Pro-ams are an important part of the BMW Championship

The biggest reason the top golfers on the PGA Tour will be at Conway Farms in Lake Forest this week isn’t because of the $8 million in prize money that’ll be on the line. The Western Golf Assn. conducts its BMW Championship to raise money for its Evans Scholars Foundation.

While the 72-hole tournament doesn’t start until Thursday, the preliminary events are just as important to the Foundation. The top players will be participating in two pro-ams that are big fund-raisers. Amateurs’ entry fees go to the Scholarship fund, which has sent over 9,000 caddies to college since legendary amateur golfer Chick Evans created the Foundation in 1930.

First event of BMW Championship Week will be the CDW (Computer Discount Warehouse) Pro-Am, which tees off shotgun style at 12:30 p.m. on Monday after informal practice rounds provide players their first look at a course about to host its first PGA Tour event. Most of the pros participating will be ranked from Nos. 53-70 in the FedEx Cup point standings. Most of the top 52 will be in the bigger, day-long Gardner Heidrick Pro-Am on Wednesday, the day before the 72-hole tournament tees off.

Proceeds from the week’s festivities will help provide full tuition and housing scholarships for 240 Evans Scholars this year. An Evans Scholarship is valued at more than $70,000 over four years, so the WGA is facing an ongoing financial challenge.

While caddies remain a big part of the game, golf has changed over the years and the WGA has changed with it.

“Back in the day caddie programs were thriving,’’ said John Kaczkowski, president and chief executive officer of the WGA. “Then the influx of golf carts caused caddie programs to diminish.’’

Still, the WGA is planning to increase its Scholars to 920 annually. It recently revived a partnership agreement with a 20th university, Notre Dame, and initiated a program designed to introduce girls from disadvantaged families to the benefits of caddying.

“We endorse caddies. We think caddie programs are still important to the game of golf,’’ said Kaczkowski, and plenty of golf clubs – most of them private — agree.

It remains a big deal to get an Evans Scholarship, and funding them comes from a variety of sources, starting with the WGA’s 383 members clubs across the country. More than 26,000 of those clubs’ members contribute money to the Evans Scholars Par Club. With the WGA having offices in the Chicago suburbs of both Golf and Oak Brook, it’s not surprising that 70 of the WGA’s member clubs and one-third of its Par Club members are from the Chicago area. More than $11 million is raised annually from the donations of Par Club members, including Evans Scholars Alumni.

Jeff Harrison, the WGA’s vice president-education, said 715 students applied for Evans Scholarships last year. Applicants are judged on caddie record, academic record, financial need, character and leadership. They must put in at least two years – usually it’s at least four – as a caddie and hold above a B average in college preparatory classes in high school.

Financial need for the applicants varies, but Harrison said the average family income of the 2013 recipients was $60,000. Applications are screened and finalists attend one of five selection meetings, held from November through March, where they are interviewed by WGA directors, Evans Scholars alumni, golf officials and special guests. The location of these meetings varies, and over 100 are in the selection audience at some of them. The audience votes, and the applicants are informed of the results via mail within a week after their interview session. Getting selected is a cause for joyous celebration.

The WGA has Scholarship House facilities at 14 universities and partnerships with six other schools. Among them is a special one at Northwestern, which hosted the WGA’s new Caddie Academy this summer. Twelve high school girls from disadvantaged families lived at the Evans Scholars house on the NU campus while working as caddies at six North Shore clubs.

Four Evans Scholars supervised the six-week program, taking the girls to the clubs Tuesday-Sunday and conducting mentoring sessions at night. On Mondays the girls had supervised outings or field trips.

“The biggest obstacle to caddying is geography,’’ said Kaczkowski. “If you grow up where there’s no caddie programs, how will you caddie? We want to remove geography from the equation.’’

ILLINOIS WOMEN’S OPEN: Fifth Michigan golfer in six years wins the title

There were possibilities for Chicago golfers to make significant history in Friday’s final round of the 19th Illinois Women’s Open at Mistwood in Romeoville.

Berwyn’s Nicole Jeray tried to become the first professional to win event three times. Burr Ridge’s Samantha Postillion hoped to give her family a fourth IWO titles, her mother Kerry having won three times in the 1990s.

