Both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf League climaxed their seasons last weekend, but –at least arguably – the biggest event of the year is coming up next month.  The Ryder Cup matches are Sept. 26-28 at Bethpage Black, in New York, and that puts Northwestern alum Luke Donald in the spotlight again.

Donald captained the European team to victory in Italy in 2023 and he’ll announce his six captain’s picks for this staging on Sept. 2, well after U.S. captain Keegan Bradley fills out his team. Roster choices traditionally trigger an intense buildup of interest before each Ryder Cup.

Bradley’s automatically qualified selections were Scottie Scheffler, J.C. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau. Bradley announces his six captain’s choices today (WEDNESDAY), and the suspense is building.  It’s even possible that Bradley could pick himself, which would make him the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.

“I wish he was alive and I could call him,’’ Bradley said after Sunday’s Tour Championship concluded at Atlanta’s East Lake – the Ryder Cup site in 1963. “I think he’d have some great advice for me.’’

Well, golf was different when Palmer was a playing captain.  The Ryder Cup wasn’t as popular then, and there were no captain’s picks.  The entire teams were chosen on a point system.

Donald learned his automatically qualified six players after last weekend’s British Masters.  They were Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, and Rasmus Hojgaard. Hojgaard’s twin brother, Nicolai, helped the Euros win two years ago but is a longshot to be among Donald’s picks.

HAIL THE CHAMPS: Just as the pro tours were wrapping up their seasons, so were local tournament organizers.

Brian Carroll, the head professional at The Hawk in St. Charles,  became a three-time winner of the Illinois PGA Championship on Tuesday at Chicago’s Beverly Country Club.

Carroll, who won titles in 2022 and 2024,  fired a final round 66 to earn a one-stroke victory over first-round leader Jeff Kellen, of North Shore in Glenview.  Carroll was at 4-under-par 138 in the event that was shifted from 54 to 36 holes this year.

Kellen, who shot 71 on Tuesday, finished one stroke back in second place and Mike Troy, of Troy’s par-3 Course, was at 2-under 140 to finish solo third.

Earlier Roy Biancalana won the IPGA’s Super Senior Open at Pine Meadow, in Mundelein, and Lake Forest’s Max Scodro captured the Illinois State Mid-Amateur at Inverness.

Biancalana, who teaches at The Hawk in St. Charles, opened with a 64, then went on to a four-stroke win over Lakewood’s  Doug Bauman. It was Biancalana’s fourth victory in the Super Senior event, which was first held in 2011.  Biancalana’s other titles came in 2020, 2021 and 2023.  St. Charles’ Dave Esler, the defending champion, tied for third and shared low amateur honors with Crystal Lake’s Mike Karney.

“I’m getting older, so how much longer can I keep on winning this thing?’’ wondered Biancalana, who was at 9-under-par 135 for the 36-holes.  “I put a lot of pressure on myself with my 64 – my lowest competitive round in recent years.  It was hard to battle the thought of  ‘If you lose this tournament after a 64 you’re a choker.’ You have to win after shooting a score like that, but it’s not easy.’’

Scodro,  who won the Illinois Open in 2012, bounced back from a one-shot loss to Will Hickey, of Burr Ridge, in the Mid-Am two years ago.  This time Scodro carded a 3-under-par 69 in the final round to win by one over Jack Watson, of Lincolnshire , and Dan Stringfellow, of Roselle. Scodro was at 5-under-par 211 for his 54 holes.

COMING UP NEXT:  The Chicago tournament calendar focuses on the collegiate and high school seasons now with three big events on tap on the collegiate side in September.  Northwestern will have both its men’s and women’s teams in the Jackson T. Stephens Cup Sept. 15-17 at Shoreacres, in Lake Bluff.  The Illinois men will host the Fighting Illini Invitational Sept. 19-21 at Olympia Fields and Northwestern’s men will stage the Windon Memorial at Knollwood, in Lake Forest, Sept. 29-30.

CHARITABLE SIDE:  The Illinois PGA will hold its annual Birdies for Charity event Sept. 2 at River Forest Country Club.   The 90-hole event put on by the area’s club professionals has raised over $4.3 million for various charities in the past.

SENIOR WOMEN: Three Chicago area players were in last week’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open in California. Lake Forest’s Jamie Fischer did the best, tying for 41^st .  Becky Morgan, of Wales, was the champion with a 7-under-par 285 score for 72 holes.  Juli Inkster was six strokes back in second place and Annika Sorenstam tied for eighth.

