Author: lenz

Small walks his way to 12th Illinois PGA title

Mike Small, the very successful men’s golf coach at the University of Illinois, won another Illinois PGA Championship on Wednesday. So what else is new?

Actually Small’s record 12th victory in the 94th playing of the tournament wasn’t like any of the others except for the fact that it came on the South Course at Olympia Fields Country Club. Small, an honorary member at the south suburban private facility, has won the premier event for the state’s club professionals there three times. His 12 overall victories have come in just a 14-year span.

No. 12, though, had some unusual twists. It was the first time since the 1950s that the IPGA Championship was an all-walking tournament. Power carts weren’t prevalent back then, and most players have used them in the competition since at least the 1970s.

Carts weren’t allowed for any of the three rounds this week because heavy rains – 10 inches fell in the two weeks before the IPGA arrived – left the fairways too soft and necessitated the use of the lift, clean and place rule all three days.

The decision to ban power carts was made on Sunday night, and that created a last-minute demand for caddies for Monday’s first round. Almost half of the 137 entrants used bag-toters recruited by Olympia caddie master Jim Salvatore. Only two players withdrew after the walking-only rule was invoked.

Adding to the unusual nature of a walking-only tournament was the fact that the IPGA Championship’s main sponsor over the last 14 years, Nadler Golf Cars, is a provider of power carts.

And that wasn’t the only strange twist to the event. This Small victory was due as much to the collapse of playing partner Curtis Malm as it was to Small’s play.

“I was never in this one until the last few holes,’’ admitted Small, who opened with a 71 on Monday before finishing 67-68. His 10-under-par 206 score for the 54 holes resulted a two-stroke victory.

Malm, the head professional at White Eagle in Naperville, led most of the way. He took a one-stroke lead over playing partner Travis Johns, the Medinah teaching pro, into the final round with Small another stroke back.

Small didn’t make his presence felt until the 361-yard sixth hole, when he put a 3-iron shot from 203 yards to within a foot of the cup, setting up his first birdie. Then it became a two-man battle with Small not getting sole possession of the lead until Malm three-putted for bogey at No. 16. Prior to that Small needed birdies at Nos. 14 and 15 just to hang with Malm.

And then came the par-4 seventeenth. Malm, reeling from the missed three-footer that knocked him out of the lead, sent his drive far right into thick brush. He lined up to play the shot from there, but his hand got caught in a vine on a practice backswing.

“I wanted to see if there would be any resistance,’’ said Malm, who wound up with scratches on the back of his hand. “After that it was an easy call to take an unplayable.’’

That wouldn’t be the only penalty shot he’d take on that hole. Hitting three, his next shot hit a tree and went back in the brush. That necessitated another penalty stroke and Malm wound up with a triple bogey seven. Instead of contending, he was now in third place behind – Johns moved into second — three shots behind Small with just one hole to go.

“Curtis played great. I feel bad for him,’’ said Small. “But that’s momentum. There’s momentum in golf. We talk to our team about that all the time.’’

Malm battled back to make birdie on the finishing hole, and that put him in a three-way tie for second with Johns and Brian Brodell, the teaching pro at Mistwood in Romeoville. It was Malm’s third runner-up finish in the IPGA Championship in the last five years.

Small took $11,200 from the tournament’s $71,019 purse – both significant increases from a year ago.

Small goes for No. 12 in Illinois PGA Championship

Mike Small considers himself a coach first and a still-competitive player second. Next week, however, those roles may be blurred a bit.

The University of Illinois men’s coach goes after his 12th title in the 94th Illinois PGA Championship. The event begins its three-day run on Monday on the South Course at Olympia Fields Country Club.

Next month Small returns to Olympic Fields as a coach, as his Illini host the 11th playing of the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational. It’ll be a highlight of the fall season for the Illini, who will also make another Chicago appearance on Oct. 9-10 in the Northern Intercollegiate event at Beverly Country Club.

First things first, though. Small has won his 11 IPGA titles since 2001 and he captured the crown both times during that stretch when it was played at Olympia Fields, of which he is a member. He is in the rare position of not being the defending champion this time, however. Small tied for seventh in last year’s IPGA Championship at Medinah’s No. 1 Course. Jim Billiter, assistant pro at Merit Club in Libertyville, won the title there.

Small, who won his last two IPGA Championships back-to-back in 2013 and 2014, goes into this one standing second to Glen View’s Kyle Bauer in the section’s player-of-the-year race. Small has been player-of-the-year three times, but a limited tournament schedule related to his coaching duties has hampered his chances in recent years.

