Author: lenz

CDGA’s involvement gave Women’s State Amateur a big boost

 

The Illinois Women’s State Amateur had been conducted by the downstate-based Illinois Women’s Golf Association for 90 years before the IWGA – beset by a loss of members – turned the event over to the Chicago District Golf Association this year.

While the site remained at The Grove, in Long Grove, the shift in leadership produced a significant boost to women’s golf in the state.

The CDGA changed the format from match play to a 54-hole stroke play event, and last week’s tourney produced a wire-to-wire winner in Buffalo Grove’s Haeri Lee. The 24-year old Drake University alum posted rounds of 72, 70 and 76, and her 2-over-par 218 was good for a one-stroke win over Geneva’s Sarah Arnold.

Not only did Lee benefit from the format change, her reward for winning was upgraded, too.  An exemption into the U.S. Women’s Amateur, coming up Aug. 5-11 at Southern Hills in Oklahoma, was also part of the winner’s prize and that was a major incentive in getting Lee to enter. In past years the field for the national tourney was decided only in a series of nation-wide qualifiers.

“It’s been a long-time goal of mine,’’ said Lee.  “I was always kind of close, but I was struggling the last few years, and this was a confidence boost. I’m super excited, and super happy.’’

Now the Women’s State Am has become a more demanding test than the Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open, in which both pros and amateurs compete together.  The 29th IWO, coming up July 22-23 at Mistwood in Romeoveille, is played at only 36 holes.

While Lee never surrendered the lead in the Amateur, she did have to survive a final-round charge by playing partner Arnold, who made four birdies in a five-hole stretch to pull into a share of the lead with five holes left in regulation.

Arnold, who plays collegiately at Western Kentucky, won the State Am in 2019 and 2023.  She is the only multiple-winner  since Kerry Postillion won the last of her five titles in 2007.

RADIX CUP ROUT:  The Illinois PGA’s top players walloped the Chicago District’s amateur stars 16-2 in the 62nd playing of the Radix Cup matches at Oak Park Country Club.  It was the largest margin of victory in the series and gave the IPGA a 38-22-2 lead in the rivalry.

This Radix Cup was special, as the professionals honored long-time Oak Park head pro Steve Dunning, who passed away less than a week before last week’s competition.  Carson Solien, the club’s host pro, was part of the IPGA victory and honored Dunning.

“We’ll miss him,’’ said Solien.  “He was an integral part of Oak Park, and a great guy.’’ The American flag behind the clubhouse flew at half staff in Dunning’s memory during the competition.

HERE AND THERE: Samantha Brown, of Westfield, Ind., had been eliminated in the Round of 16 the last two years in the Women’s Western Junior, but not this year.  She defeated Texan Isabel Emanuels in the final at Hinsdale Golf Club.  Both players earned exemptions into the Women’s Western Amateur, coming to Onwentsia in Lake Forest July 15-20.

Kevin Flack of Mauh-Nah-Tee-See, in Rockford, led wire to wire in winning his fourth title in the Illinois PGA Assistants Championship on his home course. He had also won the title in 2019, 2021 and 2022.  Flack, Kevin Healy of Beverly and Matthew Rion of Briarwood all qualified for the national Assistants event in Florida in November.

The 104th Chicago District Amateur begins its four-day run on Monday (JUNE 24)   at Chicago’s Beverly Country Club.

Arlington Lakes will accept 40 teams into its Patriot Cup, a two-person gross scramble to be played on the Fourth of July.

 

 

The evolution of Bryson DeChambeau started in Illinois

Nine years ago Bryson DeChambeau won the U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields.

 

I can’t say I really know Bryson DeChambeau, but it certainly felt like it after he won the U.S. Open on Sunday at Pinehurst in such dramatic fashion.

DeChambeau was just a kid out of Southern Methodist University when he won the U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields in 2015.  Chicago rarely gets an event of that stature, and I reported on it throughout. He followed that with two more big wins on Illinois soil.

Two years later DeChambeau, now a budding professional, won his first title on the PGA Tour at TPC Deere Run.  That tournament in downstate Silvis is well-known as an event that regularly produces first-time winners on the PGA Tour. I reported on that one, too.

Finally, last year DeChambeau won the LIV Golf League’s event at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. Not only did he win the individual title, he also captained the Crushers – the team champion – and, yes, I witnessed it all.

I wasn’t on hand in North Carolina, where he outdueled Rory McIlroy in a stirring battle for the Open title but watching the drama unfold underscored for me just how much DeChambeau has developed as a golfer.

At Olympia Fields he was so excited to win he wandered around the grounds with a big smile on his face anxious to have his picture taken and talk with most anyone who wanted to talk with him.

At TPC Deere Run he got emotional at the trophy ceremony, recalling that his idol Payne Stewart was also a winner of the event early in his pro career.  Stewart also attended SMU, and DeChambeau said that was a big reason why he went there.

