WINTER PARK, FLORIDA – A big reason for scheduling a round at Winter Pines Golf Club is that it is – at least arguably – the busiest course in Florida. Given the reported 1,500-plus courses in the Sunshine State – and particularly the array of good ones in the Orlando area – that’s saying something.

Determining the busiest course anywhere is difficult, since the number of rounds played is self reported. It’s hard to imagine any U.S. course, for instance, getting more rounds than Rancho Park – the city-owned Los Angeles hotbed that is blessed with consistently better weather year-around than any course in Florida.

Winter Pines is right up there in popularity, though. In 1992 it had a reported a high of 90,000 rounds. That’s about 300 players a day. That number dropped off to about 75,000 rounds in 2002 but general manager Steve Singh says the course still averages about 65,000 per year despite the economic struggles that have affected the golf industry nation-wide.

I’ve played Rancho Park, once the site of the PGA Tour’s Los Angeles Open and the U.S. Golf Association’s U.S. Senior Open among other big events. It’s still a championship-style course and still busy. Winter Pines is much different.

The course is short, but not a par-3 or executive-length layout. It plays at 5,401 yards from the tips and is a par-67. When building began in 1964 the architect, C.A. McCalister, plotted a par-62 course for the five original owners of a course then temporarily called Golfside Country Club.

The course opened in 1968 and was expanded in 1977. Five holes were lengthened by Bud Timbrook, a golf professional who was part of the original ownership group, and Gardner Dickinson, the veteran PGA Tour player.

Ed McMillin, whose family owns a pie factory in Erie, Pa., bought the course in 1980. About to turn 90, McMillin had the right idea from the start, offering players a good product at a fair price. That policy continued when McMillin’s son Jon served as the club’s general manager. Jon is now the club president. Singh started working at Winter Pines 13 years ago when he washed carts as an 18-year old and worked his way up to the GM position.

“Winter Pines is my family, and I’m very lucky to be part of the company,’’ Singh says. He’s not alone in feeling that way. Joe Ondo, the superintendent, arrived in 1979 and hasn’t left. He plans to retire in August after 37 years on the job.

The Winter Pines leadership has the right idea. It draws big numbers of players year-around — not just during the heart of the tourist season –for a variety of reasons.

You can’t beat the price (currently a high of $25 on the weekends, cart included), but the popularity of Winter Pines is just based on cost. The course conditioning is good throughout. The practice area is more than ample. For those who prefer walking, the course is great for that. There are programs offered for juniors and an event calendar for all types of older players as well. The clubhouse had a cheerful atmosphere and the staff was friendly when we visited.

Located across the street from the Orlando city limits, Winter Pines felt like just what it is – a nice neighborhood golf course. Winter Park Pines is the subdivision in which the course is located, and it’s only about 15 minutes from the downtown area.

As for the course, its most striking architectural feature is the stream that meanders through most all the holes. It serves as a hazard in spots and a visual enhancement in others. Players, though, will probably find the four consecutive par-3 holes on the back nine the most memorable aspect. The layouts has two par-5s, the longer of which is 480 yards. The seven par-3s range from 85 yards (front tee at No. 8) to 224 (back tee at No. 12).

There are no par-5s on the back side, and that may be a big plus in attracting new players. Shorter holes do facilitate lower scores and lower scores are encouraging for any player. Winter Pines won’t beat you up, that’s for sure, and showing a greatly improve score on the back nine is incentive to come back for more.

OCALA, Florida – The ingenuity of golf course architects never ceases to amaze me, but Tom Lehman – a player first and designer a distant second – has outdone all his architectural counterparts for the time being.

Lehman — a two-time major championship winner, former Ryder Cup captain and a regular on the Champions Tour – has unveiled a radical new design. Working with Tripp Davis, an architect with roots in Oklahoma, Lehman created a full-fledged 18-hole course on just 50 acres.

And, actually, the course is much more than that. It can be played as a six-hole par-3 layout, a six-hole executive course (one par-3, four par-4s and one par-5), an 18-hole par-54 short course or a full 18-hole par-72 layout that measures over 6,600 yards.