Bauer leads the standings, largely off his win in the first of the section’s four major events – May’s IPGA Match Play Championship — while Small’s tournament season has featured a tie for ninth in the Illinois Open and a tie for 43rd on the national level at the U.S. Senior Open.

Two former players of the year, Medinah’s Travis Johns and White Eagle’s Curtis Malm, are third and fourth in the standings behind Bauer and Small. Maximum points are on the line in the IPGA Championship, so next week’s results will go a long way to determining this year’s player of the year.

Donald got hot at the right time

Luke Donald, the former Northwestern star and world’s No. 1-ranked golfer, couldn’t have picked a better time to play his best tournament of this PGA Tour season. He finished solo second, behind 21-year old South Korean Si Woo Kim, in the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., on Sunday.

The Wyndham was the last tournament offering FedEx Cup points. The lucrative four-tournament FedEx Cup Playoffs begin on Thursday with The Barclays at Bethpage Black in New York.

In finishing second Donald improved his place in the FedEx Cup standings from No. 99 to No. 48. No player made a bigger climb in the Wyndham, which had a field full of players hoping to position themselves for a playoff run.

By getting to No. 48 Donald seems assured of spots in the first three FedEx events – the Barclays, the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston and the BMW Championship — played this year at Crooked Stick in Indianapolis. All three are $8 million tournaments. Only the top 125 on the FedEx list qualified for The Barclays. The top 100 after Sunday’s finish advance to the Deutsche Bank and the top 70 after that compete in the BMW Championship.

Not only did Donald climb in the standings last week, he also made a hole-in-one during the event. That earned him a lifetime of Wyndham vacations as well as a one-week vacation for his caddie.

Here and there

Eagle Brook, in Geneva, has announced the completion of a $2.5 million improvement project that started in January. The clubhouse underwent an extensive renovation, changes were made to the golf course and a new fitness center and wellness studio were created.

Baltimore Country Club has been named the site for the 2017 and 2018 Big Ten men’s championships. A site for 2017 has not been determined.

The Arlington Amateur has been scheduled for Sept. 10-11 on Arlington Lakes’ recently-renovated course.

Deerpath, in Lake Forest, celebrated its 90th anniversary on Sunday with the event also marking the start of a master plan renovation.

John Blumenshine, playing out of Cantigny in Wheaton, was the only player under par in the 4th Chicago District Super Senior Amateur. He posted a 2-under 69 at Biltmore, in Barrington.

Next event on the CDGA schedule is the 24th Illinois State Mid-Amateur, which begins a two-day run at Flossmoor Country Club next Tuesday.

Pieters is in, Donald out for European Ryder Cuppers

University of Illinois product Thomas Pieters is in, and former Northwestern star and world No. 1 Luke Donald is out.

That summed up Tuesday’s announcement of the European team’s three captain’s picks for the 41st Ryder Cup, coming up Sept. 27 through Oct. 2 at Hazeltine National in Minnesota. Darren Clarke, captain of Team Europe, revealed his picks in England and two of the selections – Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer – were obvious. On a team loaded with six Ryder Cup rookies, those two provide much-needed experience.

Then it came down to Pieters, Scotland’s Russell Knox (ranked No. 20 in the world), Donald and Graham McDowell – another veteran Ryder Cupper.

Clarke ruled out Donald and McDowell, saying on The Golf Channel that “Neither is firing on all cylinders.’’ Then it came down to Pieters, from Belgium, and Knox.

“I had to go with my gut feeling,’’ Clarke said. “When I told (Pieters) he was over the moon. He’ll be a world No. 1 at some stage.’’

Pieters, 24, is one of the many budding professional stars to come through coach Mike Small’s powerhouse program at Illinois. After starring for the Illini Pieters opted to play predominantly on the European PGA Tour where he has won three times, the most recent win coming on Sunday in Denmark.

Donald, who last played the Ryder Cup at Medinah in 2012, jumped into contention with a solo second place finish two weeks ago in the Wyndham Classic. He had a dismal final round on Sunday, shooting 75 to drop 26 places into a tie for 53rd place at The Barclays – first of the four FedEx Cup Playoff events in New York.

The last day at The Barclays was also difficult for Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman. He also shot 75 after being in contention for three rounds and wound up tied for 22nd place. Both, though, remained well into the top 100 in the FedEx overall standings and are in the field for the Deutsche Bank Championship, which tees off on Friday in Boston.

Donald is No. 53 and Streelman No. 57 entering the second $8 million playoff event and they must remain in the top 70 to play in the third – the BMW Championship, which will be played Sept. 8-11 at Crooked Stick in Indianapolis.