Well, Postillion led for most of the final round and Jeray made it to a playoff, but neither could overcome Elise Swartout. She became the fifth Michigan golfer in the last six years to win the premier Illinois event for women golfers.

Swartout, who played collegiately at Western Michigan and splits her residence now between Ann Arbor and Orlando, FL., shot the day’s low round – a 3-under-par 69 – and beat Jeray with a four-foot birdie putt on the second hole of their sudden death playoff. Swartout set up the winning putt with a 58-degree wedge shot from 82 yards.

In her third year as a professional Swartout picked up her first win. She’s in the Ohio Women’s Open next week, then goes to LPGA qualifying school. Swartout had struggled on the LPGA’s satellite Symetra Tour and spent this year playing in state opens and Canadian events.

“This year has gone really well,’’ she said. “Everything’s clicked. I’ve been playing real solid, and I knew I had it going. Everything was coming together except for winning.’’

She took care of that problem on Friday, putting pressure on the leaders with a starting time an hour earlier than theirs. Postillion led through 11 holes, then made bogey at No. 12 and triple bogey six at the par-3 13th. She faded to a solo fifth-place finish as the low amateur in the field.

Only Jeray, playing with Postillion in the final twosome, was up to Swartouot’s challenge after the start of play was delayed an hour by early morning rains. Her only time at the top of the leaderboard came when she holed an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole to force the playoff.

“That was cool,’’ said Jeray, the IWO champion in 1998 and 2003. “Win or lose I was happy to get into the playoff. Of course I wanted to win it, but these young kids are fearless. (Swartout) hit it tight on the first and second holes.’’

Unlike her LPGA Tour events Jeray rode a cart in her rounds with her mother Bridget as only a nominal caddie. The most critical part of her week may have been a three-hour putting session with Dr. Jim Suttie, the swing guru who moved his base to Mistwood earlier in the week.

Jeray, who picked up $3,000 for finishing runner-up to the $5,000 that Swartout earned for winning, returns to the LPGA Tour at Richmond, Va., in two weeks and then has events in Canada and Portland. They’re critical career-wise for the 42-year old Jeray – the only Chicago player to make it to the LPGA circuit in the last two decades.

“I’ve got to get in the top 100 to get into the Evian (Masters),’’ she said. “I’m 111th now, but I can do it if I can putt.’’

ILLINOIS WOMEN’S OPEN: Another Jeray-Postillion duel — but with a twist

ILLINOIS WOMEN’S OPEN: Another Jeray-Postillion duel – but with a twist

The story lines couldn’t be more appropriate going into Friday’s final round of the 19th Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open at Mistwood in Romeoville.

Nicole Jeray, the LPGA Tour veteran from Berwyn, is poised to join amateur Kerry Postillion as the only three-time champions of Illinois’ premier women’s event. Jeray, who won in 1998 and 2003, would be the first pro to win three times. She is one stroke out of the lead entering the last 18.

The leader? Postillion’s daughter Samantha, a 21-year old amateur who plays for the University of Illinois. Kerry Postillion ruled the IWO in 1996, 1997 and 1999. She played in the tourney with Samantha several times after that but did not enter this year and won’t be on hand to see how this championship unfolds.

“She’s in Arizona now, but she’s not much of a watcher,’’ said Samantha. “She has it in her head that she might be bad luck.’’

Luck won’t likely be needed if Samantha delivers down the stretch the way she did in the second round. She rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt at No. 16, then hit an 8-iron to two feet for the birdie on the par-3 17th. She’s alone atop the leaderboard at 2-under-par 142 after 36 holes.

It won’t be just a Postillion-Jeray duel over the final 18, however. Katie Dick, an assistant pro at Bryn Mawr Country Club; Michigan State player Caroline Powers; and Schaumburg’s Kris Yoo, a senior at Wisconsin, join Jeray at one shot off the lead. Yoo had Thursday’s best round – a 70 that also was highlighted by birdies at Nos. 16 and 17.

Jeray shared the lead after Round 1 and wasn’t happy with the 73 she shot in Round 2. She’s still adjusting to a different atmosphere than what she experiences weekly on the LPGA circuit.

“I’m so out of my routine – using a cart (instead of a caddie) and the laser (electronic measuring device, not allowed on the pro tours),’’ she said. “There’s a lot more things involved for me.’’

