Author: lenz

Thirty-seven years later, and Pat Bradley tries to win another U.S. Open in Chicago

Golf was a different game when Pat Bradley won the ultimate title available to her, the U.S. Women’s Open. She did it at LaGrange Country Club in 1981, coming from three strokes behind in the last round to post a 66 and beat out Beth Daniel and Kathy Whitworth. It was the crowning achievement in Bradley’s Hall of Fame career.

“I went back 25 years later and played the course from the same yardage,’’ said Bradley. “But I found the ball and equipment had changed. I didn’t have metal woods back then. I had persimmon. In today’s world the equipment and balls are much stronger. We weren’t fitted for our clubs. If it felt good, we’d take it.’’

Bradley played her last U.S. Open at Merit Club, in Libertyville, in 2000 but she never stopped competing. Her last event on the LPGA tour was the 2004 Dinah Shore Championship, when she was 53 years old and a World Golf Hall of Famer for 13 years.

“Even that was stretching it,’’ said Bradley. “A lot of us hung on longer than we should have beause we knew that when it was over it was really over.’’

Eventually The Legends Tour was created for players who had reached their 45th birthday. That meant Bradley could compete in a few tournaments each year but it wasn’t the same as the men’s immediately popular Senior PGA Tour (now called PGA Tour Champions).

This week, though, the past merges with the present for Bradley. She’s part of the 120-player field for the inaugural U.S. Women’s Senior Open, which tees off on Thursday at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton. The U.S. Golf Association’s newest national championship will be played on America’s first 18-hole course. There’s something special about that.

“I’ve been waiting for this Open for 17 years. I wish it was 17 years ago, but it’s here now and I’m grateful,’’ said Bradley, now 67.

There are other special things playing into Bradley’s golf career now. The rest of the golf world was slow to show respect for the players of her era, but last fall the LPGA scheduled its first event for its former stars — the Senior LPGA Championship at Indiana’s French Lick Resort. That meant the end of The Legends Championship, but a bigger and better event was put in its place.

And, what was once the LPGA Championship is now called the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – an event played at Kemper Lakes in Kildeer two weeks ago. The PGA of America took over management of that tournament from the women’s group three years ago and made it bigger and better.

Bradley’s nephew, Keegan Bradley – every bit the fierce competitor his aunt is – won the men’s PGA Championship in 2011. That’s a source of family pride, too, but it took far too much time for the women’s game to catch up to the men’s.

The PGA has held its men’s Senior Championship since 1937 and the PGA Tour has had its senior circuit, now called PGA Tour Champions, since 1980. That same year the USGA conducted its first U.S. Senior Open for men.

PGA Tour Champions will also be playing in Chicago on the same days as the U.S. Women’s Senior Open this week. It’ll hold its Constellation Senior Players Championship at Exmoor, in Highland Park.

Schedule conflicts aside, at least the women will finally get their chance. Unlike the Senior LPGA Championship, the U.S. Women’s Senior Open is a walking-only event for those who have reached their 50th birthday. Also, unlike the LPGA, this national championship had nation-wide qualifying rounds. Entries hit 462, with this week’s field comprised of players (like Bradley) invited off past performance with those who survived the qualifiers.

The walking-only requirement has ruled out several LPGA stars of the past, most notably Nancy Lopez who has undergone knee replacement surgery. Lopez will be on hand as a starter.

Bradley, though, won’t be there for ceremonial purposes. She is serious about competing and has contacted her former swing instructor, Gail Davis, to sharpen her short game. Davis, now 81 years old, is living in Garland, Tex. She was an LPGA player in the 1960s. Bradley has also re-connected with Bob Rotella, her psychologist.

“We’re trying hard, and we’ve had a great run-up to the tournament,’’ said Bradley. “We’re very excited, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it. We’re going to make history here.’’

The favorites would seem to be Scotland’s Trish Johnson, who won the first Senior LPGA Championship; Juli Inkster, who still competes on the LPGA Tour; and England’s long-hitting Laura Davies, who needs a win to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame.

“This is a huge event for Laura,’’ said Bradley.

It’s also a big event for Chicago Golf Club, which has hosted 11 USGA championships. The club last opened its doors to the public for a tournament in 2005, when the Walker Cup matches were played there.

“The USGA really found a beauty for this tournament,’’ said Bradley. “This course will be fair, whether you’re a short hitter or a Laura Davies hitter.’’

The field will play 18-hole rounds on Thursday and Friday, and the low 50 including ties will play 36 more holes on the weekend to determine the first U.S. Women’s Senior Open champion.

Ex-Illini Dylan Meyer is this JDC’s sponsor exemption to watch

This is an ideal time for the top college golf stars to get a jump-start on their professional careers, and Illinois’ Dylan Meyer has already done just that.

After four years of stardom for the Illini Meyer made his professional debut at the U.S. Open. After surviving sectional qualifying he finished in a tie for 20th place, and that was worth $122,387. Then, like many of the top collegians, he received a sponsor’s exemption into a PGA Tour event, last week’s Quickens National. He tied for 17th and picked up another $96,086.

Meyer has at least one more chance to cash in next week, along with former Illini teammate Nick Hardy and Arlington Heights resident Doug Ghim – the national collegiate player-of-the-year for Texas. They are among the invitees to Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour stop, the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill.