The Illinois PGA hasn’t been afraid to make changes to its tournaments – especially the biggest ones.

First the section opened its Illinois Women’s Open to out-of-state players because, said IPGA executive director Carrie Williams, “We wanted the strongest field it could be.’’ So did the staff at long-time tourney site Mistwood Golf Club, in Romeoville.

Not only did the field get stronger, it also got bigger.  This year’s IWO had over 100 entries for its 30^th anniversary staging.

The men’s version of the Illinois Open took a recent change, too. Long limited to Illinois residents, the field now permits players who grew up in the state or attended college here. That led to University of Illinois alum Michael Feagles winning this year and long-time PGA Tour and Champions Tour member Gary Hallberg competing again after he moved back to Barrington after residing for years in Colorado.

Hallberg was an Illinois Open winner twice.  Another past champion, Carlos Sainz Jr., was also back in the field.  He now lives and works in Texas.

Again, the field got stronger and the policy change allowed for the participation of players now living in other states and competing on the PGA’s Latin American and Canadian tours.

“Making that change wasn’t easy, but its is the best thing for the event,’’ said Williams.

And to think that years ago  just the participation of PGA Tour players and long-time Chicago area residents Bob Zender and Rick Dalpos created controversy — especially after both won IPGA Section Championships.

Well, that event – first played in 1923 — will undergo an even more radical change next week when Chicago’s Beverly Country Club is the host site. The IPGA Championship had  long been contested at 54 holes.  This year’s it’ll be over only 36 holes with 18 on Monday and 18 more on Tuesday  (AUGUST 25-26).

“A little more than half of the PGA sections are doing that,’’ said Williams. “It helps us getting the field and the sites. More pros can play and we don’t have to ask a club to give up its course for three days, just two. We think that will open us up to go to more high-profile facilities.’’

Beverly is certainly one of those.  Heading the field there will be defending champion Brian Carroll and 14-time winner Mike Small, head coach of the University of Illinois men’s team.  Carroll, head professional at The Hawk in St. Charles, won titles in 2022 and 2024 and the last of Small’s victories were in 2020 and 2023. Butler National’s Andy Svoboda, the low pro at the last two Illinois Opens and leader in the IPGA’s Sam Bernardi Player of the Year standings, also looms a strong contender.

FROM THE TOURS: Both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf League conclude their seasons this weekend.  The PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs end with The Tour Championship on Sunday in Atlanta.

The top 30 on the point list after last week’s BMW Championship in Maryland will battle in the season-ender, and it’ll have a most appropriate change in format.  Gone are the handicaps that were used in recent years.  Now all 30 players start the 72-hole test at zero.

Jon Rahm retained his LIV Individual Championship on Sunday in Indiana, but it had a strange ending.  Rahm, who won the title last year at Bolingbrook, didn’t win a tournament this season while his nearest rival, Joaquin Niemann, won five.  That discrepancy would suggest a change in the season-long point structure is in order.

LIV now has committed sites and dates for eight of its 14 tournaments in 2026.  The circuit announced the return to The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Ind., even before last week’s event was over.  Chicago hosted two LIV events at Rich Harvest Farms, in Sugar Grove, and the last two at Bolingbrook.  No word yet on whether the Saudi-backed circuit will be back in 2026.

HERE AND THERE: Only one LIV golfer, Bryson DeChambeau, was among the six automatic selections to the U.S. Ryder Cup team. The others were PGA Tour members Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Harris English, Russell Henley and Xander Schauffele. Keegan Bradley will announce his six captain’s pix after The Tour Championship.

The Illinois Super Senior Open concludes its two-day run on Wednesday at Pine Meadow, in Mundelein.

Last week’s LIV/Chicago tourney at Bolingbrook Golf Club set the stage for this week’s LIV Individual Championship at the Club of Chatham Hills in Indianapolis.  Last year Bolingbrook hosted that tournament with Jon Rahm winning.

Rahm has a mathematical chance to win the top prize again after finishing tied for second at Bolingbrook. He gained ground on front-runner Joaquin Niemann, who tied for 17^th after piling up five early season wins.

Niemann takes a 12.27 point lead on Rahm into Indianapolis. He has 206.43 points to Rahm’s 196.16. No other player can break into the top two in the standings at Indianapolis.  To win again Rahm would have to finish at least in a tie for seventh.  Niemann needs a second-place finish even if Rahm wins.

