The Illinois PGA pros used to dominate their amateur counterparts in the annual Radix Cup matches at Oak Park County Club, but no more.

Though the IPGA owns a 35-19-2 overall edge the amateurs won for the 10th time in the last 18 meetings on Wednesday. The CDGA’s best took a 10-8 victory. Neither team, though, has won two in a row since 2000.

Wednesday’s competition was decided in the fourth and fifth of the day’s six matches, both swept by the amateurs against two of the professionals’ strongest teams. Kyle Nathan, of Glen View Club, and Chadd Slutzky, of The Grove in Long Grove, swept Skokie’s Garrett Chaussard, who played in a U.S. Open sectional qualifier on Monday, and University of Illinois coach Mike Small, who has won the IPGA Championship a record 12 times and the Illinois Open four times.

“It was a fun day even though we didn’t play great,’’ said Chaussard, who played for Small as a student-athlete at Illinois. “They just played better and beat us.’’

The clinching points came from amateurs Charlie Netzel, of Chicago Golf Club, and Kyle Slattery, of Mauh-Nah-Tee-See in Rockford. They dominated Medinah’s Traveis Johns, a perennial contender in the IPGA events, and Hinsdale’s Matt Slowinski, a three-time IPGA Assistants player of the year before he took his present position. Johns is the reigning Illinois PGA player-of-the-year.

If any player should have received a special invitation to the first U.S. Open ever played in Wisconsin it would be Steve Stricker. He won 12 PGA Tour events including the 1997 Western Open and three straight John Deere Classics from 2009-11. He’s also the current U.S. Presidents Cup captain.

U.S. Golf Association leaders, however, didn’t think Stricker, at 50, merited that honor for next week’s 117th U.S. Open at Erin Hills in suburban Milwaukee. The snub drew criticism in golf circles, but in the end it didn’t matter. Stricker saw to that on Monday when he was medalist at a sectional qualifier at Germantown Country Club in Tennessee.

Stricker shot 67-65, and his 132 total for 36 holes was 10 under par. Though he never complained about not receiving an Open invite, he’s happy he’ll be played in the tournament for the 20th time next week.

“If means a lot,’’ he said. “Not getting an exemption was a motivational factor. Not that I deserved one, but it’s been driving me to achieve this goal. And, I’m just happy that I’m going to get to play. It’s a relief to get to play in the first one in my home state.’’

He doesn’t have much inside knowledge of Erin Hills, which opened just 11 years ago. The biggest event played there so far has been the 2011 U.S. Amateur.

“I’ve played it maybe a half-dozen times,’’ said Stricker. “I’ll be like everybody else next week – playing a few practice rounds and trying to find an extra 20 yards on my driver. It’s a big golf course.’’

Stricker beat a field that included a number of PGA Tour players preparing for this week’s St. Jude Classic in Memphis.

Monday is traditionally called “the longest day in golf’’ for good reason. All the U.S. sectionals for the Open – 10 this year — are played at 36 holes on the same day, and 902 players competed for 72 spots in the 156-man field that tees off at Erin Hills on June 15.

The Erin Hills Open started with 8,979 players and that number was whittled to 525 after 114 local qualifiers were played across the U.S. and Canada in May. As always Chicago area players were prevalent in the sectional eliminations but only one, Andy Pope, earned a place at Erin Hills on Monday.

Pope, a 33-year old who grew up in Glen Ellyn and played collegiately at Xavier, tied for second in a sectional at Canoe Brook in Summit, N.J. He’ll be heading to Erin Hills with loads of momentum. Last week he tied for 17th in the Web.com Tour’s Rex Hospital Open in North Carolina.

The top 25 in a Web.com Tour event earn places in the following week’s event, so Pope earned a played in the $600,000 Rust-Oleum Championship, which tees off on Thursday at Ivanhoe Club.

While Pope made it to the Open on Monday, several others with Chicago connections could only come close. Arlington Heights amateur Doug Ghim, who played for Texas in last week’s NCAA Championships at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, missed qualifying for Erin Hills by just one shot in a sectional at Springfield, Ohio. He tied for fifth in a sectional that offered only four spots in the Open proper and Ghim’s 69-65 effort, 6-under-par, wasn’t quite good enough.

