LECANTO, FL. – Anthony Kim is back on the LIV Tour in 2026, and he earned it with his clubs this time.
Kim, who had a 12-year hiatus from golf after a promising start to his professional career, finished third in LIV’s Promotion tournament at Black Diamond Ranch. That was good enough to regain his wild card status for all the 2026 tournaments.
He had been relegated off the roster for failure to meet performance requirements after LIV officials gave him a chance to revive his career.
Many doubted the 40-year old would ever make it back, but he did in a 72-hole elimination on a Tom Fazio-designed course that started with 80 players from 24 countries. Only 22 advanced to the weekend rounds and Kim finished third among the three qualifiers.
“I wasn’t here to prove anybody wrong,’’ said Kim. “I’m here to prove myself right.’’
He finished 66-69 on the weekend but the key moment came when he made an eight-foot birdie putt on the last green of the second round to avoid being cut from weekend play. When that putt dropped the other players were quick to applaud his accomplishment. Not only did he get a boost from his fellow competitors, he earned a spot necessary for him to finish his goal.
Two 35-year olds – Richard T. Lee from Canada and Bjorn Hellgren from Sweden—were the top two finishers, and Lee became the first LIV Tour qualifier from Canada. Kim was more in the spotlight at the end at the 45-hole private facility, however.
“I’ve worked so hard,’’ said Kim, holding his young daughter in post-tournament interviews, “and this little girl is one of the reasons wife. And my wife’s been so supportive.’’
Kim’s departure from pro golf remained somewhat of a mystery. Born in Los Angeles and a collegiate player at Oklahoma, Kim was a quick hit after earning a spot on the PGA Tour. He won three tournaments there and earned roster spots in the 2008 Ryder Cup and 2009 Presidents Cup.
His career deteriorated after he suffered an achilles injury in 2012, but more was involved in his dropping off the PGA Tour than that injury. He did somewhat address his time away from the game.
“I just wanted to keep working hard, staying sober, spending time with my family and doing all the things that are the more important things in my life,’’ he said. “After I left rehab one of my goals was to be outside more and, I mean, practicing for 10 hours a day.’’
He did that in between struggling through 25 LIV tournaments. His best finish was a tie for 25th last year in Dallas.
“I’m a completely different person than I was,’’ he said. “I’ve been forced as a husband and a dad, and as somebody that I think people are relating to as far as struggling. I’ve got more to do in my life than golf.’’
But golf remains a huge part. He’ll play on both the Asian Tour’s International Series as well as the LIV circuit this year.
“This is just the first step,’’ he said. “I’m glad I earned my spot so everybody can stop talking about that. I’ll be back soon, and I’ll be winning golf tournaments soon.’’
One’s in, one’s out: Richard T. Lee (left), of Canada, survived another day at the LIV Golf Promotions tourney, but playing partner Chase Koepka came up a shot short. (Joy Sarver Photos)
LECANTO, FL. – Three players will earn spots on the lucrative LIV Golf tour this weekend, and they know it won’t be easy.
Promotion to the Saudi-backed circuit is demanding. The qualifier started with 60 players from 24 countries on Thursday. The low 20 and ties – it turned out to be 29 players – advanced to Friday’s second round where they were joined by 18 players who earned exemptions off their play on the International Series or Korean, Japan, Asian, Australasia and Sunshine tours.
Another cut followed that round, and the top 20 and ties advanced to the final 36 holes Saturday and Sunday at the Tom Fazio-designed Ranch course at the 45-hole Black Diamond facility. Jeunghun Wang, of Korea, was low on Friday with a 65.
Korean Jeunghun Wang’s 65 was the best second round in LIV’s qualifier at Black Diamond Ranch.
“For everyone out there striving for three cards it’s going to be a life-changer to be out there in LIV Golf and performing at the highest level,’’ said Richard T. Lee, who hopes to become the first player from Canada on the circuit. He survived with a 66 on Friday and Anthony Kim, who played on the circuit last year, also kept his hopes alive with a 69. That was the day’s cut number.