He donned a Stewart-style cap in the JDC and again used his headware at Pinehurst to honor the late, great player who won the first U.S. Open played at the course in 1999.  That was a hard one to forget by me, too.  Stewart held off Phil Mickelson with a dramatic putt on the final hole, a scenario with an ending much like the DeChambeau-McIlroy battle on Sunday.

And then we come to Rich Harvest Farms, site of  LIV tournaments the last two years but not this one.  It’s moving to Bolingbrook Golf Club in September.  DeChambeau had a lot more fun in his win at Rich Harvest last year, coming from eight shots back in the final round and then edging out Anirban Lahiri, one of his teammates.  They put on a show  mugging for the cameras afterwards.

That was a big weekend but didn’t compare to a LIV event at Greenbrier in West Virginia a few weeks earlier.  DeChambeau shot 61-58 on the weekend to get a victory there.

Though DeChambeau is a two-time Open winner – he won when no spectators were allowed in pandemic times in 2020 at New York’s Winged Foot – his life hasn’t been all fun and games.  Very much a free thinker, DeChambeau made some radical swing and equipment adjustments after beefing up to increase his distance off the tee.  Many questioned his decisions but they paid off.

He also didn’t get along with Brooks Koepka, a PGA Tour rival.  They’re very different personalities. Both jumped to the controversial LIV circuit and have won major championships since making their decisions to leave the PGA Tour. Now, after last week’s win, DeChambeau has become LIV’s most popular player.

One TV commentator labeled DeChambeau “golf’s ultimate showman’’ during the Open.  That may be a stretch, but his personality is refreshing in these days of turmoil in professional golf. He should be a big hit at the LIV tournament in Nashville this week and his budding popularity might even become a factor in getting the PGA Tour and LIV to eventually make peace. Time will tell.

Bryson DeChambeau (left) had fun with Crushers’ teammate Anirban Lahiri after edging him for the title at LIV/Chicago in 2023. (Joy Sarver Photos)

 

 

 

It’d be helpful to get Nicklaus’ take on the PGA-LIV issue

OCALA, FL. – My starting point as a golf writer came at the 1968 Western Open at Olympia Fields.  Jack Nicklaus won it.

Over the next 56 years I’ve reported, commented and interviewed many people in the golf industry. Many times I’ve been asked who is the best interview in the golf world, and my response has never changed:

“It’s Jack Nicklaus.  No question about it, and no one else is even close.’’

Not that you always agree with him, but Nicklaus has a good track record for being inciteful, candid, helpful, informative and expansive.

There was somewhat of a departure from that during his annual sit-down with the media before his Memorial tournament, however. He did have one gripe.  He didn’t like having the Memorial moved to a week before the U.S. Open.

“We’re here because the tour asked us to help them out,’’ said Nicklaus. “When I played I would rarely play a week before any major championship.  So I’m asked to be part of putting on a golf tournament in a week when I would never play.’’

Point well taken, and Nicklaus wasn’t treated so well by the tour with the dates the Honda Classic (now Cognizant Classic of the Palm Beaches) was given, either.  Nicklaus has a deep involvement there but, as the first event on the Florida Swing, even the PGA Tour players living in the area weren’t reluctant to skip it.

Tournament dates weren’t the major issue leading into this year’s two-week Memorial-U.S.  Open stretch, however.  The dragged out negotiations between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf League remain golf’s hottest topic but — as hard as the media members at Ohio’s Muirfield Village tried — Nicklaus wanted to stay clear of it.

“I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to the day- to- day of the tour anymore,’’ he said.  “I’m 84 years old.  I haven’t played a tour event since 2005, so I’m a few years removed from that. There are a lot smarter people and a lot better people that are better versed on what’s going on than I as it relates to the problems of the game of golf.’’

Nicklaus was very much involved the last time the PGA Tour was involved in such a controversy.

“That was 1968.  I was 28 years old. Arnold (Palmer) was 38.  And Arnold and I and Gardner Dickenson, who was chairman of the board, really broke away from the PGA of America.  We didn’t have anything against the PGA of America, except that we wanted to run our own business.’’

PGA Tour-LIV is a lot different than that.

Nicklaus contacted PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan a couple months ago in preparation for a previous interview, and their conversation was short.

“I said, Jay, I’m worried a little bit about what’s going on,’ said Nicklaus.  “I said `Are you doing all right or are you not?  He said `We’re doing fine.’  I said, `That’s all I need to know.’’

Given the widespread respect Nicklaus has in the game, his views could be beneficial to bringing peace back to the men’s professional game but that’s not a topic for lengthy discussions.

About as far as he will go is to laud Tiger Woods’ involvement in the negotiations.

