Author: lenz

New practice area at Conway Farms dazzled BMW players, fans

The new range at Conway Farms offers all sorts of practice options. (Photo by Charles Cherney)
PGA Tour players see a lot of golf courses and, somewhat amazingly, they remember – at least in general terms – what most of them look like.

That wasn’t quite the case when the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup Playoffs gathered at Conway Farms in Lake Forest in September for the BMW Championship. Conway Farms was the site of the tournament just two years before, but even a star the magnitude of Rory McIlroy had to admit “it’s much different than how I remembered it.’’

Conway’s membership closed the course in mid-April of 2014 and closed its practice range three months later. Both re-opened in late May of this year, and the BMW Championship was somewhat of a coming-out party for the club to show what had been done since it had last been opened to the public in 2013.

There was some work done on the course, and the pro shop and caddie house also were upgraded. What made the place look so much different, though, was what was done on the practice facilities. Players noticed it right away and spectators who had attended in 2013 were stunned immediately upon entering the gates.

“It’s a beautiful place,’’ said Jordan Spieth. “We like coming here. It’s top-notch.’’

Phil Mickelson called the setup “wonderful.’’ Zac Blair, one of the youngest qualifiers for the tournament, was even more descriptive.

“It has the best short-game place I’ve ever seen,’’ said Blair. “No wonder Luke Donald is the best short game player in the world.’’

Donald, who didn’t qualify for this year’s BMW Championship, is a former world No. 1 as well as a Conway member. He gave considerable input to director of golf Jeff Mory and architect Dennis Wise during the building process.

“Luke had a lot to do with it,’’ said Mory. “He was super-interested in the driving range but intimately interested in what the short game area should be.’’

“Luke has a very keen eye,’’ added Wise, who was the on-course architect for designer Tom Fazio when the private facility was built in time for a 1991 opening. “He’s a tremendous artist. He can see it in the dirt. He had some great impact.’’

Conway Farms’ new putting green is much larger with more undulations.

Conway, which will also host the BMW Championship in 2017, was in need of some upgrades after the 2013 tournament. The course was re-grassed and cart paths were expanded on the walking-only course just to facilitate spectator traffic during the tournament. Spectator viewing was also improved, and Wise added new tees on nine holes, tweaked some bunkers and made some strategic changes to the short par-4 15th hole.

More eye-catching, though, was what he did to the practice facilities. The practice tee was enlarged by almost 50 percent, from 40,000 square feet to 75,000. That enlargement necessitated the building of a new putting green, one that was also notably bigger than the old one.

Dennis Wise (left), Jeff Mory (blue shirt) and Luke Donald (white shirt) were in the forefront in the creation of Conway Farms’ elaborate new practice facilities.

“We wanted one with enough size for an event like (the BMW Championship),’’ said Mory. “We went from 6,500 square feet to one that’s over 10,000. Now we have a very large putting green.’’

The larger range also necessitated the building of a new short game area. It was also enlarged by a lot, to include two bent practice greens that total 15,000 square feet plus another half acre of practice area space.

Mory said that disclosing cost figures “wasn’t appropriate’’ but admitted the project was “expensive’’ and that the practice range work was “the most substantial cost we incurred’’ on projects directly involving golfers.

Also benefitting was the Western Golf Assn., which stages the BMW Championship as a fundraiser for its Evans Scholars Foundation. The organization now has a more attractive venue for the biggest of the four tournaments it conducts annually.

“The driving range was expansive, and it allowed for a whole new entry process,’’ said Mory. “For people coming in for the tournament, they would have this mind-blowing experience.’’

Mory stressed, though, that the expanded practice facility wasn’t created to please the touring pros.

“Not at all,’’ he said. “Certainly having events (like the BMW Championship) is now part of our culture and we want to make all decisions for all the things that we are. But our primary goal was for Joe Club Member.’’

Conway has some serious players in its membership. At any one time it’ll have between 150 and 175 with single digit handicap indexes — one of the very highest percentage of members in the sprawling Chicago District Golf Assn.

“These guys and gals are passionate, and we have others who want to get better,’’ said Mory. “While the project was expensive, it was valuable for the day-to-day enjoyment for what our members are. So many clubs in Chicago don’t have the land or the opportunity to do what we did. This was a reinvestment in things that are great for our club.’’

Again, the money wasn’t spent to make things better for an occasional big tournament. Conway had its share of those even before it landed the BMW Championship. Its 209 acres was the site of a flood of major amateur competitions from 1998 through 2012, the biggest being the 1997 men’s NCAA Division I Championship, the 2009 Western Amateur and the 2012 U.S. Mid-Amateur. Getting a PGA Tour event, though, required more from the club than those events did.