Lee just hopes to be in contention for LIV dollars, and he performed well for the first 36 holes in the Promotions event. In Round 1 he was low man by two shots after shooting a under-par 64. In Round 2 he posted a 66. Lee played the second round paired with Chase Koepka, brother of Brooks Koepka – a five-time winner in golf’s major championships who opted to drop off the Saudi circuit for its upcoming fifth season.
Citing family reasons for his decision , Brooks was the captain of the Smash team on the LIV circuit the last four years and Chase was a member of the four-man team the first two years. Then he encountered shoulder problems and didn’t play the last two years. He hoped to return to the circuit through the Promotions event but came up a shot short of advancing to the weekend rounds after shooting a 70 on Friday.
Koepka rallied with birdies at Nos. 11, 12 and 13 to get to 1-under-par — the cut number – but he made bogey on the last hole, which kept him from advancing.
Chicago was the site of LIV tournaments the last four years –the first two at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove and the last two at Bolingbrook Golf Club. Chicago’s not on the schedule for 2026 – at least not yet.
LIV has two tournament dates still to be filled. One, in the spring, will be held on foreign soil and the other – in the summer – will be a U.S. stop. That’s the only possibility for Chicago to retain a place on the LIV circuit.
The rival PGA Tour hasn’t had tournaments in Chicago on a regular basis in recent years, but the Presidents Cup will be played at Medinah in September.
Chase Koepka’s bid to return to the LIV Tour ended with a missed par putt on the 18th green.
The weather may suggest otherwise, but the Chicago golf season is ready to tee off.
January rounds in snow and frigid weather aren’t unusual in the Chicago area but the Polar Bear Open on Sunday (JAN 4) is different. It not only brings golf diehards together at St. Andrews Golf & Country Club in West Chicago, it also marks the start of that facilities year-long centennial celebration.
St. Andrews is the oldest continuously owned and operated family golf course in Illinois and one of the oldest in U.S. The bagpipe preliminaries to the Polar Bear Open won’t end the St. Andrews’ celebration.
“There’ll be something every single month of the year,’’ said Jerry Hinckley, part of the five generations of the Jemsek-Hinckley family that has operated the facility since its opening in 1926.
St. Andrews is one of the few public courses that stays open all year-round. There’ll be drawings for prizes in each of the first three months of 2026 and those who make holes-in-one in April through July will be eligible for drawings for a car as well as travel trips in 2027. In the fall there’ll be drawings for irons and there’ll be some free golf opportunities in the last three months of the year.
Under Joe Jemsek’s guidance St. Andrews became the first public course to host a U.S. Open qualifier in 1947 and the first to offer air-conditioning and allow metal spikes in the clubhouse.
Jemsek also brought in Patty Berg, a World Golf Hall of Fame player who was St. Andrews head professional for 50 years. Ray Floyd, who had wins in the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship, also represented St. Andrews as his home course early in his career.
Mark Hensby got his golfing start in Illinois’ big tournaments and now has a select spot in a PGA Tour Champions event that may be the most unusual competition in golf. (Pat Eastman Photo)
CLEARWATER, Florida – When Mark Hensby was getting started in professional golf he was definitely different.
He moved from Australia to the Chicago area in 1996, devoted himself to golf and promptly won the Illinois State Amateur. He was known to occasionally sleep in his car in the Cog Hill parking lot in those days, but his game continued to improve. In 1998 he won the Illinois Open and in 2004 he took the John Deere Classic, Illinois’ longstanding event on the PGA Tour.
Hensby made a good career after that, even playing on one of the Presidents Cup teams, but not without a touch of the unusual mixed in. In 2009, Hensby took a break from golf to ride 430 miles in a charity cycling event in Arizona, where he has been a long-time resident. Not many pro tour golfers would attempt something like that.
So, this week is different, but Hensby is there. The Skechers World Champions Cup, a stop on PGA Tour Champions at Feather Sound Country Club, is the most unusual competition in professional golf. I haven’t heard of anything like it in my 50-plus years covering golf, and this one doesn’t have much of a history. The first playing was at The Concession, in Bradenton, FL., in 2023. The event wasn’t played in 2024.
