BELLEAIR, FL. – Elizabeth Szokol, the only player on the Ladies PGA Tour with Chicago area roots, announced her retirement on the same day that Lauryn Nguyen, the most recent  Northwestern star, concluded her debut on the premier women’s circuit.

Both missed the 36-hole cut on Friday  in The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican — the official name of the last regular tournament of the season that’s hosted by legendary player Annika Sorenstam.

Szokol helped New Trier win the Illinois high school title in 2010 and won the  Illinois State Women’s Amateur in 2012 while growing up in Winnetka. She  played two seasons at Northwestern before finishing her college career at Virginia. A member at the Pelican Country Club, she wanted to wrap up her LPGA career on her home course.

“It’s crazy.  It’s hard to believe it’s been nine years playing (the LPGA circuit),’’ said Szokol, who teamed with Cheyenne Knight to earn her lone LPGA win at the Dow Great Lakes Invitational in Michigan in 2023.  “I’ve had a lot of lingering injuries and the travel got a bit old for me.  I just kind of missed being home.’’

Szokol was a player director on the LPGA board and ended her duties last week as well.

“I loved doing it,’’ she said. “It was amazing the last three years, just to see how the Tour has progressed and how big our purses have gotten. The LPGA has so far to go, and we’re on the right path. I was just happy to be a little part of it.’’

Szokol and Nguyen both posted 1-over-par 71s in the first round of The Annika – a score that matched the ones turned in by three-time tournament winner Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson, a long-time LPGA mainstay.

Nguyen helped Northwestern win  this year’s  NCAA women’s  championship and turned pro after graduating from NU. She found the transition to the sport’s next level wasn’t easy.

“It was really a big adjustment. Financially I had to grab everything out of my pocket,’’ she said.  “I didn’t have a place to stay or practice.’’

That problem was at least temporarily solved when she was given a sponsor’s exemption to The Annika.  Tournament organizers helped her line up lodging with some Pelican members and the Pelican was a great place to practice for the last month.  Nguyen  also found some sponsors, too.

“Everything I needed got taken care of, and more,’’ said Nguyen, who is now looking for a home in the area.

Nguyen gained experience in the pro-am, playing nine-holes with both Caitlin Clark, the basketball star who spurred attendance at the golf event, and Korda. The tournament invited Nguyen’s coaches and teammates at Northwestern to come to the tournament and that contingent was joined by her family, from Seattle, Wash., for the tournament rounds.

Szokol also had a big contingent supporting her in her last event.  She’s been a Tampa resident the last seven years and her husband, many members of their extended family and friends were on hand.  Justin Sheehan, her swing coach since 2019, is the director of golf at the Pelican.

Nguyen also called this year’s tournament “kind of crazy’’ but for different reasons.

“You walk into the locker room and Nelly’s locker is two doors down.   You see the people on the range.  It’s really cool being inside the ropes.  I’m still learning from them, so it’s really a cool opportunity I was given. It’s really hard to put into words.  What an event to make your debut at, and having it under Annika’s name is so, so special.’’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The legendary Patty Berg, who played out of St. Andrew’s in West Chicago, was among the original members of the Ladies PGA Tour was formed in 1950.  There have been very few LPGA players from the Chicago area since then.

Winnetka’s Elizabeth Szokol has been the only one in recent years but this week – with the circuit playing its next-to-the-last event of the 2025 season on Szokol’s home course – there could be a second player with Chicago connection arriving soon.

Lauryn Nguyen, who helped Northwestern to the NCAA championship in 2024, has been given a exemption into The Annika driven by Gainbridge at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, FL.  It’ll be played Nov.  13-16.

Annika Sorenstam, the tournament host, didn’t just invite Nguyen, either.  She invited the Northwestern teams of the last two years to cheer Nguyen on.

A couple other promising young players received sponsor exemptions along with Nguyen, too – Anne-Sterre den Dunnen, who will represent the Wake Forest team that won The Annika Intercollegiate in September, and Kai Trump, an 18-year old high school senior from Florida who has verbally committed to play college golf at the University of Miami.  She is the granddaughter of President Donald Trump.

This will be a special week for the premier women’s circuit in golf.  The Pelican will be celebrating its centennial and the LPGA is wrapping up its 75^th anniversary season.  It concludes with the CME Group Tour Championship a week later in Naples, FL.

Nguyen, who grew up in the Seattle area, will make her LPGA debut but before she hits her first official tee shot she’ll play with popular basketball star Caitlin Clark in Wednesday’s pro-am. Clark played in the pro-am last year drew a big following.