“Tiger’s has a lot of experience.  He’s been around long enough.  He’s not going to play a whole lot more.  He can still contribute,’’ said Nicklaus.  “It’s great that he wants to contribute and be part of it.  It’s great that the guys want him to contribute.  I’m delighted to see him on the board.’’

Beyond that, Nicklaus isn’t convinced that a merger is the answer.

“I don’t know whether it’s imperative that that happens,’’ he said.  “It would be better if they all played together more often.  I do think that, but that’s above my pay grade.  To really answer that a hundred percent I’d have to  know all the ramifications of it.’’

Nicklaus doesn’t and, apparently, no one else does either.

 

 

 

Here’s the Illinois players teeing off in the U.S. Open

 

In most years there are two, maybe three, Illinois-connected players in the finals of the U.S. Open.  This year, for the 124th Open that tees off on Thursday  in Pinehurst, N.C., there will be four such players among the 156 starters.

Interestingly, though, none of them are among the area’s regular PGA Tour players. The four range in age from 22 to 44 and three are products of the University of Illinois’ powerhouse program. The other is a club professional who took a job in the area in March.

Just getting on the tee sheet for a U.S. Open is a commendable accomplishment, as only declared professionals or amateurs with a handicap index that does not exceed 0.4 can enter.  Even with those stringent requirements a record 10,187 entered last year.

While some players are exempted into the final field through past peformances most had to survive 109 local qualifying rounds held around the country and then get through one of the thirteen 36-hole final qualifiers held in the U.S., England, Japan and Canada.

Two of the four local participants survived both stages of qualifiers, and only two players in tournament history have done that and gone on to win the coveted title – Ken Venturi in 1964 and Orville Moody in 1969.

Here are this year’s Illinois-connected participants at Pinehurst:

JACKSON BUCHANAN – This 22-year old University of Illinois junior earned a spot in his first U.S. Open proper by shooting 64-67 in the final qualifier in his native Georgia.  Buchanan shared medalist honors in that event and has been a great player for the Illini for three years. He was Big Ten player-of-the-year in helping Illinois win the stroke play portion of the NCAA Championship. As a sophomore, he was the NCAA runner-up in the individual competition.

BRIAN CAMPBELL – This 31-year old Californian was playing for the Illini when he finished as low amateur (tied for 27th place) in the 2015 U.S. Open at Washington’s Chambers Bay.  He also qualified for the Open proper when it was played at Pinehurst in 2014 but didn’t survive the 36-hole cut.  Since turning pro in 2015 he has been a regular on the Korn Ferry Tour.

THOMAS DETRY – Also 31, Detry grew up in Belgium before Illini coach Mike Small recruited him. He got into this week’s field off his position in the top 60 point leaders in the Official World Golf Rankings. Detry climbed into that level with a tie for fourth at the PGA Championship last month. He was the Big Ten champion in 2016 after representing Belgium in three World Amateur Team Championships and Europe in the 2010 Junior Ryder Cup. He’s played in two previous U.S. Opens, tying for 49th at New York’s Winged Foot in 2020 and missing the cut at California’s Torrey Pines in 2021.

ANDY SVOBODA – Named the new head professional at Butler National in Oak Brook in March, the 44-year old graduate of St. John’s University advanced to his sixth U.S. Open by shooting 68-65 at a New Jersey qualifier.  Svoboda had more that $1 million in winnings on both the Korn Ferry and PGA Tours before switching to the club professional ranks. He missed the cut in five of his six previous Opens, surviving all 72 holes en route to a tie for 71st in 2008. He was  in last year’s Open field at Los Angeles Country Club, his first appearance in the finals since 2013. This year qualified for the PGA Championship and was runner-up in the Illinois PGA March Play Championship.

HERE AND THERE: The 91st Illinois Women’s State Amateur runs through Thursday at The Grove in Long Grove. The Chicago District Golf Association is conducting the event for the first time, replacing the Illinois Women’s Golf Association which ran the event for 90 years.

The 62nd Radix Cup matches between the top professionals in the Illinois PGA and top amateurs of the CDGA will be held Thursday at Oak Park Country Club.  The IPGA leads the series 37-22-2.

Brad Key, an Arlington Heights resident and Ivanhoe Club member, won the 21st CDGA Senior Championship at Kishwaukee, in DeKalb.

The Women’s Western Junior runs through Friday at Hinsdale Golf Club, and the Western Junior for boys begins its four-day run at Ruth Lake on Monday. The Illinois Senior Open is Monday and Tuesday at Hawthorn Woods.

 

 

 

 

Cantigny starts a renovation just as Dubsdread re-opens

Bunkers on Dubsdread’s fifth hole sparkle after a long renovation project at Cog Hill.

It may have been coincidental, but two of the Chicago area’s most prominent public golf facilities made announcements on the same day last week that will have a big impact on the area’s golf community.