Play is in sixsomes over only nine holes with three formats – six-ball, Scottish Six-somes and singles – being used. Hensby was a late addition to the select field thanks to a solid season on PGA Tour Champions. He had five top-10 finishes and was No. 26 on the season money list in 2025.
There were two-man teams from Team USA, Team International and Team Europe competing for most of it. The teams played together in six nine-hole matches spread over Thursday and Friday.
Have you ever seen a golf tournament leaderboard like this one?
Matches weren’t played on Saturday. Pro-ams are usually held on Wednesday — the day before the real competition begins — but this time the amateurs got to play with the pros on the day before they decided a championship. The pro-am was over 18 holes, much different than the tourney format, and the course wasn’t open to the public on pro-am day.
All Skechers World Champions Cup competitors are regulars on the 50-and-over Champions circuit. Jim Furyk (USA}, Darren Clarke (Europe) and Mike Weir (International) are the team captains. Bernhard Langer was ill and didn’t play for the Europeans in the first three matches. Hensby is on the International team based on his Australian background.
Skechers provided shoes for all the players as well as their caddies, spouses and tournament volunteers. The unusual format forced some adjustment for the players, especially Hensby. Six players teed off in each group on each hole in the team portion.
“You just pay attention and take your time,’’ said Hensby. “It’s a little different. Four times I walked where there were still guys to hit, so that’s definitely different.’’
Hensby was paired with Y.E. Yang, from South Korea, in the first two rounds, and they were the top point-producers in both of them. Friday turned sour for Hensby after that, as his team was the lowest point-producer in the morning session and Hensby couldn’t play in the afternoon.
“At dinner last night Mark said he might only go nine holes (on Friday),’’ said Charlie Wi, an alternate on the International squad. “I didn’t put much into it, but today he wasn’t feeling well and said he couldn’t feel his clubs.’’
So, Wi took Hensby’s place – and that presented an odd spin. When Hensby captured his only PGA Tour Champions victory in Texas in 2023 he defeated Wi in a playoff. Whether he’ll be back in the lineup Sunday is uncertain, but the competition is tight.
Europe leads with 109.5 points to 108 for the U.S. and 106.5 for the International team. The tourney concludes on Sunday with 12 singles matches. TV coverage on the final day will be split between Golf Channel and ABC.
The field in the Skechers World Champions Cup consisted of only 24 players but they received a warm welcome from the spectators at Feather Sound
If you haven’t seen the world renown Nights of Lights display in St. Augustine, you should. There’s a variety of way to see the miles of white lights — walk, car, horse-drawn carriage, trolley, boat — all the way into January. It puts you into the holiday spirit. (Joy Sarver Photos)
ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA – There are lots of golf travel destinations well worth visiting – even if you don’t play golf. This is Part 2 of a series on that theme.
We had intended to bring our clubs to World Golf Village for a brief visit over the Thanksgiving holidays. Those clubs got left in our garage when the weather in Florida turned unseasonably cold.
The plan was to have our Thanksgiving dinner in St. Augustine, a bustling city at that time of year. Then we could enjoy the sights. St. Augustine has, arguably, the best Christmas lights display in Florida. A round of golf would have been nice, too.
St. Augustine is particularly a golf hotspot in March, when the PGA Tour holds its Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in nearby Ponte Vedra, but the playing options are always good in the area.
We had made previous visits over the years, but never one as extensive as this one. The options extended well beyond playing golf. Holiday festivities were starting.
We had a room booked at World Golf Village, a 36-hole resort that we had visited several times over the years. Once there we regretted we hadn’t brought the clubs along. The weather warmed up and the courses – called King & Bear and Slammer & Squire — looked enticing. Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer combined efforts to design the first one and the second honored legendary players Sam Snead and Gene Sarazen.
Our lodging was within the Village, at a condo at Blue-Green Vacations. It was perfectly comfortable – even without us having tee times. There was plenty to do in the historic city of St. Augustine, about 20 minutes away and it was packed with visitors.
You want a lookback at history? This fort was completed in 1695 after being under construction for 23 years. It protected St. Augustine’s citizens for decades before it became a tourist attraction.
