Brooks Koepka is the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world, the reigning PGA champion and the winner of four major championships in the last three years. On Wednesday, though, he played second fiddle to one of his playing partners in the Gardner Heidrick Pro-Am, the final warmup for Thursday’s start of the BMW Championship at…
Author: lenz
McIlroy downplays his late arrival at Medinah’s Ryder Cup
Rory McIlroy nearly missed his tee time in the last big event he played at Medinah. He can only laugh about it now. The moment of infamy came in the 2012 Ryder Cup. McIlroy didn’t account for a time change and didn’t realize he needed to be at Medinah until someone called him. He needed…
WGA reaches a milestone in caddie scholarships
No matter what happens in the BMW Championship at Medinah the week will have been a success as far as John Kaczkowski, the Western Golf Association president and executive director, is concerned. “We’re thrilled to announce that we have achieved our goal of having a record 1,000 caddies enrolled in college,’’ Kaczkowski told a gathering…
PGA stars are back at Medinah for first time since U.S> Ryder Cup nightmare
The gates of Medinah Country Club open to the public for the first time since 2012 today. This week’s big event, the BMW Championship, will be much different than the last one held there – a devastating loss for Team USA in the Ryder Cup matches against Europe. The BMW is a 70-player, 72-hole no-cut…
JDC was a success, now comes the BMW Championship at Medinah
One down, and one big one to go. And then what? We’re all about to enter a period of transition. Illinois is blessed with two PGA Tour events, but they couldn’t be more different. The John Deere Classic has had a variety of names since its founding in 1971. It’s played two hours west of…
Have golf bag, will travel: Our latest tour of the Eastern U.S.
AS PUBLISHED IN CHICAGOLAND GOLF, AUGUST 2019. You can’t try this at home, that’s for sure. While we continue to write about all things golf for this publication (and a few others), we’ve taken a special liking to Travel Destination pieces in the last 10 years. There’s nothing wrong with playing most of your golf…
Cooke’s second Illinois Open run-away was different from his first
David Cooke became the 13th player to claim multiple wins in the Illinois Open on Wednesday and – like his first win in 2015 – this latest one was basically no contest. Cooke won by five strokes when the tournament was held at Royal Melbourne, in Long Grove, four years ago and his 16-under-par score…
Illinois Open win could be an early wedding present for Cooke
Bolingbrook’s David Cooke could win the 70th Illinois Open today. He enters the final round at The Glen Club, in Glenview, with a three-stroke lead but he might have other things on his mind. Cooke, who won the tournament in 2015 when he was still an amateur, will catch a flight to North Carolina on…
Renovated Ridgemoor proves no pushover in first round of the Illinois Open
The Illinois PGA, in an effort to increase entries, instituted a two-course format for the finals of the Illinois Open in 2015. It allowed for a 264-player field for the 54-hole finals instead of the traditional 156 after the entries – usually around 700 — were whittled down through a series of state-wide qualifying rounds….
Rochester is — at the very least — the heart of the New York Golf Trail
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – There are good reasons why Rochester should come to mind when you consider golf destinations. After all, the legendary player Walter Hagen grew up here and one of the most prolific course designers, Robert Trent Jones Sr., was not only born in Rochester but his very first design, Midvale, is also within…