The field at Springfield was loaded with Chicago players and among those coming up short was Illinois junior Nick Hardy, who used the Springfield sectional to advance to the 2015 and 2016 U.S. Opens. This time he came up five shots short, as did Illinois teammate Dylan Meyer and Deerfield Web.com Tour player Vince India.

Others who couldn’t earn spots in the biggest tournament in American golf on Monday included three players with Illinois roots who have won multiple times on the PGA Tour — Luke Donald, D.A. Points and Mark Wilson.

Illinois didn’t play its best golf on Monday in the final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championships. Coach Mike Small even had to talk tough to his players late in the round at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove.

“But that was exactly what we needed. We needed someone in our face,’’ said junior star Dylan Meyer, who lost out on his chance for the individual title after shooting a 77.

The bottom line is the Illini are still playing for the national championship. They go into Tuesday’s match play quarterfinals as the No. 3 seed and will play No. 6 Southern California. A win would put them against either No. 2 Oklahoma or No. 7 Baylor in the afternoon semifinals. Morning matches tee off at 7 a.m. and the afternoon matches at 1:30 p.m.

The other bracket has morning matches pitting top-seeded Vanderbilt against No. 8 Nevada Las Vegas and No. 4 Oklahoma State against No. 5 Oregon. The title match is at 2:20 p.m. on Wednesday.

Small, who has taken his last 10 teams to the NCAA tournament and guided six of the last seven into the match play climax to the event, said the 17th hole was the key to survival on Monday when 15 teams battled for the eight match play spots.

“We were leaking oil bad. Most of our players had cotton mouth. It was a stressful time,’’ said Small. “We weren’t controlling our space. I told them they had to look at this as a blessing.’’

The players responded, playing the 17th in 1-under-par. Meyer, playing in the fifth spot after going off third in the first three rounds, put some life back into his teammates with a 5-iron approach to the green and a 12-foot birdie putt.

Sophomore Edoardo Lipparelli followed with an eagle at the par-5 18th. His second shot, a 6-iron from 181 yards that he had to bend around a tree, stopped 25 feet from the cup and Lipparelli rolled in the putt to stir up the Illini faithful surrounding the green.

“It was a great experience in front of the crowd. To finish like that is pretty amazing,’’ said Lipparelli, who plans to turn pro as soon as the tournament is over.

That could be on Wednesday if the Illini win both their matches todayand reach the championship match. Last year the Illini lost to eventual champion Oregon in the semifinals when the Ducks enjoyed playing on their home turf. Now the Illini have that advantage, albeit with a young team.

Small is without a senior on this squad, but juniors Meyer (the reigning Western Amateur and Big Ten champion) and Nick Hardy (the Illinois Amateur titleist) are battle-hardened. Two freshmen – Michael Feagles and Giovanni Tadiotto – join Lipparelli in rounding out the team.

Small has had stronger teams, but he’s not afraid of the youth that this one possesses. He also had two freshmen on his 2013 team that went to the NCAA title match before losing to Alabama.

“This team is similar to that one,’’ said Small. “We were ranked 40th in the country in March that year. We weren’t very good.’’

But the Illini rallied late to have their best NCAA finish so far. This team is relatively inexperienced as well, but playing close to campus is a plus. Rich Harvest galleries have been dominated by fans dressed in orange all week.

“We try to let the players know that this is a fun thing,’’ said Small. “The fans aren’t out there to judge you, they’re out there to support you.’’

Meyer, who shook off a bout with ulcerative colitis – an inflammation of the large intestine — that hospitalized him for three days immediately before the NCAA regionals, believes he’s healthy and his teammates are ready to finish the job. He wound up tied for sixth as an individual, six strokes behind champion Braden Thornberry of Mississippi, but winning the team title was the top goal all along.

“I feel all right, and now we’re going to get that match play championship,’’ he said. “That’s what we came here to do – play solid golf and win at all cost.’’

