The PGA Tour made its last Chicago area visit in 2019 and the other national golf organizing groups have been absent longer than that.  Not the upstart LIV Golf League, though.

LIV, the Saudi-backed circuit that is waging a well-publicized battle with the PGA Tour, announced Tuesday that it will be playing for a fourth straight year in the Chicago area. Rich Harvest Farms, in Sugar Grove, was the tournament site In LIV’s first two seasons.  Last year the tourney moved to Bolingbrook Golf Club, and Bolingbrook will also host the next visit, on Aug. 8-10, 2025.

The Chicago stop will also kick off the first-ever Midwest swing for LIV.  The following week the circuit will play at The Club at  Catham Hills in Westfield, Ind., near Indianapolis. That stop will be LIV’s first visit to Indiana.

Bolingbrook’s tournament will be a bit different than last year’s.  Last year’s was announced well into the season and was played as the circuit’s season Individual Championship.  Spain’s Jon Rahm was the big winner, taking both that tournament and the season-long titles.  Next year’s tournament will be a standards regular season stop, just like the two played at Rich Harvest.

Rahm was a three-shot winner with an 11-under-par 199 total for 54 holes this year on a layout designed by Arthur Hills and Steve Forrest.

Bolingbrook mayor Mary Alexander-Basta was delighted by Tuesday’s announcement.

“We’re excited to welcome the eyes of the golf world and LIV Golf Tour back,’’ she said. “The 2024 event was a tremendous success, and we look forward to building  on that momentum to bring another world-class event to tour community.’’

LIV is far ahead of previous years in setting up its 2025 schedule.  The return to Bolingbrook and first-ever visit to Indianapolis were part of an announcement that also included the circuit’s first tournament at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Korea and the return to Dallas, Spain and the United Kingdom for tournaments.

“LIV is growing across the globe in new and returning markets,’’ said LIV commissioner and chief executive officer Greg Norman.  “We’re excited to build on the tremendous success we had last year at new venues in Chicago, Dallas and the UK, where we set new league attendance records.’’

The next season begins Feb. 6-8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  The Indianapolis stop Aug. 15-17 will be the season’s final regular season event. Chatham Hilla was the last design by the late architect Pete Dye. It’ll lead into the season-ending Individual and Team championships.  Dates and sites for those events haven’t been announced.

LIV plans another 14-tournament schedule and has set dates and sites for 10 events.

HERE AND THERE:  Dennis Johnsen, one of the area’s longest-standing club professionals, has announced his retirement.  Johnsen spent 50 years in the golf business. The last 20 seasons were as director of golf at Pine Meadow in Mundelein, which followed a long stint at Pheasant Run in St. Charles. Johnsen was a leader in the creation of the PGA Junior League and the Illinois Super Senior Open.

Fresh Meadow, a Hillside course that opened in 1924, has closed for good.  Owned by the Archdiocese of Chicago, the public course was known as Fair Lawn when it opened. Future use of the property has not been announced.

Mike Small, head coach of the University of Illinois men’s team,  has signed a special recruit in Dujuan Snyman. Originally from South Africa, Snyman finished in the top four on the Australian Boys Order of Merit in each of the last four years.

 

 

 

 

“

This PGA Tour season wasn’t the best for Chicago regulars Kevin Streelman, Nick Hardy and Doug Ghim.  None qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which concluded the 2023-24 season in September.

The fall events, though, have been most encouraging for all three.   Streelman, who Wheaton, had a tie for third and Hardy, from Northbrook, notched a tie for eighth two weeks ago in the Black Diamond Championship in Utah.  It was the best finish of the season for both of them.

Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim did even better on Sunday, finishing solo second in the Shriner Chidren’s Open in Las Vegas.  That was a career best for the 28-year old who attended Buffalo Grove High School and starred for the University of Texas before turning pro in 2018. He made it to the PGA Tour in 2020 and is still without a victory, but Sunday he came close.

Eventual champion J.T. Poston and Ghim played in the final group on Sunday. Poston, who won the John Deere Classic – Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event – in 2022, and Ghim turned the tournament into a two-man duel in the final 18.

