The second induction class in the Illinois Junior Golf Hall of Fame will be enshrined tonight  at Cantigny, in Wheaton.  As was the case with last year’s first class, this one will be headed by a local golfer who went on to win multiple times on the PGA Tour.

Last year it was Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman, who blossomed as a junior player at Cantigny before winning twice on golf’s premier circuit.  This year it’s Gary Hallberg. He came out of Barrington to win back-to-back Illinois State Amateur titles in 1978 and 1979, starred collegiately at Wake Forest, captured the Illinois Open as both an amateur (1977) and professional (1982) and then won three tournaments during a solid PGA Tour career.

Hallberg, 65, lives in Colorado now. He was inducted into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame in 2017.

The IJGA Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who contributed to the game in a variety of other ways than playing, and that’s underscored by this year’s class:

The Makray family has hosted the Illinois State Junior Amateur since 2007 at its course in Barrington.

Betty Kaufmann, former coach of the DePaul University men’s team, was an IJGA board member from 1994 to 2015.

Bruce Slovitt, who passed away in 2006, served in a variety of roles on the IJGA board and the Illinois Junior Amateur winner receives the Slovitt Cup in his honor.

Roger Ulseth was the first paid executive director of the IJGA in 1992 and the final tournament of the IJGA season is dubbed “The Rog’’ in his honor.

Kevin Weeks, a renowned teaching professional at Cog Hill in Lemont, has been a particularly ardent supporter of junior golfers. He’s helped 95 of them earn Division I college scholarships since 2000.

A shot for the ages

Timmy Crawford, who starred as an amateur at St. Viator High School and as a collegian at both Loyola and Illinois, is trying to make it in the professional ranks now and had a spectacular start at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Ascendant Championship in Colorado.

Crawford needed to survive a nine-man playoff at a Monday qualifier to get into the field.  Then, in the third round of the tournament, he pulled out his driver on the 365-yard third hole in hopes of cutting a dogleg on the par-4. As it turned out, he did more than that.

His shot hit the green, bounced twice and then rolled into the cup for a hole-in-one.  It was the fifth par-4 ace in the history of the PGA Tour’s alternate circuit and the first since 2012.

Crawford wound up fifth in that tournament, then played in four more events including last week’s first of the four playoff events in Boise, Idaho, without making another cut.

 

HERE AND THERE

Two local titles will be decided today (WEDNESDAY, AUG. 28).  The Illinois PGA Championship wraps up its three-day run at Elgin Country Club and the inaugural Illinois Super Senior Women’s Open concludes its two-day stint at Pine Meadow, in Mundelein.

Amateurs held the first four places in the men’s Illinois Super Senior Open last week.  Dave Esler, of St. Charles, shot 67-71 to win the title by two shots over Algonquin’s Gary Hanson.  Ted Pecora, of Winnetka, and John Haffner of Winfield, tied for third. Esler, a course designer, was the tourney’s first amateur winner since Jim Kennedy took back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014.

The University of Illinois men’s schedule was announced this week, with coach Mike Small celebrating the start of his 25^th year at the helm with an especially busy September that includes two stops at Chicago area courses.  The Illini, who led the 72-hole stroke play portion at last year’s NCAA finals, open with the nationally-televised Folds of Honor event in Michigan Sept. 9-11, then host their Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational Sept. 20-22 and compete in Northwestern’s Windon Memorial at Conway Farms, in Lake Forest, Sept 29-30.

 

 

The college golf season isn’t underway yet but, no matter how you slice it, the University of Illinois is already making its presence felt at a variety of levels.

Over the weekend Jackson Buchanan, an Illini senior from Dacula, Ga., advanced to the semifinals of the 124^th U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine in Minnesota.

Another match win would have given Buchanan a spot in next spring’s Masters, but Iowa sophomore Noah Kim beat him 2-up before losing the title match to Spain’s Jose Luis Ballester, who plays collegiately at Arizona State.  Both finalists qualified for the Masters.

Buchanan was last year’s Big Ten Player of the Year and qualified for this year’s U.S. Open.

