The John Deere Classic tees off for the 52^nd time on Thursday with a new tournament director, a pro-am with a celebrity participant whose fame comes in basketball, a pair of weekend post-round concerts featuring high-profile entertainers and a new contract with the PGA Tour that will assure the tournament stays in the Quad Cities for at least three more years. The prize money is also higher, to $7.4 million – a $300,000 increase.

What’s not new is the defending champion who brings the same good vibes that he always brought to the tournament.  J.T. Poston was a wire to wire winner last year, his second win on the PGA Tour but the first was back in 2019.

“This is such a great community.  I’ve said it for several years, even before winning,’’ said Poston.  It just feels like home.  I’m a North Carolina guy, and it matches the community where I grew up.’’

The new tournament director is Andrew Lehman, who replaced the retired Clair Peterson.  The celebrity in Wednesday’s pro-am is Caitlin Clark, the star of the Iowa women’s team that was the runner-up in the NCAA tournament.  The entertainers are Darius Rucker, on Saturday, and Blake Shelton, on Sunday.

When the tourney begins its 72-hole run on Thursday the focus won’t all be on Poston.  The field is stronger this year, with seven players ranked in the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings.  There were none the last two years.

Figuring to be Poston’s top challengers are Cameron Young (ranked 19^th), Russell Henley (29^th), Denny McCarthy (34^th), Sepp Straka (37^th), Chris Kirk (41^st), Nick Taylor (45^th) and Seamus Power (50^th). Poston is No.  62 in a year that saw him tie for 34^th at April’s Masters and then miss five of his last seven cuts. He took the last two weeks off to prepare for his JDC title defense.

There are also 53 of the top 100 in the FedEx Cup rankings.  The top 70 qualify for the post-season playoffs as compared to 125 in previous years.  Ranked high in that category are Canadian Open titlist Taylor (9), Grillo (20), McCarthy (21), Power (23), Kirk (24) and Taylor Moore (28).

The U.S. Ryder Cup champion, Zach Johnson, is also back for his 21^st consecutive playing in the JDC and he’ll also be paired with Clark in the pro-am.

Only past winner Brian Harman is notable among the late withdrawals but the most intriguing of the 156 starters is another past champion.  Michael Kim won his first PGA Tour title in the 2018 JDC and set the tournament scoring record of 27 under par in the process.  Then his game went sour, as he missed 19 of 20 cuts the following year.  That dropped him to the Korn Ferry Tour, but Kim has since regained his PGA Tour membership.  He’s yet to show the spectacular form that he did at TPC Deere Run five years ago, however.

HERE AND THERE:  Jaime Fischer, a teaching professional at Conway Farms in Lake Forest, tied for seventh in last week’s rain-hampered Senior LPGA Championship in Jasper, Ind.  She played the 54 holes in 1-under-par 215 and was nine strokes behind champion Angela Stanford, who will compete in this week’s U.S. Women’s Open at Caliifornia’s Pebble Beach.

Bernard Langer notched his 46^th  win on PGA Tour Champions at the U.S. Senior Open in Wisconsin on Sunday, breaking a record set by Hale Irwin.  Langer’s accomplishment provided another big boost for Batavia’s Tour Edge club manufacturer which had the foresight to sign Langer as an ambassador. At 65 Langer’s achievement is impressive, but he revealed afterwards that his health isn’t.  “I’m very human,’’  he said.  “I’ve got two bad knees and it hurts bending down and staying down.  Reading putts is very hard because I figure I’m bending down 200 times a day when I play 18 holes.  That’s a lot of bending down.’’

Geneva’s Sarah Arnold and New Lenox’  Grace Curran, the finalists in the Illinois Women’s State Amateur two weeks ago, survived the qualifier for the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Indian Hill, in Winnetka, but DeKalb’s Emma Carpenter was the medalist there with a 1-under-par 70.  The finals are Aug. 7-13 at California’s Bel-Air Country Club.

Barrington’s Robert Beaubien was the winner of the 103^rd Chicago District Amateur at Lake Shore, in Glencoe.  The Biltmore member and fifth-year senior at Illinois Wesleyan, beat Lake Forest’s Danny Fisher 6 and 5 in the title match. Fisher plays out of Lake Bluff Golf Club.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event, has never had a staging like the one coming up in two weeks.  Professional golf has changed dramatically this year, and so has the JDC.

Andrew Lehman is the JDC’s new tournament director, replacing the retired Clair Peterson. This isn’t Lehman’s first rodeo, but he inherited a challenging situation. Just a few months ago there was even concern that this JDC would be the last.  The sponsor for 25 years, Moline-based John Deere, and the PGA Tour did not have a contractual agreement beyond this year’s tournament.  It runs July 5-9.