The Mistwood course has also been set up much shorter than the ones on the LPGA Tour. It was under 6,100 yards the first two rounds but will play over 6,200 on Friday.

“I should shoot nothing because I have such short shots (approaches),’’ she said.

Jeray didn’t play in the IWO last year, the first on the course after Michigan architect Ray Hearn’s renovation was completed. The layout is much different than it was in Jeray’s last IWO appearance in 2011.

“There’s so much more there now,’’ said Jeray. “I don’t know how many times I switched clubs off the tee, and I wish I knew the greens better.’’

The 104 entries were whittled to the low 34 and ties after Thursday’s round. The survivors will begin play in twosomes at 7:30 a.m. on Friday with the leaders expected to tee off at about 10 a.m.

ILLINOIS OPEN: Kinney dominates playoff for first pro victory

There were lots of doubts about who would win the 64th Illinois Open during Wednesday’s final round at The Glen Club in Glenview. In fact, no one did.

Antioch’s Joe Kinney, who’s been laboring on golf’s mini-tours, clearly showed who was best in the three-man three-hole cumulative score playoff that determined the champion, however.

Kinney, 26, started the playoff with a two-putt birdie on 566-yard par-5 No. 1. He hit the green with a 251-yard hybrid second shot and lagged his first putt from 70 feet to set up a two-foot tap-in. That was the only birdie by any player in the playoff.

The par-3 17th, the second playoff hole, offered Kinney a chance for another. He put his 5-iron tee shot five feet from the cup. Though he missed his birdie putt, neither of his rivals — Dustin Korte, an amateur from downstate Metropolis, and Carlos Sainz Jr., of Elgin — could even par the hole so Kinney’s lead grew.

He was two strokes in front heading to No. 18, a 582-yard par-5. Kinney didn’t let up on the last playoff hole, keeping his first two shots on the fairway and his approach from 110 yards on the green. Two putts later he was the champion and winner of $17,500.

“Hats off to Joe,’’ said Sainz, a winner on the Canadian PGA Tour on Sunday before hurrying to Chicago. “He played the three holes in the playoff flawless. We didn’t give him much of an obstacle.’’

The trio in the playoff finished the regulation 54 holes in 5-under-par 211. In the three playoff holes Kinney used 12 strokes, Korte, 14 and Sainz 17.

“Getting the early advantage in the playoff was pretty clutch. I did the work I needed to do on the first two holes, then I could cruise in,’’ said Kinney, who returns to competition at a National Golf Assn. tournament in Hickory, N.C., next week.

Actually the three playoff participants were lucky to be playing off for the premier title for Illinois golfers. Michael Davan, of Hoopeston, blew a two-stroke lead with two holes to go. His bogey-double bogey finish kept him out of the playoff.

The double came after Davan, not knowing where he stood on the leaderboard, put his second shot in a pond at No. 18, then he three-putted. Davan insisted that going for the green over water from 256 yards with a 3-wood second shot was the right decision even though he needed just a par to win.

“That was the right play call,’’ he said. “I felt I needed to hit that shot, I just didn’t hit it solid. I’m proud that I had the guts to do it.’’

Kinney notched his first professional win with Greg Kunkle on the bag. Kunkle is the longtime caddie master at Sunset Ridge in Northfield and frequent bag-toter in the Illinois Open. Kinney’s brother Andrew works as an assistant professional at Sunset, and Kunkle has given Joe some choice caddie assignments to supplement his tournament earnings.

The Glen Club has been a friendly place for Kinney. In the rain-shortened 2007 Illinois Open Kinney played in the final group on the last day while still in college. He played in the 2011 tournament, finishing tied for 12th at Hawthorn Woods, and he tied for ninth when the event returned to The Glen last year. He opened this year’s tourney with a 65 – the best round of the tournament.

A 72 in the second round left Kinney four strokes back entering the final round, but the seven players in front of him struggled in breezy conditions.

“I had been swinging well all week,’’ said Kinney. “I felt I had a good chance after I birdied 10. I saw all the cameras (photographers) arriving, so I thought I must be close to the lead, and I didn’t miss a green the rest of the day.’’

ILLINOIS OPEN: India takes lead despite double bogey finish

Deerfield’s Vince India played his college golf at Iowa and started his professional career this spring on the PGA Latino-American circuit, where his tournaments were in Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.