The JDC, in its usual spot on the PGA Tour schedule – a week before the British Open, has a $5.8 million purse on the line for its July 12-15 tournament rounds.

Hardy, who survived the 36-hole cut at last year’s JDC while competing as an amateur, is three-for-three in making cuts since turning pro at the Rust-Oleum Championship last month at Ivanhoe Club. Combining his invites to two Web.com Tour events and the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship Hardy has pocketed $19,575 in his first month as a pro.

Ghim, who played in the U.S. Open as an amateur, earned his first check at the Quicken Loans National — $13,987 for a tie for 71st. Sponsor’s exemptions are an annual sidelight to the JDC, as tournament director Clair Peterson pays special attention to the collegiate ranks in awarding his invitations.

This year, though, the young pros will be part of one of the strongest fields in JDC history. Bryson DeChambeau is the defending champion, and he’s adjusted quickly to the professional ranks after winning the 2015 U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields. He claimed his second professional victory last month at the Memorial tournament and is already a strong contender to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team for this fall’s matches in France.

Steve Stricker, who won the JDC three times before turning 50 and eligible for PGA Tour Champions, has opted to return the John Deere rather than play in the Constellation Senior Players Championship – one of the five majors on the 50-and-over circuit. It’ll be played at Exmoor, in Highland Park, the same days as the JDC.

In addition to veterans like Zach Johnson, Davis Love III, Ryan Moore and Kevin Streelman, the JDC has picked up Brandt Snedeker, who tied for second in his last appearance in the tourney in 2009, and two notable foreign stars – Italy’s Francesco Molinari and 19-year old Chilean sensation Joaquin Niemann. Molinari claimed his first win on the PGA Tour at the Quicken Loans National last Sunday.

Young at heart

Ellen Port, who has won four U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur titles and three U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur crowns, competed against much younger players in last week’s Women’s Western Amateur at Mistwood in Romeoville. The St. Louis resident did it for one big reason – she wanted to get ready for the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open, also July 12-15 at Chicago Golf Club.

Port, 57, hadn’t played in the Western Amateur since 2005 and her 119 rivals were mainly elite college players. Port had won the St. Louis Women’s Metro Championship for the 17th time before heading to Mistwood, because she needed a bigger challenge to tune up for the Senior Open.

“Every tournament is big, and the Women’s Western Amateur is wonderful,’’ said Port, a high school teacher and coach for 32 years before spending the last three as the women’s golf coach at Washington University. “But the inaugural U.S. Women’s Senior Open – there’s only one of them, so it’s a big one. I love the Western, and I’ve jumped into events before that I wasn’t really ready for. That’s why I got as good as I was as quickly as I did.’’

Posting scores of 78 and 81 on a par-72 course set up at 6,131 yards, Port wasn’t among the 32 players who qualified for the match play portion of the Western Am but she’s excited about competing against legendary touring pros like Pat Bradley, Jane Blalock, Juli Inkster and Jan Stephenson on a par-73 course 46 yards shorter than the one she played at Mistwood.

Exmoor update

The third event sharing the July 12-15 dates, the Constellation Senior Players Championship, is the second of three consecutive majors for PGA Tour Champions players. David Tomas won the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor in Colorado on Sunday and the British Senior Open follows the Exmoor stop from July 23-29 at St. Andrews, in Scotland.

The Western Golf Association will conduct the Exmoor tourney, the first major in the Chicago area for senior men since the 1997 U.S. Senior Open at Olympia Fields. Gates at Exmoor open to the public on Wednesday, July 11 for the Accenture Pro-Am, and the tournament rounds will be held the next four days.

Golf has proven to be a tonic for this Parkinson’s sufferer

Gary Smith, by his own admission, is not a champion golfer but his golf story is well worth telling. Tim Rosaforte, a long-time friend of mine who works for The Golf Channel, told it first as a TV feature. Now it’s my turn.

Smith is a Naperville resident, but I met him at the International Network of Golf’s Spring Conference in Biloxi, Miss., in May. He was a featured speaker there and provided a compelling report on what golf has done for him.

In short, golf served as an effective treatment for Parkinson’s disease. That’s a neurodegenerative brain disorder that has very negative life-changing effects for its victims. Smith was diagnosed with it in 2008, but suspects he had symptoms as many as five years before that. His father had died of the disease the same year that Gary was diagnosed with it and his father had battled it for 22 years. Gradually the disease took its told on Smith as well.

“My life was really getting dark,’’ he said. “My dexterity was gone. I had tremors. I was walking very slowly. My voice was wispy. Basically my life was not good.’’

He lost most of his ability to smell and taste. He felt strange aches and pains and his energy level was dropping off. He was barely able to walk his daughter Morgan down the aisle at her 2010 marriage.

This was especially painful, given the active lifestyle Smith had led prior to the devastating diagnosis. He played basketball and baseball in high school and college and was a skydiver for 20 years. He once para-glided off a 3,800-foot cliff in New Zealand. In his fifties he was a surfer and ran a marathon on his 55th birthday in 2011.