Ghim was within two strokes of Poston on the 18^th tee and hit a great approach to the final green, leaving him a six-foot birdie putt. He made it, putting the pressure on Poston to sink a four-footer for par to avoid a playoff. Poston made his putt, too. to claim the title.

It climaxed a stirring final round in which Ghim posted a better score (a 6-under-par 65) but couldn’t top Poston on the tournament leaderboard.  Poston won by a shot with a 22-under-262 for the 72 holes.

“I did everything I could,’’ said Ghim.  “I haven’t had the best history in final rounds and final groups, so this definitely is going to be a little badge on my chest.’’

The strong showing on his home course also earned Ghim, who now lives in Las Vegas, a place in this week’s no-cut, $8.5 million ZOZO Classic in Japan.

“A lot of players who would like to be there won’t be able to,’’ said Ghim,  “so it’ll be a fun challenge.  It’s fun playing on the other side of the world, too.  I’m grateful for the opportunity.’’

BITS AND PIECES:  Roy Biancalana, of The Hawk in St. Charles, won the Illinois PGA Senior Match Play title for the fourth straight year…Lance Olson, of Champaign took the IPGA Senior Championship….Dan Stringfellow, of Medinah, is the Chicago District Golf Association’s Player of the Year and Glen Przbylski, of Frankfort, claimed the same honor for senior players….The University of Illinois men’s team will host an NCAA Regional at Atkins Golf Club, in Urbana, in 2025.

 

 

 

 

Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman, at 45 years old, is finishing up his 17^th season on the PGA Tour.  This isn’t one of his best ones, but he achieved a significant milestone at last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi.

Streelman made his 300^th career cut on golf’s premier circuit.  There have been 9,711 golfers who have made at least one PGA Tour cut over the years, but only 203 have hit 300. Streelman did it in his 457^th career start.

“It’s a career thing,’’ said Streelman, who is – at least arguably – the best player to come out of the Chicago area in at least six decades .  “It’s not just a hot week or a special year, but to do it this year is special to me and my family. It’s been a lot of work, a lot of time on the road, a lot of time away from my family. I’m just really thankful.’’

In his 17 seasons Streelman has won two tournaments, the last in 2014, and $26.7 million. This year, though, he had nine missed cuts and one withdrawal via injury in 20 starts.  His ranking in the FedEx Cup standings is down to 177^th and he’s 274^th in the Official World Golf Rankings.

“You don’t want to play for making cuts, because then you end up finishing near cuts.  If you’re trying to win tournaments those things take care of themselves,’’ said Streelman, “but this (hitting 300) has been a little bit of weight on my shoulders.  I don’t necessarily know why.  It’s just a number.  I know 20 years from now, no one cares.  It’s just something I’m proud of, that I’ve been able to accomplish.’’

Streelman has come a long way in his golf career.

“For a kid who lived out of my car for five years out of college, the dream of getting out here to close to 500 starts and 300 cuts is pretty cool,’’ he said. His first made cut came at Brown Deer Park in Milwaukee in 2005.  The tournament, the Greater Milwaukee Open, has been long gone – but not in Streelman’s memory books.

He shot 65 in Monday qualifying to get into the tournament. That alone was a huge deal.

“At the time I had $20 to my name,’’ he said.  “To know that last place would be $10,000 or $12,000, that’s a life changing amount of money for a mini-tour golfer.  To make the cut I made like $25,000.  I was the richest guy in the world that night.  It allowed me to pay for Q-School and the next few months of entry fees.’’

Making cuts became less of a concern as Streelman blossomed into a solid journeyman on the PGA Tour and prize money steadily increased. Still, money was a concern.

“It’s real.  We pay our caddies a lot.  Pay for hotel fees and travel, and you’ve got to take care of all that on our own,’’ he said.  “A cold stretch with the putter or driver and all of a sudden it gets expensive.  That can weigh heavily on Friday afternoons when you’re right on the cut line.’’

Streelman got a dose of reality before the Mississippi tournament wrapped up on Sunday.  A struggling 73 in the final round dropped him 29 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 42^nd place. His paycheck was $26,200 – not bad, but it would have been about $200,000 more had he held the tie for sixth that he had after 54 holes.