LIV has confirmed a return to two of its U.S. markets in 2026, but Bolingbrook and Chicago weren’t among them.  The circuit will play in Virginia and Washington D.C. and LIV also confirmed returns to Riyadh, Saudia Arabia for the season opener Feb. 5-7; Adelaide, Australia; Mexico City, the United Kingdom and Singapore.  There will be some course changes at those sites, still to be announced,  and a new tournament is scheduled in South Africa.

Those confirmations account for half of the 2026 season with two weeks left in this one.

Bolingbrook hosted LIV the last two years after Rich Harvest, in Sugar Grove, was the site the first two years of the circuit’s existence. The players liked Bolingbrook, especially the attendance there this year.

“Chicago has such great sports fans, with the way they responded to the tournament,’’ said Phil Mickelson.

ILLINOIS OPEN AFTERMATH: Last week’s Illinois Open presented by Troon was a big hit in its first staging at Kemper Lakes, in Kildeer. Troon manages Kemper Lakes now and also made a large contribution to the purse. No site is set for next year’s tourney, though.

Carrie Williams, the Illinois PGA executive director, said the first-round setup of 7,497 yards may have been the longest in the 76-year history of the tournament. In the final round the tee at No.18 was moved up to 287 yards, making it a rare drive-able par-4.

“We wanted to show off the full experience at Kemper Lakes,’’ she said. “Ideally we would like Kemper Lakes to be an anchor site.  We’d come  every two-three years, It wouldn’t be a representative state open if we didn’t travel a little.’’

FEDEX CUP UPDATE:  The Western Golf Association conducts its BMW Championship, second event of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, beginning on Thursday at Caves Valley in Maryland.

The 50-man field includes Illinois alums Thomas Detry and Brian Campbell.  Both need to climb into the top 30 on the FedEx point list to play in the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta next week. Detry stands 36^th and Campbell 39^th.  Campbell won the John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour stop, in July.

HERE AND THERE: Marty Schiene, who won three Illinois Opens in his tournament-playing days in the 1990s, has retired as the men’s coach at DePaul.  His replacement is Ryan Jamison, a DePaul alum who spent the last five years as a PGA Tour caddie for, among others, Akshay Bhatia and Brandon Wu.

Northern Illinois has named Ryan Stefko as the assistant to both men’s coach John Carlson and women’s coach Kim Keiser.

Jerry Rich has announced that Jasmine Ly, one of NIU’s top players, has become an ambassador for his Kids Golf Foundation.  Ly played in 45 tournaments for the Huskies and was the first NIU golfer to win the Mid American Conference women’s title.

Next big event on the Chicago District Golf Association schedule in the 33^rd Illinois State Mid-Amateur Aug. 18-19 at Inverness. Qualifying for the Illinois State Senior Amateur begins the same day play concludes at Inverness. The Illinois PGA will conduct the Illinois Super Senior Open Aug.19-20 at Pine Meadow, in Mundelein.

The GolfPass Academy will bring its clinic program at Chicago’s Harborside International on Aug. 21.  Lauren Thompsosn, former co-host of Golf Channel’s Morning Drive, will be the host.

In 2022 – the first season for the LIV Golf League – the dominant player, by far, was Dustin Johnson. Every year since the race for that top honor has gotten tighter and the winner has changed.

In 2023 it was Talor Gooch. Last year it was Spain’s Jon Rahm. And now – going into Friday’s start of LIV/Chicago at the Bolingbrook Golf Club – it figures to be Chile’s Joaquin Niemann. He’s won five tournaments this year including the last one, in the United Kingdom two weeks ago.

“I don’t know if that’s momentum or not,’’ said Niemann after returning to Bolingbrook.  “I feel like I’ve just got to keep doing what I’ve been doing.’’

Last year he couldn’t chase down Rahm.  He won their head-to-head battle at Bolingbrook in what was then the LIV Individual Championship for the season.  This year the tourney designated for that honor is next week in Indianapolis. Point standings when it’s over will decide the winner, and Niemann has 206.80 points to Rahm’s 169.16.

That sounds onesided, but Rahm still believes he has a chance and Niemann agrees.

“I know it’s going to be tough,’’ said Niemann.  “Jon’s playing amazing golf.  I know how good a player he is. I was in a similar position last year, and I don’t want to finish it the same way. I’ve just got to go out and play golf.’’

The stop at Bolingbrook, a course designed by Arthur Hills, proved tougher than expected for LIV’s started studded 54-man field last year.