The individual champion will be crowned Monday in the NCAA men’s golf championship at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, and that player could well be Illinois junior Dylan Meyer.

Meyer starts the fourth round in a tie for third among the individuals, three strokes behind Scottie Scheffler of Texas. Scheffler, after three straight rounds of 4-under-par 68, stands as 12-under 204 for the first 54 holes, two strokes ahead of Mississippi’s Braden Thornberry.

Meyer (71-67-69) is tied with Mattias Schwab of team leader Vanderbilt. If Meyer should rally to win the individual title it’ll be a great testament to his determination in the face of a major health scare.

The week before the Illini were off to West Lafayette, Ind., for their NCAA regional qualifier the junior from Evansville, Ind., was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an inflammation of the large intestine. He spent three nights at Carle Foundation Hospital in Champaign while hospital personnel administered him intravenously.

He left the hospital the day before the Illini departed for the regional and his play there wasn’t typical of the season he had before that. One of three finalists for the coveted Ben Hogan Award as the nation’s top college player, Meyer shot 75-74-75 at West Lafayette and tied for 28th place among the individuals.

Without superb play by fellow junior Nick Hardy, who shared medalist honors, the Illini might not have made it to Rich Harvest for the final. Hardy, who visited Meyer every day while he was in the hospital, sparked an Illini rally in the final 27 holes of the regional as the team climbed from sixth place to third. Only the top five teams qualified for the finals at Rich Harvest.

Meyer’s game returned to its former self in Saturday’s second round of the finals and he shot a sizzling 31 on Rich Harvest’s front side on Sunday to climb the individual leaderboard.

If Meyer wins he would become Illinois’ third NCAA individual champion in seven years. Scott Langley ruled in 2010 and Thomas Pieters in 2012. Meyer downplayed his run at the individual title after Sunday’s round, however.

“Of course you want to play well for yourself,’’ he said, “but now is the time to play for your brothers. We’re finishers. We’re grinders. We want to win stroke play. We want to win match play. We’ll bring a stronger mindset tomorrow and won’t settle for second. We’re going to hunt. That’s when we play our best.’’

As a team the Illini are in fifth place, four strokes behind Vanderbilt. Vandy is at 18-under-par 846 followed by Oklahoma, Nevada Las Vegas and Southern California – all tied for second at 847. The top eight teams advance to the two-day match play portion of the tournament on Tuesday. That’s where the team champion will be determined.

“We’re not looking to make it into the eight spots,’’ said Meyer. “We’re looking to win.’’

“Illinois thinks about the top of the leaderboard,’’ said Hardy. “Our goal is the top seed.’’

Coach Mike Small, who has taken his last 10 teams to the NCAA tournament, doesn’t think seeds are all that important. His 2013 team finished second and his last two wound up third in the NCAA finals.

“I don’t think seeds matter,’’ said Small. “They should seed by how you’re ranked nationally.’’

To reach match play, though, the Illini need another solid round by five players – Meyer, Hardy, sophomore Edoardo Lipparelli and freshmen Michael Feagles and Giovanni Tadiotto – on Monday. For Lipparelli that’s extra important as the NCAAs will be his last event before turning professional.

“It’s pretty special,’’ said Lipparelli, who is from Italy. “It’s my last amateur event, and I’m excited about having a new page in my life, but I want to make this tournament memorable for me and my teammates.’’

The miserable weather that plagued the NCAA women’s golf championship last week unfortunately carried over to the men’s event as well.

Friday’s first round of the men’s competition at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove couldn’t be completed, and Big Ten champion Illinois is one of the teams with holes left to play today before the second round can begin.

The Illini stand in a tie for fifth place with all of the team’s players through 10 holes. Freshman Michael Feagles, the first Illini to tee off, set a fast pace for his teammates and stands in a tie for third individually at 3-under-par through 14 holes.

“He was huge, and I’m excited for him,’’ said junior Nick Hardy, playing in the fifth spot. “He’s carrying us this round.’’

Coach Mike Small felt the same way.