India was right at home on Tuesday in the 64th Illinois Open, however. Opening with a 20-foot putt for eagle at The Glen Club, India was 9-under-par on his round through 17 holes before a double bogey finish left him with a 7-under 65.

Tied for 31st after a 72 in Round 1, India hit the 36-hole stop in the 54-hole competition at 7-under 137. Four players are tied for second, two shots back, including Brad Hopfinger – another Iowa alum. India won the Illinois State Amateur in 2010 and Hopfinger in 2011.

Lincolnshire amateur Jack Watson, a junior at Wisconsin; Canadian PGA Tour player Carlos Sainz Jr. of Elgin; and 2012 Chicago District Amateur titlist Michael Davan, a mini-tour player from Hoopeston, round out the group tied for second.

The Glen Club record of 10-under-par 62, set by D.A. Points when the Nationwide Tour made annual stops at the Glenview course, was in India’s sights when he reached the tee at the par-5 18th. Things unraveled then, however, as his tee shot would up a foot into fescue left of the fairway. He hacked out from there, but his approach to the green from 225 yards sailed left too and wound up in deep rough, forcing India to struggle in with a seven.

Still, the 65 – matching the low round of the tournament posted by first-round leader Joe Kinney – enabled India to make a big climb up the leaderboard. Only one of his birdie putts – a 15-footer at No. 9 – was longer than 10 feet.

“I didn’t think I could fight my way all the way back, but I’ll take it and I like my odds tomorrow,’’ said India. “The eagle got my mood in a nice place. It was like a kick in the butt to do something special.’’

India finished seventh when the Illinois Open returned to The Glen Club last year after a four-year absence. It’s his biggest summer event, coming while the PGA Latino-American Tour is on a break. The 15-event circuit resumes in October, and the top five players get spots on the web.com Tour in 2014. Thanks to three top-15 finishes in six starts, India ranked 35th after the spring session.

First-round leader Kinney slipped to a 76 in the second round, when winds gusted to 28 miles per hour and made scoring more difficult. He’s four off the lead entering the final 18. Illinois coach Mike Small, seeking a record-tying fifth title, shot 73 and is eight strokes back and defending champion Max Scodro is 10 off the pace after shooting 76.

Fifty players made the cut for the final round, 17 of them amateurs. They’ll begin play Wednesday off the No. 1 tee at 7 a.m.

ILLINOIS STATE AMATEUR: Tee-K Kelly is halfway to a sweep

ROCKFORD – Tee-K Kelly had an inkling this would be his week at the 83rd Illinois State Amateur golf championship at Aldeen Golf Club.

“I told my Dad on the first day that this was the most nervous I’ve been in a long time, because I knew I had a shot to win,’’ he said. “And a couple weeks ago I made it my goal to win the State Am and the State Open back-to-back as an amateur.’’

Now Kelly is halfway there. He won the three-day Amateur on Thursday and can complete the sweep next week in the 64th Illinois Open, which tees off on Monday at The Glen Club in Glenview. The only player to win both titles in the same year was David Ogrin in 1980.

On Thursday Kelly overcame two rivals who owned two-stroke leads during final round before posting his 7-under-par 281 total for the tourney’s 72 holes. Kelly had a three-stroke edge on Springfield’s Jake Erickson, a recent Southern Illinois University graduate, and Lincolnshire’s Jack Watson, who will enter his junior season at Wisconsin in the fall..

Erickson was up two after seven holes, but put his tee shot in the water at No. 8 and made double bogey. Watson, Kelly’s playing partner, was two ahead with six to play when he splashed his tee shot at the par-3 13th and made triple bogey.

Kelly hit a 7-iron tee shot from 179 yards to eight feet at the same hole and made the birdie putt, creating a four-shot swing that put Kelly at the top of the leaderboard.

“I could tell things got a little more edgy at that point,’’ said Kelly, who completed a less-than-satisfactory freshman season at Ohio State in the spring after being named Co-Player of the Year in the DuPage Valley Conference as a high school senior at Wheaton-Warrenville South.

“I got off to a hot start (at Ohio State) in the fall,’’ said Kelly, “but I struggled with my swing in the spring. It put a lot of doubt in my mind.’’