 

 

There was cause for celebration at Medinah Country Club when the last putt dropped in the Presidents Cup Sunday in Montreal.  That meant that Medinah, already rich in golf history, went on the clock for another place in golf  history.

Medinah, celebrating its centennial this year, will host the next Presidents Cup from Sept. 14-20 in 2026. When that battle between the U.S. team and an International squad concludes Medinah will be the only club in the country to have hosted a U.S. Open, a PGA Championship, a Ryder Cup and a Presidents Cup.

“We’re so excited,’’ said Joie Chitwood, executive director for the Presidents Cup in the aftermath of a members’ gathering on Wednesday night .  “With two years still to go we’re far along in our progress.  Forty-three percent of the suites available have already been sold.’’

The Presidents Cup doesn’t have the stature of Medinah’s three biggest tournaments.  The club’s last one was the Ryder Cup in 2012.  Prior to that Medinah hosted U.S. Opens in 1949, 1975 and 1990 and PGA Championship in 1999 and 2006. The Presidents Cup will also be played on Medinah’s No. 3 course, but this version has been completely renovated by OCM, an Australian firm featuring Geoff Ogilvy, the U.S. Open champion in 2006. The current No. 3 has been played almost entirely by members since its opening this year.

“Geoff’s company did a phenomenal job,’’ said Chitwood.  “It created six new holes.  It’ll be a great match play course, and it’ll still be `Mighty Medinah.’’’

Ogilvy was on hand for the members’ party as was Paul Azinger a former PGA champion and Ryder Cup captain.  He’s withdrawn his name from consideration as the U.S. captain for this Presidents Cup, though. The captain won’t be named until next spring.

The Presidents Cup has been dominated by the U.S. team, which has a 13-1-1 edge in the series and has won the last 10 meetings. There was even some talk in Montreal about the format being changed to make it more competitive or interesting.   Even going co-ed, with LPGA players taking a role in the competition on both sides, was suggested.

Chitwood, reflecting on the Americans’ 18 ½-11 ½ victory in Montreal, doesn’t see any changes coming.

“Montreal showcased some of the best golf I’ve ever seen,’’ he said. “The International players were chippy at times during the emotional back and forth those four days.  That’s all we can ask for from a team competition perspective.’’

Chitwood is finishing up a busy year.  He spent three months as interim director of what had been the Honda Classic, a PGA Tour event held in March in Florida.  It underwent a name change and is now the Cognizant Classic of the Palm Beaches.  His family lives in Florida but he also took an apartment in Chicago in June of 2023 to deal with Presidents Cup matters.

“I’ll have been here 3 ½ years before event. That’s how long it’ll take, given the size and scope of this event now,’’ he said. “Montreal did a fantastic job, but we want to have the biggest and best Presidents Cup in history.’’

 

Kellen, Svoboda are IPGA Winners

Jeff Kellen, of North Shore Country Club in Glenview, won the season-ending Illinois PGA Players Championship at GlenView Club this week to conclude the section’s tournament season.  Kellen, who also won the section’s final major title in 2018, was a sizzling 10-under-par 134 for 36 holes in edging  Andy Svoboda, of Butler National in Oak Brook, by two strokes.

Svoboda, however, led the season-long Bernardi point standings to earn IPGA Player-of-the-Year honors in his first season in Chicago. The inaugural Illinois PGA Team Championship, also a season-long event, concluded with a team captained by Brian Carroll, of The Hawk in St. Charles, winning the title.

Carroll’s team consisted by Frank Hohenadel, of Mistwood in Romeoville; Doug Bauman, Biltmore in Barrington; Brandon O’Kray, Onwentsia in Lake Forest; Danny Mulhearn, Glen Oak in Glen Ellyn; and B.J. Paul, of Bolingbrook.

 

Chicago has had a LIV golf tournament all three years since the Saudi-backed circuit started play in 2022. Last week’s stop at Bolingbrook Golf Club produced a LIV attendance record for its tournaments held in the U.S. and the two before that at Rich Harvest Farms, in Sugar Grove, were also well received.