“The guys did a great job,’’ he said. “They had a good nervous about them, but they were going about their business. I’m very happy.’’

The Illini had 1 p.m. as their first tee time and play was stopped at 3:04. After two false starts play resumed at 6:50 p.m. and was stopped by darkness at 8 p.m.

Vanderbilt, at 8-under through 15 holes, was the team leader followed by Auburn, which had completed play at 6-under. Oklahoma State (5-under through 15) and Southern California (4-under through 15) also led the Illini, who were in a tie for fifth at 3-under with Nevada-Las Vegas, Louisiana State and Baylor.

Defending champion Oregon, which is paired with the Illini in the first two rounds, is tied for 11th and Texas, featuring Arlington Height native Doug Ghim, is tied for 14th.

Small had no problem with the delays, but admitted they required adjustments.

“At first we were building for a great day. We were at 4- or 5-under, then the rain came,’’ he said. “After that we played strong, given the conditions. Delays are all part of golf. The rain came, then the wind. The course changed dramatically in 15 minutes.’’

Some of the early starters did finish their rounds. They included Dawson Armstrong, who won the Western Amateur at Rich Harvest in 2015, and Trent Wallace, the first Illinois State golfer to play in the national finals since the Redbirds’ team made it in 1975. That squad included D.A. Weibring, the veteran PGA Tour player. Wallace qualified for the finals as an individual.

Armstrong, who is part of the David Lipscomb team qualifier, shot 1-under-par 71, which put him in a tie for 24th place and five strokes behind Mississippi’s Braden Thornberry, who posted the low individual round of opening day – a 66.

A holed bunker shot by Armstrong two years ago decided the Western Amateur title in a playoff. Course owner Jerry Rich has been urged to install a plaque commemorating Armstrong’s winning shot but so far hasn’t done it.

“It’d be a little weird putting a plaque in a bunker,’’ said Armstrong, “but it would be cool to put it beside the bunker.’’

Armstrong said he would return to this year’s Western Amateur, which will be played at Skokie Country Club. Illinois’ Dylan Meyer will also defend his title, so the prestigious amateur event will have the rarity of the two most recent past winners in its field.

Wallace, a sophomore from Joliet, shot 73 and called the course “a beast.’’ He was greeted by 40-50 cheering fans at the first tee and received a handshake from Gov. Bruce Rauner, who made a 90-minute visit. Though Wallace is an in-state player he is making his first visit to Rich Harvest.

A national championship eluded the Northwestern women’s golf team Wednesday, but you wouldn’t have known it by their post-tournament meeting with the media. It was non-stop clowning until coach Emily Fletcher was called on to reflect on the weeks’ surprising developments.

NU had a so-so regular season, was dethroned as Big Ten champion and finished second in its regional qualifier. In the finals at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, however, the Wildcats were amazing until their last match.

Arizona State, winning the team title for a record eighth time, handled the Wildcats 3-1-1 but that was hardly a downer for a Northwestern team that made its fifth straight appearance in the NCAA finals its best one yet.

“A tremendous week,’’ said Fletcher. “We talked about doing this, but getting here was pretty amazing. It was a surreal experience.’’

Kacie Komoto, the only senior on the team, was the only match winner against Arizona State.

“It’s been a blur,’’ she said. “We all feel very blessed to be here.’’

Sophomore Janet Mao, who put NU in the final match thanks to a dramatic win in a 19-hole morning semifinal match, said the team’s surprising showing was an indication of things to come.

“This was a testament that we can do anything if we put our minds to it,’’ she said. “It’s a big stepping stone to what we can do in the future.’’

Komoto will be gone, but Mao and Stephanie Lau are just sophomores and Sarah Cho and Hannah Kim are juniors. They’ll be back and expecting bigger things next year.

Their highlight on the final day of the weather-plagued tournament wasn’t the final match. It was what it took to get there. The Wildcats won the stroke play portion of the tournament and then took 3-2 wins over Kent State and Southern California to earn a shot at the title.