He was able to work through those doubts at his home club, Medinah, and won his biggest title yet on Thursday. His mother, Blue Kinander Kelly, also grew up at the club that hosted last September’s Ryder Cup matches. She helped Tulsa to an NCAA title in 1988 before winning the Chicago Women’s District Golf Assn. championship seven times.

For Watson the letdown on the final nine produced a feeling of déjà vu. In last year’s State Am he played in the final group in the last round and shot 78 as Glenview’s Quinn Prchal took the title a few weeks before entering his freshman year at Princeton University. Prchal tied for seventh in his title defense.

“Unfortunately a bitter taste again,’’ said Watson, who sat out last year’s college season after making his third transfer. He started at Kansas State, then went to Kent State. He’ll have two seasons of eligibility with the Badgers.

JDC: Spieth becomes PGA Tour’s first teenage champion in 82 years

SILVIS, IL. – It’s not unusual for golfers to get their first PGA Tour victory at the John Deere Classic. Jordan Spieth became the 19th player in the tourney’s 43-year history to do it on Sunday.

Spieth’s win, though, was different from all the others – a lot different.

Still two weeks away from his 20th birthday Spieth became the first teenager to win a PGA Tour event in 82 years. Ralph Guldahl was also 19 when he won the Santa Monica Open, a match play tournament staged at Riviera Country Club in 1931.

Until his two-foot par putt dropped on the fifth hole of a sudden death playoff Spieth wasn’t event a PGA Tour member. He left college after helping Texas to the NCAA title as a freshman and has been getting into PGA Tour events through sponsor exemptions. JDC director Clair Peterson gave Spieth such invites the last two years and he was still an amateur when he tied for 58th last year.

On Sunday he started the day six shots behind leader Daniel Summerhays with little hope of winning.

“I didn’t think I was in contention. I thought I’d have to shoot eight- or nine-under, and then I made bogey on the first hole,’’ said Spieth. “After that I just battled and grinded.’’

And, he got very lucky.

Spieth holed a bunker shot on the last hole of regulation play, the ball dropping on one bounce to complete a 6-under-par 65.

“The luckiest shot of my life,’’ said Spieth. “It was going six-seven feet past.’’

He wound up in a playoff when defending champion Zach Johnson made bogey on his last hole and Canadian David Hearn put his drives on the last two holes in the rough and couldn’t make birdie on either one. Spieth made birdies on five of his last six holes, but more tension was ahead.

In the three-man playoff Johnson had a chip to win hit the flagstick and stay out of the hole. Hearn had two putts inside 10 feet to win, but they wouldn’t fall, either, and when all three players put their drives in the right trees on the fifth extra hole only Spieth was left with a clear shot to the green.

“I dodged multiple bullets,’’ admitted Spieth. “I don’t know what I did to deserve those breaks, but I got so lucky. I was just swinging free. I had no nerves.’’

At least not until the playoff wound down. Once he had the playoff won there was the matter of making last-minute plans to board the JDC jet to this week’s British Open in Scotland. Spieth would haven’t been eligible for the year’s third major championship had he not won on Sunday. He figured the magnitude of his win would hit him on the flight across the pond. He never expected the success he’s had as a rookie pro.

“I had a plan, and it got exceeded,’’ he said “I just wanted to earn my tour card this year.’’

Now he’s all the way up to No. 11 in the FedEx Cup point race and assured a spot in next year’s Masters and most of the other big tournaments. Not bad for a young player who got into 17 PGA Tour events via invites or qualifiers and made 12 cuts. Sunday’s win was his fifth top-10 finish on the premier circuit and it earned him $828,000 from the JDC’s $4.6 million purse.

As for the two local players who made the cut, neither Crystal Lake’s Joe Affrunti (68, tie for 33rd) or Winfield’s Kevin Streelman (71, tie for 44th) were part of the day-long excitement. Streelman had a disappointing weekend, settling for two par rounds before joining 27 other players on the flight from the Quad Cities Airport directly to British Open.

Affrunti at least had an interesting finish. His playing partner, Dicky Pride, was stung by a bee on the 17th hole and wanted immediate treatment. They needed 40 minutes to play the final hole after letting the twosome behind them play through.

JDC: Changing of the guard after Summerhays shoots 62?