“This is amazing that I’ll be able to start my professional career in a pro-am with Caitlin in a tournament named in  honor of Annika,’’ said Wynne.  “I’m so excited.’’

Sorenstam and Clark have been big boosters for women’s sports and Nguyen has done the same.  She was a two-time All-American at Northwestern and had the lowest stroke average in program history – 72.4 over four years.  She received her invite to The Annika in part because of her play on the course but also for her philanthropic initiatives.  She hosts the Nguyen Junior Amateur in  Seattle and manages the Duc Foundation – a non-profit organization that aims to give scholarships to youngsters in need.

Nguyen’s last college event was the NCAA Championship victory, when coach Emily Fletcher’s Wildcats beat Stanford in the title match.

“That was magical, a real cool thing,’’ said Nguyen. “A lot of people were rooting for us as the underdog story, and we took advantage of the opportunity to make history.’’

Since then she played in the Arnold Palmer Cup and three tournaments in a developmental tour organized by Sorenstam, the LPGA’s leading career money leader with over $22 million in her 15-year Hall of Fame career.

Nguyen hopes to work her way onto the LPGA circuit.  She survived the first stage of LPGA qualifying but not the second.  That means she’ll probably play primarily on the Epson Tour in 2026.

She’ll get a good taste of the LPGA at The Pelican, however.  It’s one of the up-and-coming events with a prize fund upgraded to $3.25 million this year. Nelly Korda has won the tournament in three of the last four years and the field will be strong because of its position on the schedule as well as its $11 million purse.  The biggest winner’s prize in women’s golf — $4 million – will be on the line in that tournament.

“As our last event before the Tour Championship you’re either trying to make your way to that event or trying to keep your job – your LPGA Tour card for the following year,’’ said Szokol, who has a win on the circuit and has made it to the CME event in the past.  “Everyone wants to be there and playing well, so it brings in the best field.’’

 

 

It was a rare team sweep in the fourth version of the LIV/Chicago tourney Sunday at Bolingbrook Golf Club. Dean Burmester won the individual title and his Stinger unit won the team crown – and both came in one-hole sudden death playoffs.

Burmester, whose only previous LIV win was at Miami last year, watched two golfers from Spain – Chicago defending champion Jon Rahm and LIV rookie Josele Ballester —  miss birdie putts from 15 and 12 feet in the playoff before he buried his from seven feet to be the winner.

The team playoff involved two-man teams from the Stinger and Torque units. Though Burmester was a member of the four-man Stingers, he didn’t participate in the team playoff. Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace made birdies to eliminate the Torque unit of captain Joaquin Niemann and Carlos Ortiz.

Stinger is an all-South African team, and there were some sidelights to their big week.  LIV recently announced that it will have its first tournament in South Africa next March, and the players can’t wait.

“We’re all very excited, knowing we’re going to play in front of our people,’’ said captain Louis Oosthuizen, who decided the team members and their families would stay together in one home this week.  That hasn’t been the norm in past years, but it worked big-time.

Burmester picked up $4 million for his individual title while Rahm and Ballester earned $1,875,000. The Stinger unit picked up $3 million for the team win. Stinger GC had gone 31 tournaments without a team victory until Sunday.

The Saudi-back LIV circuit introduced a fresh – and somewhat controversial — approach to professional golf after recruiting some stars off the PGA Tour four years ago. That new look – a 14-tournament season spread over five continents with big purses and team competition figuring in — seems to be working.  The circuit – as well as LIV/Chicago – has been growing in popularity and Saturday’s crowd at Bolingbrook was easily the biggest in the four years the tourney was played here.

Burmester had a two-stroke lead entering the final round, but it didn’t last long.  He made bogeys on the first three holes on Sunday.  Ballester, at 21 one of LIV’s youngest players, and Rahm were always hovering around the lead and Harold Varner was among the others joining the battle while posting a 65 – the low round of the day.

“I was down on myself,’’ said Burmester. “After those three bogeys in a row I was like fudge.  I don’t know where I’m going.  My head says nowhere, but I kept at it.’’

The three in the playoff finished regulation play at 9-under-par 213.  Rahm and Ballester shot 69 in the third round and Burmester had 71.

“This has been emotional,’’ said Burmester.  “I’ve been going through a rough time, some personal stuff, and I’ve been grinding.  I think about my wife and kids back home, and I’m just trying to do the best I can for them. My wife finished an ultra marathon when we played in West Virginia and I was on my phone watching her.  That gave me inspiration.’’