Pieters’ Ryder Cup selection culminates a big week for ex-Illini golfers. Brian Campbell clinched his PGA Tour card for the 2016-17 season by finishing 15th on this season’s Web.com Tour money list. Thomas Detry, another Belgian, won the European Challenge Tour’s Bridgestone event in England on Sunday by a whopping 12 strokes. He opened that event with a 60 en route to claiming his first professional victory.

Ryder Cup visits Cog Hill, Wrigley

The first-ever Ryder Cup Trophy Tour, a month-long 5,000-mile journey to promote the team matches between the U.S. and European stars, will include stops at both Cog Hill, in Lemont, and Wrigley Field.

Cog Hill’s PGA Junior League will welcome the trophy on Sept. 7 and it will be at Wrigley Field Sept. 16 during the Cubs-Brewers game. A day later the trophy will be in South Bend, Ind., during the Notre Dame-Michigan State football game. Those represent three of the 20 appearances the Cup will make in 13 American cities.

IPGA, Mid-Am wrap up

The final rounds of both the 94th Illinois PGA Championship and the 24th Illinois State Mid-Amateur Championship are on tap for today (WEDNESDAY).

The IPGA Championship ends its 54-hole run on Olympia Fields’ South Course while the final 18 of the 36-hole Mid-Am concludes at Flossmoor Country Club, the tourney site for the sixth straight year.

Here and there

Emily Fletcher, the very successful coach of the Northwestern women’s team, will receive the coveted Woman of Distinction Award from the Women’s Western Golf Association at the organization’s annual meeting Oct. 6 at Indian Hill in Winnetka

Brian Payne and his wife Elizabeth, both former Northwestern golfers from Flossmoor, qualified for their respective U.S. Mid-Amateur national championships. The men’s and women’s finals will be played Sept. 10-15 at courses in Pennsylvania.

Batavia club manufacturer Tour Edge has named Australian John Craig as its executive vice president effective Jan. 1.

The American Junior Golf Association named Megan Furtney, of South Elgin, as one of 20 players in the 12-15 age group to its 15th Junior All-Star team. The team consists of players from nine states and three countries.

U.S. Open countdown is on at Erin Hills

Ron Whitten, Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry were the creative geniuses behind Erin Hills.

ERIN, Wisconsin – The first thing you notice is the scorecard. The official yardage for Erin Hills at the 2017 U.S. Open is whopping 7,693 yards. That may make it the longest course in the 117-year history of the U.S. Open, though U.S. Golf Association staffers on site weren’t ready to confirm that.

“But don’t be alarmed by that,’’ said USGA managing director Jeff Hall at the media preview day at the course. “This will be the first time we’ve played a par-72 course in the U.S. Open since 1992. Tour players aren’t accustomed to have four par-5s at a U.S. Open but they’ll get that opportunity at Erin Hills.’’

The par-5s are No. 1, which is listed at 560 yards but could play as long as 608; No.7, listed at 607 but could play as short as 576 or as long as 619; No. 14, listed at 594 but could play as long as 650; and No. 18, listed at 637 but could play as long as 675.

The tourney is June 15-18, 2017 – the first U.S. Open ever played in Wisconsin and the first one in the Midwest since Olympia Fields hosted in 2003. Golf’s biggest event has sites set through 2026 and none of the succeeding ones are even remotely close to the Midwest.

Both course superintendent Zach Reineking and the architectural team of Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry and Ron Whitten were on hand for the preview day and joined Hall and the media contingent on the tour of the course.

Erin Hills will be open for public play through Oct. 6, and then the public won’t be able to play until after the 117th playing of the Open next June.

Hall set the greens will be in the 13 to 13 ½ range for the Open and will be slower than the surfaces this year at Oakmont.

Some other tidbits on the upcoming big event:

Few changes have been made since Erin Hills hosted the 2011 U.S. Open. The only notable one is at No. 3, and that wasn’t a major thing.

Reineking said 385 trees have been taken down in recent years and only six are left. None come into play except perhaps the only at No. 15 – and the future of that tree is in doubt. Since last year a new, elaborate practice range has been built near the clubhouse and parking lot.

The USGA estimates the economic impact of the 2017 U.S. Open on the Milwaukee area at between $120 and $135 million.

Community support has been outstanding. The USGA needed about 5,000 volunteers and received applications from 7,956. More than half of the volunteers were from Wisconsin and 52 were from foreign countries.