At Cantigny, in Wheaton, it was the ground-breaking  for an extraordinary three-year redo. At Cog Hill, in Lemont, it was the resumption  of play at what has been the area’s most consistent tournament site.

Cantigny first.

Park Ridge-based course architect Todd Quitno  just began a three-year project to upgrade the 35-year old 27-hole facility that has been particularly notable for its commitment to growing the game through its Youth Links layout.  It won’t be touched in the renovation and – because Cantigny is blessed with 27 holes – its regulars will always have an 18-hole layout available.

Hillside, the shortest of Cantigny’s three nines, will undergo its renovation this year with Woodside and Lakeside combining on the 18-hole scorecard.  Woodside gets its upgrades in 2025 and Lakeside in 2026. Cantigny has hosted five Illinois State Amateurs, but the next scheduled one will be pushed back two years, to 2026.

Quito has taken on major projects at other Chicago area facilities, the Bridges of Poplar Creen, Schaumburg, Chevy Chase and Tam O’Shanter perhaps the most notable. Cantigny was designed by Roger Packard and Andy North with Wadsworth handling the construction process. Wadsworth will also be working with Quitno.

Architect Todd Quitno outlines his plans for a renovation during ground-breaking at Cantigny.

“(Quitno and colleagues) won’t do anything crazy,’’ said Cantigny general manager Terry Hanley.  “We will have a timeless golf course.’’

“Cantigny has been committed to delivering an exceptional golf experience while growing the game,’’ said Steve Skinner, chief executive officer of KemperSports, which manages the facility.  “The renovation reiterates that commitment to maintaining Cantigny as one of the best courses in the Chicago area and the country.’’

At Cog Hill’s 72-hole complex the famed Dubsdread course is back in play.  The Jemsek family closed it early last season and has opened it about two months late this year to allow for its first renovation since 2008.  That one was done by world renowned architect Rees Jones with  associate Greg Muirhead overseeing the project.  Muirhead directed this one.

Dubsdread opened in 1964 and was the site of the 1997 U.S. Amateur and two U.S. Public Links Championships.  The Western Open was played there from 1991 to 2006 and Dubs was also the site of four BMW Championships after the Western Golf Association opted to conduct a FedEx Cup Playoff event that was moved around the country.

A goal of the latest renovation was to make Dubsdread “more player friendly for the daily golfer.’’ That was done through the rebuilding of 89 bunkers, the shifting of fairway bunkers throughout the course and the addition of chipping areas on four holes.

HERE AND THERE:  The John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event, has announced the entries of Patrick Cantlay and Jason Day – two PGA Tour mainstays who have rarely been in attendance at the JDC in the past.  This year’s version is July 4-7 at TPC Deere Run in Silvis.

Andy Svoboda, the new head pro at Butler National in Oak Brook, earned a place in the upcoming U.S. Open with a third-place finish in a final qualifier in Summit, N.J.  Two University of Illinois products also advanced to the Open proper at Pinehurst.  Jackson Buchanan, a member of the current Illini team, was co-medalist in Alpharetta, Ga., and alum Brian Campbell tied for second at Durham, N.C.

The Western Golf Association holds the first of its six championships next week.  The Women’s Western Junior, first played in 1920, begins its five-day run at Hinsdale Golf Club and the boys version – the Western Junior – is the following week at another Hinsdale club, Ruth Lake.

Illinois PGA seniors defeated the Chicago District team 3-2 in the 34th annual Thompson Cup matches last week at Chicago’s Ridge Country Club.  The 22nd CDGA Senior Amateur ends its four-day run tomorrow  at Kishwaukee in DeKalb.

The Illinois PGA resumes tournament play with its Assistants Championship on Monday at Mauh-Nah-Tee-See, in Rockford.

 

 

 

My reflections on a mind-boggling two weeks in pro golf

 

OCALA, FL. – Who would have thunk it?

There’s some developments over the last two weeks in the pro golf world that defy the imagination – at least mine. These are changing times in golf, and that’s been the case for a while – but I never would have imagined the following series of events in such a short span.

Some are sad, some strange, some noteworthy.  None are related, but all – in one way or another – are food for thought.  (I’ve  listed them in pretty much chronological order for lack of a better way to put them on display):

RORY – Here you have one of the best players win a big tournament, the Wells Fargo Championship, then file for divorce the next day – and that happened to be the day players like Rory McIlroy could start arriving for the PGA Championship, the second major of the season.

McIlroy’s timing was strange, but that’s not all.  He refused to talk about it, even though social media was smothered with speculation and opinions about the sudden turn of events.  It even spread to Amanda Balionis, the popular TV golf reporter who was reported to be McIlroy’s new love interest. She wouldn’t address the subject either.

Here you have one of the PGA Tour’s best player spokesmen and a TV personality whose job it is to explain what’s going on during tour events, and both are letting the speculation about them run wild.  Granted, it’s their own business, but still…..