The semifinal matches were to be completed on Tuesday but miserable weather prevented that. A 2-hour 20-minute delay in play when lightning was detected in the area led to both Final Four matches being completed on Wednesday morning. NU trailed in four of its five matches against USC was darkness halted play but the Wildcats were a new team the next morning.

Cho and Kim rallied to take 2 and 1 victories to put NU ahead 2-0 but Komoto and Lau dropped their matches to even the team battle at 2-2. That left the fate of both teams up to the only players left on the course – Mao and USC senior Gabriela Then.

The Mao-Then match went to extra after Mao won the 18th hole. Both were left with testy par putts on the playoff hole. Mao rolled hers in from six feet, then Then’s stopped a revolution short of the cup. NU players mobbed Mao to complete a stirring team comeback and the emotion of the big win carried over to Fletcher as well.

“They just believed in each other,’’ said Fletcher, who has taken her team to the last five NCAA finals. “They felt there was fight left in them, and they kept fighting.’’

Now, after five days of women’s play, the scene changes to the men. The University of Illinois will be among the favorites in the 30-team field when four rounds of stroke play tees off on Friday.

Saturday was not a good day for all the top women golfers who are visiting for two big tournaments.

Both the NCAA Division I Women’s Championship at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove and the $300,000 Red Nose Walgreen’s Charity Classic, for players on the LPGA Legends Tour, were rained out.

No balls were struck at Rich Harvest. The field of 24 teams and 12 individuals were scheduled to begin second-round play at 7:30 a.m. The tee times were first pushed back and then the round was called off as the rains continued to fall.

“With the severe weather threats that we monitored throughout Saturday morning, our committee came to the determination that, given the conditions, cancelling Saturday’s round was needed to maintain the overall student-athlete experience and the integrity of the championships,’’ said Jim Fee, chairman of the NCAA Division I women’s golf committee.

The 8:30 a.m. starting time for the scheduled first round in the Legends event on the Gary Player Course at Geneva National Resort in Lake Geneva, Wis., was pushed back 30 minutes and play did begin there. The course became unplayable before the last threesomes could tee off and – after a lengthy delay – the round was cancelled at 2 p.m.

Both tournaments plan to resume play on Sunday. The Legends, playing their first-ever tournament close to the Chicago area, had planned a 36-hole competition to climax four days of activity. A Wednesday pro-am and a qualifying tournament on Thursday went off as scheduled before the bad weather set in. The tournament will now be reduced to 18 holes.

Despite cold, rainy weather, the NCAA Division I Women’s Championship got in one round on Friday with Northwestern grabbing the team lead, two strokes ahead of second place Kent State. They’ll be paired again in Sunday’s second round.

The tourney originally called for 36 holes before the field would be cut from 24 to 15 teams, then two more rounds before the teams were reduced to eight for the match play climax to determine the champion. Now all 24 teams will continue with stroke play rounds on Sunday and Monday. Then the top eight teams will advance to match play, as per the original schedule.

The team title will be decided on Wednesday after two days of match play eliminations. Golf Channel coverage will begin on Monday with pre-game coverage starting at 3 p.m. followed by live coverage at 4 p.m. That coverage will continue through the match play portion of the tournament.

The Northwestern women’s golf team couldn’t repeat as conference champions; the Wildcats were runner-up to Michigan State. And, they couldn’t win their NCAA regional, either. NU was second to Alabama in that one.

Coach Emily Fletcher’s team was no bridesmaid in Friday’s first round of the NCAA Women’s Championship, however. The day may have been miserable weather-wise at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove but the Wildcats weren’t fazed in the least.

Perhaps a pep talk from two of Northwestern’s most successful coaches, football boss Pat Fitzgerald and men’s basketball leader Chris Collins, the week before the tournament helped. As bad as it was, the weather may have been beneficial as well.

Starting late in the day NU finished with a 13-under par 301 total, two strokes better than playing partner Kent State. The late start may have helped both, since the weather improved in the afternoon. The morning starters played through rain and windy, cold weather throughout their rounds but the rain stopped in the afternoon.