“We didn’t expand the range just so Dustin Johnson could hit drivers,’’ said Mory. “We’ll start a week at 325 yards to our 10-foot high fence at the back of our range, but we can go back to 340 or 350. Most courses that don’t host tour events don’t have that kind of space. For our members now we can move the practice area around and they’ll always have good grass to hit off of.’’

Wise, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., worked for the late Larry Packard in the Chicago area from 1979 to1985 before joining Fazio. He started his own business, Dennis Wise Golf Course Design, in 2012.

In his just-completed project he had to accommodate the needs of members, tour players and the Conway teaching staff – one that features Mory and included the renowned Dr. Jim Suttie during the last summer months – and still develop a facility that was aesthetically pleasing. He apparently succeeded on all counts.

“It looks like the rest of the place. It doesn’t feel like an add-on. It looks like it should be here. It feels right,’’ said Mory.

“I’m a teacher,’’ he said, “so from our standpoint this is an amazing laboratory, an incredible place to teach, practice and work.’’

“In those three acres we didn’t leave anything on the table, and the players echoed that,’’ said Wise, after spending a week around the club while the PGA Tour stars were in town. “The tour players loved it, and the members absolutely loved it.’’

Nadler family has impacted Chicago golf in many ways

Theirs is a success story unlike most others in the world of golf.

For starters, the Aurora-based Nadler clan has the longevity factor going. Nadler Golf Cars has been in business over 50 years and is still going strong. Through it all, it’s remained a family business that is now a third-generation operation servicing nearly half of the roughly 400 courses in the Chicago area.

The company leases about 6,00 golf cars and provides the maintenance on them summer and winter. And, just as important, the company gives back to the game. That was underscored this year when Nadler Golf Cars was declared the longest running continuing sponsorship for the Illinois PGA’s Pro Presidents outing, which is approaching its 40th year.

Nadler Golf Cars also has been the title sponsor of the Illinois PGA Championship for over 10 years and recently signed up for another three-year extension. The sponsorship run is also in the 40-year vicinity with the Midwest Golf Course Superintendents Assn. and the First Tee of Aurora’s headquarters is named the Nadler Golf House of Learning.

“We want to be visible to all our customers in the area,’’ said Eric Nadler, the company president since 2013 when he replaced his father, Dave. “It’s very important to our family to give back to those guys. Without them we wouldn’t have our business.’’

The Nadlers’ story, though, goes way beyond the giving back policy. It’s one well worth telling just from the historical perspective. In 1963 Bill and Bea Nadler – parents to Dave and grandparents to Eric — were operating a Harley-Davidson motorcycle shop in Elgin. They entered the golf industry when Harley-Davidson came out with one of the first golf cars.

“We’re very fortunate for the vision my grandfather had, both for our family and for golf in Chicago,’’ said Eric. “He put golf cars in as a sideline, and my grandmother said he was crazy. She had a lot of reservations. She believed people walked in golf.’’

Most did, of course, but Bill Nadler was able to lease four or five cars to the Fox Valley Golf Club, which is now owned by the city of Aurora, and he started pounding on the doors of other courses. When the motorcycle industry started experiencing tough economic times Nadler opted to focus strictly on golf cars.

“Some thought he was crazy again,’’ Eric admitted.

But he wasn’t, as it turned out.

Dave Nadler entered the business when he was 11, basically on the maintenance end, to support his father and the then one other employee the company had. Times were as tough for golf cars as they were for motorcycles then.

“When (Bill Nadler) got his first demo he decided to stop by a golf course, and he went to Bonnie Dundee (the longstanding public course in Algonquin),’’ said Dave. “The owner told him `everybody at my course walks.’’’

That was that, for a few months, but before the year was out Bill Nadler was called back to that club because the owner had a change of heart. Others course operators were also willing to try the power cars, and a thriving business was born.

“He was in the right place at the right time,’’ Dave said of his father. Dave became a full-time employee after finishing college in 1974 and joined forces with his brother Keith and sister Karen (now Karen Baumgartner) to buy out their father in 1981.

They were the officers when Eric, Dave’s son, and Matt Baumgartner, Karen’s offspring, got involved.

“I started as an 8-year old washing golf cars,’’ said Eric. “I found out early on about manual labor. I found out what the real world was all about.’’

He later spent summers working in the parts and service departments during his high school years.

“In high school my father and uncle were harder on me than the rest of the employees, and before I was to go to college my dad sat me down and gave me an opportunity (to work towards taking over the company),’’ said Eric. “I didn’t want to do it.’’