SILVIS, IL. – Could Sunday bring a changing of the guard at the John Deere Classic? Saturday’s developments at TPC Deere Run certainly suggested that’s a strong possibility.

Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker, the poster boys for the PGA Tour stop over the last four years, fell off the pace in the third round as up-and-comers Daniel Summerhays and David Hearn moved to the top of the leaderboard.

Summerhays posted the day’s best score, a 9-under-par 62, and hit the 54-hole stop at 19-under 194. Hearn, like Summerhays a non-winner on the PGA circuit, carded a 64 and is two strokes back.

Defending champion Johnson is hardly out of it after posting a 67, but he’s three behind Summerhays and won’t be in the final twosome the last round.

“I’ve got the advantage on them from the experience standpoint, but not the scoring standpoint,’’ said Johnson, an Iowa native who has long been on the tournament’s board of directors. “Both are great players. I hope they’re intimidated by me, but I doubt it. I’m not a very intimidating figure. My guess is they’ll come out firing. I can’t image they wouldn’t.’’

As for three-time winner Stricker, he couldn’t make a birdie in the first nine Saturday – a rarity on a course that yields plenty of them – and is nine shots back after carding a 69

“Playing the front nine and watching everybody just lap me, that was tough to see,’’ said Stricker, who went 11 holes without a bird but still holds out hope for Sunday. “I’ll just have to put up a low number, and they’re out there.’’

Summerhays and Hearn both started birdie-birdie on Saturday and kept up the hot pace. Summerhays made nine birdies. He isn’t qualified for next week’s British Open, but he’ll be on Sunday night’s jet to Scotland if he wins the tournament.

That’d mean a radical change in travel for the Brigham Young University graduate who delayed his golf career to serve a two-year Mormon Mission in Chile in 2003-05. He’s been traveling to tournaments in a motor home the past four years with his wife and three young sons, the oldest of whom is 5.

Summerhays comes from a golfing family. He’s the nephew of Bruce Summerhays, a Champions Tour player, and his brother Boyd plays on the Canadian PGA Tour. Summerhays is also the cousin of former LPGA player Carrie Roberts, who is now the women’s golf coach at BYU.

Prior to turning pro Summerhays became the first amateur to win a tournament on the Nationwide (now Buy.com) Tour. He hopes the JDC will be his first on the PGA circuit, and pictures of past champions on the clubhouse wall are serving as inspiration.

“This tournament has been a good launching pad for a lot of players,’’ said Summerhays, who enjoys interacting with the galleries and did plenty of it during his hot round on Saturday.

“When I’m playing well my mentality is to make as many birdies as you can,’’ he said. That mindset is a necessity at one of the PGA Tour’s lowest-scoring tournaments. Eight of the players in the top 10 shot 66 or better in the third round.

Winfield’s Kevin Streelman and Crystal Lake’s Joe Affrunti, the Chicago players who made the cut, couldn’t do it and dropped down the standings. Affrunti nearly holed out at the par-3 17th, putting his tee shot one foot from the cup, but he posted a 69 and dropped 12 places into a tie for 38th place.

Streelman struggled home with a 71 and dropped 19 spots, to a tie for 24th.

JDC: Zach Johnson doesn’t need to be perfect to retain lead

SILVIS, IL. – Zach Johnson is not only on the board of directors for the John Deere Classic, he’s also the defending champion.

Those roles might seem a burden for the PGA Tour’s leading member from nearby Iowa, but so far Johnson’s kept his focus. He tacked a second round 66 to the 64 he posted in the first and his 12-under-par 130 has the 2007 Masters champion at the top of the leaderboard entering Saturday’s third round at TPC Deere Run.

There’s only one problem. Plenty of other players have gone low in this annual birdie-fest, too. Johnson shared the first round lead with Camilo Villegas and was tied for the top spot with Lucas Glover and Patrick Reed at the $4.8 million tourney’s halfway point on Friday.

Johnson’s presence, though, looms large with the huge galleries that turned out for the first two rounds. His driving wasn’t as good on Friday as it was on Thursday, but – in a critical part of his round – Johnson made par saves on holes 5-7 and then chipped in at No. 8.

“My short game was tremendous. I putted great,’’ said Johnson. “I know I can play well around here. I like the fact that I don’t have to be perfect.’’