Another Illinois-connected player, Brian Campbell, earned his PGA Tour card for the 2025 season. Campbell, another of Illinois coach Mike Small’s stars of the past,  assured himself a place in the top 30 on the Korn Ferry Tour standings at season’s end.  (He’s No. 10 now, and the top 30 get PGA Tour cards).

Campbell, 31, turned pro in 2015 and earned his card for the 2017 season but couldn’t retain it. He’s been a Korn Ferry player since then.

And, beginning on Monday, Small goes after his 15^th title in the Illinois PGA Championship at Elgin Country Club. Small, who took his first title in 2001,  won last season at Thunderbird, in Zion.  That made him the winningest PGA professional at the section championship level across the PGA of America’s 41 sections nationwide.

Weather hampered last year’s event. It was scheduled for its traditional 54 holes, but had to be cut to 36. This year’s tourney concludes Wednesday and also determines nine qualifiers for next year’s PGA Professional Championship.

It’s Rahm vs. Neimann at Bolingbrook

LIV/Chicago, coming up Sept. 13-15 at Bolingbrook Golf Club, represents that circuit’s individual championship.  However, only two players – Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann – are mathematically eligible to win the season-long individual title. It’s determined on a point basis.

Rahm didn’t win Sunday’s last regular season LIV event at West Virginia’s Greenbrier, losing to Brooks Koepka in a playoff, but he did pass Niemann in the point race.

Niemann, who won two of the season’s first three tournaments, led in points  all season until Rahm’s strong showing at Greenbrier.  Niemann tied for 15^th there.  Top bonus money will be on the line when they tee off at Bolingbrook.

“I’m probably going to need to win,’’ said Rahm, who has been in the top 10 in 11 of his starts in his first LIV season.  “(Niemann) is going to be up there.  I’m going to need another good week, and hopefully get it done.’’

The third-place finisher also gets a point race bonus, and five players – Tyrrell Hatton, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Cam Smith and Koepka – still have a chance at getting that consolation prize.

HERE AND THERE: Brien Davis and John Ehrgott teamed up to win the ninth Chicago Distlrict Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Mauh-Nah-Tee-See in Rockford. The CDGA will conduct its 32^nd Illinois State Mid-Amateur Monday and Tuesday at Park Ridge Country Club.

Chicago golf community leaders, Paul Voykin and Chris Bona, have passed on.  Voykin, who was 93, was a prominent superintendent, spending 47 years at Briarwood in Deerfield. Bona, 59, was head professional at Boulder Ridge, in Lake in the Hills since 2007.

The PGA Tour announced its 2025 schedule with the John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual stop on the circuit, keeping its dates of this year – June 30 to July 6 – at TPC Deere Run in Silvis.  The BMW Championship, conducted by the Chicago-based Western Golf Association, will be played at Cave’s Valley in Maryland for the second time. Dates are Aug. 11-17.

Whistling Straits, in Kohler, WI, is back on the U.S. Golf Association calendar. The course will host the 2028 U.S. Amateur, the 2033 U.S. Junior Amateur and the 2037 U.S. Girls Junior.

 

 

 

 

The countdown is on for the last big golf tournament of the Chicago season, and Phil Mickelson is ready for it.

LIV Golf/Chicago will play the first of its two season-ending championships at Bolingbrook Golf Club Sept. 13-15. The Saudi-backed circuit played regular season events at Rich Harvest Farms, in Sugar Grove, in its first two campaigns but this year’s event is bigger. It’s LIV’s season individual championship

The only event remaining after LIV/Chicago is the LIV’s team championship. Sept. 20-22 at Maridoe – another new site on the circuit – in Dallas. That’ll conclude LIV’s 14-tournament season.

Mickelson was the first major star to bolt from the PGA Tour to join LIV. He hasn’t been a star on the new circuit but has no regrets about what was then a controversial move.

He’s played in tournaments at all the well-known Chicago tournament courses, but Bolingbrook isn’t one of those.