This mind-blowing creation is at the Trilogy Golf Club at Ocala Preserve in Florida, just three miles down the road from Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club – home of the Coates Championship on the LPGA Tour.

According to Brian Woodruff, who left a club job at Vistancia in Arizona to become The Trilogy’s head professional a month before the course’s February 2 grand opening, the highly innovative design was Lehman’s idea and Davis helped him bring it to fruition.

Lehman lists Verrado and Encanterra in Arizona as his two main golf architectural efforts and he also is planning an 18-holer at the Prairie Club in Nebraska. The Trilogy, though, is better proof that his creative juices are flowing big-time.

Trilogy is actually four courses. Two are 18-holers. The short Skills is a par-54 with holes ranging from 63 to just over 200 yards and the Players will stretch over 6,600. It’s a par-72 and includes two tee complexes and two hole locations per hole.

Also available are two six-hole loops – the Gallery which is a par-3 layout and the Players, which is a par-24 with one par-3, four par-4s and one par-5. Players with limited time will be accommodated on those holes.

Mixed into all that is the possibility of a Horse Course, one in which players can have a match much like the classic version of a basketball game of the same name. The Horse Course isn’t completely new. The Prairie Club in Valentine, Neb., has a 10-hole version designed by Gil Hanse, architect of the Olympic Games venue in Brazil, and Geoff Shackelford. I’ve played it and found it lots of fun.

Getting players around The Trilogy sounds complicated (and it is, believe me), but Woodruff – sounding only somewhat confident – said “I don’t believe players will get confused.’’

Well, we’ll see. The course won’t be fully open until Feb. 12, when public players get their first crack at it. Then it’ll be a case of deciding what players can play which of the four courses and at what times. One thing that will help is the use of different colored flags. They’ll be blue on the Skills Course and red on the Players Course.

For starters the courses will be open to members only Sunday to Thursday and the public can play Fridays and Saturdays. Members will pay $7 for use of the course for a whole day. The public rate will be $35 in the current tourist season and $20 out of season.

The Trilogy will be a walking-only course with push carts and a Golf Skate Caddy available for those who don’t want to carry their own bag.

One other unique thing of note: there’ll be only one tee marker per hole. A player can tee off within a yard in front, behind or to either side of the marker. Lehman wanted to create different lies, even from the tees.

There’s a bit of history to this new concept. The land on which The Trilogy was built was once a golf course – an 18-holer called Ashley Farms. Its owners went bankrupt and the land sat idle for six years. Lehman and Davis built their course in nine months and it’ll eventually have a boathouse and clubhouse with all the amenities. The surrounding housing community is targeted for 1,700 homes, about 50 of which are in various stages of construction.

I thought I’d seen everything when I walked over The Loop, a Tom Doak design in Roscommon, Mich., when it was in the early stages of construction. Planned as a second course to complement play at the adjoining Forest Dunes, The Loop layout enables players to go 18 holes in one direction on one day and then play 18 in the other direction the next. And I thought that was radical.

As is the case with The Trilogy, I’ll have to see The Loop in operation before I can judge it. The Loop is expected to open this summer. Woodruff promised me a chance to play The Trilogy once its deemed ready for play. You can bet I’ll take him up on it.

America’s first 18-hole course is back on the U.S. Golf Assn. tournament schedule — and as the site of its newest national championship to boot.

Chicago Golf Club, in Wheaton, was named Saturday as the first site of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. It’ll be played July 12-15, 2018.

The USGA has been pressured to host an event for women in the 50-plus age group for several years. It has long held championships for men in all age groups and also conducts youth and women’s national championships, highlighted by the U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur, for players of both sexes, but it didn’t have an event for all the competitive older women. Those who spurred the growth of the Ladies PGA Tour were ignored.

Last year the organization announced such an event would be added to its schedule but it wasn’t until Sunday that the actual event became a reality – and the first playing is still over two years off.

“The USGA is proud to realize its vision of hosting a national championship for players of all age demographics, and we are thrilled that that first two editions of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open will be contested at two of the most respected courses in the U.S.,’’ said USGA president Tom O’Toole.