In stepped grandfather Bill again. They had a talk on a vacation in Wisconsin, and Eric changed his mind. He worked for the company for 17 years before he and Matt took over ownership of Nadler Golf Cars on Jan. 1, 2013. The company has tripled in size over the last 10 years.

Keith Nadler retired from the company in 1997 and Dave in 2013. Bill Nadler passed away on March 7, 2013, at the age of 94. Karen Baumgartner remains active, and the operation has grown to 18 full-time employees – some of whom were hired over 40 years ago by grandfather Bill. Another four are generally brought in to help with seasonal projects.

The Illinois PGA has long benefitted from its connection with three generations of Nadlers. Michael Miller, who left the IPGA this year after 23 years serving as tournament director and then executive director, said the section “wouldn’t be where we are without the Nadler family. They have been such a vital part of what the Illinois PGA has done.’’

In addition to the event sponsorships Dave Nadler served on the IPGA Foundation board that launched a $2 million program in the late 1990s that benefits Maryville Academy and the First Tee programs, among others. The Nadlers were among the initial donors.

Carrie Williams, who took over as Miller’s replacement in August after serving as executive director of the Illinois Junior Golf Assn., was well aware of the good things done by the Nadlers from an earlier working stint with the IPGA.

“The support that Nadler Golf and the Nadler family have provided the Illinois Section throughout their decades of sponsorship is unparalleled,’’ she said. “Not only is their financial support of the Section and its PGA professionals integral in continuing to elevate major events like the Section Championship and Pro-President, the unique evolution of our relationship across multiple generations of the Nadler family sets Nadler Golf apart as both the longest-standing Section sponsor – and the most generous.’’

Zach Johnson has no qualms about his No. 6 FedEx ranking

The Tour Championship, which tees off on Thursday at East Lake in Atlanta, brings an end to the PGA Tour’s 2014-15 season and Zach Johnson is in an interesting position.

Only 30 players qualified for the 72-hole event that has an $8.25 prize fund and offers an additional $10 million bonus to the winner of the four-event FedEx Cup Playoffs. The winner of the bonus won’t necessarily be the same player who wins The Tour Championship. That’s where Johnson, the reigning British Open champion, figures in.

The FedEx Playoffs began in 2007 to provide the PGA Tour with a much-needed climax to its season. The point system remains confusing, however. The ranking points accumulated in the previous tournaments are reset to create more suspense for the last event.

One thing is certain: if any of the top five in the standings wins at East Lake, that player also wins the $10 million. Johnson is No. 6.

That’s not a bad position to be in. The top five are Jason Day, who won the BMW Championship at Conway Farms in Lake Forest on Sunday; Jordan Spieth, who won the Masters and U.S. Open in the first half of the season but hasn’t been as sharp lately; Rickie Fowler, winner of the Deutsche Bank Champion in the Playoffs; Henrik Stenson, winner of the FedEx Cup in 2013; and Bubba Watson.

There’s no guarantee that Sunday’s winner will come from that group, though Day is red hot. He’s won four of his last six starts and became the world’s No. 1-ranked player with his win at Conway Farms.

Johnson, meanwhile, isn’t one of the game’s much-publicized young guns – a group of twenty-somethings that includes Day, Spieth, Fowler and Rory McIlroy, most recent of the previous No. 1s. But, at 39, Johnson’s no slouch. The Iowa-based veteran is the reigning British Open champion. He also includes the 2007 Masters and Illinois’ two PGA Tour events — the 2012 John Deere Classic and the first BMW Championship at Conway two years ago – among his 12 PGA Tour victories.

Most important, he’s playing good, too. Johnson finished his last round at Conway Farms with five birdies and shot 64, the day’s lowest score. That boosted him from No. 7 to No. 6 in the FedEx standings. While he would have liked to crack the top five, Johnson has the best shot at golf’s biggest paycheck if none of the top five win at East Lake.

“I’ll take it,’’ said Johnson. “I was very frustrated (last week) because I felt like I was in a place to do some work. I figured something out with my ball-striking going into the last nine. You can just chalk up that last five holes to patience.’’

The struggle to find his swing, though, took a toll on Johnson.

“I’m spent. I’m done. I’m ready for a break more mentally than I am physically,’’ said Johnson. “Physically I’m fine. That’s why I work out. That’s why I’ve got a team of guys to get me motivated and ready to play.’’

Though he admits “mental fatigue is there,’’ Johnson’s not about to skip a chance to win $10 million. He can do it by winning at East Lake and have Day finishing no better than a tie for second. Even if he doesn’t win the tournament Johnson would have a mathematical chance of claiming the bonus by finishing second, depending on how the players ranked about him fare.