“In my estimation – and we (the tournament staff) didn’t have a seat at the table in the negotiations – we never had a fear that the tournament was going away,’’ said Lehman. “A lot of people in the community had some doubts because everyone was tight-lipped.  Not much information was going out, so there was a lot of uncertainty.’’

The uncertainty ended when the JDC and PGA Tour announced a three-year contract extension on June 5. Three-year commitments seem short in tournament golf, but the arrival of the LIV Tour and the developments surrounding it have changed everything.

“The golf world has flipped upside down more than once,’’ said Lehman.  “There aren’t seven-eight year extensions any more.  Now it’s more like three to five years, and Deere was smart to look at it that way.  Who knows what the golf world will look like in three years?’’

Lehman does know what the 52^nd playing of the JDC will look like.

“This is Year 17 for me, and I was blessed to be with Clair for 16,’’ said Lehman.  “This one looks entirely different.’’

For starters there’s big name entertainers performing on the 18^th fairway after play ends on Saturday and Sunday.  On Saturday it’ll be Darius Rucker and on Sunday it’s Blake Shelton.  Music has been a part of other JDC’s, but not like this one. There’ll be no seating, but the on-course viewing is targeted to accommodate between 5,000 and 7,000 spectators with the concerts start at 5:45 p.m.

“We’ll close our gates at 4 p.m. on those days.  Our goal is for tickets to drive people to the golf tournament and have them stay for the concert,’’ said Lehman.

The Wednesday pro-am will be different, too.  Caitlin Clark, the star of the Iowa women’s basketball team that made a run to the title game of the NCAA tournament, will play with Quad Cities favorite Zach Johnson.  Clark will be the first “celebrity’’ in the pro-am since Bill Murray participated in 2016.

Young stars – former Western Amateur champion Michael Thorbjornsen, NCAA medalist Gorden Sargent and Illinois alum Tommy  Kuhl — again dominate the sponsor exemptions but the whole field will be stronger.  The JDC had no players in the top 50 of the world rankings the last two years, but seven have entered this time and a few more might sign up before the deadline on Friday.

The influx of PGA Tour players may be due in part to the return of a jet.

The availability of a jet across the pond – a brainchild of Peterson’s – boosted the field when the tourney was played the week before the British Open.  The jet was dropped when the JDC was given new dates for a year.

“Our charter is back,’’ said Lehman, “albeit to the Scottish Open instead of the British.  That has helped us, too.’’

SENIOR STARS: Mike Small, the University of Illinois men’s coach, is back in player mode in a big way this week.  He was in the field for the Illinois Senior Open Monday and Tuesday at The Preserve at Oak Meadows, in Addison, and will compete again in the U.S. Senior Open, which tees off on Thursday at SentryWorld in Wisconsin.

Two Illinois teaching pros – Nicole Jeray of Mistwood in Romeoville, and Jamie Fischer of Conway Farms in Lake Forest – will be in the Senior LPGA Championship, which begins on Thursday (JUNE 29) at Sultan’s Run, in Jasper, Ind.

HERE AND THERE: The 103^rd Chicago District Amateur teed off on Monday for a 36-hole qualifying session.  The top 32 advance to match play, which begins on Tuesday and concludes with the championship match on Thursday.

Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim tied for 15^th in the PGA Tour’s Travelers tourney on Sunday – his third straight top-20 finish after having only one in his first 11 starts this season.

Hans Risvaer, an 18-year old Floridian, captured the 105^th Western Junior title at Midlothian last week.  He’ll be back in the area to play in August’s Western Amateur at North Shore, in Glencoe.

The Western Golf Association’s 96th Women’s Junior tournament begins its four-day run Tuesday at Greenbriar Hills in Kirkwood, Mo.

Last week the Illinois State Women’s Amateur celebrated its 90^th anniversary with one of its most interesting tournaments. Two past champions decided the title in sudden death and an up-and-coming star emerged, too. That’s the good news.

Geneva’s Sarah Arnold couldn’t protect a 2-up lead in regulation play at The Grove, in Long Grove, but her 18-foot birdie putt on the 19^th hole made her the champion again.

Arnold, who plays collegiately at Western Kentucky, was also the winner in 2019.  This time her victim in the final was Grace Curran, of New Lenox.  Curran, a college player at Minnesota, won the title in 2021 and lost in the finals the last two years.

A future star also surfaced. Campbell Ray, an eighth-grader, was the youngest player among the 32 who qualified for match play last week.  She will enter Stevenson High School in the fall.