We made use of trolleys to see the sites, but heavy traffic slowed things down – and that was just as well. Ours was supposed to be primarily a relaxing getaway – and it was. That wasn’t surprising because we had visited St. Augustine several times over the years. We were well aware that a Spaniard named Pone de Leon claimed Florida for Spain 1512. Spanish settlements needed to be built in Florida to protect the early settlers from pirates and hostile Indians.
St. Augustine became the oldest continuously occupied European settlement after Pedro Menendez came with 700 soldiers and colonists arrived. They founded the city in 1565 as America’s first colony but had trouble keeping it. Englishman Francis Drake burned the city to the ground in 1586 and a pirate, John Davis, battered it again in 1686.
Eventually Spain’s queen regent Mariana ordered the construction of a stone fort, and its remnants remain. Other historical features were slowly added. So were 43 miles of white sand beaches, and those two attractions bring over 5 million visitors a year to St. Augustine.
Flager College, a well-regarded private institution, has become a landmark in St. Augustine.
After all the wars for control of the city were over Henry Flagler, co-founder of Standard Oil, visited during the winter of 1883-84. He saw possibilities for development of the area and his projects made a major impact on the architecture and economy of the city.
Now there’s The Oldest House, a museum complex with gardens; the Villa Zorayda Museum; the largest retail shop in Florida; live pirate shows; airboat rides; boat tours; art galleries and plenty of dining and lodging options.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum, San Sebastian Winery, the Accord Civil Rights Museum, Pirate and Treasure Museum, The Jail, Potter’s Wax Museum and the old hotels and churches are all interesting.
These colorful peacocks are just one of the features of interest at the Fountain of Youth.
Our favorites were the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park and Flagler College. Flager has a very nice looking campus and played a big role in the civil rights movement. Fountain of Youth provided a pleasant walk through a series of educational stops. We could have spent a whole day there.
As for the golf, it’s always an option. Royal St. Augustine joins TPC Sawgrass and World Golf Village as fine spots for those who want to hit the links in between stops at the multitude of other attractions.
World Golf Village had been the home of the World Golf Hall of Fame, but that was closed in 2023 and relocated to Pinehurst, N.C. That changed the atmosphere at the Village, though signage to the Hall are still there.
One feature that didn’t go away was Murray Brothers Caddyshack Restaurant. The Saint Augustine location was the first of a series of such restaurants nationwide. They were created by a group of six brothers from the Chicago area, the most famous of which is Bill – one of the stars of the iconic Caddyshack movies. World Golf Village’s Caddyshack opened in 2001 and is still going strong.
The World Golf Hall of Fame may have left World Golf Village but the Murray Brothers’ Caddyshack Restaurant is still there to kindle old memories for golfers.
Long-time Florida golf architect Ron Garl brought his experience from designing over 3,000 courses to the International Network of Golf Fall Forum. (Joy Sarver Photos)
SEBRING, FL. — Mike Jamison, executive director of the International Network of Golf, started holding Fall Forums at the Inn on the Lakes Hotel in 2022, ending a run of annual Spring Conferences that started at Hilton Head, S.C., in 1990. It ran through 2019 when the Sebring Raceway Hotel hosted before the pandemic shut down the event for two years.
Whether held in the fall or spring, the ING’s feature event brought media members together with golf industry leaders in a comfortable, productive setting . This staging was different, though.
While there were the traditional two golf outings on the four-day schedule, the presentations were loaded with information on what’s new in the golf world. Two – by Peakvision’s Dave Feaser and Tour Edge’s David Glod and Matt Neely – were done via Zoom calls. The others, of varying length, were done in person. All were captivating and informative. It created a perfect blend of fun and education and concluded with a Jamison announcement on a major change in the event for 2026. More on that later.
In the meantime, here’s how the latest Fall Forum unfolded.
RON GARL, the long-time Florida-based golf architect and ING member, has worked on over 300 courses around the world. We have long awaited the creation of a Ron Garl Golf Trail in Florida, and both courses played in this ING outing – Golf Hammock and Country Club of Sebring – were Garl designs.