Pine Needles, in Pinehurst, N.C., will host the second U.S. Senior Women’s Open in 2019. Both will be walking-only events over 72 holes and have 120-player fields, to be decided in a series of nation-wide sectional qualifying events for players with Handicap Indexes not exceeding 7.4. As is the format in other USGA competitions, the starting field in the finals will be cut to the low 60 and ties after 36 holes.

Sectional qualifying sites, as well as prize money for the finals, will be announced at a later date.

The Ladies PGA Tour has existed in 1950 for professional players, and that circuit has a Legends Tour for players who have reached their 45th birthday. The great players of the last few decades – like Nancy Lopez, Joanne Carner, Laura Davies, Carol Mann and Jan Stephenson – may find it challenging to get their games tournament-ready for Chicago Golf Club but they played a big role in finally getting the event on the USGA calendar.

While the USGA was slow to act on the senior women’s side, one of the other top LPGA players – Jane Blalock – organized The Legends Tour, which has provided competitive opportunities for the older, former stars of the LPGA circuit. They’re the counterparts to the PGA’s Champions Tour, which has long flourished for male players whose competitive skills have diminished with age.

“We hope this championship will inspire generations of female golfers to continue competing at the highest level long into their careers,’’ said O’Toole.

The selection of Chicago Golf Club was most appropriate, as it will make the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open something special historically. The course in Wheaton was designed by Charles Blair Macdonald, the first U.S. Amateur champion, and was renovated by Seth Raynor in 1923. Otherwise, the layout has been relatively untouched since then.

“As a founding member of the USGA, Chicago Golf Club is honored to support the newest championship,’’ said Brad Kinsey, the club’s president. “We look forward to making this, our 12th USGA championship, an exceptional event for players and spectators alike.’’

Chicago Golf Club hosted the first U.S. Open and first U.S. Amateur in 1897 and also hosted U.S. Opens in 1900 and 1911. The first U.S. Senior Women’s Open, though, will be the first USGA event at the club since the 2005 Walker Cup matches and first individual national championship since the U.S. Senior Amateur in 1979.

The USGA regularly picked Chicago courses for its biggest events in its first century of existence but that hasn’t been the case since 2000. Though the U.S. Open of 2003 and the U.S. Amateur last year were played at Olympia Fields, the USGA did not have a Chicago course on its schedule for a national championship until Saturday’s announcement.

Now, however, Chicago golf has jumped into the forefront of women’s golf. The LPGA’s UL International Crown team event will be played at the Merit Club in Libertyville in July and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will be at Olympia Fields in 2017 and Kemper Lakes in 2018. The Kemper Lakes event will be played a month before the U.S. Senior Women’s Open comes to Chicago Golf Club.

With the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship to be played in Indianapolis this year, the biggest golf tournament of 2016 in the Chicago area will be the UL International Crown – a global team competition put on by the Ladies PGA Tour. will be played at the Merit Club in Libertyville from July 19-24.

The LPGA has taken a low-key approach to this year’s Crown since last fall’s surprise venue change. That will soon change, according to LPGA media communications director Kelly Schultz.

“We’ll be having a few different events – perhaps one in February, then ones in May and June. There will be a big push for us in Chicago, said Schultz. “We’re still educating people because the Crown is very different from everything else.’’

The Crown event, to determine the best nation in women’s golf, has been played only once. Spain won the inaugural staging at Cave’s Valley near Baltimore in 2014. The creation of the competition was announced at the PGA Merchandise Show in 2013 and Rich Harvest Farms, in Sugar Grove, was named to host the second staging in 2016.

A fallout between the LPGA and Rich Harvest owner Jerry Rich ended that possibility, and the Merit Club was named the site last Nov. 24. Neither the LPGA nor Rich has discussed the reasons for the split.

“I can’t speak to any specifics,’’ said Schultz, “but we’re really excited about the Merit Club. It’s a great location, a great venue with a major championship history. Now it will be host on the big stage again. We love Chicago, and Chicago loves women’s golf.’’