Northwestern finished ninth in last year’s NCAA finals, the best in school history, and Fletcher has only one senior on her tournament roster at Rich Harvest. But it was a sophomore, Janet Mao of Johns Creek, Ga., who sparked the impressive first round showing. She shot a 1-over-par 73.

“We’ve played in this weather before,’’ said Mao. “Coming in and thinking in a positive manner was a big factor in helping us.’’

Mao had played Rich Harvest once in the fall but could remember only four holes and playing the rugged course in such difficult conditions made the experience all the more unique.

“It was encouraging, something for us to build on,’’ said Mao.

Other members of the NU squad were junior Hanna Kim of Chula Vista, Calif. (75); sophomore Stephanie Lau of Fullerton, Calif. (75), senior Kacie Komoto of Honolulu, Hawaii (78) and junior Sarah Cho, of San Diego, Calif. (78).

Lau was appreciative of the Fitzgerald-Collins visit.

“We feed off their two teams,’’ she said. “The conditions today were hard, but I’m proud of the way we fought for every shot. We had to be mentally tough.’’

Though in the finals for the fifth straight year, NU was only the No. 12 seed and Kent State was No. 14. The Wildcats are 10 strokes ahead of top-seeded Stanford, which is tied for third with No. 7 Arizona State, No. 17 Baylor and No. 25 Ohio State – one of a record five Big Ten teams in the finals.

Mao was one stroke behind the individual leaders, August Kim of Purdue and Elodie Van Dievost of Michigan.

Northwestern has an earlier tee time in today’s second round. The first Wildcat goes of the No. 10 tee at 8:36 a.m. and the last at 9:20.

The golf version of the NCAA Championships tees off Friday at Rich Harvest Farms. The women go first in the competition that will keep the private layout in Sugar Grove a busy place until the last putt drops in the men’s tournament on May 31.

Northwestern is the “home team’’ in the women’s competition. Coach Emily Fletcher’s team starts play at 1:06 p.m. with Wildcats having tee times through 1:50 p.m. They’ll be paired with players from Miami and Kent State. The same teams will begin play at 8:36 a.m. in Saturday’s second round.

The field will be cut from 24 teams to 15 after Saturday’s play. Two more 18-hole rounds are on tap for Sunday and Monday before the field is reduced to eight teams for the two-day match play portion of the tournament, which will determine the champion. Last year Northwestern finished ninth in the stroke play portion – the school’s best NCAA showing – but came up one spot short of advancing to match play.

Illinois will be the “home team’’ in the men’s finals, which start on May 26. Coach Mike Small’s Illini had to rally in Wednesday’s final round of regional play at West Lafayette, Ind., to earn their 10th straight berth in the NCAA finals.

On the men’s side five teams advanced to the finals from each of six regionals. Illinois was in sixth place after two days of play on Purdue University’s Kampen Course but climbed into third with a strong final round on Wednesday.

“We’ve qualified for the national championship every way you can imagine for the last 10 years,’’ said Small. “This was unique because we were treading water for a day and a half and struggling.’’

This Illini team is without a senior and Nick Hardy, the Illinois State Amateur champion, sparked the final round surge at West Lafayette. The junior from Northbrook shared medalist honors in the regional with a 3-under-par 213 for the 54 holes.

While regional drama was good for Illinois it was just the opposite for Northwestern. The Wildcats narrowly missed a finals berth in a regional at Baton Rouge, La. NU tied with Jacksonville for fifth place during the regulation 54 holes but Jacksonville earned the berth in the finals on the second hole of a sudden death playoff.

Interestingly, Illinois and Northwestern had NCAA qualifiers in both the men’s and women’s competition. The NU women survived regional play while the Illini missed out. On the men’s side Illinois and Northwestern finished one-two in the Big Ten tournament but only Illini got through the regional.

The NCAA women’s finals started in 1982 and have never been played in the Chicago area. The men’s national championship was first held in 1898 and Chicago courses hosted four previous times – at Olympia Fields in 1931 and 1943, North Shore in Glenview in 1936 and Conway Farms in Lake Forest in 1997.