A Trail must wait, but Garl provided a lowdown on his Florida courses and the many he has done internationally. The most striking part of his presentation, though, came when he addressed the state of the industry. He has some concerns, and suggestions.
“One way to grow the game would be for courses to offer free golf on Monday afternoons. They’d be walking rounds after school is out, and the rounds would be free “only if you bring a kid. ‘’
He also suggested a different formula in purchasing season green fees.
“You don’t buy memberships,’’ he said. “You buy tee times and you buy them for foursomes.’’
Thought-provoking? I certainly think so.
Tour Edge founder David Glod (left) and Matt Neely, vice president of product development, operated via Zoom to provide a detailed look on how the company designs their innovative clubs. T.E.D. Robot ((Tour Edge Development, below) is a key part of the club creation process. In fact, they just call the robot “Ted.”
TOUR EDGE’s Glod and Neely came from their headquarters in Batavia, IL., to provide a step-by-step look at how clubs are designed and marketed. Glod especially knows the process inside and out, as he’s been doing it for over 40 years.
Some interesting sidelights:
“Yes, we’re using Artificial Intelligence in the design phases,’’ said Glod. “ You need to keep the guardrails on AI. Otherwise you can get out of control, but AI can take us outside the box a little more.’’
So, what’s the future of AI in golf?
“That’s a tough one,’’ said Glod. “Think about it. A driver is extremely intricate. It’s more for testing right now but we’re making human decisions.’’
Tour Edge has just come out with the first ball in company history.
“That was all driven by (new president) Tim Clarke, who came from Wilson,’’ said Glod. “We know our balls meet the standards, but we’re on the Champions Tour now (with most of its player ambassadors), and those guys are hard to change. We have a large presence there, but we’ve got to move on. Our next focus will be on the 30 to 50 year olds.’’
David Feaser (left) of PeakVision found an ideal model for his company’s sunglasses.
PEAKVISION started 25 years ago and owner and chief executive officer Dave Feaser and his son Nicholas bought the company in 2017. It’s based in Conway, S.C. Their present product is non-polarized sunglasses.
“That highlights everything,’’ said Feaser. “They’re the only pair of sunglasses you don’t take off. They provide wonderful clarity on the golf course. You can see the course like you’ve never seen it before, and they help on a cloudy day.’’
Jan Stephenson, the World Golf Hall of Famer, gave them a verbal endorsement during the Feaser’s presentation. He also says they’re good for pickleball and tennis and combat eye fatigue, but they’re not offered in prescriptions. Cost ranges from $100 to $160.’’
Golf great Jan Stephenson has fun describing her new book to ING’s Mike Jamison.
STEPHENSON also unveiled her latest business venture. It started with discussions about a movie on her life, but she didn’t like the script.
For now she’s working with Tony Leodora on a book about her life. Leodora has already written Chapter 25 and predicts it will be “a blockbuster….I’m stunned every day with what she had to overcome.’’
“And we didn’t have to make anything up,’’ said Stephenson, who has – among other things – recovered from breast cancer. While the book will come first she believes the movie and/or a screen play will follow.
SID MINER, a Sarasota, FL., resident, stopped by to promote the National Association of Left-Handed Golfers.
This group was founded in 1936 and its annual tournament will celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2026. That event is Sept. 22-27 in St. Paul, Minn., but the group has a full tournament schedule prior to that. First event is the Florida State Championshp March 17-18 at Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel.
Sid Miner (left), of the Left-Handed Golfers, and Gary Lofano, of The Landings, were also key players at the ING Fall Forum.
AND FINALLY, Jamison caught the Fall Forum attendees by surprise in announcing that the Spring Conference will return in 2026. It’ll be held June 1-3 at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club in Savannah, Ga. It has six 18-hole courses and Gary Lofano, director of marketing and communication, welcomed the ING members on behalf of The Landings.
Jamison said there would be a limit for ING members, from 30-36, at this Spring Conference. More details will be available when ING returns to the PGA Merchandise Show at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. From January 20-23.
Casey Hartt, (left), tourism director at Visit Sebring, and Andy Kessling (right) of the Citrus Golf Trail celebrate another ING Fall Forum with Mike Jamison.
