 1992 with assistance from Mike Dasher.

Hills’ courses are always fun, but are also known for the architect’s quirks.  His designs usually have one hole that might be called goofy. Hills outdid himself at Cypress Head, widely acclaimed to be one of the best municipal courses in the South.

This one has back-to-back par-3s at Nos. 6 and 7 and back-to-back par-5s on the finishing holes, Nos. 17 and 18. Any back-to-back holes with the same par are unusual, and two such pairs is extremely rare.

But there’s more to the Hills’ touch than that at Cypress Head. The No. 16 hole is a par-3 that measures 178  yards from the back tees but only between 55 and 103 yards from the other  markers.  In other words, it seems like a nothing hole – too short to be much of a challenge for most players.  The only thing is, it’s not!

Assistant professional Dylan Quintrell is filled with stories about how that hole confounds all types of players – from beginners all the way up to pros like himself.

The Cypress Head staff added to the unique nature of the course by conducting a survey of patrons last year to give names to each hole.  The short 16th is “NightnDay.’’ Some of the others are “Double Trouble,’’ “Bigfoot’’ and “Alley Oops.’’

Chicago-based KemperSports has managed the city-owned facility for 22 years. Oregon’s Bandon Dunes and former U.S. Open site Chambers Bay, in Washington, are among the 140 courses managed by Kemper nation-wide.

The other course on this year’s Daytona schedule was an old favorite, New Smyrna. It’s a player-friendly layout featuring Donald Ross’ trademark turtle-back greens. This is one of Ross’ last creations.  He died in 1948, but New Smyrna didn’t open until 1953.  The facility also has had a well-regarded Tiano’s Restaurant for the past 16 years.  Another Tiano’s location is included in the new OneDaytona  complex.

For lodging there’s no shortage in Daytona.  We tried an oceanfront facility for the first time, the Bahama House.  It was great for ocean viewing and would work well for golf groups.

This family of red-headed cranes had no fear of the golfers playing at Cypress Head.

Dining is in abundance, too. Our biggest dinner was at Millie’s, a restaurant recently-featured on Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-ins & Dives’’ TV show on the Food Network. We also hit Crabby’s Oceanside for a post-round meal, and it was a hopping place. Four Rivers Smokehouse is another hotspot, especially for barbecue buffs. And, if you haven’t already experienced one of those Buc-ee’s massive gas station-convenience stores, Daytona has one of those, too.

For those looking for more than golf courses and good restaurants Daytona has the Museum of Arts & Services, which tells you all you all want to know about Central Florida’s art, science and history.

The Jackie Robinson Ballpark is an historic treasure.  Now the home of the minor league Daytona Tortugas, the park was where Robinson played his first spring training game in 1946.  The park opened in 1914. It’s part of Daytona’s rich cultural heritage that also includes the African American Museum of the Arts.

Newest attraction is the Daytona Aquarium and Rainforest Adventure, located down the street from the Daytona International Speedway. The 55,000 square foot facility has 40 exhibits.  They include a 100,000-gallon shark tank and a 12,000-gallon stingray touch pool.

Watching the tide rolling in is the key to ocean viewing. Here’s the day and night difference in the views from the balcony of our room at the Bahama House.

 

 

Illinois PGA adds team golf to its tournament schedule

 

The Illinois PGA informally opened its tournament season this week, but it won’t be long until the section’s newest feature in the schedule kicks in. Team play will make its debut on May 13 at the first stroke play event at Schaumburg Golf Club.

This is real team play, not best ball or foursome competitions.  With nine six-player teams and a seven-tournament schedule, it more closely resembles what the LIV Golf League started doing three years ago at its tournaments.

The 10-man IPGA tournament committee invited interest from section members, then named captains based largely on last year’s Bernardi Point Standings. Those who signed up were placed in pods based on past performance and the captains drew  from each one to create nine teams of six players each.

Each player who signed up contributed to the season’s prize fund, and a few details will be finalized when they gather at Schaumburg.

“It should be pretty cool,’’ said tournament committee chairman Andy Mickelson, of Mistwood in Romeoville, “and it should be pretty lucrative for the top three teams.’’

The competitive format will be two gross best ball and the season-long competition will be held at the six stroke play events – at Schaumburg, Merit Club in Libertyville, Glen Flora in Waukegan, Oak Park in River Grove, Crystal Lake Country Club and Mt. Hawley in Peoria –and conclude at the IPGA Players Championship Sept. 30-Oct. 1 at Glen View Club.