Married with three children, Smith had worked as a psychotherapist, then took on a second career as a loan officer. He continued to work for seven years after getting his Parkinson’s diagnosis before retiring on his 60th birthday in 2015. He wanted to play more golf then, mainly because his wife Nan liked to play the game.

Smith tried other forms of exercise, and some would work for a while, but he came to the realization that “everything goes slow.’’

“My kids said `Please don’t quit’ and I kept looking for exercises,’’ said Smith. “My son said I should go to TopGolf.’’

That fast-growing franchise has a facility in Naperville, and Smith hit lots of golf balls there – up to 1,000 a week.

When Smith turned 60 he and Nan took a trip to Scotland, and she encouraged him to play a round at the famous Old Course at St. Andrews. Using rental clubs, he got through that round and was inspired by the experience. That led to more sessions at TopGolf when they returned to Naperville.

“When we got back there was some freakish weather, temperatures in the 50s,’’ he said. “I started walking (in rounds at Naperbrook and Springbrook, Naperville’s public courses). I was confused. I felt good because I was walking. But it wore me out.’’

Eventually the Parkinson’s symptoms went away. After five weeks he could walk more upright and actually stride, rather then just shuffle his feet. His right foot and arm had been stiff. They started to loosen up. He could type with his right hand again and manage facial expressions. His voice got stronger, too.

Now 63, he usually walks his 18-hole rounds and has done as many as 36 holes in a day. His handicap also dropped from 24 to 10.

Initially Smith felt his “recovery’’ wasn’t the real thing, just a carryover from the St. Andrews experience. His neurologist, Dr. Martha McGraw at Northwestern Medicine Center DuPage Hospital in Winfield, had her doubts as well until Smith demonstrated his regained walking ability at her office.

She declared him back to his pre-Parkinson’s fitness level. Though Smith couldn’t understand his recovery either, he was determined to take his message to others who suffer from the disease. He’s trying to raise money for the Parkinson’s Foundation to fund a scientific study on the potential benefits of golf for Parkinson’s patients.

While he’s thankful for his improved health, Smith still has concerns his old symptoms might return.

“Every day I wake up I just wonder if this will wear off,’’ he said, “but so far, so good.’’

We will all have to deal with `THE BIG CONFLICT’

This is my 50th year reporting on the Chicago golf scene and I can assure you there has never been a month like the one confronting us this July. There have been busy tournaments times in the past, but never anything like what’s coming in the next few days.

I’m calling the whole scenario “The Big Conflict,’’ and I’m not happy about it.

Everything kicks in during the second week of July, but especially on Thursday, July 12. That’s the starting day of competition for the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in downstate Silvis.

That’s also the day that the Constellation Senior Players Championship tees off at Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park. This is one of the five major championships on the PGA Tour Champions circuit. It’s a big deal.

And that’s not all. The inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open starts its 72-hole run at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton on July 12 as well.

Three very big tournaments, all of them played over the same four-day period. The John Deere Classic is the only annual PGA Tour stop in Illinois with Bryson DeChambeau coming in as the defending champion with $5.8 million in prize money on the line.

The Constellation Senior Players Championship is the first major on the 50-and-over circuit played in the Chicago area since the U.S. Senior Open was contested at Olympia Fields in 1997. With no other major championships on any tour scheduled in the Chicago area this could be the last chance to see the Champions Tour’s dominant player, Bernhard Langer, and Chicago’s own Jeff Sluman compete on home turf.

And the U.S. Senior Women’s Open – a long-awaited and long overdue event organized by the U.S. Golf Association – means a chance to see legends like Pat Bradley, Juli Inkster, Meg Mallon, Jane Blalock and Betsy King in competition again. Plus, the tournament offers a rare opportunity for spectators to get inside the gates of the North America’s oldest 18-hole golf course. Chicago Golf Club last opened its doors to spectators for the 2005 Walker Cup matches.

While Chicago Golf Club is old – it dates back to 1892 – the tournament that it will soon host is the USGA’s newest national championship. It’ll have 120 of the best women players who have reached the 50th birthday. They’ll be playing on the same course that hosted three U.S. Opens (1897, 1900 and 1911), four U.S. Amateurs (1897, 1905, 1909 and 1912), the 1903 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the 1979 U.S. Senior Amateur. It was only fitting that Chicago Golf Club be the site for the first U.S. Senior Women’s Open. It’s just too bad that the tournament will have to share the spotlight when it’s here.

The only time I can recall anything close to this weird bit of scheduling was in 1975, when the USGA and PGA Tour opted to schedule big tournaments back-to-back. The U.S. Open was played at Medinah one week and the late, great Western Open was contested the following week at Butler National in Oak Brook.

Such high-profile events were never scheduled so close together in the same geographical area back then. It was simply taboo. There were concerns then that golf interest – including that of potential sponsors – would wane if tournament play was stretched out too far.

As things turned out, there was only a minimal break in the action then. The ’75 U.S. Open carried over to Monday, with Lou Graham beating John Mahaffey in a playoff to decide the title. Three days later Hale Irwin started his run to the Western title on one of the most difficult courses in the country.