“We’ve played some venues throughout LIV that are truly world class and cover the gamut, from long and hard to tight and a lot of character,’’ said Mickelson.  “We’ve played many (PGA Tour) courses. We’re going to Greenbrier (West Virginia) this week.  We’ve played Mayakoba (Mexico).  We’re playing Hong Kong , Sentosa, where there have been many tournaments  played. There’s also a value to playing a course where the public can play very easily.’’

Bolingbrook, the 23^rd course LIV has used in its three seasons, is a public venue.  Mickelson didn’t know that the course designer was the late Arthur Hills. That was good news.

“He’s a wonderful architect,’’ said Mickelson. “He’s done some great stuff. He’s very credible as an architect. I’m looking forward to seeing what he came up with.’’

Rich Harvest was well received by the LIV players, but it’s a private club.   Mickelson wasn’t a big fan of Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course, another public layout in Lemont that had a long run as host of the Western Open and BMW Championship on the PGA Tour. He’s excited about going to Bolingbrook, however.

As for his own game, the six-time major tournament champion has yet to win on the LIV Tour. At 54 years old, his game may be on the decline. He’s ranked 44^th of 56 players on LIV performance this season and the team he captains is 12^th of 13.

He has played in all 33 LIV tournaments over the three seasons and has but three top-10 finishes, his best a tie for sixth. One of the others was a tie for eighth at Rich Harvest in 2022.

“If you look at the analytics it’s been my short game that has crushed me the last few years,’’ he said.  “It’s been a staple of my game throughout my career, and the last couple years it’s been the reason I’ve not had the results. Finally I’ve had a little turn-around.  If my short game is sharp I’m going to be in contention.’’

In the lead-up to LIV’s creation Mickelson was one of its outspoken advocates while also being critical of the PGA Tour.

“For 30-plus years I did everything I could to help build the PGA Tour brand,’’ he said. “I would be brought in to close deals with many CEOs. That was my way of helping to build the PGA Tour at that time. I’m no longer part of that tour. My focus now is to build the HyFlyers team and grow the game globally through LIV Golf.’’

Though negotiations are ongoing, peace between LIV, the PGA Tour and Europe’s DP World Tour doesn’t seem possible in the near future.

“We’re in the middle of a disruption phase,’’ admitted Mickelson, who isn’t participating in the negotiations among tour leaders, “but where we’re going to end up and where we’ll be when this gets sorted through is exponentially better than where we were in the path that we were on.’’

LIV attracted stars like Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka with hefty pay incentives and prize money per event that is more than the PGA and DP World Tour were paying.  Standard LIV purses are $25 million for individuals in the 54-hole events and $5 million in the team competition.

Individual champions get $4 million and the team winner divides $3 million. Tourneys have 54 players – 13 four-man teams plus two wild cards. Tournaments have a shotgun start each day and no cuts.  All players get a paycheck regardless of where they finish.

 

 

 

John Schlaman was just starting his career as a golf professional when Eagle Ridge held a grand opening for its South Course. The now 63-hole Galena facility  is virtually Illinois’ only golf resort, and the South’s creation took it to a new level.

That came 40 years ago, and the milestone will be celebrated with an afternoon golf outing and dinner on Sunday with participants urged to dress in 1980s attire.  It’s an event worth celebrating, though the anniversary won’t resemble the Grand Opening.

“We just had the North Course before that,’’ said Schlaman, then an assistant professional and now the director of golf at Eagle Ridge.  “Miller Barber, Mike Souchak, Carol Mann and Bob Goalby – all big names, all Hall of Famers – were there,’’ said Schlaman.  “You could never do that in today’s world.  Can you imagine getting Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlory together (for a course opening)?’’

The North Course came first, in 1977,  and The General became the third 18 in 1997.  The late Roger Packard had a hand in the design of all three 18-holers as well as the nine-hole East Course.

In 1985 — the first full year after its opening – the South shared Best New Resort Course honors with Florida’s Grand Cypress in Golf Digest’s annual rankings.

Schlaman eventually became head pro at the South Course, then left to guide the operation at Prairie Landing in West Chicago.  He was there 14 years before returning to Eagle Ridge.  He wound up the director of golf two years ago with office space at The General after Mike Weiler retired.

The resort opened in 1962 and struggled through some ownership changes until Mark Klausner took over six years ago. A long-time resident of Galena, Klausner has taken on a series of expensive major upgrades impacting all areas of the resort, and has another two-year plan in the works.

“By then it’ll be an all-new resort,’’ he said. “We had lots of hopes and dreams, and all are falling into place.’’

Golf-wise, Klausner’s most significant move was the replacing all of the outdated maintenance equipment with John Deere products. That led to much improved playing conditions on all the courses. This year 278 new power carts replaced the older fleets at all the courses.

Also this year Schlaman introduced new Forward tees on 10 holes of the North and South courses, and they’ll soon be instituted on The General. The markers are orange.

“It started as tees for senior ladies,’’ said Schlaman, “but some of the older senior men are playing them, and rightly so.  They cut almost 900 yards on the South and about 500 on the North at The General. It’s a new concept, but when these courses were built women and seniors were almost an afterthought.’’

Next up is a golf studio with simulators, to be built on the driving range.

“It’s two years away,’’ said Klausner, “but the plans have been developed.’’

While Eagle Ridge & Spa is a popular destination for Chicago golfers, some Chicago area residents are building there own facilities away from the city and suburbs.

Here are two some such places:

FAIRFIELD, Wisconsin Dells – Long-time Barrington resident Jim Tracy was in the advertising business during a 23-year career at Chicago’s Leo Burnett when he bought a campground in the Dells in 1984.  It had an adjoining nine-hole golf course.

Tracy bought the golf course 11 years ago and sold the campground. Now it’s a 12-hole course, named Fairfield Hills, with a big driving range — one that is 350 yards deep and  built on 20 acres. While he was still in the advertising business Tracy would come to Fairfield to keep tabs on the course’s operation.

Then, upon retirement, he tsok over management of his facility and, while bouncing between Barrington and the Dells, made some big upgrades. Nine holes became 12 and the clubhouse was expanded to added two golf simulators. And Tracy doesn’t even play golf.

“We had the land, but I didn’t want to do 18 holes,’’ he said.  “People were saying that it took too long to play, but 12 holes was perfect.’’

Players can play three, six, nine or 12 holes at rates far below the bigger facilities in the area. A 12-hole round is $32 and players can walk or ride. Fairfield was named Wisconsin’s nine-hole Course of the Year in 2016 and – though it had more holes last year – it was again given the nine-hole state honor.

BROOMSEDGE, Rembert, S.C. – David McFarlin played high school golf at Loyola Academy, lived in Libertyville and played regularly at both Calumet Country Club and Conway Farms in Lake Forest.

Now McFarlin is co-founder and director of membership at Broomsedge, a course under construction in the Carolina sandhills.  It’s being built by co-designers Kyle Franz and Mike Koprowski with the target for opening being Oct. 15.

“Of our team of six (investors) five have roots in Chicago,’’ said McFarlin, “and Michael Keiser Jr. has been a good friend and invaluable to us.  It’s somewhat overwhelming building a golf course for the first time.’’

Broomsedge will be a private club that will have a walking culture, but carts will be available.  The course will be open 12 months a year.

 

 

 

 

 

Deerfield’s Vince India needed to get back into tournament-playing mode in defense of his Illinois Open title next week, and he certainly went after it with enthusiasm.

India just completed a six-month suspension for betting on golf with a legal online sportsbook. That was a severe penalty, considering India was not a participant in an event he bet on and apologized for the PGA Tour infraction immediately.

One of  just 10 golfers to own titles in both the Illinois State Amateur and Illinois Open, India is getting into action by entering state opens. He played in the Colorado Open last week, but shot a pair of 72s and missed the cut.

“Now I play in the Iowa Open running right into the Illinois Open,’’ said India.  The Iowa event runs Thursday through Sunday at Blue Tee Ridge in Riverside, IA., and the Illinois Open tees off on Monday (APRIL 5) at Flossmoor Country Club.

There’s no break for India on this stretch, but he attempted such scheduling last year and it was a successful venture. Frustrated with his play on the Korn Ferry Tour, he finished up a tie for 21^st place showing in the circuit’s NV5 Invitational at The Glen Club and then headed for the Illinois Open at Flossmoor.

While most big professional tournaments are Thursday through Sunday affairs, the Illinois PGA has preferred a Monday to Wednesday, 54-hole format.  It didn’t hurt India last year. India won at Flossmoor, beating Illinois alum Dylan Meyer in a playoff, and the $21,702 payday was his largest check of the  season.

India, 35, starred at Iowa before turning pro in 2011. He’s been a regular on the Korn Ferry Tour but the suspension kept him from returning this year.  He entered qualifying for the Canada swing of PGA Tour Americas in May but the trio of state opens may be a better indication of where India’s future in tournament play is headed.

He has been one of the very best players to come out of the Chicago ranks. He won the Illinois State Amateur in 2010 and took his first Illinois Open in 2018.

Gary Hallberg was the first to captured the two biggest events for Illinois players, winning  the Open in 1977 and 1982 and the Amateur in both 1978 and 1979.  Of the 10 who accomplished the feat he did the best in the professional ranks.  He was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 1980 and went on to win three times on that circuit and once on PGA Tour Champions.

Others who have won the state’s two biggest events are Gary Pinns, David Ogrin, Bill Hoffer, Roy Biancalana, Mark Hensby, Brad Hopfinger, Patrick Flavin and Tee-K Kelly.

This year marks the 75^th playing of the Illinois Open. Pinns is the most successful Illinois Open player, winning five titles between 1978 and 1990. Illinois men’s coach Mike Small won four times between 2003 and 2007. India would join Harry Cooper, Dick Hart and Marty Schiene with three titles if he wins at Flossmoor. Cooper won his three from 1933-35, Hart from 1964-71 and Schiene from 1991-97.

HERE AND THERE

Tim Clarke, who had been president of Wilson Golf from 2006 to 2023, will take over as president of Batavia-based Tour Edge on Aug. 5.  Current president David Glod, who founded Tour Edge in 1986, will become chief executive officer and remain the majority owner and chief club designer.

A grand re-opening of the Winnetka Park District’s 18-hole course has been  scheduled for Aug. 13. Libertyville architect Rick Jacobson has supervised a major renovation of the layout, which opened in 1917.  The renovation project began in March of 2023.

Germany’s Thomas Rosenmueller tied the NV5 Invitational scoring record with a 25-under-par 259 at The Glen Club in Glenview to win Chicago’s annual stop on the Korn Ferry Tour. His score tied for fourth lowest on the PGA Tour’s developmental circuit this season.

Olympia Fields has named Maryland architect Andrew Green to oversee a restoration of its North Course, which has been the site of U.S. Open, PGA Championship and U.S. Amateur tourneys as well as the BMW Championship, a FedEx Cup Playoff event on the PGA Tour.

The Arlington Heights Park District has announced the Arlington Amateur will be held Sept. 7-8 with the first 120 players to sign up competing.  The event will have four divisions – men, senior (60-69) men, super senior (70 and up) men  and women.

 

 

 

The Korn Ferry Tour, the developmental circuit for players trying to make it to the PGA Tour, makes its annual Chicago area stop  this week.  Its NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank, begins its 72-hole run on Thursday at The Glen Club in Glenview.

Scottie Scheffler, now the game’s No. 1 player, was the tourney’s first champion.  He won in 2019 when the event was known as the Evans Scholars Invitational, and that was his first professional victory. Other promising young players want to follow in Scheffler’s footsteps.

Trace Crowe had an unusual path to winning the NV5 title last year. He had missed seven straight cuts and was without a top 10 in 28 career rounds on the Korn Ferry circuit. Then, after getting into contention, he had a triple bogey on the second hole of the final round at The Glen before posting his 25-under-par 259 final score.

Crowe was only the fourth player to win a Korn Ferry tournament after making a triple bogey in the final round, the first being former world No. 1 David Duval in the 1993 Korn Ferry Championship. Crowe rallied after his mishap, making  eight birdies and carding a 5-under-par 66 before beating Patrick Fishburn in a two-hole playoff. Now Crowe’s a member of the PGA Tour.

Illinois-connected players on the PGA’s development circuit were numerous over the years, but this year’s Korn Ferry membership has only three — University of Illinois alums Brian Campbell and Dylan Meyer and Brad Hopfinger, a former Illinois Amateur and Illinois Open champion.

Campbell appears on the brink of earning his PGA Tour card, standing eighth on the Korn Ferry  point list with the top 30 at season’s end advancing to the premier circuit.

Beaudreau wins IWO

Lauren Beaudreau, a Benet Academy and Notre Dame product, captured the 29^th Illinois Women’s Open at Mistwood in Romeoville.  Beaudreau, playing out of Marco Island, FL., grew up in Lemont.  She finished the 36-hole event at 3-under-par 141 on Tuesday.

Beaudreau owned a one-stroke edge on three golfers, headed by two-time champion and Mistwood teaching professional Nicole Jeray.  Also at 142 were two collegiate players competing out of Inverness – Caroline Smith and Carolina Lopez-Chacarra.

Smith is a redshirt senior at Indiana and help the Hoosiers to the Big Ten title last season. Lopez-Chacarra, from Spain, plays collegiate at Wake Forest.

HERE AND THERE

Lake Forest’s Pierce Grieve captured the 93^rd Illinois State Amateur in a three-hole playoff with Marcus Smith of Rockford. Grieve, a 6-6 left-handed golfer, captured the title at Atkins Golf Club, the newly-renovated home course for the University of Illinois teams in Urbana.  Grieve is now headed to the U.S. Amateur.

Farah O’Keefe, a University of Texas freshman, was both the medalist and champion at last week’s 124^th Women’s Western Amateur at Onwentsia, in Lake Forest. Her victim in the title match was Californian Elise Lee, an incoming freshman at Northwestern.

Medinah Country Club has opened its famed No. 3 course for members play. The course, site of the 2012 Ryder Cup matches as well as multiple playings of the U.S. Open and PGA Championship, was closed all of last year for a major renovation.  Power cart usage hasn’t been allowed yet, and there’ll be no guest play until 2025. The course will host the President’s Cup in 2026.

Geneva’s Katherine Lemke, Inverness’ Caroline Smith and Barrington’s Mara Janess are among the 156 qualifiers for the U.S. Women’s Amatuer, to be held Aug. 5-11 at Southern Hills in Oklahoma.

Architect Todd Quitno is overseeing the building of a new 16,000 square foot putting green and short game practice facility at Vernon Hills’ course. He is also the designer of Canal Shores, which plans to have 12 of its 19 renovated holes open for play on Aug. 1.  The Evanston course will also have a new name – The Evans at Canal Shores – to honor Chick Evans, founder of the Western Golf Association’s Evans Scholars Foundation.

Scheduling conflicts have been a problem for Chicago’s tournament organizers for years. This week marks the first big conflict of this season, and the two tournaments involved are very big ones.

The 93^rd Illinois State Amateur and the 124^th Women’s Western Amateur both teed of on Tuesday. The State Am concludes on Thursday and the Women’s Western wraps ups up with a 7:30 a.m. championship match on Saturday.

This conflict isn’t as problematic as some in the past because only the Women’s Western is played on a Chicago area course.  Onwentsia, in Lake Forest, which hosted the first two championships in 1901 and 1902, is the host site for the fifth time.

Rarely has the Chicago District Golf Association taken the State Am outside of the Chicago area, but this time it’s being played at Atkins Golf Club, in Urbana.  The choice of Atkins is significant because it’s the home of the University of Illinois men’s teams, which have consistently been a collegiate powerhouse under coach Mike Small.

Atkins has recently been renovated to benefit the Illini program.  It had been known as Stone Creek, and the tournament was played there in 2004 when T.C. Ford won the title. This year the tourney will have a field weakened by the absence of Hinsdale’s Mike McClear, who won the last two years.  He turned professional after a great collegiate career at Iowa.

Three of last year’s top five are back, however. T.J. Barger, of Bloomington, was second and Pekin’s Mason Merkel and Rockford’s Marcus Smith tied for fourth. The tourney drew 565 entrants, and it was whittled to 138 starters at Atkins through eight state-wide qualifying rounds.

The starters range from 15-year old Michael Hahn to 71-year old former champion Mike Milligan.  Low players in the qualifying sessions were Pierce Greve and Nick Fernberg.  Both posted 6-under-par 66s, Greve at Lake Bluff in the first elimination and Fernberg at Sanctuary at New Lenox in the last one.

The field has two 18-hole rounds before the field will be cut to the low 35 and ties on Wednesday.  The survivors will go 36  more holes to determine the champion on Thursday. In an upgrade from previous tourneys, this year’s winner will also get an invitation to next month’s U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine, in Minnesota.

The Women’s Western may be the most prestigious in women’s amateur golf.  It’s been played for an uninterrupted 123 years.  One of Chicago’s very first stars, Bessie Anthony, won the first two years. Later winners include LPGA mainstays Nancy Lopez, Cristie Kerr, Grace Park, Brittany Lang, Stacy Lewis and Ariya Jutanugarn. Past competitors have won 135 major titles and 60 have played in the Solheim Cup.

This year’s event has 120 starters, all with handicaps of 5.4 or less. The last seven Women’s Western Amateurs have been held at Chicago courses with Californian Jasmine Koo taking the title last year at White Eagle in Naperville.

Two rounds of stroke play qualifying start this year’s tournament.  The second is today and the low 32 will advance to three days of match play to decide the champion.  The first round and Round of 16 will be played on Thursday, the Round of eight and semifinals are Friday to determine the two finalists.

The Chicago area has five of its stars in the field headed by two-time Illinois State Amateur winner Sarah Arnold of Geneva.  She won the state title in 2019 and 2023 and was the runner-up this year.  Other locals competing at Onwentsia are Emily Krall of Lake Forest, Samatha Postillion, Burr Ridge; Caroline Smith, Inverness; and Mara Janess, Barrington.

There are far more contenders from out of the area  with players from 28 states and 17 countries competing this week. The best of those may be college players – Caitlyn Macnab, Missississpi; Anna Morgan, Furman; Sadie Englemann and Annabelle Pancake, Stanford; Farah O’Keefe, Texas; and Kelly Xu, Clemson.

 

 

SILVIS, IL. – Saturday’s third round was the traditional moving day at the John Deere Classic, and Jordan Spieth set the tone for that.

His fast start inspired others with later tee times, especially Davis Thompson. Thompson shot the week’s low round – a  9-under-par 62 – and will take a two-stroke lead over Eric Cole, Aaron Rai and Hayden Springer into Sunday’s final round at TPC Deere Run.

Spieth, who skipped the JDC for nine years after his last win here, showed flashes of the spectacular form he displayed in years past, but he had too big a deficit to have much of an impact on the leaderboard at the end of the day.

Starting in a tie for 47^th place, the two-time JDC champion scorched the front nine with a 29, then worked his way in for an 8-under-par 63.  That boosted him 35 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 12^th.

“Just a good solid round. No chip-ins,  nothing spectacular, no crazy ones,’’ said Spieth.  “Anything is going to be a lull from a 29.’’

Spieth was briefly tied for the lead after 12 holes, then got caught in a club choice dilemma at the 13^th. That led to his only bogey and he let a good birdie chance get away at No. 14.

“If I par (at 13) and birdie 14 from the position I was in I shoot 32 on the back and a 61,’’ said Spieth.

Could-a, should-a, would-a!

Spieth goes into Sunday’s  final round seven strokes behind Thompson, who stands at 21-under-par 192 after 54 holes. So, get ready for another first-time PGA Tour winner – a JDC tradition.  There have been 23 of them in the tournament’s 53-year history, with Spieth among them.

Despite his stunning third round, that 24^th first-time winner might not be Thompson. Cole, Rai and Springer all have yet to win on golf’s premier circuit.

Thompson has had three runner-up finishes, with two of them coming in his last six starts. He tied for second last week in the Rocket Mortgage Championship in Detroit and was also a runner-up in the new Myrtle Beach Classic in May. In between his finishes included a tie for ninth in the U.S. Open.

Jon Rahm, now on the LIV Tour, was the first winner to thwart Thompson’s bid for win No. 1. They shared the 54-hole lead before Rahm won by a stroke in their duel at last year’s American Express Championship in California.

“Last week I was four back going into Sunday and didn’t know what it would take to win that golf tournament,’’ said Thompson. “It’s a new week.  I’ve been playing well and will just try to keep it going. Hopefully I’ve got one more good one in me.’’

The last first-time winner at the JDC was Dylan Frittelli in 2019. In addition to Spieth other first-time winners here include TPC Deere Run designer D.A. Weibring, Scott Hoch, Payne Stewart, David Toms, ex-Illinois Amateur and Open champion Mark Hensby, reigning British Open champion Brian Harman and reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.

After three days of beautiful weather tournament officials are expecting a sudden change for the final round.  Bad weather is expected early in the morning and late in the afternoon.  To compensate the 77 survivors will again play in threesomes but play will begin off both the Nos. 1 and 10 tees beginning at 9:25 a.m. Last tee time is 11:37.

 

 

 

 

 

SILVIS, IL. – Friday’s cut day at the John Deere Classic wasn’t pretty, but it produced some popular results.

Jordan Spieth, a playoff champion at TPC Deere Run twice before skipping the Illinois’ only annual PGA stop the previous nine years, was below the projected cut line with six holes remaining in his second round. He made birdies at Nos. 14 and 17 to finish the first 36 holes at 6-under-par 136, meaning he’ll play in the two weekend rounds.

Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman was in more serious jeopardy but made three birdies in the last three holes to survive on the number  at 5-under 137. Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim (-6) and defending champion Sepp Straka (-5) also are still alive, though far behind co-leaders C.T. Pan of Taiwan and Aaron Rai of England. They’re at 8-under 128 after posting 63s on Friday.

Spieth, reflecting on his dramatic wins in  2013 and 2015, thought he was getting into contention.

“I could start attacking by getting some birdies early,’’ he said.  “Then I just messed up 11 and 12.  All of a sudden I was behind the cut line. Unfortunately I’ve been in that position far too often this year, and it’s very frustrating and annoying.’’

Hayden Springer, the unheralded PGA Tour rookie who exploded for a 59 in the opening round on Thursday, was tied with Pan and Rai after 11 holes.  Then he endured a four-hole stretch of bogey-bogey-birdie-double bogey and settled for a par 71. He’s in a six-way tie for fourth, two shots behind the leaders.

Pan lost his veteran caddie recently when 76-year old Mike “Fluff’’ Cowan opted to return to Jim Furyk’s bag. Pan called that “unfortunate.’’

“They’ve had a great partnership, and Fluff always wanted to finish his career with Jim,’’ said Pan.  “This week I have Ben Hulka caddying for me.  We worked together for a year or two.  He’s been good.’’

What wasn’t so good was some “conversation’’ that Pan had with the Taiwan Olympic committee Thursday night.  Pan won the bronze medal in the 2020 Olympics and will be in this year’s competition in Paris later this summer.

“I had terrible sleep,’’ said Pan. “We had a really serious conversation, just trying to figure out all the arrangements before I go there.  It didn’t go well.  I can tell you that.’’

Rai shook off a late collapse in last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, where he tied for second.

“I was really pleased with that,’’ he said.  “From the whole of last week there were so many more positives than negatives. I was able to reset and start well obviously this week.’’

The longest of long shots heading into the second half of the tournament is amateur Luke Clanton.  The Florida State product made the cut at the U.S. Open and was 10^th last week in Detroit.  He played on a sponsor’s exemption there and also has one at the JDC. His 63-67 start put him in the six-way tie for fourth after the first half of the tournament.