Johnson has 18 straight rounds in the 60s at TPC Deere Run and Friday’s was his ninth bogey-free card, a record for the tourney that was first played in 1971 and has been a low-scoring affair ever since even when course changes were made.

Chev Reavie, who is three strokes off the lead, shot 61 on Friday. Glover had 62 and Reed 63.

“Having me at the top of the leaderboard is pretty irrelevant to them,’’ said Johnson who had a tie for second in 2009 and a tie for third in 2011 – years in which Steve Stricker was accomplishing a three-peat. Johnson ended Stricker’s run while beating Troy Matteson in a two-hole sudden death playoff for the title last year.

Stricker, playing with Johnson the first two rounds, uncharacteristically three-putted the last hole from 13 feet on Friday, the bogey dropping him three off the lead instead of the one it would have been had he rolled in his birdie putt. Still, with 36 holes to play, Stricker’s not out of it but he won’t be paired with Johnson for the first weekend round.

“He’s playing great,’’ said Stricker. “He’s obviously has a great feeling for this course, much like I do. It’s been fun playing with him and fun to feed off his energy and the crowd.’’

Also looming as a contender is Winfield’s Kevin Streelman, who shot his second straight 66 on Friday and is two off the lead. Four players scored better, but Streelman’s ball-striking has been almost flawless. He hit 14 of 14 fairways on Friday and 31 of 36 greens in regulation in the first two rounds.

Streelman spent several days with Cog Hill putting guru Kevin Weeks and claimed one of Weeks’s putters for the JDC. He’s in position to win for the second time this season if his two 5-under rounds carry over to the weekend.

“It’s where we need to be,’’ said Streelman. “I wanted to average 5-under each round. That would give us a chance at the end on Sunday.’’

ILLINOIS WOMEN’S AMATEUR: Youngest champion in 80 years is just 16

ILL. WOMEN’S AMATEUR: Youngest champion in 80 years is just 16

The Illinois Women’s Golf Assn. has conducted a state amateur championship for 80 years, and this year’s version produced its youngest-ever champion.

Bing Singhsumalee, 16, won the tourney in spectacular fashion, chipping in for birdie on the first hole of a sudden death playoff to defeat Lauren English, a University of Iowa junior from Bloomington, in the title match at Cantigny, in Wheaton.

Singhsumalee, a junior at Waubonsie Valley High School, chipped in from 30 feet on the 362-yard No. 1 of Cantigny’s Woodside nine. Her approach on the par-4 had come up short while English put her second on the green. English missed her birdie putt after Singhsumalee holed out, ending the match.

Singhsumalee took up golf at age 4 at Cantigny’s Youth Links and played there as well as on the 27-hole main layout regularly. The Naperville resident now lists Bolingbrook as her home course, however.

“It’s really fun playing with people older than me,’’ said Singhsumalee. “It’s definitely a new experience, because I’m so used to playing against players 17 or 18.’’

She was 1-up in the title match going to the last hole of regulation play – No. 9 on Cantigny’s Lakeside nine – but English stayed alive by rolling in a 12-foot downhill par putt after both players missed the green with their approaches at the par-4.

English was trying to join brother Kyle as a champion in a top Illinois amateur event. Kyle won the Chicago District Amateur at Medinah in 2011. Their parents, Mark and Mary, are both golf professionals. The Illinois Women’s Amateur will be played at Crestwicke in Bloomington in 2014. That’s English’ home course, and Kyle is now an assistant pro there.

Singhsumalee, shared medalist honors with 2012 champion Elizabeth Szokol, a Northwestern sophomore from Winnetka. Both shot 73s in the 80-player qualifying round.

Szokol was eliminated by Ember Schuldt, a University of Illinois player from Sterling, 3 and 2 in the quarterfinals and English ousted Schuldt 3 and 1 in the semifinals. In that match English made birdies on both back nine par-3s and ended the match with an 8-iron on the par-3 17th that stopped 18 inches from the cup. Singhsumalee earned her berth in the title match by beating 2011 champion Nora Lucas of Chicago 2 and 1.

Cantigny, which has hosted the men’s Illinois State Amateur three times, was hosting the women’s version for the first time and that helped Singhsumalee.

“I feel it was an advantage because I know the feel of the layout and speed of the greens,’’ she said.