The BMW Championship returns to Olympia Fields this week, but without a local hopeful.  University of Illinois alums Nick Hardy and Thomas Detry didn’t survive the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, though Hardy made a great run at it.

Hardy was on the bubble for advancement entering the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, ranking No. 50 of 70 starters.  The top 50 after Sunday’s round advanced to Olympia Fields, and Hardy was in the hunt until his par putt on the last hole failed to drop.

A second-year PGA Tour player from Northbrook, Hardy opened Sunday’s round with three birdies, ended the front nine with three bogeys and then made a double bogey at the par-3 eleventh when his tee shot found water. Still, he didn’t give up.

With birdies at Nos. 13, 14 and 17 Hardy moved back into top 50 contention.  His tee shot at the finishing hole couldn’t quite clear a water hazard but his approach put him in position for a par-saving putt that would have kept his hopes alive.

In the end Hardy tied for 49^th in the tournament, but dropped from 50^th to 52^nd in the FedEx standings. He showed the emotions of his near miss in front of microphones as he left the green.

“It definitely stings going to Chicago and not competing,’’ he said.  “It was super tough, because I really wanted to play Chicago (at Olympia Fields).’’

Hardy, 26, had to survive the Korn Ferry Tour Finals last year to retain his card but earned his first PGA Tour victory in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans to highlight a much-improved second season on golf’s premier circuit. He boosted his career earnings over $3.6 million and made the FedEx Playoffs for the first time.

“I know I’m getting better,’’ he said.  “Even though I didn’t make it, I’m so grateful for the opportunity. I came out on the wrong side this time, but I love competing.’’

Detry, who grew up in Belgium and turned pro in 2016 — two years earlier than Hardy, tied for 61^st in Memphis.  He started the playoffs in a tie for 52^nd and finished 55^th. Both relished a return to Olympia Fields, the site of Illinois’ annual big event – the Fighting Illini Invitational.

Lucas Glover will go after his third straight tournament title when the BMW Championship tees off Thursday on Olympia’s North Course.  The 50 players competing there will be whittled to 30 for the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta next week.

NO SMALL FEAT:  Hardy’s college coach at Illinois, Mike Small, is back in playing mode.  Last week he won the Illinois PGA Senior Championship at Merit Club, in Libertyville, for the sixth time and on Monday (AUGUST 14) he began his bid for a 14^th Illinois PGA Championship title at Thunderhawk, in Beach Park.

Small, 57, last won the Illinois PGA in 2020 at Medinah No. 1. Last year he lost the title in a playoff to Brian Carroll, of The Hawk in St. Charles, at Makray Memorial, in Barrington.

This week’s 54-hole event concludes on Wednesday. There’ll be a cut to the low 50 and ties after 36 holes.

Between his own tournaments Small announced this year’s Illini schedule and the addition of two fifth-year seniors to his roster.  The season begins on Sept. 9 with a new tournament at Washington’s Sahalee Country Club before the 17^th annual Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational, which will be played Sept. 15-17 on the same North Course that is the site of this week’s BMW Championship.

Joining the Illini team for this season are Timmy Crawford, who played at Loyola, and Tyler Goecke, who was an undergrad at Wright State. Two Illini returnees – senior Piercen Hunt and junior Jackson Buchanan – are in the field for this week’s U.S. Amateur in Colorado.

HERE AND THERE:  Medinah Country Club has named David Schneider its new general manager and chief operating officer.  He’s had previous stops at Wakonda, in Iowa; Ventana, in Arizona; and Waikoloa, in Hawaii and arrives while Medinah is in the midst of a massive renovation of its famed No. 3 course.

The inaugural Paws for Patrick outing has been scheduled for Sept. 18 at Shoreacres, in Lake Bluff.  Paws for Patrick is dedicated to connecting young people with Emotional Support Animals and Therapy Dogs to aid them as they live with mental illness.

Julie Hovland, who had been a graduate assistant at South Alabama – her college alma mater, is now Renee Slone’s assistant coach on the Illinois women’s team.