Here and there

Illinois senior Thomas Detry tied the Olympia Fields North course record with a 7-under-par 63 in the Fighting Illini Invitational, but the Illini settled for a fifth-place finish behind champion Florida State. Detry, who finished second individually in the 54-hole competition, matched a score posted by Rickie Fowler in 2007.

Dave Ryan of Taylorville became the first three-time winner of the Illinois Senior Amateur with a five-stroke win at Ravisloe, in Homewood, and Gary March took the Illinois Senior Open at McHenry Country Club.

The Illinois Super Senior Open begins its 36-hole run on Tuesday at Pine Meadow in Mundelein.

Day finishes the job in BMW, becomes golf’s newest No. 1

As has been the case in all four rounds of the BMW Championship, Sunday was Jason Day’s day. He led the $8.25 million championship wire to wire, but his victory – Day’s fourth in his last six starts – had more meaning.

Not only did Day stay atop the FedEx Cup Playoff standings, he also took over the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings. Day went into the third tournament in the four-event series ranked No. 3 behind Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. Now Day is the third Australian to be ranked No. 1, following Greg Norman and Adam Scott.

The 19th player to achieve the coveted No. 1 ranking, Day opened the BMW Championship with a 61-63 start at Conway Farms in Lake Forest and nursed the lead through the weekend rounds in 69-69.

“This is all quite shocking,’’ said Day after achieving his `life-long dream.’ “Yesterday and today were the toughest rounds of my life, and the last two days were very emotional. It was hard to sleep at night.’’

Starting the final round with a six-stroke lead, Day took a conservative approach and that helped Daniel Berger, a 22-year old PGA Tour rookie, get within four shots with five holes left. That really didn’t create much suspense, but Day ended whatever there might have been with a 10-foot birdie putt from the fringe of the No. 16 green.

“This whole summer has been a whirlwind,’’ said Day. “It’s surreal right now, just to think about it. There was that belief in there somewhere that all the hard work was for a good reason, just to prepare myself for moments like this.’’

That birdie at No. 16 opened a five-shot lead and Day finished his business with a par and birdie, giving him a 22-under-par 262 for the 72 holes. Berger finished second, six shots back, and moved from 46th to ninth place in the FedEx standings. Only the top 30 qualified for next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta, so the strong finish got Berger there.

“It was unbelievable,’’ said Berger. “Thousands and thousands of people, and I got into two marquee groups with Jason (Saturday) and Rory (Sunday). It was just a lot of fun.’’

While Day stayed clear of trouble, the other 68 players (Jim Furyk withdrew during the first round with a wrist injury) either wangled for a top-five spot in the playoff standings or for one of the other 29 spots available at Atlanta. The top five – still Day, Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson and Bubba Watson – could win the $10 million playoff bonus by winning at Atlanta regardless how the others perform there.

“That’s the ultimate goal throughout the playoffs, to be in the top five, to have a chance to win there and win it all,’’ said Fowler.

In addition to being assured another big payday, all 30 Atlanta qualifiers are assured spots in the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship next year. Nine from the BMW field made it to Atlanta for the first time including Harris English, who missed by a stroke the last two years and finished at No. 30 this time.

“It’s awesome,’’ said English, who needed a 15-foot birdie putt on the last hole to survive. “It’s a goal starting each year to make it because you get in all the majors, and that makes your schedule easier.’’

The other qualifiers included Zach Johnson, winner of the 2013 BMW Championship at Conway Farms and owner of Sunday’s best score. Johnson finished with five straight birdies and posted a 64 to finish in a tie for 13th place.

Those who missed a trip to Atlanta from the BMW field included Billy Horschel, last year’s BMW and FedEx Cup champion; Hunter Mahan, the only golfer to have qualified for all of the previous FedEx tournaments; Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter and Keegan Bradley.

They’ll miss the season-ending climax to another PGA Tour season — 30 players competing over 72 holes for another $8.25 plus the big bonus.

“It’s all for this setting, for Atlanta,’’ said Spieth. “There are a lot of exciting players in the mix, and that’s going to create quite a finish next week. The top 10 in the world are all on their game, and that’s what you want for the Tour Championship.’’

Day cools off, but still takes suspense out of BMW Championship

It would have been asking a lot for Jason Day to keep scoring the way he had been during the first two days of the BMW Championship.

After all, the 27-year old Australian led by four strokes after shooting a course record 10-under-par 61 in Round 1 at Conway Farms in Lake Forest and his margin was five after a 63 in Round 2. Day matched the all-time PGA Tour scoring record for 36 holes and a continuation of that pace would have made him the first player to break 250 for 72 holes and he was also in position to claim the record for strokes under par in a 72-hole event – presently 31-under by Ernie Els in the 2003 Mercedes Championships on a par-73 course.