Chicago certainly did in 2009, when crowds were big at the Solheim Cup matches at Rich Harvest. The Crown, though, is a different animal. It has a somewhat complicated two-year long qualifying process that requires some immediate study to fully appreciate the significance of what will happen at the Merit Club in six months.

The eight team participants will be revealed after the A&A Inspiration event on April 3 and the four players on each of those teams won’t be determined until June 13, after the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Both the teams and the individual participants will be decided by the world rankings on those dates. The competition for both heats up this week in the LPGA’s first U.S. event of the year – the $1.5 million Coates Championship at Florida’s Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club, which is about 80 miles from last week’s PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.

To avoid conflict with the Super Bowl the Coates Championship has a Wednesday through Saturday run (FEB 3-6). Regardless of the outcome in Ocala and the results in the next seven tournaments, the Crown participants will have some notable absentees.

Last year Suzann Pettersen, consistently one of the world’s players, couldn’t participate because she had no teammates from Norway on the LPGA Tour. That same problem will keep the current world’s No. 1 player, 18-year old sensation Lydia Ko, away from the Merit Club.

Last year Ko became the youngest player – man or woman – to gain golf’s No. 1 ranking but she can’t play in the Crown because New Zealand doesn’t have any other golfers eligible for the competition.

At this point defending champion Spain hasn’t even qualified. That country is No. 10 in the current standings and needs to climb to No. 8 to get in. The present top eight are Korea, the U.S., Japan, Chinese Taipei, Sweden, England, Thailand and Australia. China is No. 9 and – like Spain – needs some good showings by its residents in the next three months to play in the second International Crown.

On the individual side, one attraction for the Merit Club being chosen as Rich Harvest’s replacement as the host site was that it had hosted the 2000 U.S. Women’s Open. Australian Karrie Webb won that one, but her participation in the Crown is precarious at best. Australia is on the bubble, standing No. 8 and Webb hasn’t played yet. She makes her season debut next week in the Australian Open.

“Our players always get excited about competing for their country, and now they have the opportunity to do it twice within a month,’’ said Schultz, noting that golf returns to the Olympics in August in Brazil. Schultz insists the Crown won’t be looked on as a warmup for the Olympics.

“The Olympics is stroke play, a typical tournament,’’ she said. “Our players love the match play element (used in the International Crown). The International Crown represents what the LPGA is all about – the best players from around the world competing. It’s a huge thing for every country.’’

ORLANDO, FL. — The weather in most parts of the country may not suggest that the golf season is imminent, but it’s in full swing at the Orange County Convention Center here. For the golf industry this is the start of show-time.

The 63rd annual PGA Merchandise Show, which starts on Tuesday (JAN 26) with a Demo Day at the massive Orange County National Golf Center, traditionally draws 40,000 industry professionals and 74 countries will be represented in the contingent of visitors.

This week’s event is not open to the public but after it concludes on Friday there will be a series of smaller shows across the country. Chicago golfers can see what’s new in the game at the Tinley Park Golf Show from Feb. 12-14 and the Chicago Golf Show at the Rosemont Convention Center from Feb. 26-28.

While the Orlando show has always been a big deal, this time is special. It marks the start of the PGA of America’s centennial celebration. The PGA, which now has 28,000 members and is the largest working sports organization in the world, was formed in 1916 and one of its original seven sections was the Middle States, which included Illinois club professionals. The Middle States was changed to the Illinois Section as part of a restructuring in 1921.

This year’s PGA Merchandise Show has over 1,000 companies and brands exhibiting their new products of equipment, technology and training aids. They include Chicago area equipment manufacturers Wilson and Tour Edge. First viewing of the new gear comes Tuesday at the 42-acre Orange County National Golf Center, which has a circular practice and over 100 hitting bays.

Then the show moves inside for three days. While the new club models usually draw the most attention, other new products always draw onlookers, too. Two sure to get attention this week are ClubHub, the first ever portable golf swing analysis and shot-tracking system, and Johnny Miller’s Motion Fit Glove.