SCOTTIE – The world’s best player gets arrested on his way to the second round of the PGA Championship.  To Scottie Scheffler’s credit he – unlike McIlroy – didn’t duck questions about his unfortunate experience at the gates of Quail Hollow.  In fact, he handled the episode with enviable aplomb.  Still, no way an event of this magnitude could have been on any golf follower’s radar.

GRAYSON – This is such a sad development.  Grayson Murray, a PGA Tour player, committed suicide in the middle of a tournament.  It shook up the tour, its fans and – most obviously – his friends among the players.  Webb Simpson and Peter Malnati shared their thoughts publically at that emotional time, and I commend them for doing it.  I strongly believe they were a help to many caught in the mourning process.

NELLY – The best player in women’s golf had won six of her last seven tournaments, then Nelly Korda teed off in the U.S. Women’s Open.  On her third hole she put three balls in the water and took a 10. How does that happen?  Just golf, I guess.

Anyway, Korda missed the 36-hole cut at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania – not surprising, given her early-round nightmare.  What was surprising is all the company she had in failing to qualify for weekend play.

Heading that list was Lexi Thompson, who – at 29 – announced her pending retirement plans before teeing off.  The others on the MC list included defending champion Allisen Corpuz; such LPGA mainstays as Rose Zhang, Brooke Henderson, Lydia Ko, Patty Tavanakit, Sei Young Kim, Leona Maguire, In Gee Chun and Ariya Jutanugarn and you can add No. 1-ranked amateur Ingrid Lindblad and Lottie Woad, winner of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, to that list.

YUKA – Only 15 Americans were among the 75 players making the cut at Lancaster, but an established player did win the title.  Yuka Saso, the champion for the second time, was unusual for one thing.  While her win was no fluke, she won the title in 2021 representing the Philippines.  This time she won under the flag of Japan.  She explained that she wanted to honor the homes of both of her parents.

Saso was one of only two players to finish the 72 holes under par – the fewest in 10 years.  It’s only fitting to honor the champion but that doesn’t rule out labeling  the latest staging of arguably the biggest event in women’s golf as “The Disaster at Lancaster.’’

CADDIE-MAN – C.T. Pan may be the first player to use four caddies in the same round of any tournament, much less one as prestigious as the Canadian Open.

Pan had one of the premier bag-toters, Mike (Fluff) Cowan, on his bag to start the final round.  Cowan took a fall on the hills at the No. 3 hole, and Pan took a volunteer from the gallery to replace him.  That fan lasted one hole and another replaced him.  That one lasted through the ninth hole before Al Ridell, a nearby resident who has caddied professionally, saw what was happening on television and took over for the final nine.  Pan shot a 69 and finished in a tie for 35th place.

WHAT SHOULD we make of all this?  I guess it should go down simply as “life goes on.’’ Still, it makes me a little apprehensive about the next two weeks on the pro tours, especially with the Memorial and U.S. Open on the schedule.

 

 

Defending champ says PGA Tour needs more John Deere Classics

 

Illinois is one of those few states to have both a PGA Tour and a LIV Tour tournament this year.  The friction between the two circuits is still there, but Sepp Straka downplayed it during the John Deere Classic’s annual Champions Day in Rock Island last week.

Straka will defend his title in Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour stop at TPC Deere Run in downstate Silvis July 1-7.

Elevated tournaments are trending on the PGA Tour as a response to the bigger purses, smaller fields and no-cut events on the Saudi-backed LIV circuit.  The JDC isn’t one of the elevated PGA stops. It remains a 156-player shootout with a cut after 36 holes and $8 million in prize money, a big drop from the PGA’s elevated events that offer purses in the $20 million range.

The LIV Tour, which also has prize funds in the $20 million range, returns for its third straight year on Sept. 13-15 but at a new site, Bolingbrook Golf Club replacing Rich Harvest Farms.  This year’s event will be the LIV’s season individual championship.

Negotiations between the PGA and LIV meanwhile remain in limbo and an agreement seems even more distant now that two members of the PGA’s negotiating group quit the board in frustration recently.

“It’s more sad for the golf fans than for us (players),’’ said Straka. “Hopefully things get moved a little bit, but it is a pretty slow process and I wouldn’t expect anything to happen in the next few months.’’

Don’t feel sorry for the JDC, however. In fact, Straka believes there should be more tournaments like it.

“The Tour needs more than elevated events,’’ he said.  “None of the stars ever started playing in elevated events when they first came out.  Very few of them had that status.  Stars are created by playing well in these tournaments (like the JDC) and moving up through the ranks. That’s why a lot of  guys still come to this one.  It’s a special place.’’