Now for the bad news.  The Women’s State Am future is in limbo for 2024.

The Illinois State Women’s Golf Association, a downstate-based organization, has run short of volunteers and is planning to close operations.  A few years back the IWGA had 25 active board members.  Now it has 12 and six will be retiring at the end of this year. The Chicago District Golf Association and U.S. Golf Association provided rules officials and referees last week.

“I’m definitely bummed out that it may not continue next year,’’ said Arnold.  “It’s been awesome that I’ve been able to be a part of it, but maybe the CDGA will pick it up.’’

That’s a possibility, but no decision will be made on the tourney’s future until after this season.  The IWGA also conducts a junior tournament, the 44^th playing of which will be Aug. 1-2 at Aldeen in Rockford, and a senior tourney, the 54^th playing of which will be Sept. 19-21 at Oakwood in Coal Valley.

Arnold will have lots of tournaments left before school resumes. Arnold, who also works as a caddie at Glen Oak Country Club in Glen Ellyn, will play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifier at Indian Hill, in Winnetka, on Monday (JUNE 26); the Women’s Western Amateur at White Eagle, in Naperville, July 17-22; and the Illinois Women’s Open at Mistwood, in Romeoville, July 24-25.

U.S. OPEN FLASHBACK: Los Angeles Country Club was kind to three of the Illinois-connected players who qualified for last week’s U.S. Open.  Northbrook’s Nick Hardy did the best, shooting 67 on Sunday to finish in a tie for 20^th.  He earned $200,152.

Northwestern alum Dylan Wu and Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman both failed to break 70 on the weekend.  Wu tied for 32^nd and Streelman tied for 50^th.

Gordon Sargent, a junior at Vanderbilt, was the low amateur, finishing in a tie for 39^th.  He’ll be a sponsor’s exemption at next month’s John Deere Classic.

SHOCKED: Jerry Rich, owner of Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove – the site of a LIV Tour event in September – was caught by surprise by last week’s announcement of a merger between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV last week.

“While I suspected this to be the inevitable result, I did not think it would happen so soon,’’ Rich said in his latest message to friends of Rich Harvest Farms.  “I am very happy.  What a great day for golf! LIV Golf has a fantastic product, bringing change to the golf world that it so sorely needed.’’

HERE AND THERE: Illinois alum Adrien Dumont de Chassart, won his first tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour after turning pro and on Sunday he nearly  made it two in a row.  Dumont de Chassart blew a four-stroke lead in the final round of the Wichita Open and lost the title to Ricky Castillo in a three-man playoff.

The Chicago District’s amateurs beat the Illinois PGA’s best 11 ½-5 ½ in the 61^st Radix Cup matches at Oak Park Country Club.  It was the CDGA’s largest margin of victory since 2012, but the professionals still lead the series 37-22-2.

Cog Hill owner Frank Jemsek has been named the winner of the Donald Ross Award by the American Society of Golf Course Architects.

The first of seven qualifiers for the 74^th men’s Illinois Open is Wednesday at Deerfield Golf Club.  The 54-hole finals begin July 31 at Flossmoor Country Club. The 103^rd Chicago District Amateur begins its four-day run on Monday at Lake Shore, in Glencoe, and the 105^th Western Junior concludes a three-day run at Midlothian on Thursday.

Oak Park’s Cameron Beeler won the Illinois PGA Assistants title at Briarwood, in Deerfield.

 

 

 

Michael Feagles, one of the University of Illinois’ stars of the recent past, shot the ninth sub-60 score in the history of the Korn Ferry Tour at last week’s BMW Charity Pro-Am but he wasn’t the Illini alum to win the tournament.  Adrien Dumont de Chassart was – and it came in his first pro tournament.

The twists in this tournament on the PGA Tour’s alternative tour couldn’t match what happened when Nick Taylor snapped a 69-year dryspell for Canadian players by winning the Canadian Open on the PGA Tour, but it added to another big season for the Illini.

Feagles turned pro after his Illini career ended in 2021. He quickly made it to the Korn Ferry circuit, but was struggling until last week’s first round of the BMW event in South Carolina.

Then everything came together. Feagles made 12 birdies en route to carding his 59. His best finish during this year’s Korn Ferry campaignhad been a tie for 25^th and he stood just 143^rd in the circuit standings before his game caught fire.

“If you looked at my scores of late you probably would not see me doing this,’’ said Feagles in the immediate aftermath of his hot round.  “Golf’s just been doing that to me.  Certain weeks parts of my game will feel really good, and the other will feel like I never played before.  I’m finally feeling like I’m piecing it all together.’’