Well, talk about more record-setting subsided after Saturday’s round, when Day made four bogeys and showed he’s human after all. But his lead – now up to six strokes — still looks safe entering Sunday’s final round of the third event of the FedEx Cup’s four-tournament series. He cooled off to a 69 on Saturday and is at 20-under 203 for 54 holes. His six-stroke advantage is the biggest 54-hole lead of the season on the PGA Tour.

“It feels like I shot 80 compared to the first two days,’’ said Day, “but I’m not unhappy with the score. The first two rounds were great, but this was the more important one to get through, and I’m happy to have extended the lead.’’

If he hangs on to it Sunday he’ll pass Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy and claim the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings. That, said Day, “is a life-long dream.’’

Even though another night of heavy rain – four inches pelted the course in a 48-hour span — further softened the course and resulted in the lift, clean and place rule put into place for the second straight day, the birdies didn’t come as easily for Day or anyone else. A change in wind direction caused that.

“There were tough pin locations with a northerly wind,’’ said Day. “It was the most difficult round we had this week.’’

Day first got to 20 under par after a spectacular approach over a tree to two feet at No. 12. That widened his lead to eight strokes over Rickie Fowler and Scott Piercy, but Day’s next tee shot sailed out of bounds and he scrambled to make bogey – his third of the round after making only two in the first two rounds.

By then Fowler had posted his 66 – the low round of the day — but didn’t envision much hope of catching Day. Fowler is tied for fifth, seven strokes off the lead. Piercy, who will be Day’s playing partner on Sunday, and Daniel Berger, who played with Day on Saturday, are tied for second. Unlike previous rounds, players will go off in twosomes off only the No. 1 tee in the final round. First tee time is 7:15 a.m., and Day and Piercy go off last at 12:40 p.m.

Day concluded his round with a 20-foot birdie putt, which he hopes will provide good momentum going into the final 18.

“I’ll be trying to extend the lead. That’s the mindset,’’ he said.

Others weren’t thinking the same way. Just staying in the top five or even the top 30 in the FedEx standings is important. Those in the top five after the BMW Championship are assured of winning the $10 million bonus if they can win next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta. And, only the top 30 of the 70 starters at Conway Farms will qualify for that last playoff event.

“Conditions were a little tougher, and I was able to move up the board,’’ said Fowler after Saturday’s round. “You’ve got to look at Jason as an outsider. You don’t have to worry about him. There’s another tournament going on, and he’s in control of whatever he’s doing. If he happens to come back, then we may have a chance.’’

“The tournament is in Jason’s hands right now,’’ said McIlroy, who moved into solo fourth – seven back — after posting a 67. “It’s up to us that are behind him to get off to fast start, and he needs to come back to the field a little bit.’’

No 59, but Day still builds momentum in BMW

Jason Day’s one shot at shooting a first-round 59 in the BMW Championship fizzled Friday morning. The 27-year old Australian put his approach from the rough on the green, but not in the hole, and wound up settling for a 61 in the rain-delayed first round at Conway Farms in Lake Forest.

Day still owned a four-shot lead over playing partner Jordan Spieth and five others after Round 1 and didn’t lose momentum when the second round teed off 90 minutes later. He backed up the 61 with a 63 to hit the halfway point of the 72-hole competition at 18-under-par 124 and a five-stroke lead.

The second round ended more spectacularly than the first, as Day holed a 42-foot putt for eagle at No. 18. Before that he had seven birdies that were offset by one bogey. His 36-hole score tied the lowest all-time 36-hole score in PGA Tour history, matching marks posted by David Toms and Pat Perez.

“I came in this morning and didn’t shoot 59,’’ said Day. “I thought everyone was disappointed, and it’s hard to back up a good round with another one, but we had much calmer conditions.’’

There’ll be one big difference for Day entering the second half of the tournament. His playing companions won’t be his celebrated partners of the first two days, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler – Nos. 2 and 3 behind Day in the FedEx standings. Both dropped back, Spieth now seven shots off the lead in a tie for fourth place and Fowler 11 back.

“Right now what Jason is doing on the course is something I haven’t watched or witnessed in my life,’’ said Spieth. “I feel like I should be paying to come watch some of this. It was special.’’

A red-shot 22-year old is still on Day’s heels; it’s just not Spieth. Daniel Berger went 65-64 in the first two rounds, and he had a sizzling playing partner in Brendon Todd. Todd, who strung four birdies early (holes 2-5), holed a lob wedge shot from 83 yards for eagle on his last hole for a 63 to join Berger at 13-under-par 129.