Still, there’s no indication the circuit will be back in 2025. If that’s the case it’d mean another sparse season for major tournament play in the Chicago area.  The PGA Tour doesn’t return until the President’s Cup at Medinah in 2026.  The LPGA and U.S. Golf Association don’t have a Chicago course on their schedules.

LIV has announced only its first four tournaments for 2025.  The season tees off Feb. 6 at a new site – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  Then comes Adelaide, Australia Feb. 14-16, Hong Kong March 7-9 and Singapore March 14-16. Adelaide  drew  a LIV record 94,000 at its tournament this year.

This year’s LIV schedule had 14 tournaments, seven in the U.S. The event at Bolingbrook wasn’t announced until the season was well underway. There may be a wait this time, too, as sources say LIV is interested in taking a tournament to Brickyard Crossing, a Pete Dye design that has four holes running inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That may be a Midwest site that could knock Chicago off the schedule.

What is certain is that the LIV players want to be back in Chicago.

“I have a pretty good track record in Chicago, so I’m always happy to come back,’’ said Jon Rahm, who won both the LIV Individual Championship and LIV/Chicago on Sunday. His feelings are based on more than just his big week at Bolingbrook. He enjoyed his  PGA Tour stops here, too.

“I’ve played Olympia Fields twice and won once,’’ he said.  “I’ve played at Medinah and finished top-five.  I’ve played at Conway Farms and was definitely top-10 and came to Bolingbrook and won. I would encourage (LIV) to come back here. I definitely like coming here and playing golf in this city.’’

Bryson DeChambeau, whose resume includes wins in the U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields, the John Deere Classic in downstate Silvis and last year’s LIV stop at Rich Harvest, also wants to come back.

“It’d be great.  Illinois is a fantastic state,’’ he said. “Golf courses are always fantastic and, shoot, Bolingbrook played close to a major championship test.  I’d love to see us come back here and have more of this type of golf.  I truly love it.  I feel our games are well-suited to a place like this.  Hopefully we’ll get another shot.’’

HERE AND THERE: The 38^th Illinois State Senior Amateur concludes its three-day run at Itasca Country Club.

Biggest event left on the Chicago calendar is the Illinois PGA Players Championship Sept. 30-Oct. 1 at The Glen Club in Glenview.  It’ll decide who wins the IPGA Player of the Year award.

Two IPGA senior events are in October – the Match Play at Chicago’s  Ridge Country Club Oct. 7-9 and the Senior Players Championship Oct. 14-15 at Twin Orchard, in Long Grove.

Last event on the Chicago District Golf Association schedule is the Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship Sept. 30-Oct. 3 at Ivanhoe.

 

 

 

 

The bottom line story at the LIV Individual Championship is the battle between Spain’s Jon Rahm and Colombia’s Joaquin Niemann. They’re the only players mathematically eligible to win the $18 million bonus, to be awarded to the season-long champion after Sunday’s final round at Bolingbrook Golf Club.

Neither did anything special in Friday’s first round.  Rahm and Niemann, played together.  Niemann started the day three standings points behind Rahm and shot a 2-under-par 68, one better than his rival. That enabled Niemann to regain the point lead he held for most of the season until Rahm had a win and runner-up finish in the two tournaments immediately preceding the visit to Bolingbrook.

Brooks Koepka was the star of Friday’s show, shooting a course record 8-under-par 62, to climb into third place in the point race and in position to capture the last of the bonus money on the line.  The second place finisher gets $8 million and the third $4 million.

That bonus money is very much up for grabs.  Neimann has 204.95 points to Rahm’s 199.17. Koepka, who won the final individual tournament last year to get third-place bonus money, can’t catch either Rahm or Niemann. It remains a two-man show but $20 million for individual competition at Bolingbrook and $5 million for team play is still available for the rest of the 54-man field.

“This was a goal, to have a chance to win – and hopefully win,’’ said Rahm, whose wife is expecting their third child imminently. “I consider myself a seasoned veteran.  I’ve got to go and play golf and, if at some point it’s time to go, then I’m gone.  I can’t be thinking about that.’’