Somehow, that glut of golf 43 years ago worked out okay. In fact, it was the start of big things for Irwin. He earned the moniker of “Mr. Chicago’’ as he went on to win the 1990 U.S. Open at Medinah in the tourney’s first-ever sudden death playoff against Mike Donald and then captured the Ameritech Senior Open three times. That tourney was a fixture in Chicago back then, with Irwin winning in 1995 at Stonebridge in Aurora and 1998 and 1999 at Kemper Lakes in Kildeer.

This year’s strange scheduling is a little different than that of 1975. In any other year any one of those three tournaments would be considered the highlight of the Chicago golf season. This year, I’m afraid, the interest in each one will be diluted.

Frankly I’d like to see every round of all three tournaments, but obviously I can’t. You can’t be in two – or three – places at once. As of this writing – a few weeks before the firing begins on July 12 – I don’t know where I’ll be or when. But I guarantee you I’ll be keeping tabs on all of those events.

Unfortunately, after “The Big Conflict’’ is over a smaller version will begin. On July 16, the day after the John Deere Classic, Constellation Senior Players Championship and U.S. Senior Women’s Open all wrap up, the focus shifts to state competitions.

The Illinois Women’s Open begins at Mistwood, in Romeoville, the day after “The Big Conflict’’ and the day after that the Illinois State Amateur tees off at Bloomington Country Club. Both are three-day tournaments, the IWO ending on Wednesday, July 18, and the State Am on Thursday, July 19.

When all is said and done there’ll be eight consecutive days of very meaningful tournament golf at both the professional and amateur levels. Multiple tournaments will be played on seven of those eight days.

Obviously the schedule-makers from the various golf organizations could have done a better job communicating with each other in choosing dates for their 2018 championships. While tournament conflicts are sometimes inevitable, this year’s scenario defies the imagination.

There’s no point in getting into the blame game on this issue. The tournaments will all be played on the dates announced, and they’ll all be good. I just hope we never have to go through something like “The Big Conflict’’ again.

Kemper’s Gauntlet is no problem for champion Sung Hyun Park

Sung Hyun Park has won two majors in her first two years on the LPGA Tour.
Where do you start to explain this one?

The climax to the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Kemper Lakes had it all on Sunday – a sparkling 18-hole score, a miracle shot from the edge of a pond, clutch birdie putts at dramatic moments, a lightning delay that interrupted a two-hole playoff. And it ended with a clear indication of the differences between the men’s and women’s pro tours.

The women’s tour is a more global circuit than the men’s PGA Tour, and it has more up-and-coming young stars. This tournament was a testament to that. The last two players in contention were Koreans, with 24-year old Sung Hyun Park beating So Yeon Ryu, 28, thanks to birdie putts on both extra holes.

Japan’s Nasa Hataoka, 19, also made the playoff after shooting the low score of the tournament, an 8-under-par 64. Two of the three in the playoff needed translators to tell how they got there, but all are willing to let their clubs do their talking.

Despite their youth Park and Ryu have already won two of the women’s major titles and Hataoka took her first LPGA tournament with a six-shot victory a week ago. Last year Park and Ryu shared Player-of-the-Year honors. Park, also the U.S. Women’s Open champion, became the first player since Nancy Lopez in 1976 to win both Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season. Obviously they can all really play.

Tying for fourth were two young Americans, Jessica Korda, 25, and Angel Yin, 19. They were three strokes behind the lead trio in the first-ever three-way playoff in the tournament’s 64-year history.

All of it provided a great showcase for The Gauntlet, the name the Kildeer club’s membership gave to their last three holes last fall without knowing that TPC Sawgrass, the Florida course that hosts one of the biggest tournaments on the PGA Tour, already used the same name for its trio of finishing holes.

Kemper’s is the toughest finishing stretch in Chicago golf, and it stands up quite well with Sawgrass on the national level. On Sunday it created loads of drama.

Ryu started the day with a three-stroke lead but took an emotional jolt when her putts for both par and bogey at No. 2 lipped out.

“I had to let it go,’’ she said. “If I keep looking back that’s really a bad thing to do, especially when you are in contention.’’

Park eventually pulled even with birdies at Nos. 3 and 4 but Ryu went back in front by two with birds at Nos. 6 and 7. Hataoka, meanwhile, was tearing up the course playing well in front of the leaders. She had two eagles in her round, and heated up on the back nine by going 5-under in a six-hole stretch. She finished at 10-under-par 278 when Ryu was 12-under after 11.

“When I finished I didn’t think I’d be in the playoff, but before the tournament I thought that double digits (under par) was a good score to reach for – so I am pleased about that,’’ said Hataoka. “I did feel nerves going into the playoff, but I haven’t won a major yet so I felt like I had nothing to lose.’’

Park, playing with Ryu, stayed alive with a miracle chip shot from a water hazard fronting the No. 16 green – the start of The Gauntlet – that resulted in her saving par. Ryu answered her chip with a 30-foot downhill birdie putt that gave her a two-stroke lead, but it didn’t last long.

One the par-3 seventeenth she pulled her tee shot, missing the green to the left with the ball going into the water. She took a double bogey on the hole, and her lead was gone.

Hataoka watched all that drama from the clubhouse and then headed for the practice range to prepare for a playoff. It was a certainty when Ryu and Park two-putted for pars at No. 18. All three players went back to that tee for the first extra hole, and Ryu made a statement immediately by holing a birdie putt from the fringe of the green.