Straka was the star of last year’s JDC.  He had the gallery on 59-watch until he hit his approach to the final green into the water, leading to a double bogey.  He still won by two shots for his second PGA victory.  He won the last Honda Classic in Florida in 2022 before that tourney changed sponsors.

Last year Straka was runner-up in the British Open behind another former JDC winner, Brian Harman, and he also played on Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team. One of his Euro teammates, Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, finished fourth in last year’s JDC.

Straka, who grew up in Austria before playing collegiately at Georgia, plans to play for Austria again in the Paris Olympics this summer. This year he tied for 16th in both The Players and Masters before missing the cut at the PGA Championship.

U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN: Red hot Nelly Korda, the LPGA’s No. 1-ranked player with six wins in her last seven starts,  will have challenges from two Chicago-connected players when Pennyslvania’s Lancaster Country Club hosts the 72-hole event beginning tomorrow (THURSDAY, MAY 30).

Both Elizabeth Szokol, of Winnetka, and Caroline Smith, of Inverness, survived qualifying tournaments to earn spots in the field.   Szokol is a regular on the LPGA Tour and teamed with Cheyenne Knight to win the circuit’s Dow Great Lakes Invitational last year.

Smith, an amateur, qualified at Briarwood, in Deerfield.  She started her collegiate career at Wake Forest, then transferred to Indiana and helped the Hoosiers to their first Big Ten title in 26 years with a tie for fourth finish as an individual.

HERE AND THERE: Two Chicago area teaching professionals – Jamie Fischer of Conway Farms and Nicole Jeray of Mistwood – finished tied for 11th and tied for 28th respectively in the LPGA Senior Championship in Utah.

Mt. Prospect’s Joe Cermak won the ninth Chicago District Mid-Amateur title at Elgin Country Club last week.  Cermak is director of admissions and assistant golf coach at St. Patrick’s, his high school alma mater.

Ground-breaking for a multi-year renovation of the 27 holes at Cantigny, in Wheaton, will be held at 9 a.m. tomorrow (THURSDAY, MAY 30).

Nancy Towers, of Downers Grove, was an early qualifier for the U.S. Adaptive Open, a championship for the world’s best golfers with disabilities.  She advanced through an Indiana qualifying event.  The main event is July 8-10 in Kansas.

 

Nelly Korda should be the leading story in golf this year

 

OCALA, FL. – Unfortunately all the noise impacting the men’s pro golf tours has detracted from what is a huge story in the sport overall this season. The extraordinary accomplishments of Nelly Korda haven’t received nearly the attention they’ve merited.

This week should change that. The 79th U.S. Women’s Open tees off on Thursday at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.

It was big news when Scottie Scheffler won four of five tournaments in his hot streak earlier this year.  Korda did even better, winning five in a row and six of her last seven starts heading into the Women’s Open.

Let’s put all that in historical perspective.

In the women’s game only two other players have won five LPGA tournaments in a row – Nancy Lopez in 1978 and Annika Sorenstam in 2004-05. Maybe more to the point, only three players have won six tournaments before June – Babe Zaharias in 1951, Louis Suggs in 1953 and Lorena Ochoa in 2008.

Korda has already matched that mark. Next goal is to get seven wins for the season, a mark jointly held by Zaharias, Karrie Webb in 2000 and Taiwan’s Yani Tseng in 2011. It’ll be interesting to see how many more wins Korda has in her before 2024 is over.

If you want to compare Korda’s streaks with the men, Tiger Woods won five straight in 2007-08, six in a row in 1999-2000 and seven consecutively in 2006-07. Ben Hogan won six straight in 1948.

But, if you want to go further back both the LPGA and PGA Tour have records that seem – at this point – safe even from Korda.  On the men’s side Byron Nelson won 11 in a row and 18 tournaments overall in 1945 and on the women’s Mickey Wright triumphed 13 times in 1968, along with 11 times in 1964 and 10 in both 1962 and 1963.  Golf was a different game when Nelson and Wright were in their heydays than it is for Korda now.

Korda is playing in an era where there are more tournaments, more prize money and more good players to beat. Still, she’s only 25, so there’s plenty of time for her to pile up more wins.

Korda’s genes at least suggest she could do it, too. All the Kordas are, or were, world-class athletes. Her parents, both from Czechoslovakia, were top tennis players,  Father Petr was No. 2 in the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings in 1998 and won a Grand Slam title that year in the Australian Open. Nelly’s mother, Regina Rajchrtova, was ranked No. 26 in the world and represented Czechoslovakia in the Olympics.

Nelly’s older sister, Jessica, was successful on the LPGA Tour, too. Now 31, she dropped off the LPGA Tour a year ago after battling some lingering injuries.  She won six times on the circuit with career winnings of $7.6 million and became a mother for the first time in February.

Both Jessica and Nelly were on the U.S. Olympic team in 2020 with Nelly winning the gold medal. Their brother Sebastian has won over $5 million dollars in six seasons on the Association of Tennis Professionals circuit.