Rahm gained some inspiration for next week’s tournament, the LIV Individual Championship at the Club at Chatham Hills in Indianapolis.  He won that honor last year but has no wins this season.  Still, he is No. 2 behind Chile’s Niemann, a five-time winner, in the season-long point race.

His good showing at Bolingbrook, coupled with Niemann finishing tied for 17^th, enabled Rahm to gain ground on Niemann and keep his hopes of repeating as the season individual champion alive.

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe it was the weather – 91 degrees with winds gusting to 22 miles per hour. Maybe it was the gallery. Though no attendance figures were given it was most certainly the largest of the 14 rounds played by the LIV Tour in Chicago over the past four years.

Whatever the reason, the leaderboard at LIV/Chicago changed quickly, and dramatically, in Round 2 on Saturday. Two long-time stars, Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson, held the first-round lead and Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm were right behind them.

Those five, all among the biggest names in golf, were barely evident on the leaderboard after nine holes in the second round. In that short time the hardly household names in the spotlight were Dean Burmester of South Africa, Josele Ballester of Spain and Richard Bland of England.

Burmester had a win on the LIV circuit last year.  Ballester, at 21, is one of the circuit’s youngest player.  He didn’t play in the first eight tournaments of the season and didn’t break par in the next three after that. Bland, 48, is one of LIV’s oldest players and has been hanging on for three years.

They were the stars of Round 2.  Burmester shot 65 to claim the 36-hole lead at 9-under-par 133. Ballester carded a 66 and is at 7-under 135. Brand hung tough with them until a late double bogey dropped in him into a tie for seventh place.

“Playing with Phil (Mickelson) for two days in a row was special,’’ said Burmester.  “The crowds are so positive when Phil is around, and the Chicago crowd certainly turned out today. When you walk on the first tee you always get those butterflies, but it felt special today.’’

Burmester, eighth in the point standing to decide LIV’s season-long individual champion, hasn’t ruled himself out of that coveted prize, which will be determined after next week’s tournament at the Club at Chatham Hills in Indianapolis.

When Brand faltered Rahm, the defending champion of LIV/Chicago, climbed into a tie with Ballester and improved his chances to both win on Sunday and repeat as the LIV Individual season champion.  He’s still winless for this season but remains in second place in the standings and closing the gap on five-time winner Joaquin Niemann of Chile.

Niemann is down in a tie for 35^th place and may have trouble hanging on to his season-long lead through Sunday’s final round at Bolingbrook Golf Club and next week’s wrapup to LIV’s Individual point race in Indianapolis.

Rahm got his game going with a 4-iron second shot at the 12^th hole that set up an eagle.

“That was about as good as I can hit a golf shot,’’ he said, “and making that eagle is what changed the momentum for the rest of the round. The goal is to win, and by winning I’ll get the most amount of points I can possibly get, and then I’ll need a little luck on my side that Joaquin doesn’t have a good week.’’

Ballester gets the honor of playing in the same threesome with Burmester and Rahm in Sunday’s final round. A “dumb’’ bogey detracted from Ballester’s round on Saturday.  It came at the 18^th hole.

“I hit a 410-yard drive,’’ he said.  “I was about 20 yards from the green, and hit four shots from there.  I was honestly not expecting to leave that hole with a bogey after the drive that I hit.’’

Should Ballester win on Sunday he’ll be the youngest player to win a LIV tournament.

“I’d think of it like the accomplishment of starting my professional career in not the best way, and in two months turning it around and winning in fashion – especially with Jon in the final pairing and with many great players,’’ said Ballester.

Ballester, like Rahm, is from Spain. He turned pro after completing his college studies at Arizona State.  Though that was Mickelson’s alma mater Garcia,  as captain of the Fireballs, picked him to join his team. The Fireballs are in a three-way tie for the lead in the LIV/Chicago team competition with Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers and Louis Oosthuizen’s Stinger.

 

 

 

 

 

For the moment, at least, there’s some suspense on who will emerge as the individual champion on the LIV Golf Tour. With five wins in the first 11 tournaments Chile’s Joaquin Niemann would seem a shoo-in for the season-long  honor with just this week’s LIV/Chicago event at Bolingbrook Golf Club and next week’s event in Indianapolis remaining.

Niemann had a big lead on second place Jon Rahm, the defending champion, entering the Bolingbrook stop, but Niemann showed his vulnerability in a big way in Friday’s first round.

Playing with Rahm, he made a triple bogey seven on the eighth hole and stumbled in with a 3-over-par 74.  So,  Niemann goes into Saturday’s second round in a tie for 45^th place.  He beat only seven in the 54-man field in the first round.