Though the planning remains a work in progress, tentative plans call for two spectator parking lots, both free to those using them.

The USGA will open its merchandise online shop on Sept. 8.

Though Erin Hills is built on 652 acres the USGA is planning for 35,000 spectators per day. The ticket sale was launched in June and sellouts for the four tournaments are expected. The four tournaments rounds have been sellouts for the last 29 years.

The USGA’s Jeff Hall (left) and superintendent Zach Reineking provided an inside look at Erin Hills.

Johnson outlasts Inkster in record 6-hole Legends’ playoff

Trish Johnson is the center of attention at The Legends Championship awards ceremony.

FRENCH LICK, Ind. – The longest playoff in the 16-year history of The Legends Tour and the first in the Legends Championship’s four-year run was an epic, no doubt about it.

England’s Trish Johnson battled defending champion Juli Inkster through six extra holes on Sunday before an Inkster letdown handed the title and $37,700 first prize to Johnson.

Juli Inkster takes a long walk to the clubhouse after losing six-hole playoff.
“I wish I could say I enjoyed that, but I really didn’t,’’ said Johnson. “It was a battle for survival at the end.’’

Indeed it was, just like the final round of a year ago when Inkster – making her Legends Tour debut – overtook Johnson with three birdies on the last five holes. There were some similarities this time.

Johnson and Inkster were in a three-way tie with Becky Iverson at the start of the day. Johnson’s early birdies gave her a three-stroke lead on the field, but she got nervous after three-putting at No. 6.

“I totally lost my confidence,’’ she said. “After that I didn’t feel comfortable at all.’’

Still, she retained her three-stroke edge at the turn and another birdie at No. 10 put Johnson up four shots with eight holes to play. The tournament was far from over at that point, however.

Juli Inkster (left) and Trish Johnson trudge down the 18th fairway for the last time in their six-hole playoff.

“Juli did the same as she did last year,’’ said Johnson. “She made three birdies in the last five-six holes, and I felt I should have done better coming in. I got a little defensive, and I knew what Juli was gong to do because she always does that.’’

Actually, despite her big lead, Johnson was in danger of losing the title in the regulation 36 holes when Inkster – playing in the next-to-the-last twosome in front of Johnson — made a 10-foot birdie putt at No. 18 to get to 5-under-par for the tournament. That pulled her into a tie for the lead and Johnson and to scramble for a par to force the playoff.

The 18th hole, set up at 480 yards on Sunday, was designated as the lone playoff hole – and Johnson didn’t like that.

“I love the French Lick Resort, but I hate No. 18. I can’t play it,’’ she said. “I’ve played it 20 times (in Legends Championships) and I never made a birdie. It doesn’t suit my eye.’’

Steve Ferguson presents the winner’s trophy to Trish Johnson.

Both players had their chances to win in the extra session. Johnson had a 12-foot birdie putt hit the hole and spin out on the second extra hole and Inkster had a 10-footer that did the same on the fourth.

Finally they got to the sixth extra hole, with spectators staying around to watch the drama from mounds beside the No. 18 fairway. After both players made pars on the first five holes Inkster cracked first. She hit he second shot on the dogleg right par-5 in to the heather and it took a small search party to find it.

Inkster took an unplayable lie, adding a stroke, and then made a bad drop. Her ball stayed in thick rough and she moved her first attempt to get out only four yards. Her next attempt – her fifth shot on the hole – hit the green, but Johnson ended the playoff by two-putting for another par.

Johnson and Inkster dominated the field for the second straight year. Both shot 71s in the second round to finish at 5-under 139 for the regulation 36 holes. Endland’s Laura Davies was three shots back in third place but Jean Bartholomew had the best round of the tournament – a 7-under-par 65 – in finished in a tie for sixth.

The Honors Division, for seven players 63 and over, again went to Jan Stephenson. She has now won the division in four straight Legends Tour events.

Jan Stephenson celebrates her win in the Honors Division with French Lick director of golf Dave Harner.

Another Inkster, Johnson duel at The Legends Championship?

The storm is coming, but Legends’ players kept on practicing after their rounds at Pete Dye Course.

FRENCH LICK, Ind. – Becky Iverson started fast, Juli Inkster finished strong and Trish Johnson’s consistency was critical. In the end they shared the lead after Saturday’s first round of The Legends Championship on the Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort.

Rounds started off both the Nos. 1 and 10 tees after afternoon rains entered the weather forecast and the last players putted out before the weather turned bad.

