Play in next week’s Illinois PGA Championship won’t resemble the birdie blitz that was witnessed by visitors to the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship at Medinah last week, but this IPGA has been conducting the event since 1922 and the golf is plenty good. Since 2001 the IPGA Championship has been dominated by University of Illinois…
Author: lenz
The stage is set for Thomas to cash in big again at East Lake
Record scores were the story after each of the first three rounds of the BMW Championship at Medinah. Not so in Sunday’s final round, however. While Justin Thomas came out the champion, the final 18 at Medinah basically set the stage for what comes next – The Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta. The…
Cantlay will get another shot at Thomas in The Tour Championship
Patrick Cantlay had his best round of the week on Sunday, shooting a 7-under-par 65. Only Hideki Matsuyama (63) did better. Neither could overhaul Justin Thomas at Medinah but they’ll have a chance to do it next week in the final FedEx Cup Playoff event in Atlanta. Cantlay goes into it with a two-stroke deficit…
Is Medinah No. 3 no longer the monster it used to be?
Just how low can these guys go? Medinah No. 3 has long been considered one of the world’s most difficult courses. It won’t be after the BMW Championship concludes there on Sunday. Only two of 69 players are over par after 54 holes and leader Justin Thomas is 21-under. Thomas has set the pace in…
Woods shows improvement at Medinah — but probably not enough
Tiger Woods played better on Saturday. He shot a 5-under-par 67 at Medinah No. 3, but it may not matter. Woods’ chances of getting into the top 30 on the Fed Ex standings still aren’t good going into Sunday’s final round. “I figured I’m going to have to do something in the mid-60s for two…
Matsuyama’s 63 is Medinah No. 3 record — but is it the best round there?
Lots of great rounds, by lots of great players, have been shot over Medinah Country Club’s No. 3 course over the years. So many, in fact, that it’s tricky determining which one was the best. Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama staked the best claim yet to the record on the storied course on Saturday. The layout that…
Finau: A victory is `just around the corner’
Tony Finau is thinking victory at the halfway point of the BMW Championship, and there’s no reason he shouldn’t be. Finau is just a shot behind leader Hideki Matsuyama heading into Saturday’s Round 3 at Medinah. Finau shot 66 on Friday in an effort to keep in close touch with the record-setting Matsuyama and believes…
Bad warmup didn’t faze Thomas in the first round at Medinah
It didn’t matter that all the conditions — comfortable temperatures, minimal wind, soft greens and fairways – were all ideal for low scoring at Medinah on Thursday. Justin Thomas certainly wasn’t thinking about that while warming up for his first round in the BMW Championship. “I had the worst warmup I’ve ever had in my…
Furyk may be the next `Mr. Chicago’ in golf
With all due respect to Tom Watson, Hale Irwin and even Tiger Woods, there is another contender when debating the most successful player on Chicago courses. Jim Furyk should also be on the list. All four players have feasted on Chicago area courses. Furyk just did it most recently – and is still doing it…
Tiger feels better, opens up before teeing off in the BMW Championship
Tiger Woods took to the famed No. 3 course at Medinah on Wednesday and played only nine holes in the Gardner Heidrick Pro-Am, the last pre-tournament event before Thursday’s start of the BMW Championship. Woods worked only his short game on the back nine, just like he did at last week’s first FedEx Cup Playoff…