Team captains are Roy Biancalana and Brian Carroll, both from The Hawk in St. Charles: Jim Billiter, Ivanhoe; Kyle Donovan, Oak Park; Kevin Flack, Mauh-Nah-Tee-See in Rockford; Chris French, Aldeen in Rockford; Jeff Kellen, North Shore in Glenview; Matthew Rion from Briarwood in Deerfield; and Mickelson.

The IPGA’s schedule also has two new events – the Pro-Junior at Mount Prospect on June 19 and the Pro-Veterans at Cantigny, in Wheaton, on Oct. 10. The Illinois Open, the section’s premier championship, will return to Flossmoor Country Club on Aug. 5-7.

HERE AND THERE: The University of Illinois men’s goes after its ninth straight Big Ten championship when the conference teams gather for a three-day competition at Scioto, in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday. The Illini won their last regular season tournament, the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate at Atkins Golf Club in Urbana last week.  Sophomore Ryan Voris was the individual winner.

The Chicago area’s two local qualifiers for the U.S. Open are today (APRIL 24) at Stonewall Orchard, in Grayslake, and Monday (APRIL 29) at Cantigny. There’ll be 73 players competing for four spots in the final qualifying stage at Stonewall and 84 battling for five spots at Cantigny.

The U.S. Golf Assn. has announced 10,052 players have entered this year’s U.S. Open that concludes June 13-16 at Pinehurst, N.C. It’s the third largest turnout in the tourney’s 124-year history.

Recently announced professional changes have Jeff Kellen moving from Butler National to North Shore and Andrew Svoboda taking over at Butler.

Gene Hiser, who played for both the Cubs and White Sox, has announced the dates for two golf charity events that he’s running.  The Bill “Soup’’ Campbell Memorial Open is June 21 at Bridges at Poplar Creek, in Hoffman Estates, and the 53rd Chicago Baseball Cancer Charities All-Star Invitational is July 18 at Twin Orchard, in Long Grove.

Tickets are on sale for the John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event.  Two post-round concerts are also scheduled – Counting Crows on Saturday, July 6, and Lainey Wilson on Sunday, July 7.

Mistwood will host the College Learning Experience’s Dill Midwest Exposure Camp on June 18-19.  It’ll bring together 28 girls and boys who want to connect with 10 college coaches, five heading girls teams and five guiding boys teams.

 

 

LIV players made only a so-so showing at the 88th Masters

 

OCALA, Florida – The 87th Masters in 2023 was a big boost for the LIV Golf League.  This year’s 88th, not so much.

It’s inevitable, given the ongoing rivalry between LIV and the PGA Tour, that there are player comparisons any time both circuits have players in the same tournament.  A year ago, in what surprised many, LIV players had co-runner-ups Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka behind champion (and now LIV colleague) Jon Rahm in the Masters with Patrick Reed tying for fourth.

This year the only real LIV highlight was Bryson DeChambeau taking the first-round lead with a 65.  He wound up in a tie for sixth place with Cameron Smith.  That’s the best LIV could do.

So what should we make of that?

Not much, really.  It was DeChambeau’s best showing in eight Masters but he was too caught up in the moment after his low first round.

“It’s a weird thing to say,’’ he said, “but it was almost like goosebumpts – and it was early in the week, too.  It was like, whoa!, I’ve got to calm that down.  It was too quick, too early.’’

The week was by no means a total loss for LIV. The fledgling circuit only had 13 players in the field and  seven made the cut.  DeChambeau and Smith, nine strokes behind champion Scottie Scheffler, earned a return to next year’s Masters by finishing in the top 12.  Tyrrell Hatton (tie for ninth) and Reed (tie for 12th and a past champion) also figure to be in the field in 2025. Mickelson (tie 43rd) and Rahm (tie 45th) are also past champions.

Koepka, who defends his PGA title in May, was no threat at this year’s Masters, finishing in a tie with Rahm. Two-time winner Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia – also past champions – missed the cut  with Johnson the only glaring disappointment. Sad say my official pre-Masters pick to win, Johnson, shot a most uncharacteristic 78-79. Poland’s up-and-coming Adrian  Meronk was the other LIV MC.

LIV moves on to Adelaide in Australia, which should be uplifting for Smith.  The Rippers captain expects huge support with his all-Australian team and is predicting “a magical week.’’ The tourney is April 26-28.

The PGA Tour moves on to the RBC Heritage Classic in Hilton Head, S.C., this week.  I can’t imagine this being an uplifting week golf-wise for Scheffler, with his wife expecting their first child any day. He shared lodging with friend Sam Burns at the Masters. Burns’ wife was also expecting their first child.  Burns  shot 80-73 and went home. Both top players face the same distractions this week.

Granted, waiting out the birth of a child – especially the first one – isn’t easy but Scheffler and Burns are both on this week’s entry list with the Heritage having a limited field with no cut, a purse increased to $20 million and  more FedEx Cup points available.