Feagles came to Illinois after growing up in Scottsdale, Ariz.  He needed just 23 putts in his milestone round, then posted rounds of 71-73-67 and finished in a tie for 15^th.

Then it was Dumont de Chassart’s turn.  He was a star on coach Mike Small’s powerhouse that ended its season in the match play portion of the NCAA finals.  Thanks to a last round 65 Dumont de Chassart finished tied with Josh Teater at the top of the leaderboard at 21-under-par 264, then won the title in a playoff.

Illinois Women’s Amateur turns 90

The 90^th playing of the Illinois Women’s Amateur began on Monday (JUNE 12) at The Grove, in Long Grove. Monday’s qualifying round determined the 32 players moving into the championship flight.  The first round of match play is on Tuesday (JUNE 13) with the quarterfinals and semifinals on Wednesday and the championship match on Thursday.

Megan Furtney, from St. Charles and a collegiate player at Duke, won the title last year at The Grove after being the tourney’s runner-up in 2021.

New pro at Kemper Lakes

Jim Miller, a former head professional at Evanston Golf Club, is back in the Chicago area as the head pro at Kemper Lakes, in Kildeer.  Miller, who had been an Evanston assistant, moved up to the head job there when his father Hal retired.  Hal Miller went on to be named to the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame.

After five years at Evanston Jim Miller moved to Bloomington Country Club as its head professional and served as president of the Illinois PGA from 2018-20. He replaced Matt Simon at Kemper.  Simon is now at The Grove.

HERE AND THERE – Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim was lost in the drama of Taylor’s dramatic win in the Canadian Open, but his tie for 12th was his best finish in 19 tournaments this season.

More drama could be coming this week in the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.  Kevin Streelman, Nick Hardy, Dylan Wu and Northwestern amateur David Nyfjall are the local qualifiers. Thomas Pieters, an Illini alum, is also in the field.

Small has named his new assistant.  It’s Ruben Sondjaja, who played at Iowa State and was the assistant at his alma mater the last two years. He replaces Justin Badgett, who left to become director of collegiate relations with PGA Tour University.

Small was named GolfWeek men’s college coach of the year for the second time in three seasons. With the Illini season over Small returned as a tournament player and finished tie for 22nd in the PGA Tour Champions’ American Family Insurance Championship in Wisconsin. Steve Stricker, Small’s former college teammate at Illinois and the tournament host, won the title.

The 61^st Radix Cup matches between the Illinois PGA’s best players and the top amateurs in the Chicago District Golf Association will be played Thursday at Oak Park Country Club.   The competition consists of six better ball matches.  The IPGA leads the series 37-21-2 but the CDGA won last year’s match 10-8.

Ted Pecora, a Winnetka resident and Bob O’Link member, captured the 21^st CDGA Senior Amateur at Aurora Country Club, beating Terry Werner of Briarwood and Schererville, Ind., 5 & 3 in the final.

University of Illinois golfers Crystal Wang and Tommy Kuhl teamed up to win two matches and help the U.S. team to a 32-28 victory over an International squad in the 27th Palmer Cup matches at Laurel Valley, in Pennsylvania.

 

I had just begun a 10-hour drive back home to Sarasota when I got the word, via a phone call, of the “merger’’ between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the LIV Tour.  I was shocked by the bombshell announcement, but just because of the timing.  I expected some sort of a resolution to golf’s biggest controversy in years would come at some point – just not this soon.

As the day progressed I enjoyed the colorful responses coming via Twitter from players and fans on both sides of the issue and, upon arriving at home, I watched the slanted version of the news provided by The Golf Channel.

The long day of travel gave me plenty of time to ponder what had happened.  Since most of my golf pundit buddies had their say, I wanted mine, too.

First of all, this “merger’’ may be a step toward peace in the golf world – and that’s a good thing. It’s not a merger yet, though.  It might be called a truce, because it was at least a way for the three tours to eliminate the costly litigation that would have soon ensued.

There’s a long, long way to go before there’s anything that might bring golfing peace, however. Though there’s nearly six months left in 2023, the “merger’’ announcement said there won’t be any changes until 2024.

Said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan in a memo to his players: “Many details need to be worked through as we develop a definitive agreement, which will ultimately require PGA Tour Policy Board approval.  And I know you have many questions.’’

Dylan Wu, the young tour player out of Northwestern, had one:  “Tell me why Jay Monahan basically got a promotion to CEO of all golf in the world by going back on everything he said the past two years.  Wish golf worked like that.  I guess money always wins.’’