“I played great.  I remember the course was a lot of fun to play.  It was really firm and windy.  Conditions were unbelievable,’’ said Niemann. “I was happy with my performance.  I gave it everything I had.  That was the best I could do, and it wasn’t enough.’’

Though his wins have been piling up this season Niemann recently changed his coach and his caddie.  When asked about it this week he said it was a “tough question’’, wouldn’t discuss it further and quickly ended the press conference.

Though he’s second in the point stands Rahm hasn’t won this year.

“The only thing left to do this year is get a win,’’ he said.  “For there to be a realistic chance for me to win it all again starts with a win here, obviously combined with Joaquin maybe not having a great week.  I need that going into next week (in Indianapolis) with a realistic chance and hopefully have a showdown again in the last event.’’

Niemann and Rahm will play together in Friday’s first round with Bubba Watson completing the threesome off Hole 1.  The shotgun start is at 11:05 p.m. Friday, 12:05 on Saturday and it moves up to 10:05 a.m. for Sunday’s final round.

LIV NOTES: Last pre-tourney event was a pro-am at Bolingbrook on Thursday….The tour announced that the season-ending Team Championship Aug. 22-24 at The Cardinal at St. John’s Resort in Plymouth, MI., will have a new format.  The event will start with a Wednesday play-in match between the Nos. 12 and 13 teams from the season-long standings. The remain 12 teams will go through two days of match play starting on Aug. 22  with the survivors deciding the title on Sunday at stroke play.

The best golf you’ll see in the Chicago area this year begins on Friday when the LIV/Chicago tournament tees off at Bolingbrook Golf Club.

LIV, in its fourth straight year with a Chicago stop, has three events remaining on its 14-tournament season.  Last year only 22 of 54 bettered par at Bolingbrook in what then the LIV Individual Championship. Spain’s Jon Rahm won it in a duel with Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, who is the Saudi-backed circuit’s top player this season with five victories.

Tournaments rounds are Friday through Sunday with a $25 million in prize money on the line. The individual winner gets $4 million.

LIV is a very global tour, with its 14 tournaments spread over nine countries and four continents.  The last three of this season are in the U.S. with the two following Bolingbrook being in the Indianapolis and Detroit areas.

Niemann may be this year’s star so far, but his two closest competitors this week are Chicago area favorites.  Rahm, No. 2 on the LIV point list, won the PGA Tour’s 2020 BMW Championship at Olympia Fields in addition to his victory at Bolingbrook and he had top-five finishes in the BMW Championship of 2017 at Conway Farms and 2019 at Medinah.

Bryson DeChambeau is No. 3 on the point list. He won the U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields in 2015, notched his first PGA Tour  win at that circuit’s only annual Illinois stop – the John Deere Classic – in 2017 and was the champion in LIV/Chicago when it was played at Rich Harvest Farms in 2023.

DeChambeau won nine times on the PGA Tour before moving to LIV.  He won the U.S. Open in 2020 and 2024 and was the runner-up twice in the PGA Championship.

LIV’s 13 four-man teams include 14 players who have won major championships, and that group has a combined 28 wins in those four most significant events. The Bolingbrook field also includes high profiles stars Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia.

WESTERN ROMP:  The 123^rd Western Amateur had two Oklahoma collegians who are from Texas in the tournament final last week, and it turned out a blowout.  Oklahoma’s Jase Summy defeated Oklahoma State’s Ethan Fang 6 and 5 at Skokie Country Club in Glencoe. Summy was the first Sooner to win the Western since Charlie Coe in 1950.

The semifinals and finals are held on the same day in the Western, and Summy had to struggle through 19 holes  before beating Florida’s Zack Swanwick in his semifinal while Fang had an easy one in that round,  beating Notre Dame’s Jacob Modelski 5 and 3.

One of the most physically demanding tournaments in golf, the Western has four rounds of stroke play qualifying to determine 16 finalists for the three-day match play elimination. Summy went into the tournament ranked No. 9 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

“It was the biggest win over my life – by far,’’ said Summy.  “I knew my game was there, but I hadn’t quite broken through.  This time I did.’’

HERE AND THERE: Cousins Jackson Hulsay, of St. Charles, and Joseph Luchtenburg, of West Chicago, teamed up to win the Chicago District Golf Association’s Amateur Four Ball Championship at Eagle Brook, in Geneva.