After Hataoka missed her birdie attempt Park rolled in hers to send the playoff to a second playoff hole, this one at the No. 16 tee. Both Ryu and Park put their approaches on the green of that par-4 when play was suspended because of lightning in the area. The playoff resumed after a 20-minute suspension in play and Park connected from 10 feet after Ryu had missed from 16.

Park, stoic throughout the round, broke down in tears after her putt dropped.

“This has been a tough year for me,’’ said Park. “Five times I’ve missed cuts, but all the work I’ve done paid off. That ‘s what really made me cry. It was my first time feeling that kind of emotion. I was really happy. I couldn’t help that.’’

Kemper Lakes is back on the radar as a major tournament venue

Watching the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship wrap up on Sunday created good vibes for Steve Jouzapaitis, the owner of Kemper Lakes. What was once one of America’s most prominent golf venues could be again, following a successful staging of a major championship.

“I expected more issues and things to address, but everything was so smooth,’’ said Jouzapaitis. “We got a lot of compliments from the PGA this week. I think we delivered.’’

Kemper’s tournament resume was created in its days as a public course from 1979 to 2004, when the four-year transition to a private facility began. The club hosted the men’s PGA Championship – its biggest event – in 1989.

Since turning private the club’s only tournament was the Illinois PGA Match Play Championship, which has been played each May. The success of this KPMG Women’s PGA Championship might change that.

Jouzapaitis was particularly pleased by an on-air comment by NBC announcer Dan Hicks, who called Kemper “one of the most spectacular golf venues in the world.’’

“Kemper Lakes is back,’’ said Jouzapaitis. “We got real good press, and we will keep our options open to host something in the future. We’re glad to be back in the spotlight, in front of the public.’’

First possibility might be the 2021 BMW Championship, a FedEx Cup Playoff event for members of the PGA Tour. The Western Golf Association alternates sites of that event with Chicago courses hosting every other year. It’ll be at Aronimink, in Philadelphia, in September and then will be played at Medinah in 2019. No site is set beyond that, as BMW’s sponsorship agreement will expire after the Medinah tournament.

Frustration for Henderson

Brooke Henderson, the 21–year old Canadian, had another strong finish in the KPMG tournament – a tie for sixth – but she wasn’t a happy camper.

Henderson started the final round in second place, three strokes behind leader So Yeon Ryu, and was out of contention for good after making three bogeys in the first six holes. Her day got worse from there before it got better. At. No. 11 Henderson left a shot in the rough and broke her wedge in half when she slammed it on the turf. She got her lone birdie at No. 17 and finished with a 2-over-par 74.

In her previous three appearances in the tourney Henderson finished fifth in 2015 after getting into the field on a sponsor’s exemption, won the title in 2016 and finished as the runner-up last year at Olympia Fields.

Bring on the Crown

Final seedings as well as the players who will participate in the third UL International Crown competition will be announced today (MONDAY) but host Korea and the U.S. will be the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds. The eight-team event will be held at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon City from Oct. 4-7. Each team has four players, all chosen off the Rolex World Rankings at the conclusion of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

The first International Crown was played at Caves Valley in Maryland in 2014 with Spain winning. The U.S. won the last competition in 2016 at Merit Club in Libertyville. Two members of that U.S. team – Lexi Thompson and Cristie Kerr – are already assured places on this year’s team and they’re excited about defending the title.

“It’ll be massive in Korea,’’ said Thompson. “We’ll get a lot of people out there watching us. It’ll be a great two weeks. Golf is huge over there.’’

Thompson plans to stay in Korea to compete in the Hana Bank Championship the week after the Crown.

“It’s a great format and a great event,’’ said Kerr. “It certainly has grown over the two times that we’ve had it, and being in Korea is going to take it to a whole new level. It’s going to be huge, huge, huge.’’

Too little, too late

Thompson, the best American player wth a No. 3 Rolex World Ranking, got it going on Sunday when she played holes four through seven in birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle. She made three bogeys after that and settled for a 68 and a tie for 15th.

The battle for the fourth and final spot on the U.S. team for the UL International Crown will apparently go to Michelle Wie, who held it going into the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She finished the 72 holes at even par after a 2-under 71 on Sunday and was in a tie for 28th. Danielle Kang, the tourney’s defending champion and Wie’s challenger for the final spot on Team USA, finished with a 73 and was two strokes behind Wie in the tournament and tied for 33rd.

Moving on

The LPGA Tour resumes its season on Thursday with the $2 million Thornberry Classic, a 72-hole event in Oneida, Wis. The KPMG Women’s PGA Classic will be played next at Hazeltine, in Chaska, Minn. The last of the many major events held there was the Ryder Cup of 2016.

Next major for LPGA players is the Ricoh Women’s British Open from Aug. 2-5. Its purse of $3,250,000 is $400,000 less than that awarded after Sunday’s event at Kemper Lakes.