Monahan heard more complaints in a closed-door meeting with his players on Tuesday.  He was called a hypocrite and, I suspect, a lot worse. Monahan owned up to that in a Golf Channel interview on Wednesday.

He’s been a difficult guy for me to figure out.  Monahan did a great job bringing his tour through the pandemic. Golf was up and running long before any of the other professional sports.  As for dealing with the threat LIV presented, his actions were questionable at best.

As for LIV, I’ve been to two of its tournaments – Florida stops at Doral and Orlando.  The galleries at both were significant and enthusiastic. I’ve never been pro-LIV, and I’ve  never been anti-LIV. Journalistically I have, as always, strived to be fair.  I’ve treated LIV for what it is – a fledgling golf tour.

Still, whenever I wrote about it, there was always some negative reaction. In a few instances it evened boarded on hate mail.

I like LIV’s inclusion of team competition to supplement individual play at its events, though the team part needs some fine-tuning.  I have no problem with the 54-hole formats and shotgun starts.  Just because that’s not the way the PGA Tour does it doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

If you want to see top level golf in the Chicago area LIV is good opportunity.  The PGA Tour, after making the area an annual stop for decades, last staged one of its tournaments here in 2019.  (This year the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship is at Olympia Fields Aug. 17-20 – and nothing else is scheduled until the President’s Cup in 2026.  The LIV Tour stops at Rich Harvest Farms for the second straight year Sept. 22-24).

Hopefully the “merger’’ will reduce the number of times I hear terms like “sports-washing’’ and “blood money.’’ I like Dustin Johnson’s response when asked why he left the PGA Tour to join LIV.

“I make more money and work less,’’ said Johnson.  “Who wouldn’t?’’

A simple answer to a simple question. I can live with that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The “Longest Day in Golf’’ always produces plenty of drama, but this year’s – held on Monday – was particularly interesting. The ten 36-hole sectional qualifying tournaments held across the country sent four Chicago players to the 123rd U.S. Open, to be played June 15-18 at the Los Angeles Country Club.

Those who made it into the 156-man finals included Kevin Streelman, the PGA Tour veteran from Wheaton, and second-year PGA Tour member Nick Hardy, from Northbrook. Both missed the 36-hole in  the Memorial tournament, last week’s PGA Tour event, but got their games together at their U.S. Open qualifier – especially Hardy.  He posted a stunning 61 in his second 18 to get back to the Open.

Streelman, 44, stayed in Columbus to compete in the traditional sectional conducted at two nearby courses.  He finished in a tie for ninth place, and his 8-under-par 136 score was just good enough to earn a spot at Los Angeles Country Club.

The Columbus field is usually the biggest and strongest of the sectionals because of its proximity to the PGA Tour event.  Eleven Open spots were available for 103 competitors there.  Streelman tied for ninth with three others, among them amateur David Nyfjali, a member of the Northwestern golf team who also made it to the Open finals.

Making the Open is nothing new for Streelman.  He’s played in eight of them, with his best finish coming in a tie for 13^th at Oakmont, in Pennsylvania, in 2016.

The Springfield, Ohio, sectional was again a charm for Hardy.  His 71-61 showing put in him third place with his sectional having 75 players battling for five spots in the Open. Though Hardy played in the Memorial he opted to compete for a U.S. Open berth in a sectional on a course where he had been successful before.

Hardy, 27, had played in four U.S. Opens and had his best showing last year with a tie for 14^th at The Country Club, in Massachusetts.  He got into that one after being the first alternate in sectional play. Dylan Wu, a Northwestern alum who is also a PGA Tour member, was also a qualifier at Springfield after shooting 63-70 for a tie for fourth.

England’s Matt Fitzpatrick won last year’s U.S. Open. The U.S. Golf Association had nearly 10,000 entries for this year’s version and 84 were exempted into the starting field off past performances. Andy Pope, who qualified for five U.S. Opens and made the 36-hole cut in two of them, didn’t make it this time.  The former Glen Ellyn resident and Korn Ferry Tour regular lost out as the second alternate in a three-man playoff at Canoe Brook, in New Jersey. Pope, who won the Florida Open after dropping off the Korn Ferry circuit last year, had previously qualified via local and sectional qualifiers four times before coming up short on Monday.

The biggest contingent of Chicago-connected hopefuls was in Columbus where past Illinois Open champions Tee-K Kelly and Bryce Emory, Illinois alum Luke Guthrie and Northwestern alum and PGA Tour player David Lipsky all missed the cut.