Roy Biancalana, of The Hawk in St. Charles, posted a 67 for a one-stroke victory over Kyle Bauer, of Glenview, in the Illinois PGA Senior Masters at Onwentsia in Lake Forest.

Stacy Lewis, an LPGA mainstay who won the Women’s Western Golf Association Amateur title in 2006, will receive the WWGA’s Woman of Distinction Award at the group’s annual meeting on Sept. 25 at Sunset Ridge, in Northfield.

The First Tee of Greater Chicago has scheduled its 25^th anniversary celebration for Nov. 13 at Venue West, in Chicago.

Lake Forest’s Pierce Grieve has a big stretch of golf ahead, and his game is ready for it.

Last week the 6-6 Grieve, who finished his collegiate career at West Virginia after starting it  at Louisville, was low man in the final qualifier for the 125^th U.S. Amateur at Olympic Club in San Francisco. He’s  the only Chicago area player to make it to the finals, and that Aug. 11-17 event will mark the end of his solid amateur career that includes titles in both the Illinois State Amateur and Chicago District Amateur.

Not only that, but Grieve will bid farewell to the amateur ranks when he plays in the Illinois Open for the first time next week at Kemper Lakes, in Kildeer.

“The Illinois Open is the last win in Illinois that I’m missing,’’ said Grieve. “I’ve played Kemper Lakes a good amount and feel it fits my game really well.  Everything came together (at Aldeen). My game is in a pretty good place.’’

Getting to the U.S. Amateur was his main focus going into this key part of the competitive season for Chicago area players.  He shot a 7-under-par 65 to top the field in the final U.S. Am qualifier at Aldeen, in Rockford. Last week he entered the qualifier for the Korn Ferry Tour’s NV5 Invitational at the Glen Club, in Glenview, and missed a chance to make the final field by one stroke.

The seventh and last qualifier for the 76^th Illinois Open is Wednesday at Countryside, in Mundelein.  The 54-hole tournament proper tees on Monday.

STREELMAN IS BACK:   Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman, Illinois’ most successful PGA Tour player, returned to action at last week’s NV5 Invitational.  He had been sidelined since March after surgery to repair a torn meniscus.

Coming off a mediocre season the 46-year old Streelman made three of four cuts to start the 2025 campaign before his knee injury.  He made 300 cuts in PGA Tour events since joining the circuit in 2008.  In his return to action he shot 67-70, 5 -under-par at the Glen, and missed the cut.

Californian Johnny Keefer was the NV5 champion, shooting 28-under to win by two.  He’s No. 1 on the Korn Ferry’s point list with seven tournaments remaining and has already clinched a spot on the PGA Tour for 2026.

LIV UPDATE:  Next stop for the Saudi-backed tour is the LIV/Chicago stop coming to Bolingbrook Golf Club Aug. 8-10. LIV completed its non-U.S. schedule with a tournament in the United Kingdom last week with Chile’s Joaquin Niemann winning by nine shots over runner-up Bubba Watson.

Niemann was second in LIV’s individual standings behind Jon Rahm last season after Rahm won at Bolingbrook with Niemann the runner-up. Rahm’s Legion XIII unit leads the circuit’s team competition.

WOMEN’S U.S. AMATEUR:  Barrington’s Bridget Butler won the Illlinois State Women’s Amateur earlier this season and will chase a bigger prize at next week’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bandon Dunes, in Oregon.

Butler was a redshirt at Nebraska as a college freshman after being sidelined 11 months with a torn ACL.  She bounced back with her victory in the State Am.

HERE AND THERE:  One of the biggest Chicago junior tournaments, the 45^th Chick Evans Junior Amateur, crowned its champions at Itasca Country Club.  Northbrook’s Alexis Meyers, headed for the University of Illinois, won the girls’ division by beating Long Grove’s Campbell Ray, who is headed for her junior year at Stevenson High School, in the title match.  Tyler Samaan, of Elgin, won the boys division. He defeated Rayden Tee, of Hoffman Estates, in the final. Meyers will play in this week’s Junior PGA Championship on Purdue’s course in West Lafayette, Ind.

Northbrook’s Nick Hardy and Arlington Heights’ Doug Ghim are both in the field at this week’s Wyndham Championship in North Carolina, the last event of the PGA Tour’s regular season.  Hardy used a final round 67 to climb into a tie for 28^th at last week’s 3M Open in Minnesota while Ghim missed the cut.

The Chicago District Golf Association’s Four-Ball Championship concludes Wednesday  with semifinal and championship matches at Eagle Brook, in Geneva.