Now, though, it’s all Nelly’s show and she’ll be going after her third major title in this week’s Women’s Open. She has 14 career LPGA wins and overcame a serious injury when she developed a blood clot in her arm that shortened her season in 2021.

The U.S. Women’s Open hasn’t been kind to her, however.  She’ll make her 10th appearance this year with her best a tie for eighth in 2022 at Pine Needles, in North Carolina.

This year she’s won $2,943,708, or more than a million more than Hannah Green, who is second on the money list. In fact, Nelly has been so good that Michael Kim, a PGA Tour player, has declared that she should get a shot at playing in an event on the premier men’s circuit.  Seven women have been accorded that honor.  If Korda is interested in it, she should be an automatic No. 8.

The Women’s Open will at the least put her in the golf spotlight world-wide.  The tourney will have 26 hours of live TV coverage and Lancaster hosted one of the best previous Opens when a record 135,000 spectators showed up nine years ago.  That event turned into a battle of Koreans with then 20-year old In Gee Chun beating out Amy Yang. Chun became the fourth player to win the title in her first event.

One footnote regarding this year, though.  The 2024 U.S. Women’s Open didn’t have a record entry.  Last year 2,107 entered when the finals were at California’s Pebble Beach.  Entries this year hit 1,897.

 

Illini men could contend for NCAA golf title again

 

Mike Small has had better teams than his current one at the University of Illinois.  Several of them, including last year’s veteran squad, even came close to winning the NCAA title but couldn’t finish the job.

The current Illini did make it to the NCAA finals, which begin a week-long run on Friday (MAY 24) at LaCosta in Carlsbad, Calif., despite being dethroned as Big Ten champions by Northwestern  two weeks ago.  That ended a record eight-year conference  title run by the Illini, but they bounced back in a hurry.

Last week Small’s 17th Illini team won the NCAA’s Stanford Regional, the sixth such title under Small’ direction.

Northwestern, meanwhile, saw its season come to an end with the Wildcats finishing 12th in the 13-team North Carolina Regional, but Notre Dame will join Illinois at LaCosta after finishing third in the Texas Regional.

Illinois, though ranked No. 18 nationally and seeded third in its regional,  dominated the field at Stanford, winning by eight strokes over top-seeded Florida State. The Illini qualified for the NCAA finals for the 15th time in the last 16 years.

“This is just another step and progression in our yearly goals,’’ said Small. “We’ll enjoy it as a team, then get ready for the next piece of the puzzle.’’

Max Herendeen, a freshman, won his first collegiate tournament by leading wire-to-wire at Stanford.  He finished the 54-hole regional at 13-under-par 197 and became the fifth Illinois golfer to claim medalist honors at a regional.  Brian Campbell, now on the Korn Ferry Tour, won twice and Nick Hardy, Michael Feagles and Luke Guthrie also took titles.

“Max keeps improving and growing,’’ said Small. “He handled himself like a champion.  He hit it really solid, but the way he handled his emotions and focus is what made it fun to watch,’’

Illinois had three players in the top 10 at Stanford, and that balance bodes well for the team’s chances for another run at the national title.

“We had a total team effort from top to bottom (at the regional),’’ said Small. “Illinois golf has always prided itself on each man doing his job and this was a perfect example of that. This shows what’s possible when we play from strength and play solid, fundamental golf.’’

IN MEMORIAM: The Chicago golf community  lost two of its most popular members recently with the passing of Ed Posh and Bill Berger.

Posh, from West Chicago, was the first head professional at Village Links of Glen Ellyn and served in that post until 1995 when he assumed emeritus status.   Upon his retirement a scholarship fund was established in his honor and 118 students have benefitted from $1,240,000 in grants over the years.

Berger, from Franklin Park, was a lifetime member of the PGA and former touring professional.  He had been a co-host on the Golfers on Golf Radio show for the past 16 years. Posh was 94 and Berger 87.

HERE AND THERE:  Thomas Detry, the Belgian golfer who played for Illinois from 2012-16, tied for fourth in the PGA Championship at Kentucky’s Valhalla on Sunday. Andy Svoboda, the new head professional at Butler National in Oak Brook, couldn’t keep his early-season hot streak going at the PGA.  He missed the 36-hole cut there but was named to the PGA Cup team.

The first championship of the Chicago District Golf Association’s 111th season concludes today (WEDNESDAY) when the ninth CDGA Mid-Amateur’s title match is played at Elgin Country Club.

Long-time Chicago area club professional Tim Govern has been named the new head pro at Rolling Green in Arlington Heights.

Chicago-connected tour players Luke Donald and Doug Ghim survived the PGA’s 36-hole cut.  Former Northwestern and European Ryder Cup captain Donald had missed the cut in all four of his starts this season until finishing tied for 68th  at Valhalla.  Ghim, from Arlington Heights, tied for 35th – his best finish in a major championship since turning pro in 2018.