Neither Rahm nor Niemann were doing much talking Friday. Of more immediate significance was how LIV’s biggest name stars performed.

Spain’s Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson shot 4-under-par 67s to take the lead after the first 18 holes and six players, most notably Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Rahm, were just one stroke behind. (Also posting 68s were Dean Burmester and Tyrrell Hatton).

Johnson was the clearly dominant player in 2022, when the Saudi-backed circuit made its debut. His game tailed off after that, however, and the American star finished dead last in LIV’s previous tournament in the United Kingdom two weeks ago.

“In the UK I wasn’t nearly as bad as my score,’’ insisted Johnson. “I feel I’m always close to getting my game back.  It just takes a couple of shots here and there to get me going again.’’

He got them on Friday, and it also didn’t hurt that his brother, Austin, was back as his caddie.  Austin had been missing in action for a while, and Dustin admitted “I’d prefer having AJ on my bag.’’

And then there was Mickelson who, with Johnson, were the key signees for LIV when they made controversial decisions to break from the PGA Tour.  Mickelson hasn’t won on the LIV circuit yet but could have his best finish with two strong rounds this weekend. He strung four birdies in a row, had five in his first 16 holes and was tied for the lead briefly on Friday.

“I just need to finish rounds off better,’’ said Mickelson.  “I’m trying to get back to the top 10 (on the LIV standings).  I want to finish this year off right.  At 55 that’d be a good accomplishment against competition like this.  It would mean a lot to me.’’

Garcia has been searching for putting help, and he brought back one of his old blades for this week.  While it worked Friday, it may not stay in his bag for long.

“I have a new one coming in the next couple weeks, and I’m excited about it,’’ said Garcia. “We’re always searching for things to help us improve.’’

Meanwhile, Rahm and DeChambeau – second and third in the battle for the season individual honors – put themselves in position to challenge Niemann in the final 10 days of the season.

“Joaco (Niemann) has played pretty bad golf before in the first round and come back and almost won tournaments,’’ said DeChambeau.  “He’s incredible out here.  He’ll do fine the next couple days.’’

In the team competition captain Louis Oosthuizen’s Stingers were 6-under par and one shot ahead of Garcia’s Fireballs.  DeChambeau’s Crushers and Johnson’s 4Aces were tied for third, three strokes behind the Stingers.

 

 

 

Mike Small, the University of Illinois coach who has won 14 Illinois PGA titles, was bidding for a recording tying fifth Illinois Open crown on Friday.  He had an uncharacteristically bad day at Kemper Lakes in Kildeer and didn’t get it,  but the day wasn’t a complete downer.

In July one of Small’s former Illini players, Brian Campbell, won the John Deere Classic – Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event.  Then, on Wednesday, another Small pupil – Michael Feagles – captured the 76^th Illinois Open,  the state’s biggest event for Illinois golfers.

Feagles, who lives in Arizona, took advantage of a recent rule change by the Illinois PGA that allowed non-residents of the state to play in the Illinois Open as long as they had some connection to the state. Feagles, thanks to going to college in Champaign, was the first non-Illinois resident to win the tournament.

“It was a little surreal,’’ he said.  “The way I played this week I didn’t think I would win.  I struggled the whole week, but now it’s great to be on the list of champions with the legendary Mike Small.’’

Feagles was paired with Dylan Meyer, a former Illini teammate from Indiana, and they teed off in the twosome immediately behind Small.

“I came to Illinois when I was an 18-year old wide-eyed kid,’’ said Feagles.  “The coach has been a role model to me, like a second father.  After I finished my round he told me to `get it done’ if I was in a playoff.  And he did it in a very coach-like fashion.’’

A three-hole playoff for the title was a definite possibility after Feagles finished with a 69 for a 54-hole score of 1-under-par 215 and Butler National head professional Andy Svoboda, Medinah teaching pro Travis Johns and 36-hole leader Brian Ohr were still on the course with a chance to win.

“The worst thing was not being able to control anything,’’ said Feagles.  “Golfers are all control freaks.’’

Svoboda finished at even par to finish solo second and was the low pro for the second straight year.  Ohr came in with bogeys at Nos. 14, 17 and 18 to lose the lead and wound up in a tie for third with Tommy Kuhl, another Illinois alum who shot a 66 – the day’s low round.  Glen Ellyn’s Grant Roscich, in a tie for fifth with Johns, was low amateur.

Pierce Grieve, who won last year’s Illinois State Amateur and this year’s Chicago District Amateur, also made a run at the title by shooting a 67. Preparing for the U.S. Amateur, Grieve climbed into a tie for 10th in his first Illinois Open appearances.