Big news was also made off the course, at the John Deere Classic media preview for its 52^nd playing at TPC Deere Run in downstate Silvis.   John Deere and the PGA Tour announced that they have agreed to a three-year extension for John Deere to remain as title sponsor of the tourney.  Moline-based John Deere has been the title sponsor since 1998 and this year will mark its 25^th anniversary in that role.

“The John Deere Classic is a significant example of one of the PGA Tour’s most engaged communities coming together to achieve great things,’’ said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. “As title sponsor John Deere has gone above and beyond to help create an outstanding experience for our players and fans while making a lasting impact with local non-profits.’’

Since its founding in 1971 the tournament has raised over $159 million for local charities. This year’s event is July 6-9.

 

 

Luke Donald, a golfing legend from his days at Northwestern, was the No. 1 player in the world for 56 weeks back in 2011 and 2012. Then, after battling back problems, his game suffered and he even had trouble getting into some tournaments.

Now, though, Donald is Europe’s Ryder Cup captain. That’s made him a more active player again and it shows in his play. Last week he tied for 38^th in the PGA Tour’s Memorial tournament in Ohio, his best finish in 11 starts this season. That’s not spectacular, but he was near the top of the leaderboard midway through the event after surviving the 36-hole cut for the fifth time in his last six events.

“My putting, since switching to the claw (grip) has gotten significantly better,’’ said Donald, who made the switch at the Valero Texas Open in April. “My statistics weren’t very good, especially from short distance.  I didn’t feel I was hitting the ball on line.  Those things happen sometimes when you to get ( to age) 45.’’

Donald called the somewhat radical grip change “a pretty easy switch,’’ and said he felt comfortable after only an hour of practicing with it.

The increase in tournament play came about because of his duties preparing the European team for Sept. 29-Oct. 1 Ryder Cup in Italy. His presence helps promote the big team event around the golf world.

“I’ve played quite a lot this year on both sides of the pond,’’ said Donald, “and I’ll be crossing the pond another couple times throughout the summer.  It’s a lot of travel, a lot of play, but I feel like me being at the courses, I can judge how the guys are playing by looking rather than watching on TV.  I can communicate with the players as well.  That’s important.’’

The Memorial wasn’t encouraging for just Donald.  A younger Northwestern alum, David Lipsky, was tied for the lead after 54 holes before finishing in a tie for 12^th. Donald dropped down after shooting 76-76 on the weekend.  Lipsky blew up with a final round 77 but still cashed $410,000.

Lipsky, 34, attended the same California high school as up-and-coming hotshot Collin Morikawa. Lipsky, though, hasn’t won yet on the PGA Tour after 12 seasons as a pro.

“I’ve won at every stage of the game professionally, but I haven’t broken through on the PGA Tour,’’ said Lipsky.  “Hopefully that’s coming soon.  I know I can win.  I can close out tournaments.  I’m always excited to be in the hunt.’’

The Big Ten champion for Northwestern in 2010, Lipsky finished six strokes behind champion Victor Hovland at the Memorial, one of the circuit’s best-paying events.  Hovland won $3.6 million.

Hovland and Lipsky both stayed in the Columbus area for Monday’s 36-hole U.S. Open sectional qualifier, one of 10 such events held around the country in what has become known as “The Longest Day in Golf.’’

With 36 holes of competition followed by the likelihood of playoffs the field for the 123^rd Open proper, coming June 15-18 at Los Angeles Country Club, won’t be known until early Tuesday.   Hovland, already qualified for the Open, will caddie for Zach Bauchou.  They were college teammates at Okahoma State.

Lipsky is part of a four-man Chicago contingent in the 103-player sectional which offered 11 spots in the Open proper.  PGA Tour veteran Kevin Streelman and former Illinois Open champions Tee-K Kelly and Bryce Emory also competed there.

HERE AND THERE:  Caitlin Clark, the star of Iowa’s NCAA runner-up women’s basketball team, will play in the John Deere Classic pro-am on July 5 as part of a team anchored by Zach Johnson, the U.S. Ryder Cup champion.

The 21^st Chicago District Golf Association Senior Amateur runs through Thursday at Aurora Country Club with 77 players in the 55-and-over age group in Monday’s stroke play determining the survivors for match play.

The Illinois PGA was a 3-2 winner over the CDGA in last week’s 33^rd Thompson Cup matches for senior players at Chicago’s Ridge Country Club.

The Western Golf Association has established a partnership with Northbrook’s Swag Golf. Swag will become the official putter and headcover of the WGA and Evans Scholars Foundation.

 

 

 

The high drama at Sunday’s Charles Schwab Challenge on the PGA Tour centered on the eventual winner, Emiliano Grillo, and Adam Schenk, the loser in a two-hole playoff to Grillo in extra holes.  David Cooke, a two-time Illinois Open champion from Bolingbrook, was part of the drama, too. He has been Schenk’s caddie – but not last week.