Day, Todd and Berger will now be in the featured final group Saturday, as more rain in the forecast forced PGA Tour officials to again alter the schedule. Instead of going with the planned earlier start with twosomes play will again begin at both the Nos. 1 and 10 tees at 10 a.m. with players going off in threesomes.

Scores figured to be low in the second round after two inches of rain doused the Conway layout overnight. That softened the greens, and necessitated the use of the lift, clean and place rule on the fairways.

“We had optimal scoring chances,’’ said Todd, who wasn’t the only one to take advantage. Dustin Johnson had the day’s low round, a 62, and Kevin Na, Hideki Matsuyama and Henrik Stenson all matched Todd’s 63.

“A course that’s as soft as this, the wind has died down and it’s not overly long,’’ said Rory McIlroy, the No. 2 ranked player in the world who shot 65. “The par for us out here really should be 67 or 66.’’

Berger, in his rookie season on the PGA Tour, and Todd started the week outside of the top 30 in the FedEx Cup rankings. Only the top 30 go to the final event, The Tour Championship next week in Atlanta. Berger started at No. 46 and Todd at No. 48. Both are winless on the PGA Tour but looking forward to playing with the red-hot Day.

“I played well with him last year on Sunday of the British Open,’’ said Todd. “We have a great rapport. When someone is playing as well as he is, sometimes it takes the pressure off of you and you just got out there and play your game. Hopefully I feed off of his momentum just like Daniel and I did the last couple days.’’

Berger was paired with Day two weeks ago in the Deutsche Bank Championship, second event of the playoffs, in Boston. Day was coming off a win at The Barclays, the first event in the playoffs.

“The funnest part about playing with Jason is the crowds,’’ said Berger. “You’ve got thousands of people watching you. For a young guy like myself, that’s the most fun. I thrive off playing with good players, and it’s going to be fun to experience that again.’’

BMW opener was a round like no other for Day, Spieth

Thursday produced a great first round at the BMW Championship – but it was a strange one, too, and it’s not quite over.

Sound confusing? Well, it certainly was.

Jason Day, the top-ranked player in the third tournament of these FedEx Cup Playoffs, was cruising and his playing partner, No. 2-ranked Jordan Spieth, was showing the same signs of brilliance he had earlier in the season – before he started the season-ending four-event series with two missed cuts.

Day smacked a solid tee shot on their final hole, No. 9 at Conway Farms in Lake Forest, and so did Spieth. Then, without a drop of rain falling, weather sirens sounded to suspend play 4:22 p.m. Twelve minutes later a vicious storm pelted the course and at 5:15 PGA Tour officials opted to end play for the day.

So, Day has to wait overnight before know if he can shoot a 59. He needs to hole out from the rough 44 yards from the pin to match the score shot by Jim Furyk in the first BMW Championship played at Conway Farms two years ago.

“If I make it, I make it,’’ said Day, who had one eagle, nine birdies, six pars and one bogey before the weather hit. He is 10-under-par for the tournament, four strokes ahead of Daniel Berger who finished his round with a 65 and five ahead of Spieth.

Day wasn’t thinking about shooting 59 – a score posted by only six players in PGA Tour history – until Spieth reminded him at the No. 9 tee that Conway is a par-71 course. Most layouts are par-72s.

“I should have known, because there are only three par-5s,’’ said Day.“I’m playing good golf, but trying to not think about it.’’

The Australian won last month’s PGA Championship as well as the first of the FedEx Cup Playoff tournaments. Despite those recent successes Day put a new, lighter driver in his bag this week. It proved a good decision on Thursday, most notably on the still-to-be-completed ninth hole where he blasted his drive 20 yards further than any of the other players in the field.

Day was in the featured threesome with Spieth and Rickie Fowler. They’re ranked 1-2-3 in the FedEx Cup standings and they drew a big following on opening day of the $8.25 million tourney. The middle of the round was spectacular, and Day and Spieth matched great shots. From No. 18 (the last hole of their first nine) to No. 4 – a five-hole stretch, both Day and Spieth were 5-under-par.

At No. 1 Day holed a 77-yard bunker shot for eagle. Moments later Spieth’s 7-iron on a 196-yard par-3 dropped in for a hole-in-one. Spieth also chipped in on the next hole for birdie and made a third straight bird with a three-foot putt on the next.

Day wasn’t to be outdone. He followed Spieth’s ace with a 30-foot birdie putt at No.2 and added birds at Nos. 3, 7 and 8 before the storm. Weather worries led to the schedule being adjust for Friday. Day will hit his approach to the No. 9 green at 7:30 a.m. That’s when first-round play resumes.