Rahm and Niemann won’t play together in today’s second round.

“It’s always nice to play with Jon,’’ said Niemann.“I’m going to miss him. Maybe on Sunday we might get together again.’’

Niemann won two of the first three tournaments of this season and was the point leader until Rahm got hot the last month.

“The first half of the season I played amazing,’’ said Niemann. “The last part hasn’t been the best, but I feel it’s getting there.’’

All three players at the top of the individual leaderboard are team captains.  Koepka’s Smash is tied for second, Niemann’s Torque is tied for seventh and Rahm’s Legion XIII is down in 12^th place.  Team play at Bolingbrook will affect the seedings for the season-ending LIV Team Championship Sept. 20-22 in Dallas.

Koepka’s 62 on Friday opened a four-stroke lead on Paul Casey in the tournament standings.  Casey is a member of the team-leading Crushers, captained by Bryson DeChambeau, the individual winner in Chicago last year.  The Crushers are trying to repeat as both Chicago and the LIV Team champions.

“A good player gets hot and they can shoot 62 pretty easy,’’ said Koepka.  “There’s a bunch of guys out here who can do that.  When it’s your day, it’s your day.’’

Koepka erased the Bolingbrook record set by Mac Meissner by one stroke.  Meissner set in it the third round of a Forme Tour event, held at Bolingbrook in 2021.  The course was set up as a par-72 when Meissner set the record.  It’s a par-70 this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The LIV Golf League doesn’t have a season climax to match the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, but it does have a two-tournament wrapup to its third season, the first of which tees off Friday (SEPT. 13) at Bolingbrook Golf Club.

It’s both the climax to Chicago’s golf season and the LIV Individual Championship. Suspense might be lacking, since only Jon Rahm or Joaquin Neimann can win hefty bonus for taking the season-long point competition. No one else is mathematically eligible – not even Bryson DeChambeau. He’s no stranger to Chicago and the defending champion in LIV’s Chicago stop, having won last year at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove.

DeChambeau is down in ninth place in the individual point race but the team he captains, the Crushers, are the leaders going into LIV’s season-ending Team Championship coming up Sept. 20-23 at Maridoe in Dallas.

The Crushers, who won the Chicago stop and league team title last year, hold a narrow lead over Rahm’s Legion XIII in this year’s team standings. DeChambeau has the same three teammates – Paul Casey, Charles Howell III and Anirban Lahiri – who formed the winning team in 2023 at Rich Harvest.

DeChambeau gave the best individual performance since LIV’s founding when he finished 61-58 on the weekend to win the Greenbrier tournament last year.  This year he’s without a win but has six top-10 finishes in 12 starts.

Playing away from the Saudi-backed LIV circuit in golf’s major championships, however, he’s been quite good.  He won the U.S. Open at North Carolina’s Pinehurst, holding off Rory McIlroy in a stirring duel on the final nine holes, and finished as the runner-up to Xander Schauffele in the PGA Championship.

Those are the kinds of finishes that have made DeChambeau LIV’s most popular player, and his results on Illinois courses in recent years is rivaled only by the now retired Hale Irwin.

DeChambeau’s Illinois success extends beyond his playoff victory over teammate Lahiri last year at Rich Harvest. Shortly after winning the 2015 NCAA title for Southern Methodist he followed up by capturing the U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields.  And, his first PGA tour win came at the 2017 John Deere Classic in downstate Silvis.

His play got only better after he joined the players exiting the PGA Tour for the more lucrative, though controversial, LIV circuit. In fact, he’s become one of LIV’s best spokesmen.

“We’ve changed the vision of the game of golf,’’ he said in the lead-up to LIV’s final two stops of this campaign.  “There is so much opportunity now moving forward than there previously was.  Golf was a bit stagnant.  There was more to be done and things weren’t necessarily done in the way that some of the players thought they could have been done.

“LIV came around, and we all saw this opportunity of team golf and being partial owners of teams and creating business value across the world. That was a big decision for me, to be part of something like that.’’