John Ramsey, of Glenview Park, and Chadd Slutzky, of Royal Fox in St. Charles, successfully defended their title in the Chicago District Four-Ball Championship at Glen Flora in Waukegan.  Ramsey and Slutzky have now won that event four times.

The FedEx Cup Playoffs, which begin on Thursday at TPC Southwind in Tennessee, were designed to give the PGA Tour a grand climax to its season. Changes in the postseason format and  the arrival of the LIV Golf Tour have changed that, however.

In the past the FedEx Playoffs started with 120 players.  This week it’s only 70, and that number doesn’t include LIV players. They’ll be missed, as that batch includes Bryson DeChambeau, who won last week’s event in rousing a fashion – a 61 on Saturday and a record 58 on Sunday; Brooks Koepka, who won the PGA Championship and was runner-up in the Masters; Cameron Smith, the 2022 British Open champion; and Dustin Johnson, the U.S. hero in the last Ryder Cup.

DeChambeau’s stunning performance got him an immediate place on the U.S. Ryder Cup team from captain Zach Johnson, but he’s still out of the playoffs. Established in 2007, they have a $75 million purse this year and the eventual champion will pocket $18 million.

The reduction in field size meant that the popular Justin Thomas won’t be playing, nor with Chicago’s long-time PGA mainstay Kevin Streelman. Both came up short in the season-long point standings. Streelman had been a playoff participant the last 15 years and Johnson and Thomas are past FedEx Cup champions.

Those who did make it, though,  include a couple of young stars, both University of Illinois alums who starred on coach Mike Small’s powerhouse teams.  Northbrook’s Nick Hardy and Belgium’s Thomas Detry are Nos. 50 and 52 in the FedEx standings, meaning they are in a good position to survive at least the first playoff event and have an edge in the second if they do.

The top 50 after this week’s stop advance to the BMW Championship Aug. 17-20 at Olympia Fields. The south suburban club is the home of Illinois’ main event, the Fighting Illini Invitational, and Hardy and Detry would have some home course knowledge there.

Hardy had two top-five finishes in the college event on Olympia’s North Course, and the Western Golf Association brought him to its preview event for the event that was last played in the Chicago area in 2019.

“Coach (Small) always said about that golf course, you can’t really fake it around there,’’ said Hardy.  “You’ve got to play really strong tee to green.  It requires a great all around game.’’

Olympia hosted the BMW Championship in 2020. Because of pandemic concerns that tournament was played without fans, but it did produce one of the most dramatic finishes in FedEx history.  Jon Rahm and Johnson finished regulation play at 4-under-par 276 and went to a playoff. Rahm won it with a 66-foot birdie putt.

While Johnson is out because of his LIV membership, Rahm enters these playoffs as the game’s No. 1 -ranked player. The 30 survivors of the BMW Championship conclude the season with the Tour Championship the following week in Atlanta.

MOST NOTABLE: Mac McClear, of Hinsdale, made it to the Sweet 16 of last week’s 121^st Western Amateur at North Shore Country Club, in Glenview.  That’s a great accomplishment but there’s a bit more to McClear’s story than that. Though he was a first-round loser to eventual champion Kazuma Kobori, of New Zealand, McClear gave Kibori his toughest match.  They went 20 holes before Kobori won.

Deerfield’s Vince India didn’t just win the 74^th Illinois Open at Flossmoor Golf Club last week. His win was part of an extraordinary show of endurance.  India tied for 21^st in the NV5 Invitational, the Korn Ferry Tour event at the Glen Club that immediately preceded the Illinois Open.  Then, after winning the Illinois Open for the second time, he headed to Utah and opened 68-67 in the Korn Ferry event there.  India faded in last weekend’s rounds, which would be understandable given that he wound up playing 11 straight days of serious tournament golf.

Only California and Texas had more players than Illinois in the 156-player field that teed off in the 123^rd U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel Air Country Club in California on Monday.  The host state had 29 and Texas 10.  Illinois’ six competitors are Geneva’s Sarah Arnold, DeKalb’s Emma Carpenter,  New Lenox’ Grace Curran, St. Charles’ Megan Furtney, Inverness’ Caroline Smith and Pontiac’s Ali Schrock. The tourney, which concludes with a 36-hole championship match on Sunday, drew a record 1,679 entries.