GOING, AND COMING: Elizabeth Szokol(left) just announced her retirement from the LPGA Tour while Lauryn Nguyen played in her first tournament. (Joy Sarver Photos)
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.
Host Annika Sorenstam was happy to have Lauryn Nguyen (left) and Elizabeth Szokol among the key players in her tournament field. (Pat Eastman Photo)
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 LPGA debut of Lauryn Nguyen (second from right) brought out many of the Northwestern alum’s family and friends to The Annika tournament’s opening day. (Joy Sarver Photo)
Host Annika Sorenstam (left) is glad that Caitlin Clark (center) and Lauryn Nyugen are part of her golf tournament, The Annika driven by Gainbridge. (Joy Sarver Photos)
BELLEAIR, FL. – There’s a chance that the pro-am at this week’s LPGA Tour event, The Annika driven by Gainbridge, will create more excitement than the 72-hole event proper and there’s one major reason for that. Her name is Caitlin Clark.
As a basketball sensation Clark has brought more attention to women’s basketball at both the college and pro level. Now she’s doing the same in golf.
The John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event, invited Clark to play in one of its pro-ams. As a basketball star from nearby Iowa, she was a smash hit in the men’s event played at a course on the Illinois-Iowa border.
That appearance led to The Annika driven by Gainbridge bringing Clark to last year’s tournament. Same result there. Tournament host Annika Sorenstam was delighted when Clark returned for a day’s play before the four-day tournament proper tees off on Thursday.
Clark was the major attraction at the pro-am — but not the only one. She played nine holes with Nelly Korda, a three-time winner of the tournament, and nine more with Lauren Nguyen, a star from Northwestern’s NCAA championship team.
This time Clark also brought friends. Two of her teammates on the Indiana Fever, Lexie Hull and Sophie Cunningham, came as celebrity guest caddies. They shot baskets with Clark in the middle of her pro-am round. They also hit ceremonial tee shots as did NASCAR driver Carson Hocevar and Briana Scurry, the U.S. goaltender on four World Cups and three Olympics Games teams.
Caitlin Clark is the center of attention with three-time Annika champion Nelly Korda (left) and Clark’s Indiana Fever teammates Sophie Cunningham (8) and Lexie Hull (10).
They created a buzz, but so did some golfers. Nguyen was a sponsor exemption and will make her LPGA debut this week. So will Kai Trump – an 18-year old high school senior from Florida who is the oldest granddaughter of President Donald Trump. She’s bringing along Allan Kournikova, a long-time friend from South Florida who is the brother of tennis star Anna Kournikova, as her caddie.
Lots of athletic star power in that group, and the Pelican Country Club course was packed so tightly that parking was a major problem in the lots around the course on pro-am day.
“It’s nice to see women’s sports is in such good hands,’’ said Sorenstam, who was a legendary golfer on the LPGA circuit.
Clark’s magic resulted in the tournament sponsors making a $22,000 donation to her foundation and Nygyen was given $5,000 to help her Washington-based DUC Foundation.
All in it, this extraordinary pro-am created a lively atmosphere that the tournament proper might find hard to match. That tone was created in large part by non-tour stars. Korda was in the spirit, giving Clark a pair of new golf shoes that she just designed.
Clark, though downplayed her own golf skills.“I was a little messy off the tee,’’ said Clark. “I need to take some lessons, but golf is something I love to do. It’s not my main sport, and I’m not very good at it.’’
Kai Trump, with caddie Allan Kournikova, are ready for an exciting LPGA Tour debut.
Trump also wasn’t invited strictly because of her golf skills, though she will be playing collegiately at the University of Miami.
“My dream has been to compete with the best in the world on the LPGA Tour,’’ she said. “ This event will be an incredible experience.’’
No, her grandfather won’t be at the tournament.
“He’s running the world right now, so he’s a little busy,’’ Kai said. “My grandpa told me to just go out and have fun.’’
She has more than six million combined followers across social media and recently founded her own apparel and lifestyle brand aimed at empowering young women in sports. Golf is just a part her lifestyle.