Ryu-Henderson shootout in final round will start early at Kemper Lakes

Korean star So Yeon Ryu enjoyed her big day at Kemper Lakes.
An imposing weather forecast for Sunday will create a viewers’ headache for the climax to the 64th KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and that’s a shame. The expected duel for the title between Korean So Yeon Ryu and Canadian Brooke Henderson should be a dandy, based on how both performed in Saturday’s third round.

Normally players are sent off in twosomes off the No. 1 hole in major tournaments, but that won’t be the case Sunday. With heavy afternoon rain expected tournament officials opted to get both players and spectators off the Kemper Lakes course as early as possible.

So, players will be sent off in threesome off both the Nos. 1 and 10 tees. Starting times will run from 7:19 to 9:31 a.m. and both NBC Sports and Golf Channel apps and digital platforms will stream the action live from 11:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. NBC will provide taped coverage, as originally planned, at 2 p.m.

There’s always the possibility of a player charging into contention after starting the round well before the leaders, but there was no indication that would happen on Saturday. The same three players that shared the 36-hole lead still hold the top three positions on the leaderboard. There’s just no longer a tie at the top.

Ryu, who shot the best score in Round 3 – a 5-under-par 67 – owns a three-stroke lead on Henderson, who posted a 70 after fading in the late stages of the back nine on Saturday. Ryu stands at 11-under 205 for the 54 holes.

Henderson led for most of the day, and the only other player to get to the top of the leaderboard was Sun Hyun Park, another Korean who started the day tied with Ryu and Henderson for the top spot. Park claimed it for herself after making a 12-foot birdie putt at No. 1. That triggered a day of momentum shifts, and Park – one stroke behind Henderson – could also be a factor on Sunday.

Henderson pulled even with Park with an eight-foot birdie putt at No. 2 and took solo possession of the lead with two more birds at Nos. 6 and 7. At the turn she owned a two-stroke lead on Ryu and kept it for four more holes.

Though Henderson stayed in front, a key moment came at the par-5 11th. Ryu got up-and-down for birdie from a green-side bunker, sinking a 15-foot putt.

“That was really, really important momentum for me,’’ “ said Ryu. “After that I felt more comfortable on the putting greens, and I was able to make some birdies.’’

Once Ryu’s putter started working Henderson’s didn’t. She had an eight-footer for eagle on No. 11 but missed so her lead remained at two, and it stayed there when Henderson missed a five-birdie try at No. 12.

With those opportunities to pad her lead gone, Henderson struggled. A birdie by Ryu and a bogey by Henderson at the short par-4 14th created a two-shot swing that created a tie at the top of the leaderboard and Ryu took sole possession of the lead when her 20-foot putt dropped for birdie on its last revolution at No. 15. Henderson couldn’t answer, missing her 15-footer for bird.

Ryu added two strokes to her advantage on the three holes of The Gauntlet – the toughest finishing stretch in Chicago golf. A par was good enough to add a stroke to her lead at No. 16 because Henderson missed her par putt from five feet. Then Ryu made a spectacular birdie at the finishing hole, smacking a perfect drive around the dogleg left before putting her approach to five feet.

Henderson, playing with a new putter this week, missed from 10 feet before Ryu finished off her birdie. She needed only 12 putts on the back nine.

“I struggled with my putter, which is disappointing, but hopefully I can just get better in my mind and go out tomorrow and make some birdies. Hopefully I can get the speed of the greens down in the morning and get confident with my putting again.’’

Henderson has the better record in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She tied for fifth as a sponsor’s exemption in 2015, won it in 2016 and was runner-up last year at Olympia Fields.

Ryu, seven years older after celebrating her 28th birthday on Friday, has the better overall record. She has won two of the women’s majors – the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open and 2017 ANA Inspiration. She’s also been second in the Evian Championship, third in the British Open and fourth in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. That was in 2016.

With those near-misses, Ryu is starting to think about winning the women’s Grand Slam.

“Winning this tournament would be huge,’’ she said. “I’ve started to dream about becoming a Grand Slammer and right now I’m in a good position to achieve another dream (winning the second-oldest tournament in women’s golf). I definitely want to be part of the history.’’

Feng makes her case in battle for a new No. 1 in women’s golf

The possibility is remote, but China’s Shanshan Feng – in a tie for 54th place at the start of Saturday’s third round of the 64th KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – could still win the title on Sunday and regain her place as the No. 1-ranked player in women’s golf.

Feng demonstrated on Saturday what one good round can do for a player in the third of the five major annual championships on the Ladies PGA Tour. She shot a 5-under-par 67 and was in a tie for ninth place after she turned in her scorecard.

“I just had a very good day,’’ said Feng, who has spent time in the No. 1 spot in the Rolex World Rankings but was No. 4 before a ball was hit at Kemper Lakes.

Feng was two strokes inside the cutline after the first two rounds, which meant a fairly early tee time on Saturday. That turned out to be a big advantage in her pairing with Australian veteran Karrie Webb, winner of the last U.S. Women’s Open played in the Chicago area – at Merit Club in Libertyville 18 years ago.

“We were lucky because we got the front nine done without all the heat,’’ said Feng. “After we made the turn it was horrible. It was so hot, and the breeze was hot. My caddie felt so bad that he actually had another caddie walking outside of the ropes with us. He thought maybe he would pass out, but he didn’t.’’