HERE AND THERE: Illinois alum Adrien Dumont de Chassart goes after a Korn Ferry Tour record of seven straight top-10 finishes in the Pinnacle Bank Championship in Nebraska, which starts on Thursday.

Tim Clarke, long-time president of Wilson’s Golf Division, is now the executive vice president of Callaway & Original Penguin Apparel.

The Illinois PGA Senior Championship concludes on Tuesday  at Merit Club, in Libertyville, and the Chicago District Golf Association’s Four-Ball Championship wraps up on Wednesday  at Glen Flora, in Waukegan.

The men’s 74^th Illinois Open teed off on Monday with the potential of having too many players at Flossmoor Golf Club.

State-wide qualifying rounds largely determine the field in the Illinois Open. There are seven of those  and one couldn’t be completed because of rain delays.  With rescheduling deemed impossible, the Illinois PGA opted to give all potential qualifiers spots in the finals.

That meant 168 starters at Flossmoor instead of the usual 156, the maximum number permitted in both PGA Tour and Korn Ferry events.  Getting the full field through 18 holes rounds on Monday and Tuesday would seem a daunting task, but the first round was completed with former University of Illinois teammates Bryan Baumgarten and Dylan Meyer tied for the lead. Competition should be intense, as usual, when the 54-hole test concludes on Wednesday.

East Peoria’s David Perkins is the defending champion and his rivals include two former winners now toiling on the Korn Ferry circuit – Wheaton’s Tee-K Kelly and Deerfield’s Vince India.  Kelly, a two-time Illinois Amateur champion, won the Open in 2021 at Stonebridge, in Aurora.  India, coming off a tie for 21^st in the Korn Ferry’s NV5 Invitational at the Glen Club, in Glenview, on Sunday, was the Illinois Open winner in 2018.

Illinois men’s coach Mike Small, who won four Illinois Opens between 2003 and 2007, is also in the field along with Curtis Malm, the director of golf at White Eagle in Naperville, who won as an amateur in 2000. White Eagle hosted last year’s Illinois Open and two of Perkins’ top rivals there – Varun Chopra and Ethan Farnam – are back in the field again.

Flossmoor, meanwhile, gives the tournament a special new venue.  The club opened in 1899 and was a country club until a group headed by George Goich took it over four years ago and changed the name.  Goich is part owner, general manager and director of golf now. Flossmoor struggled as a neighbor to Olympia Fields, which hosts the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship later this month (AUG 17-20).

“When we bought the club it had only 89 members,’’ said Goich.  “Now we have 274. We’ll never compete with Olympia.  It’s a monster. We’re a golf country club trying to attract golfers who want to play golf.  I didn’t need 3,000 people. I needed 300.’’

FED EX PLAYOFFS: Illinois-connected players collectively made their best showing of the year at last week’s 3M Open in Minnesota.  Kevin Streelman tied for second, Dylan Wu tied for fifth, Nick Hardy tied for 13^th and Doug Ghim tied for 27^th.  That’s the good news.

Unfortunately, with only this week’s Wyndham Championship in North Carolina remaining before the FedEx Playoffs, the only local to get into postseason play appears to be Hardy.  He’s No. 48 in the FedEx standings and the top 70 qualify for the first playoff event.  Streelman (84^th) and Wu (85^th) might slip in with a good showing in the Wyndham.

The field there also includes Illinois alum Thomas Detry, who is 50^th in the FedEx standings.

HERE AND THERE:  The 121^st Western Amateur begins on Tuesday (AUG 1) at North Shore Country Club, in Glenview.  Austin Greaser, of Vandalia, Ohio, is the defending champion in the talent-rich event won in the past by the likes of Chick Evans, Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Hal Sutton, Curtis Strange and Ben Crenshaw. One of the most physically demanding events in golf, the Western Am calls for 72 holes of stroke play qualifying to determine 16 qualifiers for two days of match play.  The champion will be crowned on Saturday.