Like many LIV players, he’s broadened his interests beyond tournament play.

“What we can do with building academies, creating driving ranges, education centers,’’ he said.  “There’s just so much we can do when we bring people together to help grow this game globally.’’

David Feherty, one of the TV voices for LIV after having previously worked for The Golf Channel on PGA Tour events, said DeChambeau “has really blossomed at LIV, especially with how (he) deals with people.’’

“Just getting a little bit older,’’ said DeChambeau.  “I’m about to turn 31.  Being a little more understanding of others and understanding what the game of golf needs is a huge component for me…. LIV has been a gigantic platform for me.’’

The professional game remains in turmoil, and DeChambeau doesn’t see a quick end to that.

“The game of golf is in an interesting place right now,’’ he said. “It’s going to get figured out. I know that.  I have zero doubt it will get figured out, but it’s going to take some time.’’

 

 

 

The Illinois PGA has four major tournaments for its members each season, and Brian Carroll won the third of 2024 last week.

Carroll, the head professional at The Hawk in St. Charles, captured his second Illinois PGA Professionals Championship in three years.  The first, in 2022, was a springboard for Carroll to win the 2023 Player of the Year award, and it might be again. He’ll have to overtake Andy Svoboda, in his first year at Butler National in Oak Brook, to do it, though.

Svoboda maintains a comfortable lead in the Bernardi point standings heading into the final of the section’s four majors – the IPGA Players Championship Sept. 30 to Oct. 1 at The Glen Club in Glenview.

In last week’s IPGA Professionals Championship Carroll passed defending champion and 14-time winner Mike Small in the second round and then held off Matthew Rion, of Briarwood in Deerfield; Svoboda and 2021 winner Andy Mickelson of Mistwood in Romeoville.

Carroll was at 15-under-par 201 in the 54-hole event at Elgin Country Club.  Rion was two shots back in second and Svoboda and Mickelson shared third, five strokes off the pace.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to play well in that event over the years,’’ said Carroll.  “Typically over three days I know that if I play my game and limit my mistakes I’ll be close at the end. My whole golf career was a series of runnerups and close calls until two years ago, so it’s nice to get a string of majors over the last couple years.

After winning his first IPGA title at Makray Memorial, in Barrington, in 2022, he added the IPGA Players in 2023 and now another IPGA Professionals Championship.

“The initial goal last week was to make the PGA Professional (national) Championship,’’ said Carroll. “That’s really important to me to qualify each year, and I’ve made it eight years in a row now.’’

The IPGA tourney is a qualifier for the national event, coming up in April in Port St. Lucie, FL. The Illinois section will have 11 players in the next national event there.

For now, though, the challenge is to chase down Svoboda in this year’s last big local event, the IPGA Players.  Svoboda, who was the Connecticut PGA Champion last year, had a big year since taking the Butler National job.  He qualified for both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open, was runner-up to Medinah’s Travis Johns in the IPGA Match Play tourney and the low IPGA player with a tie for seventh at the Illinois Open.

LIV tourney is next

Chicago gets its third visit from the LIV Golf League next week.  The first two visits from the Saudi-backed circuit were played at Rich Harvest, in Sugar Grove.  This year’s event will be Sept. 13-15 at Bolingbrook Golf Club.

Bolingbrook gets a more important event than Rich Harvest did.  Next week’s stop is the LIV individual championship, which will decide a season-long point race that includes 12 tournaments around the world.

Only Jon Rahm and Joaquin Neimann are still mathematically in contention for the season’s top prize, an $18 million bonus.

Rahm, a former world No. 1, left the PGA Tour for LIV at the start of the season. He didn’t win his first LIV tournament until July and lost in a playoff to Brooks Koepka in the last event two weeks ago. This week he was quick to discredit media reports, stemming from unnamed sources, that he regrets leaving the PGA Tour.

“There is zero validity to that, and I don’t know where it came from.  I don’t know why they feel the need to say that some of us are unhappy when we’re not. I’m very comfortable with my decision, very happy with my decision,’’ he told the New York Post.  “And, I’m very, very eager for the future of my team and the league.’’