ClubHub was developed by Kinetek Sports and its $500 product can provide players with instant feedback both on the practice range and on the course, as it delivers analytical information to a smart phone app.

Miller, the one-time PGA Tour star turned broadcaster, announced recently that he has become a part-owner and endorsee for Zero Friction’s new line of compression-fit gloves. They come in but one size, but reportedly fit the hands of all golfers.

Here and there

Former world No. 1 Luke Donald, after revealing he considered quitting the PGA Tour during a difficult 2015 season, had a good start in 2016. The former Northwestern star posted a tie for 28th at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

The Western Golf Assn. has a new chairman, and the first to come from Michigan since 1997. David Robinson, of Troy, Mich., was selected to succeed Dennis O’Keefe, who lives in Winnetka.

With the WGA’s BMW Championship shifting to Crooked Stick in Indianapolis in September, the only PGA Tour stop in Illinois this year will be the John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities – and iit’ll be played on new dates, Aug. 11-14, opposite the revived golf competition at the Olympic Games in Brazil.

The PGA Tour’s satellite Web.com Tour announced that it will have a tournament in the Chicago area for the first time since 2007 when Ivanhoe hosts the $600,000 Rust-Oleum Championship from June 6-12. The circuit has also since added a second Illinois stop, the Lincoln Land Charity Classic at Panther Creek in Springfield from July 11-17 – the dates usually held by the John Deere Classic.

There’s been a lot to celebrate at Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville during these dwindling days of the Chicago golf season. First, one of its professionals — Brian Brodell — was named Illinois PGA Player of the Year last month while the club was preparing for the long-awaited opening of its new clubhouse.

Brodell beat out Jim Billiter, of Libertyville’s Merit Club, who won two of the IPGA’s four major titles. Billiter won the IPGA Match Play and IPGA Championship but didn’t play in the other two, the Illinois Open and IPGA Players Championship. Brodell didn’t win any of the majors, but still amassed enough points to edge Billiter in the Player of the Year race.

An even more surprising development happened over the weekend, however, when another member of Mistwood’s teaching staff — Andy Mickelson — captured the 39th National Car Rental PGA Assistant Championship on the Wanamaker Course at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, FL.

Mickelson, 34, had long struggled with the decision on whether or not to turn professional after finishing as runner-up in the 2011 Chicago District Amateur at Medinah.

After working as an apprentice at Mistwood Mickelson spent time on the Hooters Tour while working for a Lisle packaging company specializing in supply chain management. Then Mistwood invited him to return.

“I was working in a cubicle when I got the call,’’ said Mickelson. “This is what I am. I love the game of golf.’’

He especially enjoyed it last week when he posted a 16-under-par 272 score for 72 holes to post a two-stroke victory against assistant club professionals from around the country. Mickelson was only sixth in the Illinois PGA Assistants player-of-the-year race behind winner Brian Carroll of Royal Hawk in St. Charles and he didn’t have high hopes for a good showing in the national tournament.

“I just wanted to make it to the weekend (qualify for the final 36 holes),’’ said Mickelson. “That was my goal. I had a good year in our (Illinois) Section, but there was no way I saw myself winning. No way was I going to go 16-under for four days. I have not played a big four-round tournament in nearly 10 years.’’

Competing in the event for the first time Mickelson took charge with a second round 65 and was at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the second, third and fourth rounds. The win earned him $9,000 and a spot in next year’s PGA Professionals Championship.

“It was the biggest win I ever had,’’ said Mickelson. “It is just surreal. I am having trouble fathoming it, to be honest. All week I was in the mindset of shot-to-shot. I didn’t get ahead of myself. I just kept my head down.’’

NOTES: The Chicago area will have at least one less golf course in 2016. The City of Aurora closed its Fox Valley course on Sunday and won’t re-open it next year. Fox Valley was in operation for over 40 years.

University of Illinois sophomore Nick Hardy earned Player of the Year honors in the Chicago District Golf Assn. while Taylorville’s Dave Ryan was again the CDGA Senior Player of the Year.