Feagles’ Illini background created a comfort zone for him.  He won and then lost his playing privileges on the Korn Ferry Tour after his Illini days were over.  He also didn’t survive a session of PGA qualifying school and spent the last two years grabbing tournaments where he could.

“Last year I won a lot.  I learned how to win, and that’s huge,’’ he said.  Among his wins were the Arizona and Nevada state opens.

“I have no (tour) status, as I’ve had in the past,’’ he said.  “I learned how to win in college, but you have to also learn how to win at the next level. Now I’ll continue to go to Q-School and hope to keep my head on straight, catch lightning in a bottle and get to the PGA Tour.’’

Getting paired with Meyer was a big help in Wednesday’s pressure-packed situation.

“Playing with Dylan reminded me of college golf, where pars were very valuable,’’ said Feagles.  “Pro golf has become so birdie-crazy.  Dylan and I had a blast.  We were teammates for two years and played together on great teams at Illinois.’’

Meyer, who lost an Illinois Open title to Vince India in in a playoff two years ago, tied for 13^th this time. At one point in the tournament there was an Illinois alum in five consecutive pairings.

 

 

PALM HARBOUR, FL. — The PGA Tour’s four-tournament Florida Swing concluded Sunday with Norway’s Viktor Hovland capturing the Valspar Championship on Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in a duel with Justin Thomas.

Ten players were within a shot of the lead entering the last nine holes, but only Hovland and Thomas – two of the PGA Tour’s most popular players who have dealt with hard times lately  — were in the hunt with three holes to go.

Thomas hasn’t won a tournament in over three years but had a three-shot lead on Sunday with three holes to go.  Hovland’s world ranking had slipped from No. 3 to No. 19 – his worst ever—and he had missed the cut in his last three tournaments. But, he birdied Nos. 16 and 17 in Sunday’s climax and struggled to a bogey on the last hole that was still good enough to win.

“It’s unbelievable to see that I can still win,’’ said Hovland, who last won at the 2023 Tour Championship.  “I had played poorly. When that happens there’s a lot of insecurity and doubts.  I had no confidence. I was in a rut for a year and a half, but I think I’m stronger now because of it.’’

Thomas showed flashes of his old, sharp form in recent weeks, but not when the title was on the line on Sunday.

“I was having a blast,’’ he said.  “I had plenty of chances to win this season, but nothing like this one.  He birdied 16 and 17, but I did make it a lot easier on him.’’

Anyway, the Valspar concluded the PGA Tour’s four-event Florida Swing. With only two stops in Texas remaining before the Masters, the Florida Swing usually is a good indicator of who might be contenders for golf’s first major championship of 2025. The Swing events are on challenging courses – the Champions Course at PGA National, Bay Hill, TPC Sawgrass and this week’s stop, Copperhead.

The latter has its feared Snake Pit – one of the toughest three-hole finishing stretches in golf. Hovland played them well, though he only needed a bogey on the final hole to win.  Thomas didn’t.  So, it’s tough to judge how ready either are for the Masters. Hovland used a Sunday 67 to finish his 11-under-par 273 for the 72 holes.  Thomas shot 66 and was one stroke back.

When Valspar  week started the main focus on that issue was Xander Schauffele, winner of the last two major titles in 2024.  His play on Copperhead didn’t exactly rule him out of winning a third major in a row April 10-13 at Georgia’s Augusta National.

Schauffele suffered a rib injury after completing his outstanding 2025 season with victories in the PGA Championship and the British Open.  After undergoing an MRI Schauffele was diagnosed with an intercoastal strain and a small cartilage tear.

He tied for 30^th in the The Sentry, an Hawaiian event that opened the PGA Tour season, and that sub-par showing led to a break from tournament golf until the Arnold Palmer Invitational, second stop on the Florida Swing in Orlando. He also played in The Players Championship before deciding at the last minute to make the Valspar his third tournament in a row.

Like Schauffele, Hovland was a late entry in the Valspar and wasn’t sure he’d tee off until Tuesday of tournament week.

“I just needed to get more reps,’’ Schauffele said. “Competition golf isn’t the same  as trying to play golf at home. I’m determined to play better. A high bar was set after last year  and – coming off that season – I expected a lot of myself.’’

He hasn’t met his expectations after the six-week layoff but his 5-under-par showing at Copperhead ended with a 66 on that pulled him in a tie for 12th.

“The Masters is demanding, and I knew this would be hard,’’ he said.  “I feel like I’m cramming for a test when I’m out there. I feel like a kid again. I want to hit a million golf balls every night, but I’ve got to be smart about it.’’