The backup bag-toter, identified by Feng as “Cheeseburger Chad,’’ didn’t need to pick up her bag as Feng – 2-over-par after 36 holes – got to 3-under 213 for 54 holes.

A travel dilemma

Nelly Korda didn’t know what to do after finishing a disappointing first 36 holes on Friday morning. Missing the cut seeming a distinct possibility.

“I guessed I’d be going to look at flights to get back home (Florida),’’ she said. “I’m glad we didn’t, but it was a bit nerve wracking.’’

The third round, which lasted over 13 hours, finally ended after 8 p.m. with the last players needing over five hours to complete their 18 holes. Korda had to wait until all of them were finished to be assured she had survived the cut right on the number – 3-over-par 147. The wait was worth it, as Korda drew one of the first tee times on Saturday and shot 68 when conditions – in her words — “weren’t as tough.’’

“There were some low scores out there, and I’m just happy that I got it done,’’ she said. Her playing partner, pregnant American star Stacy Lewis, benefitted, too. She shot a 70 to get into a tie for 36th when she finished.

A new No. 1?

Inbee Park’s failure to survive the 36-hole cut at Kemper Lakes means that there will be a new No. 1-ranked player in the Rolex World Rankings after the last putt drops on Sunday.

No. 2 Ariya Jutanugarn, No. 3 Lexi Thompson, Feng and No. 5 So Yeon Ryu all have a chance at being No. 1 by late Sunday afternoon. Jutanugarn, Thompson and Feng would all get the top spot with a win.

Thompson could get it with a runner-up finish if Jutanugarn finishes third or worse. Feng must win to move up and Ryu could be No. 1 by winning if Jutanugarn finishes third or worse.

Jutanugarn, Feng and Ryu have all been No. 1 at some point. Jutanugarn held the top spot for two weeks last year. Feng owned it for 23 weeks between November, 2013, and April of this year. Ryu was No. 1 for 19 weeks in 2017. Thompson has been as high as No. 2 but has yet to claim the top spot.

Baltusrol lands 2023 tourney

The PGA of America announced Saturday that Baltusrol, in New Jersey, will host the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2023. The event goes to Hazeltine, in Minnesota, next year and to Aronimink, in the Philadelphia area, in 2020. No sites have been assigned for 2021 or 2022.

Baltusrol also landed the men’s PGA Championship in 2029. The club’s Lower Course has hosted one previous women’s major championship – the 1961 U.S. Women’s Open, which was won by Mickey Wright. It has hosted the men’s PGA twice – in 2005 when Phil Mickelson won the title and in 2016 when Jimmy Walker was the winner.

The next men’s PGA, the 100th playing of the championship, will be at Bellerive in St. Louis in August. It’ll be the last time the tournament is held in the fall. The PGA of America will move it to May in 2019.

Stomach problems hamper start of Kang’s title defense

Danielle Kang began the defense of her title in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Thursday in less than impressive fashion. She shot 73 at soggy Kemper Lakes, and it was not a pretty site.

At one point Kang was doubled over in pain, the cause of which she suspected was the waffles she had for breakfast.

“I tried to keep it under wraps the whole day, but I had a really bad stomachache before I even teed off,’’ said Kang. “I threw up after nine and just kept trying to not feel it.’’

She wasn’t all too successful at that, and it didn’t help that she was paired with Inbee Park and Ariya Jutanugarn, the Nos. 1- and 2-ranked players in the world. Jutanugarn shot 72 and Park matched Kang’s 73.

“We had the (TV) camera following us all day, and I didn’t want to throw up on camera,’’ she said. “I went to the Port-a-Potty a couple times to do it, but the Port-a-Potties are so gross. What are you going to do? It’s not the food, it’s me. I’m just really sensitive. I don’t eat eggs, I don’t eat sausages because I’ve gotten food poisoning off of those. I just don’t feel good. I think it’s just some crap that I ate this morning.’’

While her stomach was sub-par, Kang didn’t feel her golf game was.

“I’m hitting the ball great, so I hope I feel better for the next three days,’’ she said. “I should feel better by tomorrow.’’

WHO’S NO. 1?: The top spot in the Rolex World Rankings is on the line this week and any one of five players could be No. 1 after the last putt drops on Sunday. One is So Yeon Ryu, who is currently No. 5. Last year she moved into the top spot during KPMG Women’s PGA Championship week at Olympia Fields.

“When I was No. 1 I didn’t realize how much pressure I was under,’’ said Ryu, “After I dropped in the ranking I realized there was a lot, but it was definitely worth it. As a professional golfer it’s a huge honor to become the No. 1 player in the world. I really want to get back to that position. Hopefully I’m going to win this tournament and become No. 1 again.’’

The four players ahead of Ryu are fellow Korean Park, Jutanugarn of Thailand, American Lexi Thompson and Shanshan Feng of China.

RAIN, RAIN STAY AWAY: Veteran Brittany Lincicome had no complaints with the Kemper Lakes course, even though it showed the effects of the recent heavy rains.

“I wish we wouldn’t have gotten all that rain because it would have been cool to see it play more firm and fast but, again, being a long hitter, the longer the better for me,’’ said Lincicome. `The course is in great shape. There’s not very many divots, the greens are rolling pure and the rough is nice and thick. I love it.’’