“This was my first week with Brett (Swedberg),’’ Schenk said afterwards.  “We’re more or less doing a bag share towards the end of the year.  This was our first week with Brett, but David and I put in a lot of work , too.  I’m happy for everyone.  David is caddying for me next week at the Memorial.’’

Cooke was on Schenk’s bag when Talor Moore edged him in another tense tournament at the Valspar Championship in Florida in March. Cooke won the Illinois Open as an amateur in 2015 at Royal Melbourne, in Long Grove, and took the title again in 2018 at The Glen Club, beating current PGA Tour player Nick Hardy by four shots.

Hardy, who became a winner on the PGA Tour at New Orleans in April, tied for 48^th in the Schwab event.  It was played for the last time on the historic Colonial Country Club course in Texas. That layout will be torn up this week for a renovation but is to host the tournament again in 2024.

Cooke made a brief attempt to turn pro after his second Illinois Open win but decided to switch to caddying and was a regular with Schwenk, who is from Vincennes, Ind., and was a teammate of Cooke’s when both were freshmen at Purdue.  Cooke finished his collegiate career at North Carolina State.

The Schwab Challenge was also a big week for Kevin Streelman, the PGA Tour veteran from Wheaton. Though finishing bogey-bogey he finished in a tie for ninth – his best finish of the 2022-23 season.

ILLINI COACH CAN STILL PLAY:  Mike Small, the University of Illinois’ highly-successful men’s coach for the past 23 seasons, took a day off from preparing his team for this week’s NCAA finals to play in a qualifying round for the U.S. Senior Open at Flossmoor Country Club.

He wound up the co-medalist at Flossmoor, shooting a 1-under-par 71, then got back to getting one of his best teams ready for its 14^th NCAA appearance in the last 15 years. The Illini did just fine, advancing through the 72-hole stroke play in third place to qualify for the two-day match play portion of the tournament that will determine the team champion.

Quarterfinals and semifinals are Tuesday  with the championship match on Wednesday (MAY 31).

While Small’s first priority is coaching the Illini, he has continued to be a competitive player.  He’s won 13 Illinois PGA Championships and four Illinois Opens.  His solid play at Flossmoor put him in his third U.S. Senior Open, on tap for June 29 to  July 2 at SentryWorld in Wisconsin. Small previously qualified for the Senior Open in 2016 and 2017.

CHITWOOD NAMED:  Joie Chitwood has been named executive director of the 2026 President’s Cup matches, to be played at Medinah Country Club.

Chitwood is a former Arnold Palmer Invitational director and longtime motorsports executive. The President’s Cup is a biannual team competition between the U.S. and an International squad. The U.S. has dominated the event, winning the most recent staging at Quail Hollow in North Carolina last year.

HERE AND THERE: TPC Deere Run, in downstate Silvis, is hosting a big tournament event even before the John Deere Classic returns in July.  The Advocates Professional Golf Association is conducting a 36-hole professional tournament Monday and Tuesday (MAY 29-30) with the winner getting $7,500 from a $25,000 purse. The APGA was formed in 2010 to bring greater diversity to golf.

Groundbreaking for the Canal Shores course in Evanston will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday (JUNE 1). The 100-year old public course is headed for a major renovation.

Cantigny Golf, in Wheaton, is waiving its base caddie fee of $20 throughout June in an effort to encourage customers to try caddies. The caddies will still receive the $20 fee directly from Cantigny.

Chad Proehl, teaching pro at Sugar Creek in Villa Park, finished 77th in the KitchenAid Senior Players Championship on Sunday.  It was the first tournament played at the PGA’s new headquarters in Frisco, TX. and Proehl was on the leaderboard in the club professional category.

Roy Biancalana, who also earned a spot in the Senior Players Championship, will lead the Illinois PGA team into the 33^rd Thompson Cup matches at Chicago’s Ridge Country Club  on Thursday (JUNE 1).  It matches senior teams from the IPGA and Chicago District Golf Association.

Crystal Wang, a fifth-year senior on the Illinois women’s team, was named a first-team All-American by the Women’s Golf Coaches Assn.  Wang is the first Illini player so honored since her coach, Renee Sloan (formerly Heiken), was picked in 1993.

 

 

Len Ziehm is co-host of the Golfers on Golf Radio show that starts at 10 a.m.  on Saturdays at WNDZ (750-AM). His writings are available at www.lenziehmongolf.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It may seem weird, but golf’s second major championship of the year ended Sunday with Brooks Koepka’s victory in the PGA Championship after the third of the four majors was already – at least technically – well underway.