“Any tournament wants buzz,’’ said Sorenstam, “and we’ve had it now for a lot of different reasons. Kai brings a lot of different people to the sport, and we want people to hear about our tournament and be a part of it. The word is spreading, and that’s a good thing.’’
Caitlin Clark considers golf “not my main sport” but she certainly enjoys playing it.
Recent Northwestern star Lauryn Nguyen (left) awaits her LPGA debut with tournament host Annika Sorenstam and Winnetka tour player Elizabeth Szokol. (Payton Walker Photo).
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 75th 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.’’
The Illinois Golf Hall of Fame inducts new members every two years, and the next class of six inductees joining the select group will be honored at Friday’s ceremonies at The Glen Club, in Glenview.
While Illinois has hardly been rich in PGA Tour players, the 21st induction class has two who made it to golf’s premier circuit. Bob Zender made it after winning the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament in 1971, and he was a regular on the circuit through 1982. David Ogrin arrived in 1983 and played until 2000, then spent parts of two seasons on PGA Tour Champions.
Professional golf was a lot different during their competitive careers. Tournament purses were much smaller when Zender played, but he had 10 top-10 finishes with a tie for third in the Greater Milwaukee Open his best result.
Zender, though, made his mark even before his big splash in PGA Tour qualifying. He was a three-time Illinois State Amateur champion and collegiate All-American while at Purdue. Then he pulled off a three-peat in the Illinois PGA Championship, winning titles in 1976-78. Now 82, Zender also shot a 62 at Chicago’s Ridgemoor Country Club – a mark the stands alongside Ben Hogan as the course record.
Ogrin, now 67 and directing his own golf academy in Texas, made 507 PGA Tour starts and pulled off a most memorable victory. Tiger Woods was trying to earn his PGA Tour card in the final months of the 1996 season to avoid going to Qualifying School. Woods succeeded on that, but he couldn’t handle Ogrin in a final round duel at the Texas Open.
While Ogrin made that one his lone PGA Tour victory, he lost two other tournaments in playoffs and won two other unofficial events. He beat Nick Faldo at the Deposit Guarantee Classic in 1987 and teamed with Ted Schultz to win the Chrysler Classic team event in 1989.
Like Zender, Ogrin was a dominant player in the Illinois ranks before hitting the big time. He won both the Illinois State Amateur and Illinois Open in 1980. He also won the Chicago District Amateur in back-to-back years (1979-80) and the Illinois high school title in 1976 before moving on to Texas A&M.
Ogrin and his sister Alicia were both Illinois State Amateur champions. They developed their golf skills primarily at Bonnie Brook Golf Club after their mother Bertha was elected to the Waukegan Park Board.
“I took full advantage of that privilege,’’ admitted Ogrin. “I’d play 18, 27, 36 holes a day. Then I’d also caddie a lot for my dad (Albin). I started playing when I was 7, and I got in a lot of golf – but not supervised golf.’’
Ogrin and wife Sharon, long-time Texas residents, have three daughters and a son whose name underscores their connection to Chicago. His name is Clark Addison and, yes, David remains a diehard Cubs’ fan.
Friday’s other inductees include Steve Skinner, the chief executive officer of Northbrook-based KemperSports, and Dan Dinelli, a third-generation golf course superintendent who has directed the operation at North Shore Country Club, in Glenview, for 36 years.
Skinner has played a pivotal role in shaping modern facility management with his portfolio including high profile work at such places as Oregon’s Bandon Dunes, Wisconsin’s Sand Valley and Florida’s Streamsong. He’s also a founder of the First Tee of Greater Chicago.
The other inductees are Horace McDougal, a pioneer for racial integration in golf, and Joe Roseman, who built the first lighted par-3 course in the Chicago area in the 1930s.
McDougal played at Northwestern, co-founded the Windy City Golf Association and played in the first Negro National Open in 1926. Roseman was an inventive force in early American golf, making contributions in course design, construction and equipment.
LECANTO, FL. – Anthony Kim is back on the LIV Tour in 2026, and he earned it with his clubs this time.