“We got incredibly lucky,’’ said Johnson, last year’s runner-up to Inkster in this, the major tournament of the season on The Legends Tour. “I thought we were going to get annihilated when we started hearing the storm on the 12th tee. Then it stopped. We got away with murder.’’

England’s Trish Johnson faces the cameras after gaining a share of the first-round lead.

All the 58 players in the field were happy to get the round in, and plans for Sunday’s final 18 call for all to start off No. 1.

Iverson was at the top of the leaderboard most of the day after making three birdies in the first four holes. All came off solid iron shots that left her short birdie puts and she eventually got to 5-under for the round before struggling in with a 4-under 68.

“I was pretty tired,’’ said Iverson. “Golf should be 14 holes. It would have been great if we had quit after 14.’’

Iverson, who works as director of golf at The Bridges course in Madison, Wis., was the only one of the leaders to begin play at No. 10 and her highlight came on a 40-foot birdie putt at No. 13. She showed signs of stumbling after a bogey at No. 7 – her 16th hole of the day – and she needed to sink 10-footers to save pars on her last two holes.

Inkster, beginning defense of her title, threatened to fall off the pace when she lost a ball on the par-5 fourteenth hole.

“But I made a good bogey there, and that was key. It kept my round together,’’ said Inkster, who bounced back with an 18-foot birdie putt on the next hole and then posted her 68 – good for a share of the lead — with a four-foot birdie on a left-to-right breaker at No. 18.

For Johnson, winner of the Scottish Open just two years ago, the key was steady play. Her four birdies came from six feet or less.

Defending champion Juli Inkster gets special attention after her closing birdie pulled her into a tie for the lead.

“It’s an incredibly difficult golf course but, like anything, if it suits your eye you seem to play well,’’ said Johnson. “Who knows why?’’

Johnson was the first-round leader last year but Inkster, then making her debut on the circuit for players who have reached their 45th birthday, made birdies on Nos. 13, 15, 17 and 18 in the final round to beat Johnson by two strokes.

In today’s final round they’ll also have to battle with perennial contender Rosie Jones and Michele Redman, the University of Minnesota women’s coach. They’re just one shot back and Wendy Doolan and Patty Sheehan trail the leaders by two.

A repeat also looms in the seven-player Honors Division, whose players who have reached their 63rd birthday. Jan Stephenson has ruled the Honors category at the last three Legends tournaments offering that competitive category. The string started last year at French Lick.

Stephenson, who shot 74 for a three-stroke lead over Shelley Hamlin, wasn’t happy with her putting. She had three three-putts.

“But this golf course does fit me,’’ she said. “I love the trophy. I love winning playing against the girls I grew up playing with I’ve got no shot against the others, but I know I can shoot low out here.’’

Just an optical illusion, but Rosie Jones look like she’s putting down the cart path on the 18th hole.

Legends Tour adds Crosby, Haynie to its Hall of Fame

French Lick’s Hoosier Ballroom was spruced up for the Legends’ Hall of Fame inductions.

FRENCH LICK, Ind. – Weather conditions were less than ideal when the fourth annual Legends Championship teed off Saturday on the Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort. A tee time adjustment, calling for play to begin off both the Nos. 1 and 10 tees, was made when afternoon rains entered into the forecast.

The weather forecast, though, didn’t dampen the enthusiasm at the tournament’s annual Hall of Fame gala and induction dinner at the resort’s Hoosier Ballroom on Friday night. That event climaxed a day-long pro-am event on the Pete Dye Course.

Sandra Haynie has memorabilia from her brilliant career on display at the West Baden Springs Hotel.

Not only was the pro-am a sellout, with 51 fivesomes participating, but the dinner kicked off on another high note when Joe Vezzoso – the resorts’s vice president of operations – announced that this Legends Championship and its related events had led to a $200,000 donation to the Riley Children’s Foundation.

The evening’s featured event, though, was the induction of Elaine Crosby and Sandra Haynie into the Legends Hall of Fame. Jane Blalock, chief executive officer of the Legends Tour and a Hall of Famer herself, welcomed Crosby and Haynie into the select company that also includes Kathy Whitworth, Jan Stephenson, Nancy Lopez, JoAnne Carner and Rosie Jones plus the winners of the two women’s majors played at French Lick – Betsy Rawls and Mickey Wright. Rawls and Wright won LPGA Championships on what is now the resort’s Donald Ross Course in 1959 and 1960, respectively.

Elaine Crosby now has her own display in The Legends Hall of Fame.

“We all love coming to this place. It’s magic,’’ said Blalock, who announced that The Legends Tour would also make a $1,000 donation to the Riley Children’s Foundation.