The 123rd U.S. Open proper doesn’t begin its 72-hole run until June 15-18 but that tournament annually draws a huge entry.  This year’s drew 9,693 players, and that number has to be whittled to 156 for the 72-hole finals at Los Angeles Country Club.

The elimination process started on April 17 with 109 local qualifiers held all around the U.S. as well as in Canada, Japan and England. Entering this week only one of those 18-hole sessions remained – on Monday (MAY 22) in Palmer, Alaska.  Next up are 13 sectionals, which send survivors directly to the U.S. Open.  Most will be held on June 5.

While Chicago again will be without a sectional qualifier, the Chicago District Golf Association conducted three locals and they produced some good results for local players.

In the first, at Cantigny in Wheaton, former Northern Illinois University star and 2020 Illinois Open champion Bryce Emory of Aurora was the medalist with a 68, one shot better than Park Ridge’s Tony Albano. They were among the five who advanced to sectional play and Brian Carroll, the reigning Illinois PGA player-of-the-year from The Hawk Country Club in St. Charles, was first alternate among the 84 starters.

The second was at Illini Country Club in Springfield, and the red hot University of Illinois men’s team had two of the five players to advance.  Sophomore Jackson Buchanan, the medalist with a 64, and Adrien Dumont de Chassart have a U.S. Open sectional coming up right after their college season ends with this week’s NCAA Championship in Arizona.

Luke Guthrie, an Illinois alum who has spent time on the pro tours, also was among those advancing and Wheaton’s Tee-K Kelly, a two-time Illinois State Amateur champion and 2021 Illinois Open winner, was first alternate.

The third local, at Stonewall Orchard in Grayslake, produced the best score – a 9-under-par 63 by Hinsdale’s Mac McClear, last year’s Illinois State Amateur champion and this year’ co-medalist in the Big Ten tournament while playing for Iowa.  It was also a bonanza for Northwestern, with current Wildcats James Imai and David Nyfjall advancing. Others  making it from Stonewall were Spring Grove’s Jordan Hahn and Wilmette’s Daniel Tanaka.

Some area players opted for locals outside the area.  Glen Ellyn’s Andy Pope, a long-time Korn Ferry Tour player, advanced in Palm City, FL. Pope, no longer a tour player, won the Florida Open last year and has qualified for five U.S. Opens, making the cut in two of them.

Illinois alums Bryan Baumgarten and Varun Chopra qualified in South Bend and Lexington, FL., respectively.

Only 52 players, among them reigning John Deere Classic champion J.T. Poston,  were given exemptions into the final field by the U.S. Golf Association.  The locals cut those still eligible for a spot in Los Angeles to 530 for sectional play.

ILLINI ON THE SPOT: Coach Mike Small has a solid contender for the NCAA title when the finals begin a five-day run on Friday (MAY 26). The Illini, second to Georgia in last week’s regional play in Michigan, have been as high as No. 2 in the collegiate polls.

In addition to Buchanan and Dumont De Chassart, the Illini could have had a third survivor of the U.S. Open local qualifiers. Tommy Kuhl shot 62 at Illini Country Club before realizing he had improved his lies multiple times on aerated greens. That was against the rules and led to his withdrawal.

Matthis Besard and Piercen Hunt round out the squad that Small will take to the NCAA finals. He’s particularly high on Dumont DeChassart’s future in the game.

“He has another gear, and that’s something he wants to call upon more often,’’ said Small.  “He’ll be a first-team All-American.’’

Fifth-year seniors Dumont DeChassart and Kuhl have provided the leadership all season but it’s been a team effort for the Illini.

“Matthis, Jackson and Piercen have been a huge part of the last month of the season,’’ said Small.  “They’ve all had flashes of real good play.  If we can sustain that, then we’ve got something special.’’

HERE AND THERE:  The PGA Championship was tough on the five Illinois-connected players in the field. Only Illini alums Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry survived the 36-hole cut.  Detry, Luke Donald, Nick Hardy, Kevin Streelman and Dylan Wu are in the field for this week’s PGA Tour stop, the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas.

John Ramsey, of Glenview, defeated Chadd Slutzky, of Deer Park, in 19 holes in last week’s battle for the Chicago District Mid-Amateur title at Merit Club, in Libertyville. Then they boarded a plane together to compete as a team in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Kiawah Island, S.C. It ends on Wednesday (MAY 24).

John Schlaman is again the full-time director of golf at Eagle Ridge Resort, in Galena.