Pittsburgh’s Nathan Smith made U.S. golf history Thursday en route to earning another coveted invitation to next April’s Masters tournament. Smith became the first four-time winner of the U.S. Mid-Amateur – the national championship for players 25 and over — with a tense victory over Canadian Garrett Rank in the 36-hole final at Conway Farms,…
Author: lenz
Expanding LPGA Legends Tour will soon have biggest-ever event, Hall of Fame
FRENCH LICK, Ind. – For 11 years Jane Blalock has tried to get a senior tour going for the veterans or retirees on the Ladies PGA Tour. Now she’s apparently done it. Blalock, the LPGA’s rookie-of-the-year in 1970 and a 27-time winner on the circuit, has made the LPGA Legends Tour her special project. She’s…
U.S. MID-AMATEUR: Smith, Rank final will be historical — no matter who wins
No golfer in the 32-year history of the U.S. Mid-Amateur has won the tournament four times. Nathan Smith could be the first to do it today at Conway Farms, in Lake Forest. Smith, from Pittsburgh, won the national championship for amateurs 25 and over in 2003, 2009 and 2010. He advanced to another final with…
RYDER CUP: Junior players will play a big part in the festivities
The upcoming Ryder Cup is much more than a three-day golf competition between the top touring professionals from the United States and Europe. It also encompasses a load of junior events that the PGA of America hopes will help grow the sport. Medinah Country Club will host some – but not all – of them….
Break in the FedEx playoffs is a good thing with two big weeks coming up
There’s a rare break in the PGA Tour season this week, and that’s a good thing. The best players are tired after playing three straight weeks of FedEx Cup playoff events and they’re welcoming a rest before the big two-week stretch coming up. The climax to the playoffs, The Tour Championship at East Lake in…
BMW CHAMPIONSHIP: McIlroy is simply the best as season reaches its climax
CARMEL, Ind. – Sunday’s wrapup to the BMW Championship didn’t bode well for the U.S. team’s chances in the upcoming Ryder Cup matches at Medinah. Two members of the European Ryder Cup team, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, played together in the next-to-the-last twosome and finished at the top of the leaderboard with McIlroy reinforcing…
BMW CHAMPIONSHIP: Ten-birdie round shows Mickelson is back in the groove
CARMEL, Ind. – Phil Mickelson was a reluctant competitor when the Western Golf Assn. held the Western Open and its successor, the BMW Championship, at Cog Hill in Lemont. He just didn’t like the course, and said so. The results showed it, too. From his first appearance in 1992 until the final staging at Cog…
WGA did smart thing in moving BMW tourney to Crooked Stick
In the past six years this would have been a big week in Chicago golf. During five of those years the PGA Tour made its annual stop at Cog Hill, in Lemont, for the BMW Championship, a FedEx Cup playoff event. Only in 2008 was there no event – and that was because Cog Hill’s…
Let’s not forget about the U.S. Mid-Am
The U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship could get lost in the shuffle with the Ryder Cup coming to town just two weeks later. That might be understandable, but I hope it doesn’t happen. Chicago, in particular, and the Midwest, in general, need more big tournaments each year – not less. And, make no doubt about it, the…
The wait for the Ryder Cup is almost over
It’s getting close now. The biggest event in Chicago’s rich golf history tees off at Medinah Country Club on Sept. 28, but plenty will be going on before then. September will be a month like no other for golf excitement in Chicago. Medinah knows what big-time golf is all about, having been the site of…