Crosby played on the LPGA Tour for 20 years and had victories at the 1989 Mazda Japan Classic and 1994 Lady Keystone Open. She has also hosted a Legends event in her hometown of Jackson, Mich., for 15 years. It has raised nearly $3 million for Wendy’s Wonderful Kids and it will raise much more, as the event’s sponsor has committed to another 15 years.

Despite those estimable accomplishments, she downplayed her selection to The Legends Hall of Fame, saying she was “very shocked’’ when she received notice of her selection from French Lick director of golf Dave Harner.

Citing Haynie and the previous inductees, Crosby said “I would never have put my name into a Hall of Fame with them. I’m just excited to be part of it, and very humbled. It’s not every day you get inducted into a Hall of Fame with a Hall of Famer.’’

For Haynie the honor completed a sweep for her in women’s golf. She had earlier been inducted into the LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame.

“Golf has been a wonderful journey for me,’’ said Haynie, who won 42 LPGA tournaments and four major championships. It’s given me a wonderful life, with wonderful friends. I want to thank French Lick for coming up with the idea for creating a Legends Hall of Fame, where our players will live forever. This is such an honor because I get to be with my friends.’’

JoAnne Carner was a focal point when Legends Tour stars gathered for a pro-am party at French Lick.

Legends Championship has no problem going head-to-head with the Olympics

Sponsorship banners abound at the French Lick Springs Hotel as Legends Championship closes in.

FRENCH LICK, Ind. — The Ladies PGA Tour took two weeks off from tournaments to avoid conflict with the Olympic Games in Brazil, and the men’s PGA Tour greatly revised its schedule during that time period.

That wasn’t the case with The Legends Tour, the official senior circuit of the LPGA. Its biggest tournament of the season for players in the 45-plus age group was scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, directly opposite the final two days of the women’s competition in Rio de Janiero.

The fourth annual Legends Championship, a 36-hole event with a $75,000 purse, will be played on the stunning Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort.

Jane Blalock, who created the Legends Tour in 2000 when her own great playing career was winding down, has no regrets about the scheduling opposite the Olympics.

“The Olympics is just good for all of golf,’’ said Blalock. “Hopefully it will bring attention to our Legends Championship as well.’’

While hardly the magnitude of the Olympics, The Legends Championship has its appealing qualities.

Juli Inkster hopes to become the first repeat champion at the Legends tourney.

“Just look at our field,’’ said Blalock. “Laura Davies and Juli Inkster, Pat Bradey and Patty Sheehan. You talk about the cream of the crop, those are four of the greatest players who have ever played the game.’’

If anything, the arrival of the Olympics only makes the Legends’ stars envious of what they missed during their peak playing years. There wasn’t much international team play then.

“My only void in golf is that I didn’t get to represent my country in the Solheim Cup,’’ said Blalock, one of 10 Hall of Fame members competing in The Legends Championship. “We did have U.S. vs. Japan, so we did have the chance to wear the red, white and blue and hear the National Anthem, but I can’t think of anything more exciting than participating in the Olympics.’’

She sees the Olympics giving golf a need boost that will carry over for years to come.

“Golf has not been on the upswing,’’ said Blalock. “It’s been flat at best, but this will change all that. We’re going to get younger kids excited about it because now it’s an Olympic sport.’’

Legends players just practiced on the Pete Dye Course on Thursday before the action begins.

They’ll get even more excited, she expects, if the U.S. women perform well.

“Women’s golf has been on the (global) stage, but this is elevating it,’’ said Blalock. “The players are already stellar, and I hope the players from the U.S. will rise to the occasion and at least one will get on the podium (as a gold, silver or bonze medal winner).’’

The women stars of today supported the Olympics much better than their male counterparts, as many of the latter bypassed the Games citing concerns over the Zika virus. Blalock downplays that.

“There’s been too much speculation,’’ she said. “The guys have so many opportunities to play for their countries. The have the World Cup, the Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup. For many the Olympics was not a big deal but – for those who participated – they’ll tell a different story. It is a big deal, and we’ll see a change (in attitudes) in Tokyo (the next Summer Olympics venue, in 2020).’’

Signage on the Pete Dye Course is notably different than that at the French Lick Springs Hotel.

As for The Legends Championship, it’s become a feature in this southern Indiana town that was once made famous as the home of basketball great Larry Bird. Golf has always been big here, too, however.

Walter Hagen started his storied run of four straight PGA Championships on what is now the Donald Ross Course, sister course to the Pete Dye Course where the Legends play. The Ross Course also hosted the 1959 and 1960 LPGA Championship, won by Betsy Rawls and Mickey Wright.