The John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event, reported a record $8,734,000 was raised for 488 Quad City charities from this July’s tournament. That amount was a stunning $2.4 million more than was raised at last year’s JDC Classic.

Ivanhoe’s Jim Sobb, an inductee into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame last month, was named the Illinois PGA Senior Player of the Year for the sixth time in the last 10 years.

With the exception of the Presidents Cup team event, coming up in Korea in two weeks, the PGA Tour’s 2014-15 season is over. Jordan Spieth’s win in the FedEx Cup playoffs on Sunday brought it to a dramatic conclusion.

In the Chicago area, though, there’s still a few events on the October calendar including two that carry fancy titles. The U.S. FootGolf National Championship will be held on Saturday (OCT 3) at the Chicago Park District’s Sydney Marovitz course and the Speedgolf World Championship is Oct. 19-20 at The Glen Club in Glenview.

FootGolf, a combination of soccer and golf, has made inroads at courses nation-wide, with the American FootGolf League reporting that it has accredited 440 golf facilities. In FootGolf a soccer ball is kicked into a 21-inch cup. The 36-hole stroke play event at Marovitz is a qualifier for the World FootGolf Championship Jan. 6-10 in Argentina.

Bill Rehanek, senior vice president of Billy Casper Golf – manager of several Chicago courses – claims the sport “is attracting new generations of golfers and non-golfers to courses coast to coast.’’

While FootGolf isn’t really golf, SpeedGolf definitely is. Its defending world champion is Eri Crum, who was one of Tiger Woods’ college teammates at Stanford in the 1990s. In Speedgolf you’re judged on both your score and pace around the course.

“It’s an awesome sport, but it needs help to grow,’’ said Crum before giving a recent demonstration over the last three holes at The Glen. He cruised through No. 16, a par-4, in 1:49 and made par, got through No. 17, a par-3, in 62 seconds and made bogey and then made birdie on No. 18 — a par-5 – while getting from tee to green in 2:08.

After his Stanford days Crum became a physical therapist and chiropractor. He got serious about golf again after learning about Speedgolf.

“It’s been a wonderful outlet to get my golf game back,’’ he said. “Efficiency is so important.’’

Players must avoid unnecessary delays to be successful at Speedgolf. One of Crum’s top rivals putts one-handed and doesn’t drop his golf bag. None of the players stop to check yardages. Golf bags are made as light as possible with most players using six clubs or less.

There are some rule variations. The pin remains in the cup in Speedgolf and there’s no loss of distance for a lost ball. Players go off alone in roughly six-minute intervals.

“We’re not suggesting it replaces regular golf,’’ said Tim Scott, president of Speedgolf International. “But Speedgolf promotes creativity and fitness. It’s growing.’’

The Speedgolf world record was posted by Christopher Smith, a teaching pro from Oregon, while playing in a competition at another Chicago Park District course, Jackson Park, in 2005. Smith got around Jackson Park in 65 strokes and 44 minutes. Combining the score and time, Smith’s record is 109. Crum’s winning total last year at Bandon, Ore., over 18 holes was 121 – a score of 76 in 45 minutes.

The elite division at The Glen will have about 30 competitors, including some from Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Canada. A $40,000 prize fund will be on the line in the elite division. An amateur division with age group competition will also be offered at The Glen. Entry fee is $150.

Good local showings in USGA championships

Three Illinois players survived stroke play qualifying and first-round matches in this week’s U.S. Golf Association national championships. Curtis Skinner of Lake Bluff and Dave Ryan of Taylorville advanced in the U.S. Senior Amateur at Hidden Creek in New Jersey while Palatine’s Jean Cheszek moved ahead in the U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur at Hillwood in Tennessee.

Vince Antoniou, of North Barrington, survived stroke play at Hidden Creek before losing to Ryan in their first-round match. Ryan became the first three-time winner of the Illinois Senior Amateur title earlier this month.

Here and there

The last of the four major championships for Illinois PGA members – the IPGA Players Championship – will be played Monday and Tuesday (OCT 5-6) on the North Course at Eagle Ridge Resort in Galena.