Adrien Dumont de Chassart tied a Korn Ferry Tour record with his tie for 10^th in the NV5 Invitational at the Glen Club on Sunday.  The former Illini star had his sixth consecutive top-10 on the circuit since turning pro.  That matched the record for consecutive top-10s set by Doug Martin in 1993 and later tied by Tom Gillis in 2009 and John Mallinger in 2011.

Medinah Country Club, embroiled in a massive renovation of its famed No. 3 course, has lost its director of golf.  Marty DeAngelo, who spent 11 years at Medinah, has announced he’s taking a position as senior director of golf course operations at Grey Oaks in Naples, FL.

Grace Curran, a fifth-year senior at the University of Minnesota from New Lenox, made up for a playoff loss in the Illinois Women’s State Amateur by winning in extra holes at last week’s Illinois Women’s Open at Mistwood, in Romeoville. Geneva’s Sarah Arnold, who won the State Am, finished third.  Low pro was Canadian Belinda Lin, the loser in the playoff.  Only 10 pros were in the 73-player field.

The Korn Ferry Tour, which visits the Chicago area for the fifth straight year this week, provides a path for young golf stars to get to the PGA Tour.

Chicago’s stop on the circuit, the NV5 Invitational, has one player – and one with Illinois connections to boot – who has, for all intents, earned his spot on golf’s premier circuit in an amazingly short period of time.

Adrien Dumont de Chassart, the mainstay of coach Mike Small’s recent teams at the University of Illinois, got his first Korn Ferry start at the BMW Charity Pro-Am in South Carolina in June. He’s been nothing short of sensational ever since, and his great play coupled with a rule change suggests that Dumont de Chassart could  be on the PGA Tour before this year is out.

His collegiate career barely over, Dumont de Chassart won in his first professional start, beating Josh Teater in a playoff. The next week he was in a playoff again, at the Wichita Open.  He didn’t survive the three-man shootout there but came back with a tie for eighth at Illinois’ other Korn Ferry stop, the Memorial Health event in Springfield.

Then, after returning to his native Belgium for a week’s break, he gained another top 10 with a tie for sixth at The Ascendants in Colorado and a tie for seventh in last week’s Price Cutter Championship in Missouri.

So, after playing in just five Korn Ferry events, Dumont de Chassart is ranked No. 6  on the point list that determines the 156 in the four-tournament Korn Ferry Finals.

In previous years the top 25 during the Korn Ferry season earned PGA Tour cards as did the top 25 in the Finals.  This year the top 30 after the last putt drops in the finals on Oct. 8 earn PGA Tour membership so Dumont de Chassart is in great shape to take his skills to golf’s next level.

Not so for the other Illinois connections on the Korn Ferry, though five would at least be in the first of the four-tournament playoff events with their present status in the point race. All are entered in the NV5 Invitational.

The top 156 in the point standings get into the first playoff event – the Boise Open, which tees off on Aug. 24. Currently Lake Forest’s Brad Hopfinger is 47^th, Highwood’s Patrick Flavin is 81st and Deerfield’s Vince India 128th. Illinois alums Brian Campbell (68th) and Michael Feagles (109th) are also in the hunt. Unlike previous years the field will be reduced each week in the playoffs.

The NV5 Invitational, which tees off on Thursday at The Glen Club in Glenview, has produced four winners now playing on the PGA Tour and two of them are doing more than just participating.  Scottie Scheffler, who won the first event at The Glen in 2019, has won a Masters title and is the current No. 1 ranked player in the world.  Cameron Young, the winner in 2021, was the PGA Tour’s rookie of the year in 2022.

The other winners were Curtis Thompson in 2022, when the tourney shifted to Chicago Highlands in Westchester for a year, and England’s Harry Hall, who beat Northbrook’s Nick Hardy in a playoff for last year’s title. Hardy bounced back to get a taste of victory on the PGA Tour this year, at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans’ two-man team event.

This week’s tournament has a $1 million purse with $180,000 going to the  champion on Sunday. Play begins at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday and Friday and 7:30 on the weekend rounds.