Inkster, already a legend off her playing record, is the defending champion in The Legends Championship. She won the title in her first tournament on the 45-and-older circuit. The first two stagings were won by Lorie Kane in 2013 and Laurie Rinker in 2014. The most eye-catch feat in the history of the event, though, may have been the 63 shot by Sherri Steinhauer in the rain-shortened tourney of two years ago.

Legends fans will enjoy the new garden behind the expanded Pavilion at the Pete Dye Course.

Kane has been the hottest player on the circuit this year, winning the last two tournaments – the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial in Florida and the Self Regional Women’s Classic in South Carolina. Both were 18-hole events.

The Legends Championship also features a seven-player Honors Division, for stars 63 and over. Jan Stephenson won last year and will be going for her fourth straight title in the tour’s Honors division events.

One of the circuit’s top players was a late withdrawal from The Legends Championship. Liselotte Neumann returned to her native Sweden this week after learning of the death of her mother.

In addition to the action on the Pete Dye Course a highlight of the festivities will be the induction of Sandra Hayne and Elaine Crosby into the Legends Hall of Fame on Friday night. The Legends’ Hall is located at the near West Baden Springs Hotel near the Pete Dye Course.

Legends could be the best women’s tour for Berwyn’s Jeray

Nicole Jeray has long been the only Chicago area woman playing on the pro golf tours, and it hasn’t been easy for her.

Jeray, from Berywn, turned pro after a great collegiate career at Northern Illinois in 1993 and has been in the qualifying tournament for the Ladies PGA Tour on an almost annual basis. Sometimes she’s made it, sometimes not, but this week could be her biggest week of the season.

At 45 she’s already cashed checks on all three women’s tours this year and her biggest could be coming at the fourth annual Legends Championship on the Pete Dye Course in French Lick, Ind., — that circuit’s lone major championship until the U.S. Women’s Senior Open finally makes its debut at Chicago Golf Club in 2018.

Jeray has made one cut on the LPGA circuit in seven starts, cashing in for a tie for 70th place at the Marathon Classic in her last start, and she’s made two cuts in six tournaments on the Symetra Tour after making 18 in 21 starts in 2015. The Symetra — the LPGA’s version of the men’s Web.com Tour — is filled with up and coming young players, most just out of the college ranks.

In her lone Legends start of the year Jeray had a tie for 11th at the Walgreen’s Charity Classic in Phoenix in March. Cashing on all three tours is an accomplishment in itself. Rosie Jones is the only other player to do it.

The Legends circuit was kind to Jeray from the moment she turned eligible at her 45th birthday last November. She entered the Monday qualifier for a tournament in Delray Beach, FL., and got into the starting field by making a birdie on the first playoff hole, eliminating three other rivals for that spot.

In the 36-hole tournament she shot 73-66, posting five birdies in the first eight holes of her second round, to finish runner-up to Liselotte Neumann. Neumann’s 68-68 performance was 8 under par and good for a three-shot win over Jeray, who was happy to pocket $18,000 as the runner-up.

This week the stakes are much bigger. The Legends Championship offers a $325,000 purse with $37,700 going to the champion. Juli Inkster will defend her title and the field also includes such prominent players as JoAnne Carner, Jane Blalock, Patty Sheehan, Donna Caponi, Michelle McGann, Nancy Scranton, Pat Bradley and Val Skinner. In addition to Inkster past champions in the field include Lori Kane (2013) and Laurie Rinker (2014).

The schedule calls for practice rounds and a qualifying tournament on Thursday, a pro-am and the Legends Hall of Fame inductions on Friday and tournament rounds Saturday and Sunday starting at 8 a.m. Sandra Haynie and Elaine Crosby will be the inductees into the Hall, based at the West Baden Springs Hotel near the Pete Dye Course.

Banner week for the Illini

University of Illinois golfers had their moments all over the globe the last few days. Thomas Pieters was the most notable. Playing for Belgium, he finished fourth in the Olympics in Brazil on Sunday, the same day recently-turned-pro Charlie Danielson tied for 22nd in the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic, an event that had five Illini products in the starting field.

Illini success continued on Monday. Coach Mike Small, who made the cut in the U.S. Senior Open at Scioto, in Columbus, Ohio, finished with a 70 in the rain-delayed event to finish in a tie for 43rd place and junior-to-be Nick Hardy moved into an excellent position on the first day of the U.S. Amateur at Oakland Hills in Michigan, shooting a 68 to stand tied for 14th after the first day of stroke play qualifying.