A few other post-Masters thoughts:

The Tiger Woods’ spotlight seems to always shine, merited or not.  He was dead last among the Masters finishers this time, but his performance wasn’t without merit.  He made the cut for the 24th consecutive time, a record as his streak surpassed that of both Fred Couples and Gary Player.

Similarly impressive, in my book, was Vijay Singh making the cut at age 61. The oldest is Couples, who broke Bernhard Langers’ record when he played all 72 holes in 2020 at age 63.  Langer had planned to make 2024 his last Masters but couldn’t compete after injuring his Achilles playing pickleball.

LIV-PGA issues won’t go away, and the status of negotiations remain a secret. Latest “development’’ is a London newspaper reporting that Rory McIlroy, one of the loudest of LIV critics, may be on the brink of changing tours after being offered $850 million. I he doesn’t take it the next LIV target is Viktor Hovland.  I’ll believe it when I see it.

 

 

U.S. Open qualifiers tee off next week nation-wide

 

The year’s major golf championship ended on Sunday, when Scottie Scheffler’s  last putt dropped, giving hims his second title in three years at  the Masters. Though the second of the four majors, the PGA Championship, will be played in May the third major actually begins next Monday (APRIL 22) and the Chicago area gets a taste of it just two days later.

Sound confusing? It is, until you comprehend just how big the U.S. Open is. The deadline for online registration passed last week, the day before the Masters started.

The finals of the Open will be June 13-16 on Pinehurst’s No. 2 Course in North Carolina, but a long lead-in period is needed to determine the 156 players who will compete there. Getting to the 72-hole climax is a huge accomplishment based on sheer numbers, and the final site is significant.

Pinehurst long held the record for most entries – 10,127 in 2014.  That record was broken last year when 10,187 registered for the event that concluded at Los Angeles Country Club. Numbers like that make the U.S. Open the biggest golf tournament and one of the world’s biggest sporting events in terms of participants.

No entry figure has been announced for this year yet, but it’ll be filled with very qualified competitors.  Amateurs who want to play must have a handicap index that doesn’t exceed 0.4.  Otherwise a player must be designated as a professional to get in.

Pinehurst is the new home of the U.S. Golf Association, which conducts the championship.   Pinehurst also hosted the championship in 1999 and 2005 and has more recently been declared an anchor site.  That means the Open will be back to Pinehurst in 2029, 2035, 2041 and 2047.

Staging a U.S. Open is a massive project for the USGA. This year’s tourney requires 109 local qualifying sessions, all over 18 holes. The survivors and players exempt from locals will go through 36-hole final eliminations that begin May 20 in England, Japan and one U.S. site.  Nine other U.S. sites will host the final stage of qualifying on June 3 and another will be held in Canada that day. None will be played in Illinois, but three first-stage qualifiers will.

One of the early local qualifiers is next Wednesday (APRIL 24) at Stonewall Orchard, in Grayslake.  A former Illinois PGA Championship site, Stonewall will have 73 players battling for four spots in the second stage qualifiers.

A bigger local will be held April 29, when 84 players compete over the Woodside and Lakeside nines at Cantigny in Wheaton with five berths in the second stage on the line.

Still a third Illinois local will be played on the busiest day of the first stage.  On May 13 there’ll be 24 locals nation-wide, with one at Illini Country Club in Springfield. Illini CC, which will also have 84 players competing for five second stage spots, is hosting a local for the 45th consecutive year. That encompasses every year since qualifying has been conducted, and no other club in the country can make that claim.

With about 10,000 registered entries  the chances of any hopefuls going on to win the Open proper are remote, but it has been done – by Ken Venturi in 1964 and Orville Moody in 1969.

Only six players won the Open after surviving the finals stage – Gene Littler (1961), Julius Boros (1963), Jerry Pate (1976), Steve Jones (1996), Michael Campbell (2005) and Lucas Glover (2009).

A few other U.S. Open winners have survived both local and final qualifiers at some point in their careers.  They include Lou Graham and Hale Irwin, both champions when the Open was played at Medinah; Curtis Strange, Lee Trevino, Gary Woodland and Fuzzy Zoeller.

 

 

Illinois flavor is lacking in this year’s Masters

The  88th playing of the Masters tees off on  Thursday, and like every other staging, it’ll trigger golf enthusiasm throughout the world.  The year’s first major championship is traditionally a sign of spring. The tour players are ready for a serious test after three months of tournaments of much lesser importance. That’s just the way it is —  every year.

This Masters, though, is an unusual one from an Illinois perspective.  The local highlight of tournament week at Georgia’s Augusta National Golf Club has already taken place – and it was provided by a pair of 9-year olds.