HERE AND THERE: Illinois’ only LPGA Tour player, Elizabeth Szokol, teamed up with Cheyenne Knight to win last week’s Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational team event in Michigan.  Szokol, who grew up in Winnetka and played for two seasons at Northwestern, joined the LPGA circuit in 2019. Her first victory earned her $408,497 and boosted her career winnings over $1 million ($1,287,628).

Hinsdale’s Mac McClear successfully defended his title in last week’s 92^nd Illinois State Amateur at Bloomington Country Club. Finishing the 72-hole competition with a 63, McClear won by five strokes in becoming the tourney’s 11^th repeat champion.

Jasmine Koo, a 17-year old who has committed to Southern California, won the 123^rd Women’s Western Amateur at White Eagle in Naperville, beating Sadie Englemann, a senior at Stanford, 4 and 2 in the finals.

Members of the 2023 Illinois Golf Hall of Fame will be announced on Wednesday (JULY 26).  The selection committee has whittled 26 nominees down to 10 finalists for the final voting on Tuesday night.

Two-time Illinois Women’s Amateur champion Sarah Arnold, of Geneva, heads the field in the 28^th Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open, which runs Monday and Tuesday (JULY 24-25) at Mistwood, in Romeoville.  The amateur-dominated 74-player field is the biggest in recent years for the 36-hole competition.

Twin Orchard will again host the 52^nd annual Chicago Baseball Cancer Charities outing on Aug. 9. The Long Grove club lost over 100 trees when a tornado touched down recently.

The John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event, is known for its first-time winners.  It’s had 23 of those in its 52-year history, and Brian Harman was one of them.

Harman, who won the British Open by a whopping six-stroke margin on Sunday, made the JDC his first victory in 2014 at TPC Deere Run in downstate Silvis.  He had only one other victory – –  the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina — until his run-away win at England’s Royal Liverpool in the final major championship of 2023.

Only one of the JDC’s first-time winners, Jordan Spieth in 2017, went on to win the British and just one of the JDC’s other champions, Zach Johnson in 2015, captured a British Open title. That made Harman’s win unusual but it was even more than that.

Imagine two former JDC champions standing one-two much of the day in Sunday’s final round.  Austrian Sepp Straka, who won at TPC Deere Run earlier this month, tied for second in the British with Jon Rahm, Jason Day and Tom Kim. Straka was alone in the runner-up spot until he made bogey on the final hole.

Harman and Straka both played collegiately at Georgia and are hopeful their play in the British will lead to their selection to Ryder Cup teams.  Harman became a contender for the U.S. team, captained by Johnson, and Straka could be a selection the European squad captained by Luke Donald. The matches are Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Italy.

Regardless of what happens with the Ryder Cup Harman’s life will change.  Winning a major title always does that.

Now there will be fascination with his pre-shot waggles.  That could be disruptive.  Sergio Garcia was known for doing the same thing and the abrasive New York galleries at the 2002 U.S. Open were annoyed enough to count them when Garcia was preparing to hit a shot.

Harman’s waggles got up to 12 at the British. There were members of the world golf media willing to count them, and then chide Harman about it.

None of that mattered when the last putt dropped on Sunday, making Harman the 15^th American to win the title in the last 40 years. It’s always rare when a left-handed golfer wins a tournament, and Harman was the third to win the British.  Bob Charles, in 1963, and Phil Mickelson, in 2013, were the others.

The John Deere Classic was just a starting point for Harman.  He was a tourney regular from 2012 to 2021.  In addition to his win he had a top-10 finish in 2017 but his last appearance was a downer.

Harman missed the cut in 2021 and opted to skip the tournament in 2022. He addressed that issue with the media earlier in the week in England. His first British appearance came off his JDC win and it was also at Royal Liverpool.

“I won the John Deere and got in at the last minute,’’ recalled Harman.  “I had the 4:15 tee time on Friday and finished my round at 10:15.  I made the cut and loved the golf.  I was really excited because I had missed four or five cuts in a row before coming over and I couldn’t figure it out why I wasn’t playing well.’’

After his missed JDC cut in 2021 Harman decided to skip the tournament the following year and head overseas early.