Here and there

Vince Antoniou used his home course advantage to win the 15th Chicago District Senior Amateur over Pekin’s Tim Sheppard at Wynstone, in North Barrington. They have more battles coming up, in the 24th Illinois State Mid-Amateur at Flossmoor Aug. 30-31 and the 30th Illinois State Senior Amateur at Bloomington Country Club Sept. 12-14.

Ivanhoe’s Jim Sobb captured the Illinois PGA Senior Championship, posting a 4-under-par 140 total for 54 holes at Whisper Creek, in Huntley.

A few spots are still available in the KemperClub Championship, a two-man team event that will be played Sept. 26-28 at Hawthorn Woods, The Glen Club in Glenview and Royal Melbourne in Long Grove.

The Fore the Bees outing has been scheduled for Sept. 21 at Cantigny, in Wheaton. It’ll benefit the Bayer Bee Care program and the Children’s Discovery Museum.

The fourth Chicago District Super Senior Amateur is Thursday (AUG 18) at Biltmore, in North Barrington.

Moore’s steady play makes a big difference in the John Deere Classic

JDC director Clair Peterson lauds champion Ryan Moore (right) as Paul Scranton looks on.

SILVIS, IL. – This was one strange John Deere Classic.

First there was the PGA Tour’s decision to schedule the 46-year old tournament opposite the Olympics instead of July as usual. Then there was the weather; numerous rain delays wreaked havoc with the tournament schedule for three days.

And then there was the lack of drama on Sunday, the best day weather-wise. The JDC is always one of the lowest-scoring tournaments on the circuit and birdies abound in the pressure of the final round in most years. Not Sunday, however.

In the end Ryan Moore “won’’ the tournament with his gritty play on Saturday. No one really challenged him in Sunday’s final round at TPC Deere Run as he led throughout for a two-stroke victory over playing partner Ben Martin.

Ryan Moore shows off his trophy after winning the JDC.

Moore wasn’t fazed by birdie binges from Morgan Hoffmann and Martin during a long Saturday, one in which many of the players – Moore included – had to play nearly two rounds after numerous rain delays wreaked havoc with the tournament schedule.

It was smoother sailing for Moore on Sunday, however, as he upped a one-stroke lead at the start of the final 18 to three shots on the front nine thanks to birdies at Nos. 2, 4 and 9. Sinking a tricky 24-foot putt at the fourth was key.

“It was important to show the guys behind me that I’m not here to mess around, that I was here to play,’’ said Moore. His lead grew to five when Moore made his last birdie at No. 10 and Hoffmann took a bogey at No. 11.

Martin then made three birdies in a row from Nos. 12-14 to cut his own deficit against Moore to two but Moore’s eight straight pars to finish the round were all he needed to capture his fifth win on the PGA Tour and first since 2014.

“When I had a five-shot lead I knew that wasn’t safe on this golf course,’’ said Moore, whose steadiness was the key to winning. He played the last 46 holes of the tournament without making a bogey and his 67 in the final round led to a 22-under-par 262 score for the 72 holes. That was two strokes better than Martin, who finished with a 68. Korean Wee Kim and Hoffman were another three shots back in a tie for third. Moore earned $864,000 from a purse of $4.8 million.

“Hats off to (Moore),’’ said Martin. “I don’t think he ever really sniffed a bogey. He did what you’re supposed to do when you play with the lead on Sunday. I got to see golf the way you’re supposed to play it from him all day.’’

Of the early starters only Adam Hadwin and Kevin Na maintained significant challenges. Both shot 64 but needed to make up much more ground than that. Peter Malnati also created some excitement, getting to 10-under for the day in his first 16 holes. Needing and eagle-birdie finish for a 59, Malnati faded fast with a triple bogey eight at No. 17 and a bogey at No. 18.

Moore is in his 12th season on tour. He’s one of a handful of players to get PGA Tour playing privileges without ever going to qualifying school. A brilliant amateur career culminated in 2004 when he won the U.S. Amateur, Western Amateur, U.S. Amateur Public Links and NCAA championship. That impressed pro tournament organizers who gave him plenty of sponsor exemptions, and he used those to meet money requirements to continually keep his card.

His professional record, though, isn’t as impressive as his amateur one was.

“Amateur golf and professional golf are two completely different animals,’’ he said. “I fought some injuries and I fought a lot of different stuff over the years. Honestly, just to keep my card for 12 seasons without ever losing it is a bit of an accomplishment these days, as tough as the competition is. I’m slowly trying to get better.’’