Emory Munoz, of Lockport, and Lucy Wiertel, of Oswego, were among the very select group of youngsters nation-wide who participated in Sunday’s Drive, Chip & Putt finals. Emory was one of seven participants to earn a return trip after making the finals in 2023.

There were 10 finalists in each age group at Sunday’s nationally-televised competition, and neither Emory or Lucy could match the feat of Northbrook’s Martha Kuwahara a year ago.  She was one of the champions.  This time Emory improved from ninth in 2023 to seventh this time, and Lucy was ninth in her age group. The chance to compete at Augusta National, though, gave both the thrill of a lifetime.

This was a special year for Drive, Chip & Putt, too.  The Masters field will include the first ever Drive, Chip and Putt participant.  Akshay Bhatia, who won the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open in a playoff last Sunday, was in the youth event in 2014.

Local tour players couldn’t wangle a Masters invite. Northbrook’s Nick Hardy was a winner on the PGA tour last season, and that usually merits an invite.  Hardy’s win came in a two-man team competition in New Orleans, however, and that didn’t merit his first spot in the Masters. Hardy, though, had his best finish of the season – a tie for 25th at the Valero Texas Open.

Wheaton’s Kevin  Streelman, a 45-year old tour veteran, didn’t make it, either.  He’s been slowed by a back injury suffered in February’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am and that’s hampered his play. His game may be be on the way back up, however, as he’s made three of five cuts since the injury, including the last two tour stops.

Streelman was in the news, too.  His first-round 64 at the Valspar Championship in Florida got him media attention, and the national media were intrigued by a new revolving ball marker that he introduced there.

The Masters has produced some Masters memories already for Streelman.  He won the colorful Par-3 Championship there in 2015 and played in five Masters. He made the cut in the last three appearances, from 2014-16,  with his best finish a tie for 12th in 2015.

Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim and Northwestern alum Dylan Wu are also PGA Tour regulars still hoping for the opportunity to make a Masters debut.

HERE AND THERE:  Tickets are already on sale for the John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour stop.  It’ll be held July 3-7 at TPC Deere Run in downstate Silvis.  The tourney’s Birdies for Charities program started this week.  Since its debut in 1971 it has raised $174 million for local charities.

The Illinois PGA will hold its first Chicago area competition on Monday (APRIL 15).  It’s the Pro-Pro-Pro Scramble, a three-man team event at Mistwood, in Romeoville.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. season opens with qualifiers for the CDGA Mid-Amateur at Maple Meadows, in Wood Dale, on April 22 and Sunset Valley, in Highland Park, on April 23.

 

 

Rahm still winless on LIV Tour but remains a Masters threat

 

Greg Norman, executive director of the LIV Tour, jokes with Jon Rahm. (Joy Sarver Photos)

 

MIAMI, FL. – Last year’s Masters was the first tournament where PGA Tour players competed against those who defected to the LIV Golf League.  The LIV guys got the better of that one.

Four current LIV players finished  one -two-three and a tie for fourth.   That spoke well for the Saudi-financed circuit that is now in its third season. Spain’s Jon Rahm will defend his Masters title this week at Georgia’s Augusta National. He won last year when he was still a PGA Tour member.

Rahm hasn’t won an individual title as a LIV member, but team he captains – Legion XIII – won its second title in five starts on Sunday on the rugged Blue Monster course at Trump Doral and Rahm contributed several key putts to that victory. At least that’s some momentum to take into this week’s Masters.

Knowing a four-stroke lead was slipping away in a tight team battle with Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats, Rahm touched more on a clutch putt he rolled in down the stretch rather than dwell on his individual play.

“I was just trying to two-putt,’’ Rahm said, “and the putt just kept going.  We won by one stroke, so obviously that putt meant more than I had thought it would.’’

It also doesn’t hurt that Rahm has been solid, despite not winning by himself.  He’s the only LIV player to finish in the top 10 of all five tournaments of 2024. He tied for fourth Sunday, three strokes behind South African Dean Burmester and Spain’s Sergio Garcia.

Former president Donald Trump, LIV executive director Greg Norman and Trump’s son Eric enjoy the action around the first tee during the final round at Trump Doral.

Burmester took the individual title in a two-hole playoff, the third loss in extra holes  for the winless Garcia in LIV play. Burmester and Garcia played the regulation 54 holes in 11-under-par 205. Both failed to par the final holes, necessitating their playoff.

Now the focus is solely on the Masters.

If LIV shows as well at this year’s Masters it’ll likely be because of the players who weren’t  so impressive

Sergio Garcia (left) and Dean Burmester matched shots in a tense two-hole playoff.