Second-round play was to begin at 11:20 a.m. but the start was moved up to 9 a.m. because more bad weather is in the forecast for Saturday.

Two players who were able to finish their rounds on Thursday are serious challengers for Day. Daniel Berger, who holed out for eagle at No. 9 to complete his round, posted a 6-under-par 65, which puts his four strokes behind Day, and Brendon Todd, who hit only 10 greens in regulation, chipped well enough to get in with a 66.

Todd is solo third among the finishers but Spieth, Kevin Chappell and Justin homas are at 5-under and still on the course.

There was one sad side to the opening round. Furyk, the course record-holder, withdrew after six holes with a painful wrist. He said he was “very concerned’’ that he’d be able to play in next week’s season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta.

Spieth, Day, Fowler: Could there be a better threesome in golf these days?

Never has the future of professional golf been put on display as dramatically as it will be on Thursday and Friday at Conway Farms.

The Lake Forest private facility has a dream threesome teeing of at 11:53 a.m. Thursday and 12:59 p.m. on Friday. That’s when Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler begin their bids for the title in the first two rounds of the BMW Championship. It’ll be the first time the young stars have played together in a threesome at a PGA Tour event.

“We’re going to have a blast,’’ said Fowler. “The three of us really enjoy playing together, and our caddies are all good friends. It’d be fun if we can build some momentum with all of us playing well the first two days, but there won’t be any shortage of smiles and laughs going on.’’

They’re playing together because they rank 1-2-3 in the FedEx Cup standings. In regular tournaments the pairings are determined by tournament officials; in the playoffs they’re determined by playoff standings.

Day is 27, Fowler 26 and Spieth 22. That’s as close as golf has come to a “Big Three’’ since the days when Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player were in their heydays, and that legendary trio never played for the money that the Day-Fowler-Spieth group is chasing this week.

The BMW Championship, third event of the four-tournament FedEx Cup Playoffs, is a 72-hole competition with and $8.25 million prize fund and no cut for the 70 qualifiers. Sunday’s champion will receive $1,485,000.

Spieth didn’t survive the 36-hole cut in the first two playoff events but could still win the $10 million bonus awarded after next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta. Spieth downplayed the back-to-back missed cuts.

“Everything feels normal. My game is in a solid state,’’ he said. “It’s just a matter of getting it rolling, get into a groove and start seeing some putts go in.’’

The FedEx point standings include results during the 47-event regular season. That’s why Spieth, winner of the Masters and U.S. Open, is in the mix despite his recent slump. Day won The Barclays, the first playoff event, and Fowler took the last one, the Deutsche Bank Championship. They’re using the BMW Championship to get into position for the big prize, to be awarded in Atlanta.

Any player ranked in the top five in the FedEx standings after this week’s tourney will win the big bonus with a win in The Tour Championship, and there is some long-term strategy involved.

“Just playing good golf and trying to win both tournaments. That’s the plan,’’ said Day. “Winning takes care of everything. That’s great to say right now, but it’s obviously harder to do.’’

Actually, there’s precedent for none of the “Big Three’ winning either this week or next. If a player down the list gets hot, he could claim the $10 million bonus as well.

“Exactly,’’ said Day. “You look at Billy Horschel last year and Camilo (Villegas) a few years back (2008). Things like this can happen.’’

Horschel, in this week’s field but down in 67th place in the FedEx standings, tied for second in the Deutsche Bank Championship last year and then won the BMW and the Tour Championship. Coupled with the bonus, he won $13,477,333 in just the final month of the season.

Players have taken different approaches in the FedEx Cup season. Some, with enough points going in, feel a week’s rest would be beneficial in the long run and skip a tournament. Phil Mickelson, most notably, has tried that tactic in the past and Sergio Garcia trumped him by skipping the first two tournaments this year. Both, though, will have to play well to get inside the top 30 – a requirement for play in Atlanta. Garcia enters the BMW at No. 54 in the standings and Mickelson is No. 61.

While all the players want to win the BMW Championship, the secondary goal is just to get into the top five on the point standings. Any of those five would win the bonus with a win in Atlanta regardless of where any of the other players finish.

Behind the Day-Spieth-Fowler trio in the top five are Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, who won the bonus in 2013, and Bubba Watson.

Murray brothers steal the show at BMW pro-am

Funniest thing about the Gardner Heidrick Pro-Am, the last tuneup for the PGA Tour stars competing in this week’s BMW Championship at Conway Farms in Lake Forest.

The player grabbing the most attention wasn’t one of the professional golfers. It was actor/comedian Bill Murray, a long-time favorite in such golf events. Not only did Murray play in the tourney’s pro-am for the first time, so did his five brothers.