 

 

Bizarre — that’s the best way to sum up the PGA Championship

Bizarre. I’d say that was the best way to sum up the 106th PGA Championship at Valhalla in Louisville, Ky.

No question the golf was great.  So was the drama. Xander Schauffle was 21-under-par in finally winning a major championship on Sunday. You couldn’t beat the drama, either.  Bryson DeChambeau renewed the PGA Tour vs. LIV rivalry with a final-round charge that ended with him walking off the practice range, his chances at being in a playoff doomed when Schauffle’s six-foot birdie putt dropped on the 18th green to give him a one-stroke victory.

All that was well and good.  I’m afraid, though, that this PGA Championship will be better remembered for some strange things.

They started on Monday as players started arriving at Valhalla. Out came the report that Rory McIlroy had filed for divorce from Erica Stoll, his wife of seven years.

Divorces are sad things, but McIlroy’s timing was unfathomable. Here he’s coming off a big win at the Wells Fargo Championship on Sunday, then files for divorce the next day,  a few days before the next major championship – one where he had won in 2014.  A distraction, both for himself personally and for the tournament overall, was inevitable.  What was Rory thinking?

Stoll was quoted as saying, “There wouldn’t be a divorce if Rory was as faithful to me as he has been to Tiger.’’  To no one’s surprise, there was no comment from McIlroy. (Woods, incidentally, received little attention for good reason; he missed the cut after a second-round 77).

Anyway, the McIlroy scenario wasn’t the biggest news for long.  Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player,  skipped the Wells Fargo the week before to adjust to becoming a father for the first time.  He got to Valhalla in good spirits until he drove to the course early on Friday for his second round.

An auto accident near the course led to the death of a man moments earlier, and Scheffler was arrested for an unrelated driving offense. He was slammed against the side of his car by a police officer, handcuffed, finger-printed, photographed in an orange jail shirt and put in a cell. He started his pre-round stretching there before a friendly police officer offered him a sandwich as he was being released.

Scheffler played well despite the unpleasant ordeal and – in sharp contrast to McIlroy – talked to the media for 13 minutes after his round, displaying concern for the family of the accident victim. How he regrouped to shoot 66 still amazes me. Scheffler faded in the third round, finishing in a tie for eighth.

His nightmare isn’t over, though.  Scheffler faces four charges, one a felony. His arraignment was to be on Tuesday, but it was later postponed until June 3.  Scheffler plans to play in the Charles Schwab Challenge this week in Texas.

There were a few other notable things that, of course, paled in comparison to the McIlroy and Scheffler episodes.

Steve Stricker’s withdrawal before the first round was noteworthy, though understandable. The 57-year old PGA Tour Champions star had tied for seventh in the 2014 PGA at Valhalla after playing his first Ryder Cup there in 2008. Those memories had Stricker looking forward to playing Valhalla again, even though he would be in the midst of playing three major championship in three weeks and making three title defenses in five — a stretch that even Woods didn’t have to face  during his heyday.

“I’m excited to get to play the PGA Championship in the middle of all this with the young guys,’’ Stricker had said.  Only he didn’t play.  After all, three Champions Tour majors coupled with his dual role as defender and host at his own tournament just became too much. He’s in the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in Michigan this week.

More footnotes:

Collin Morikawa made five straight birdies in his Saturday round to get to the top of the leaderboard but didn’t make another until final hole on Sunday.  At least, as Schauffele’s playing partner,  he got a close-up view of the champion’s exquisite final round.

Jon Rahm, who had the longest streak of the season for avoiding missed cuts, missed this time.  Rahm had gone 18 tournaments before his letdown.  Now Hideki Matsuyama has the longest streak, at 16.

Schauffele’s 21-under-par 263 was a scoring record for a major championship.  He became the 11th wire to wire winner of the PGA, the first being Kentucky native Bobby Nichols in 1964. Shauffele’s first-round 62 tied a record in major championships and Shane Lowry matched it in the third round.  Only five players have shot that number in a major, and Schauffele has done it twice.  The first came in last year’s U.S. Open.

The nicest thing about the week, though, was a break in the frequently ugly confrontations between members of the PGA and LIV circuits.  LIV member Brooks Koepke won the PGA in 2023 and DeChambeau – with three birdies in the last six holes and two in the last three — made an emotional run at another win for the Saudi-backed circuit.  Though he didn’t get it, he was popular with the gallery and showed appropriate sportsmanship afterwards.

“I gave it my best and lost to someone who played incredibly well,’’ said DeChambeau.  “I put as much effort as I possibly could into it.  Xander is well-deserving of a major championship.’’

Kind words are especially nice to hear during these turbulent times in professional golf.