She’s a happy camper as far as things are going off the course as well.

“Just the way they’re treating us in the clubhouse and dining, it’s a wonderful week,’’ she said. “I wish we had way more of these events.’’

Here and there

Thursday’s first round of the Web.com Tour’s Land of Lincoln Championship at Panther Creek in Springfield was good for Chicago players. Nick Hardy and Carlos Sainz Jr. shot 65s and are tied for sixth place and Brad Hopfinger carded a 68 and is tied for 35th.

This is a year for unfortunate tournament scheduling, not just in Chicago where the KPMG tourney goes head-to-head with the Women’s Western Amateur, but nationally as well. The women’s event isn’t the only major on tap this week. The U.S. Senior Open, conducted by the U.S. Golf Association, also teed off on Thursday at The Broadmoor in Colorado. Four Chicago players are competing – Champions Tour veteran Jeff Sluman plus pros Roy Biancalana and Gary March and amateur Glenn Przbylski, all survivors of the nation-wide qualifying rounds.

A record round was recorded during the 36-hole stroke play qualifying at the 118th Women’s Western Amateur, which is in progress at Mistwood in Romeoville. Emilee Hoffman of Folsom, Calif., carded a 7-under-par 65, which tied the Mistwood women’s record set by Aimee Neff en route to her victory in the 2008 Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open. Hoffman, who also matched the tournament’s stroke play record set by Carol Semple Thompson in 1991 at Firethorn in Nebraska, was the Mistwood medalist. Match play there runs through Saturday.

First round at Kemper Lakes proves a walk in the park

There are four players named Park on the Ladies PGA tour roster, and they’re all good.

The best known in Inbee Park, three-time winner of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the current No. 1-ranked player in the Rolex World Rankings. Hee Young Park has won twice on the circuit and Jane Park calls Chicago her hometown though she lives in Georgia. She has career winnings over $2 million.

It was Sung Hyun Park who ruled the day in the first round of the 64th KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Kemper Lakes, however. A late starter, she toured the course that also hosted the 1989 men’s PGA Championship in 6-under-par 66.

This Park, 24, won the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open en route to becoming the first player to win Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year awards in the same year since Nancy Lopez in 1978. She also became the fastest player in LPGA history to reach $2 million in career earnings, doing it in 19 starts spanning barely seven months.

A change in putters triggered Park’s hot round. She changed TaylorMade models, switching from a Spider to a Black version that – at 34 inches – is an inch longer than the one she had been using.

“It’s going to get hotter and more difficult as the rounds go on,’’ said Park. “It’s a major tournament and I’m getting more nervous, but I’m doing my best.’’

Softened by four inches of rain earlier this week, Kemper was somewhat of a walk in the park for the 156 women who teed off in the LPGA’s third major championship of 2018.

Park, born in Korea but residing in Orlando, Fla., held only a one-stroke lead on five players headed by Canadian Brooke Henderson. Only 20, Henderson already has a sterling record in the tournament, finishing fifth while playing on a sponsor’s exemption in 2016, winning the title in 2017 and finishing one stroke behind winner Danielle Kang last year at Olympia Fields.

Henderson, also an afternoon starter, came charging midway through her round. She made birdies on seven of her last 10 holes to pull into a tie with long-hitting American Jessica Korda and Jaye Marie Green, who said she’s struggling with “family troubles at home’’ but wouldn’t elaborate further. Another American, Brittany Altomare, joined the group at 5-under late in the day.

The low scoring – 50 players bettered par — was no surprise. The softened greens were helpful, there was little wind and the course setup was 102 yards shorter than the listed tournament yardage. Henderson said she had mud balls on “like every hole’’ but the lift, clean and place rule wasn’t in effect.

Despite the array of low scores, none of the three players in the featured group – Inbee Park, Ariya Jutanugarn and Kang – could finish in red numbers. Inbee and Jutanugarn are 1-2 in the Rolex World Rankings. Jutanugarn’s sister Moriya finished at 4-under and in a four-way tie for sixth.

Though Lexi Thompson and Brittany Marchand makes holes-in-one and Michelle Wie had a hot streak with four birdies in a five-hole stretch, it was Henderson who made the fastest climb up the leaderboard after a slow start.

She missed the fairway on her first tee shot and missed the first two greens, leading to a pair of quick bogeys, but she recovered quickly. She shot 30 on her back nine (actually holes 1-9 because Henderson started play at No. 10).

“That gives me a lot of confidence and momentum going into (Friday), which is nice,’’ she said. “I was just trying to have a really good, solid score but — starting the first two holes like I did – that drops your momentum. Brit (her sister and caddie) helped me through it. We started grinding away, then slowly things started to turn around.’’

The turn-around was climaxed by a 50-foot birdie putt at No. 9, the last hole of her round. Like Sung Hun Park, Henderson benefitted from a putting change made this week. It worked playing with men pros in a Rhode Island exhibition on Monday and there was a carryover to her play at Kemper Lakes.

“One putter was a blade and this one is a mallet, so it was a pretty big change,’’ said Henderson. “The one I’m using now might be an inch or two longer and has a different grip. It’s like everything is different, which is a good thing.’’