Murray was in a foursome headed by Charley Hoffman. Brothers Brian, Ed and Andy played with Gary Woodland and John and Joel Murray teed off with Jim Furyk. The pro-am also included Bears’ legend Brian Urlacher and new Bulls’ coach Fred Hoiberg, but Bill Murray was clearly the star of the show.

Hoffman led his team to the tee immediately after the first afternoon group – one headed by PGA champion and current FedEx Cup point leader Jason Day – teed off. As soon as Day’s group left the tee the gallery around the tee tripled in anticipation of Murray’s arrival and he had a following all the way around the course.

All the Murrays were caddies at the Indian Hill Club while growing up in Winnetka. They’re also partners in a popular Florida bar restaurant named CaddieShack, the name being derived from a popular golf-themed movie that had Bill as one of its stars.

Dressed in colorful, clearly non-traditional golf attire, Bill Murray delights galleries with his on-course antics but he’s had playing success, too. Paired with Illinois native D.A. Points, Murray has been a winner in the PGA Tour’s longstanding AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach in California. This year he also was a hit at the John Deere Classic Pro-Am in the Quad Cities.

After Wednesday’s pro-am all six Murray brothers were inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame in a ceremony in the Conway Farms clubhouse.

Furyk: 59 feeling is still `incredible’ a year later

Jim Furyk wasn’t happy to hear about the changes made to the Conway Farms course in preparation for this week’s BMW Championship.

“Bummer,’’ he said. “Now I’ve got to learn it all over again.’’

Well, hardly. Tuesday is practice day for the 70 players who will begin the 72-hole competition at the Lake Forest layout on Thursday. They’ll find the changes to the course from 2013 relatively minor and — even without practice — it’s safe to say Furyk knows the course. Two years ago he covered it in 59 strokes in that first BMW Championship played there.

Furyk didn’t win the tournament – he finished third, three strokes behind champion Zach Johnson – but his hot second round made him the sixth player to break 60 in a PGA Tour event, joining Al Geiberger, Chip Beck, David Duval, Paul Goydos and Stuart Appleby.

“It was a pretty incredible feeling,’’ said Furyk, looking ahead to the third tournament of the four-event FedEx Cup Playoffs. “I got off to a great start, held it together in the middle after three-putting No. 5 and then had the mental hurdle of making birdies on two of the last four. My attitude and thinking process throughout that day was as good as it’s ever been.’’

Luke Donald, the former world No. 1 and a Conway Farms member, remains dazzled by what Furyk did. Donald’s best round on his home course is 61.

“It’s the type of course you can see that number if you’re really on,’’ Donald said. “But Jim did it on a cold, windy day when the next best score was 65. That round was special.’’

“I remember with a couple holes left thinking `How many times in your life will you get a chance to do something like this. Enjoy it, but don’t let it slip by.’’’

He didn’t, but there is a touch of mystery still connected to that epic day. Furyk posed for photographers with a ball emblazoned with the numbers “59.’’

Now he’ll admit that that wasn’t the ball he used to shoot the low score. A PGA Tour media official took a ball from Furyk’s bag and wrote the “59’’ on it. The ball that Furyk used is in his workshop at home but not on display.

“We don’t display stuff,’’ he said. “I might have the glove I used. I do have a stack of flags that I sign for charities.’’

The lack of interest in memorabilia isn’t limited to the record round, either. Witness what happened to the reward for his victory in the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields – the lone win in a major for the 45-year tour veteran.

“We don’t have a trophy room,’’ said Furyk. “The U.S. Open trophy sat in the kitchen for maybe six months. Everyone who came by had a drink out of it.’’

The 12-under-par round hasn’t been challenged by PGA Tour players since the 2013 BMW Championship. Last year’s tournament was played at Cherry Hills, in Denver, with Billy Horschel winning the title.

Furyk enters this BMW Championship in ninth place on the playoff standings. He won the $10 million bonus as FedEx Cup champion in 2010 and is in good position to crack the top 30 who qualify for next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta. That’s where this year’s bonus will be awarded.

Going into the BMW, though, Furyk trails Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson, Bubba Watson, Charley Hoffman, Zach Johnson and Dustin Johnson.

Gates opened at Conway Farms on Monday with the main attraction being a new event, the Evans Scholars Cup. It involved teams from Chicago area clubs. Donald, who didn’t qualify for the tournament, hosted a fundraiser for the First Tee of Greater Chicago in the evening.

In addition to the practice rounds Tuesday’s schedule includes the CDW Celebrity Skills Challenge at nearby Halas Hall. Golfers Camilo Villegas and Gary Woodland will join Bears’ players in the Fold of Honor benefit event.