Only an Oct. 13 qualifying session for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship remains on the Chicago District Golf Assn. schedule. It’ll be played at The Glen Club.

The Addison Senior Open is on tap at the Links & Tees facility on Sunday (OCT 4) and Nickol Knoll, in Arlington Heights, will host a senior fall scramble next Wednesday (OCT 7).

Little City, in Palatine, has announced that it will open a golf academy for adults with developmental intellectual disabilities in mid-October.

The Tour Championship, which tees off on Thursday at East Lake in Atlanta, brings an end to the PGA Tour’s 2014-15 season and Zach Johnson is in an interesting position.

Only 30 players qualified for the 72-hole event that has an $8.25 prize fund and offers an additional $10 million bonus to the winner of the four-event FedEx Cup Playoffs. The winner of the bonus won’t necessarily be the same player who wins The Tour Championship. That’s where Johnson, the reigning British Open champion, figures in.

The FedEx Playoffs began in 2007 to provide the PGA Tour with a much-needed climax to its season. The point system remains confusing, however. The ranking points accumulated in the previous tournaments are reset to create more suspense for the last event.

One thing is certain: if any of the top five in the standings wins at East Lake, that player also wins the $10 million. Johnson is No. 6.

That’s not a bad position to be in. The top five are Jason Day, who won the BMW Championship at Conway Farms in Lake Forest on Sunday; Jordan Spieth, who won the Masters and U.S. Open in the first half of the season but hasn’t been as sharp lately; Rickie Fowler, winner of the Deutsche Bank Champion in the Playoffs; Henrik Stenson, winner of the FedEx Cup in 2013; and Bubba Watson.

There’s no guarantee that Sunday’s winner will come from that group, though Day is red hot. He’s won four of his last six starts and became the world’s No. 1-ranked player with his win at Conway Farms.

Johnson, meanwhile, isn’t one of the game’s much-publicized young guns – a group of twenty-somethings that includes Day, Spieth, Fowler and Rory McIlroy, most recent of the previous No. 1s. But, at 39, Johnson’s no slouch. The Iowa-based veteran is the reigning British Open champion. He also includes the 2007 Masters and Illinois’ two PGA Tour events — the 2012 John Deere Classic and the first BMW Championship at Conway two years ago – among his 12 PGA Tour victories.

Most important, he’s playing good, too. Johnson finished his last round at Conway Farms with five birdies and shot 64, the day’s lowest score. That boosted him from No. 7 to No. 6 in the FedEx standings. While he would have liked to crack the top five, Johnson has the best shot at golf’s biggest paycheck if none of the top five win at East Lake.

“I’ll take it,’’ said Johnson. “I was very frustrated (last week) because I felt like I was in a place to do some work. I figured something out with my ball-striking going into the last nine. You can just chalk up that last five holes to patience.’’

The struggle to find his swing, though, took a toll on Johnson.

“I’m spent. I’m done. I’m ready for a break more mentally than I am physically,’’ said Johnson. “Physically I’m fine. That’s why I work out. That’s why I’ve got a team of guys to get me motivated and ready to play.’’

Though he admits “mental fatigue is there,’’ Johnson’s not about to skip a chance to win $10 million. He can do it by winning at East Lake and have Day finishing no better than a tie for second. Even if he doesn’t win the tournament Johnson would have a mathematical chance of claiming the bonus by finishing second, depending on how the players ranked about him fare.

Here and there

Illinois senior Thomas Detry tied the Olympia Fields North course record with a 7-under-par 63 in the Fighting Illini Invitational, but the Illini settled for a fifth-place finish behind champion Florida State. Detry, who finished second individually in the 54-hole competition, matched a score posted by Rickie Fowler in 2007.

Dave Ryan of Taylorville became the first three-time winner of the Illinois Senior Amateur with a five-stroke win at Ravisloe, in Homewood, and Gary March took the Illinois Senior Open at McHenry Country Club.

The Illinois Super Senior Open begins its 36-hole run on Tuesday at Pine Meadow in Mundelein.