“I came early for the Scottish (the Scottish Open, held the week before the British) last year, and I beat two people in the Scottish Open.  I played horrible,’’ said Harman.  “It was like, `Golly, I love coming over but I’m getting me teeth kicked in.’’

This year Harman initially entered the JDC, as it had dates a week earlier than in previous years, but he was a last-minute withdrawal, apparently to play the Scottish Open again with a little extra time for on-site preparation.

After a slow start to the season his game was starting to improve.  He finished second at the Travelers event on the PGA Tour and followed that with top-15 finishes at both the Rocket Mortgage Classic, in Detroit, and the Scottish.

The magic carried over to the British, a win he labelled  “overwhelming joy.’’

“This is the best tournament in the world, and I’m thrilled,’’ he said.

Whether the JDC will see him again remains to be seen. His change in scheduling paid big dividends on Sunday.  Why change a routine that works?

Beset by wrist problems, Nick Hardy’s rookie season on the PGA Tour didn’t go too well.  To retain his playing privileges for this season he had to perform well in the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Finals – and he did that.

Since then things have changed a lot for the University of Illinois alum who grew up in Northbrook. Now 27 and a pro since 2018, Hardy has come a long, long way in his second season on golf’s premier circuit.

Since his rookie season ended Hardy has hooked up with SWAG Golf, which meant a new putter and spiffy new golf bag.  He also showed a leaning toward Australia twice.  He married Elizabeth, who is from Sydney and spent two seasons playing golf professionally. Now together for seven years, they met when he was in college and helping coach Mike Small’s Illini win golf tournaments.

Another Australian entered Hardy’s life as well.  Gary Barter is now his coach, a replacement for long-time swing guru Brett Packee.

“I had a long relationship with Brett and learned a lot,’’ said Hardy.  “Sometimes you need extra opinions on some levels of your game.’’

So, Hardy turned to Barter, who also works with Matt Jones – an Australian golfer who is playing on the LIV Tour.

The switch, in some ways, is a strange one.  Hardy and Barter don’t see each other very much.

“He comes here (to the U.S.) every few months and we make it work,’’ said Hardy.  “Every few months we meet face to face. Sometimes that’s a help.  Maybe sometimes you get too much help. I take ownership of my game, and we’ve sprinkled in a lot of new things in the last year. But I’m very aware of certain things about golf that Brett has taught me.’’

The bottom line is that Hardy proclaims himself healthy, and the statistics show he is playing better. The winter months were difficult, as Hardy had a string of five straight missed cuts in February and March.

Then he teamed up with Davis Riley to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the PGA Tour’s only team event. Unlike an individual win Hardy didn’t get an invitation to the Masters or world ranking points, but it did give him a PGA Tour exemption through 2025 and FedEx Cup points.

Since that big win Hardy has made the cut in five of seven starts. Last week he finished with a 65 and wound up tied for 21^st in the John Deere Classic. That boosted his FedEx Cup standing to No. 47, so he’s comfortably into the first event of the lucrative three-tournament postseason series and will be in the second – in August at Olympia Fields – if he can maintain that ranking.

Under new rules this season only the top 70 qualify for the playoffs and the top 50 after that one earn spots in the BMW Championship at Olympia. Only 30 go to the season-ending Tour Championship.

“I’m making strides at getting better,’’ said Hardy.  “I’m happy where I am now, and I feel very blessed for the help I’ve received to get where I am in this game.’’

HERE AND THERE: The 123^rd Women’s Western Amateur tees off on Monday (JULY 17) at White Eagle in Naperville.  The field of 120 includes players from 29 states and 15 countries and the competitors also include Geneva’s Sarah Arnold and New Lenox’ Grace Curran, who finished one-two in this year’s Illinois Women’s State Amateur.

Shaun McElroy is departing as head professional at North Shore Country Club, in Glenview, to take a job at Estancia in Arizona.

The 92^nd Illinois State Amateur begins its three-day run next Tuesday (JULY 18) at Bloomington Country Club.  Hinsdale’s Mac McClear, who has starred for Iowa in college golf, is the defending champion.