Kevin Streelman, Mark Wilson and Luke Donald all survived The Barclays, first tournament of the PGA Tour’s lucrative FedEx Cup Playoffs but this week’s challenge means much more to those Chicago-connected players.

The Barclays brought the top 125 players in the FedEx rankings after the 47 regular season tour events to New Jersey. This week’s Deutsche Bank Classic, which tees off on Friday in Boston, takes only the top 100 and the top 70 after its conclusion on Monday get to play in Chicago’s event – the BMW Championship Sept. 17-20 at Conway Farms in Lake Forest.

As was the case at The Barclays, there’ll be a 36-hole cut in Boston. There’ll be no cut at the BMW or the series-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta. All four tournaments have an $8.25 million purse and the series winner gets an additional $10 million bonus.

So, big money is on the line for Streelman, Wilson and Donald. Streelman, who grew up in Wheaton, is in the best position going to Boston. He’s No. 65 in the FedEx standings but will most likely need to survive the cut there to stay in the top 70.

Wilson, who lives in Elmhurst, and Donald, the former Northwestern star and a Conway Farms member, need to do better than that. Both were up to the first challenge at The Barclays. Wilson and Donald tied for 24th place there. Wilson was ranked No. 114 going in and is now 85th in the standings while Donald was No. 119 going in and is now 87th.

Jordan Spieth, the Masters and U.S. Open champion who missed the cut at The Barclays, remains No. 1 on the FedEx point list while Jason Day, the PGA Championship and Barclays winner, is No. 2. British Open champion Zach Johnson, who will defend his title at the BMW Championship, is No. 11.

The Chicago-based Western Golf Assn. conducts the BMW Championship but will have another playoff event to handle before that. The WGA also conducts the Hotel Fitness Championship, first event of the four-tournament Web.com Tour Playoffs at Sycamore Hills in Fort Wayne, Ind. Its 72-hole run begins on Thursday.

Players ranked from 126-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings will join the top 75 from the Web.com Tour season money list at Sycamore Hills. The field there also includes an Illinois-based trio – Scott Langley, Luke Guthrie and D.A. Points.

Dilemma for International Crown

The second staging of the UL International Crown, the Ladies PGA team event coming to Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove next year, could be a bit different than the first playing in Baltimore in 2014. Spain, winner of the first Crown, isn’t qualified for the second yet.

The top eight countries on the Rolex World Ranking on April 4 will be in the next International Crown. Spain is now ranked ninth, behind – in order – Korea, the United States, Japan, Australia, Sweden, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and England. Each country will have four players, but they won’t be finalized until the rankings are announced on June 13.

Rich Harvest owner Jerry Rich hosted a one-year-out kickoff for the 2016 Crown last week. Weekly tickets for the July 19-24 event are now on sale and volunteer registration is open, both by visiting www.ULCROWN.com.

Here and there

The 93rd Illinois PGA Championship concludes its 54-hole run on Wednesday on Medinah’s No. 1 course. Mike Small, the Illinois men’s coach, is going for his third straight victory and 12th in 15 years but he’ll need a hot round after a 72-73 start left him well back in the pack – 11 strokes behind leader Jim Billiter, assistant pro at Merit Club in Libertyville. Billiter, who shot a 66 on Tuesday, is at 8-under-par 134 and owns a three-stroke lead over Matt Slowinski, the head pro at Conway Farms.

Small’s Illini team, ranked No. 1 in GolfWeek’s preseason coaches poll, opens its season at Rich Harvest in the two-day Northern Intercollegiate tourney Sept. 12-13 hosted by Northern Illinois University.

Thomas Detry, who won the 2012 NCAA title while playing for Illinois, captured the Czech Masters on the European PGA Tour last week. That boosted his world ranking 104 places, to No. 141.

Chadd Slutzky, of Deer Park, won the Illinois State Mid-Amateur title last week at Flossmoor Country Club, beating defending champion Andrew Price, of Lake Bluff, in a three-hole aggregate score playoff.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. will hold its Better Ball of Pairs Championship next Tuesday at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove.