Nicole Jeray has been toiling on the LPGA Tour since turning pro in 1993, and this week’s Wegmans Classic could be critical to her remaining on the women’s premier circuit.

“I need to play good in Rochester (N.Y.) so I can get up on the money list,’’ she said. “I started the year really well. I made the cut in my first three tournaments. Then I missed a whole bunch in a row by one or two shots.’’

The Berwyn native and Northern Illinois University graduate also struggled in the Illinois Women’s Open, a tourney she won twice, in a return home two weeks ago. As the only LPGA player in the field she settled for a 10th place finish.

Last week, though, could have put Jeray back on a positive career path. After five straight missed cut, she qualified for all 72 holes in the Meijer Classic, a new LPGA event in Grand Rapids, Mich. Jeray finished in a tie for $8th place and her $3,907 check was her best on the circuit since April . Still, Jeray needs more good showings to retain her card for another season and she’s not sure how many more tournaments she’ll be able to play in after the Wegmans.

Heading into the Rochester tourney Jeray is No. 141 on the season money list with $14,777. You have to admire her determination, though. Narcolepsy, a sleeping disorder, slowed her career for a while but she remains Chicago’s only LPGA player. In fact no other local players have even come close to making it in the last three decades.

“That totally surprises me,’’ she said. “I thought there’d be a million players from Chicago. There are a lot of good teachers around (Chicago) and we have the Illinois Junior Golf Assn., too. You’d think something’s missing, but I don’t know what it is.’’

Jeray has made regular returns to the LPGA qualifying school and played on the satellite Symetra Tour, too, compiling career earnings of $253,819. She has no intention of retiring any time soon.

“I still totally enjoy it,’’ she said. “I try on every single shot. I just need one good tournament. You just never know in this game.’’

Sainz makes a splash

Elgin’s Carlos Sainz Jr. had been struggling as a rookie on the Web.com Tour until last week’s Price Cutter Charity Championship in Springfield, Mo. Sainz broke through in a big way there, finishing in a tie for second and winning $44,550.

That payday gave Sainz winnings of $63,471 on the PGA Tour’s satellite circuit and boosted him to 68th on the money list. He had missed the cut in four straight events and six of seven before a 20-under-par performance left him joint runner-up and one stroke behind champion Cameron Percy. Sainz shot 66-65-67 in the last three rounds.

Sainz had a strong finish in the 2013 season. He won an event on the Canadian PGA Tour, lost the Illinois Open title in a playoff at The Glen Club in Glenview and then won the Chicago Open at Cantigny in Wheaton in his final events before a successful showing in the PGA qualifying school.

If he can finish in the top 25 on the Web.com money circuit he’ll be on the PGA Tour in 2015. This week’s Web.com event is the News Sentinel Open in Knoxville, Tenn.

Here and there

Teams consisting of the top seniors in the Illinois PGA and Chicago District Golf Assn. will battle for the Thompson Cup on Wednesday at Chicago’s Ridge Country Club. The CDGA will also conduct its second Super Seniors Championship at Kankakee that day.

The LPGA Legends Championship, at French Lick Resort in Indiana, follows last week’s PGA Championship into the Louisville area this week. The 54-hole event, which begins on Friday, is the biggest event on the LPGA’s senior circuit. It’ll be preceded by the induction of Nancy Lopez and Legends co-founder Jane Blalock into the tour’s Hall of Fame. Ribbon-cutting for the Hall, at the West Baden Springs Hotel, will follow the induction ceremonies on Thursday night.

Qualifying for the U.S. Senior Amateur will be held on Monday at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove.

Yes, there will be a Chicago area contingent in the year’s last major. Luke Donald, Steve Stricker and Kevin Streelman will tee it up Thursday in the 96th PGA Championship at Valhalla, in Louisville, Ky.

But there’ll be some notable absentees, too. Mark Wilson and D.A. Points, both going through sub-par seasons, have the week off. So do up-and-coming University of Illinois alums Luke Guthrie and Scott Langley and – in a distinct departure from recent years – there won’t be a local among the 20 club professionals among the 156 starters.

Mike Small, the Illinois coach, has been a consistent qualifier and a few of his state colleagues have made appearances as well. Not this year, though. Small and Conway Farms’ Matt Slowinski fizzled in the last holes of the Professional Players National Championship, which determined the 20 qualifiers, but Curtis Malm’s near-miss was even more heart-breaking.

The first-year head man at White Eagle in Naperville was, for a while at least, at the top of the alternate’s list among the club pros. If one of the 20 couldn’t play for whatever reason Malm would be making his first appearance in the PGA Championship this week.

Malm, the Illinois PGA player-of-the-year the last two seasons, was in a six-man playoff for the last five club professional spots at Valhalla. He was the odd man out at the end of the four-hole playoff but still held out hopes of getting in – until a few days ago.

“I’m officially removed from the event,’’ said Malm. “They give the PGA (club pro qualifiers) to a certain date. If one withdraws after that they fill it with one of their guys.’’

In other words, a touring pro gets in – not a club pro. The PGA of America is the body that represents the club professionals (about 27,000 of them) in the golf industry. Malm is understandably disappointed.

“It’s terrible,’’ he said. “I’d definitely would have been down there (if there was a chance for his elevation to the field). It’s time for the PGA of America to step up and have a backbone. We’re losing control of our tournament.’’

The PGA does have the strongest field of the four major championships with 99 of the top 100 on the World Rankings entered at Valhalla. The lone absentee from that group is Dustin Johnson, who announced last week he is taking a leave of absence from golf to detail with personal issues. Tiger Woods’ status is also in doubt after he withdrew from last week’s Bridgestone Invitational with a back injury.

The Bridgestone, won by Rory McIlroy in a duel with Sergio Garcia, didn’t bode well for the chances of the players with Illinois connections fortunate enough to play at Valhalla. Donald (Northwestern) tied for 50th, Steve Stricker (Illinois alum) finished 65th and Streelman was 71st among the 72 players who completed all four rounds. Woods was among four who withdrew.

Here and there

The PGA of America announced on Monday that grounds tickets for the four tournament rounds are sold out. Those seeking tickets for the 2015 PGA at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin have until Sunday to pre-register.

As soon as the PGA Championship ends the LPGA Legends Championship tees off at nearby French Lick Resort in Indiana. Jane Blalock, who directs the Legends circuit, and Nancy Lopez will be inducted into the Legends Hall of Fame as part of the festivities.

Brian Carroll, of Royal Hawk in St. Charles, won the Illinois PGA Assistants title on Monday, carding a 5-under-par 137 over 36 holes at St. Charles Country Club for a four-stroke victory.

The nation-wide courses managed by Billy Casper Golf will conduct the World’s Largest Golf Outing next week to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project. The Chicago area courses participating include Orchard Valley in Aurora, Whisper Creek in Huntley, Water’s Edge in Worth, George Dunne National in Oak Forest, Highland Woods in Palatine, Indian Boundary in Chicago, Chick Evans in Morton Grove and River Oaks in Calumet City. All the events will be held on Monday, Aug. 11, except Whisper Creek. The event will be held there on Tuesday, Aug. 12.

Arnold Palmer visited Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Gove last weekend to check out the place for next June’s Palmer Cup matches between college stars from the U.S. and Europe.

Hana Lee, a senior on the Northwestern women’s team, is competing in the U.S. Women’s Amateur, which runs through Sunday in Glen Cove, N.J. She’ll try to duplicate the success of NU teammate Kacie Komoto, who recently repeated as the Hawaii State Match Play champion.

No tournament in golf, amateur or professional, requires as much to win as the Western Amateur. The Western Golf Assn. is conducting its annual golf marathon for the 112th time this week at Chicago’s Beverly Country Club, and Wednesday is an especially big day because it includes the largest cut of the event – from the starting field of 156 to the low 44 and ties.

The Tuesday and Wednesday stroke play rounds involved 156 players, including 21 of the top 37 in the world amateur rankings. Only the low 44 and ties after the first 36 holes resume play on Thursday. They’ll go 36 more holes to determine 16 qualifiers for the match play portion of the tournament.

That’s when the title is really on the line. There’ll be two rounds of match play on Friday, the semifinals are on Saturday morning and the championship match on Saturday afternoon.

“It’s such a tough tournament to win,’’ said Oklahoma State golfer Jordan Niebrugge, who won it last year in Arkansas. “You have two cuts, then four matches after that. It really tests your patience.’’

Niebrugge, from Mequon, Wis., came in with good credentials. Playing as an amateur, he tied for 27th in the John Deere Classic in his first PGA Tour event. The next week, though, he was beaten by Arlington Heights resident Doug Ghim in the last U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.

That ended Niebrugge’s hopes of defending that title, and Ghim – with a berth in next year’s Masters tournament on the line – lost a 37-hole duel with San Diego’s Byron Meth in an epic title match. Ghim and Meth, co-medalists in the Publinx, were among the many top stars teeing off in the Western Am.

Ghim, headed to the University of Texas, wasn’t the only Chicago star in the starting field. Naperville’s Ray Knoll qualified for the John Deere Classic and won the Illinois State Amateur the following week at Cantigny in Wheaton. His opponent in the final there was Northbrook’s Nick Hardy, who had been runner-up in the Western Junior at Flossmoor earlier in the summer.

Tournament director Vince Pellegerino had players from 30 states, 17 countries and six continents in his starting field. The foreign contingent include Tawian’s Cheng-Tsun Pan, the Western Amateur medalists in 2009 and 2010 and a qualifier for the 2013 U.S. Open and this year’s British Open, and China’s Tianglang Guan, the 14-year old who survived the cut in April’s Masters tournament.

The Western Amateur’s champions list includes Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ben Crenshaw and Curtis Strange. Beverly last hosted the tourney in 1930. It has also hosted four Western Opens, the 1931 U.S. Amateur and Chicago Opens.

Illinois Open moving?

The Illinois Open was played for a record ninth time at The Glen Club in Glenview last week, and Illinois PGA executive director Michael Miller said that a proposed format change could “potentially’’ take the tourney elsewhere.

In an effort to increase the entries the IPGA is considering an expansion of the qualifiers for the finals from 156 to 312. That would mean two courses would be needed for the first two rounds and a 36-hole facility would be ideal.

With the IPGA working with partner Kemper Sports, that suggests the finals might be shifted to Harborside International in Chicago for the first two rounds. Using two 18-holers in close proximity to each other is also under consideration. Miller said the tourney will remain at 54 holes and be limited to Illinois residents.

Here and there

The Illinois PGA Assistants Championship will be decided on Monday in a 36-hole competition at Crystal Lake Country Club.

Matt Pekarek, after 47 years at Village Links of Glen Ellyn, has retired as the 27-hole facility’s general manager. A past president of the Chicago District Golf Assn., he’ll continue to work on CDGA projects. Pekarek’s brother Chris is in his 45th year as superintendent at Village Links.

Justin Fetcho, assistant men’s coach at Illinois the past two years, has been named the head coach at Southern Illinois.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. will conduct four straight days of qualifying for the U.S. Mid-Amateur starting on Monday. Sites, in order, will be Red Tail in Decatur, Balmoral Woods in Crete, Stone Creek in Urbana and Highland Park Country Club.

The Illinois Amateur Invitational has been scheduled for Aug. 9-10 at Heritage Bluffs in Channahon.

The 65th Illinois Open ends on Wednesday. Then it’s the women’s turn. The 20th anniversary staging of the Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open will tee off on Monday at Mistwood in Romeoville.

Like the men’s tournament, the IWO is a 54-hole competition that concludes on a Wednesday, July 20. The men’s had state-wide qualifying rounds and 156 finalists at The Glen Club. Mistwood director of golf Dan Phillips expects about 80 players to compete for a $25,000 purse in the IWO. Unlike the men’s Open, the IWO has a Sunday pro-am. Phillips reported that it’s already sold out.

The first and last champions in the IWO, and several in between, will compete at Mistwood. Diane Daugherty, the former women’s coach at Southern Illinois, won the first IWO at Odyssey in Tinley Park. The event moved to Mistwood after four staging’s there.

Elise Swartout, who plays on the LPGA’s satellite Symetra Tour, will defend her title next week. She became the fifth Michigan golfer in the last six years to win the IWO when she survived a two-hole playoff, One of the players she beat in the extra session, Berwyn veteran Nicole Jeray, will return in search of a third IWO title. The LPGA Tour member won in 1998 and 2003.

Only Burr Ridge amateur Kerry Postillion has won the tournament three times. She got her wins between 1996-99.

Another past champion will also be closely-watched. Michigan native Samantha Troyanovich was an amateur out of Tulane University when she took the 2012 title. Now she’s hoping to become the first Mistwood member to win the IWO.

“The first time I played in the Illinois Women’s Open was a shot in the dark,’’ Troyanovich said. “I didn’t known what to expect..’’

After winning she took a year off from golf to get her Master’s degree in accounting. In January she turned professional. Though she’s had trouble getting into tournaments, she has worked daily with Mike Baldwin, director of Mistwood’s upscale Performance Center.

“I needed to work with Mike,’’ said Troyanovich. “He’s my coach. I’m a full member and it’s my job 9:30 to 5. It’s a perfect setup.’’

Mistwood completed a massive renovation, supervised by Michigan architect Ray Hearn, just prior to last year’s IWO and Golf magazine named it the “Best U.S. Renovation You Can Play ‘’ in 2013. The new Performance Center also opened in time for that tournament and work on a new clubhouse is expected to begin shortly after this year’s IWO is completed.

International Crown tees off

The LPGA’s new International Crown event begins Thursday at Caves Valley in Baltimore. The inaugural four-day event, featuring four-player teams from eight countries, will set the stage for its second staging at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove in 2016.

Rich Harvest’s staff will have a booth at the Sugar Grove Corn Boil from Friday through Sunday to trigger promotional efforts for the second staging. It’ll feature live Golf Channel jumbotron updates from 3-3:15, 4:40-4:55 and 6:10-6:25 p.m. on Saturday and 2:30-2:55 p.m. on Sunday. The booth will be in operation from 4-9 p.m. on Friday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sunday.

Here and there

John Schickling, the head professional at Rolling Green in Arlington Heights, and Kevin Marion, who holds the same position at Old Elm in Highland Park, will be the honorees at Monday’s Illinois PGA Senior Masters event at Onwentsia in Lake Forest.

The Illinois PGA will conduct its Assistants Championship on Monday. It’ll be a one-day 36-hole event at Crystal Lake Country Club. Australian Nick Smith, who directs the Twin Lakes facility in Palatine, will defend his title.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. Centennial Team Championship is scheduled for Midlothian Country Club on Monday.

Knollwood Country Club, in Granger, Ind., will host the Chicago-based Women’s Western Golf Assn. Junior Championship next week. It’ll run Monday through Friday, Aug. 1.

The Lake Park High School Educational Foundation will celebrate its 25th anniversary with an Aug. 4 outing and reception at Medinah.

Twenty-five players who competed in the John Deere Classic were on the tournament’s jet to the British Open on Sunday night. Zach Johnson figures to have the best chance of that group when the third major championship of the season tees off on Thursday at Royal Liverpool.

Johnson was the runner-up in the Quad Cities’ annual PGA Tour stop on Sunday, losing by one stroke to Brian Harman. Harman also was on the jet thanks to his victory but doesn’t have the experience overseas that Johnson has. The 2007 Masters champion has played in the British every year since 2004 and had top-10 finishes the last two years.

Winner of 11 PGA Tour events, Johnson’s game is traditionally good in July when the JDC and British are held on back-to-back weeks.

Johnson won the JDC in 2012, lost in a playoff in 2013 and was solo second on Sunday. He was ninth in the 2012 British Open and sixth last year.

“My game feels good, but my expectations over there are just to keep processing the way I’m processing, keep hitting solid shots,’’ said Johnson. “I’ve gone there with minimal confidence and played OK. It’s a totally different animal than what we experience here, and something that I truly, truly love.’’

Given his results the last two years, Johnson has high hopes for this week’s British.

“It’s a tournament where driving the golf ball is a premium,’’ said Johnson. “Driving it straight, especially if the course is firm and fast, is a huge advantage.’’

Johnson’s never had much trouble doing that, but now he wants to go to the next level – like Phil Mickelson did when he won his first British last year.

“The short game can separate you. That’s what we saw with Phil last year,’’ said Johnson. “He made some putts. Obviously he hit it well, but everybody is hitting it well at that point. Short game is what’s going to take you further.’’

Regardless of the results, Johnson cherishes his annual trip across the pond to play in a tournament with a different atmosphere than the usual PGA Tour stops.

“I love the nuances of it,’’ said Johnson. “I love what it demands. I love when I leave there, because that golf tournament magnifies my weaknesses more than any golf tournament I’ve ever played. You have to hit it high, you have to hit it low, you have to hit it left, you have to hit it right, you have to flop it, you have to bump-and-run it. You have to do everything. It’s pure golf.’’

Sluman marches on

Playing the U.S. Senior Open at Oklahoma’s Oak Tree course last week proved fruitful for Hinsdale’s Jeff Sluman. Sluman, who won the 1988 PGA Championship there but hadn’t been back in 25 years, finished in a tie for fifth in the Champions Tour’s latest major tournament.

The Senior Open was Sluman’s 92nd consecutive start. He last missed a tournament in 2010 to attend his sister-in-law’s wedding. The ironman streak is going to continue for awhile, too. Sluman had originally planned to skip next month’s Senior British Open, but he’s since changed his mind and will make the trip.

Here and there

Northbrook’s Vince India had his best finish on the Web.com Tour in Sunday’s Utah Championship when he tied for 15th – his second top-20 in the last four tournaments. He climbed to 102nd on the circuit’s money list and has six events left to get into the top 75 who qualify for the season-ending playoff series.

The 84th Illinois State Amateur’s 136-player field will be cut to the low 35 and ties and any player within 10 shots of the lead on Wednesday. The survivors will decide the title in a 36-hole final on Thursday at Cantigny in Wheaton. India won the title in 2010.

Illinois pros Kevin Streelman and D.A. Points were on the jet to the British Open even though both missed the cut at the JDC. Elmhurst’s Mark Wilson didn’t go, but he did play the full 72 holes at TPC Deere Run, finishing in a tie for 63rd place. A five-time PGA Tour winner, Wilson made only his third cut in 13 starts at the JDC.

The 65th Illinois Open tees off on Monday (JULY 21) at The Glen Club in Glenview. Antioch’s Joe Kinney will defend his title in the three-day 54-hole event. There’ll be 156 starters, most survivors of seven state-wide qualifying rounds. The field will be cut to the low 50 and ties after Tuesday’s second round.

There’s an interesting combination in the field for this week’s John Deere Classic, the only PGA Tour event played in Illinois in 2014.

Steve Stricker, who considers himself semi-retired because he plays only a limited tournament schedule, has long been a JDC mainstay. He became the 44-year old tourney’s only three-peat winner when he ruled in 2009-11,

Jordan Niebrugge, meanwhile, will be one of the youngest players in the 156-man starting field. The 20-year old junior at Oklahoma State University is in the field on a sponsor’s exemption after a dazzling 2013 season in which he won the U.S. Amateur Public Links title, the Wisconsin Amateur, the Wisconsin Match Play Championship and the Western Amateur.

Stricker, 47, and the 6-4 Niebrugge are both from Wisconsin. One’s a fading star on the circuit, the other a promising newcomer. They met at the Masters in April and played a practice round together.

After the JDC ends on Sunday Stricker will decide whether to get on the tourney’s charter jet to the British Open and Niebrugge will step up preparations for his title defense at the Western Amateur, which will be played a Chicago’s Beverly Country Club from July 28-Aug. 2.

Going to the British wasn’t a major consideration for Stricker going in to last week’s Greenbrier Classic, but he said he’d consider it if he was playing well. After contending for three round he struggled to a final round 74 at the Greenbrier and tied for 35th place. He’s finished in the JDC top 10 seven times in the last 10 years.

Niebrugge, from the Milwaukee suburb of Mequon, will be playing in his first PGA Tour event at the JDC. After missing the cut at the Masters he’s sure the connection with Stricker will help.

“I’ve looked up to him,’’ said Niebrugge. “He played Wisconsin golf, so it was cool to get to play with him. He’s such a down-to-earth guy, and a family guy. I’ve been around him two or three times, and I’ve learned a lot from him every time I’ve been with him.’’

Niebrugge has even hit balls at Stricker’s winter practice building near Madison with Dennis Tiziani, Stricker’s longtime instructor and father-in-law, on hand to consult.

“You’re able to play golf in the snow,’’ said Niebrugge. “I’ve been there a lot. It’s a little building that’s probably got 10-12 hitting stalls, and it’s heated with mats. There’s a driving range out in the distance.’’

The No. 4-ranked amateur in the world, Niebrugge will be trying to replicate what Jordan Spieth did at last year’s JDC. Spieth, in his rookie pro season, became only the fourth player under 20 to win on the PGA Tour and the youngest since Ralph Guldahl won the Santa Monica Open in 1931. Spieth continued his stellar play and is ranked No. 10 in the world going into his first title defense on the PGA Tour.

The 72-hole, $4.7 million tourney begins on Thursday at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, which in on the outskirts of Moline. Sunday’s champion gets $846,000.

Another State Am at Cantigny

Next up on a busy tournament calendar is the 84th Illinois State Amateur, which tees off next Tuesday at Cantigny, in Wheaton. Cantigny, celebrating its 25th anniversary, will host the event for the fourth time and first since 2008.

Tee-K Kelly, a Wheaton resident who plays for Ohio State, is the defending champion. The winner last year at Aldeen, in Rockford, he heads a field of 136 players. Most earned their places in the 10 state-wide qualifying rounds.

All qualifiers will play 18 holes Tuesday and Wednesday, July 16. The low 35 and ties after 36 holes or any player within 10 shots of the lead will compete over the final 36 holes, all to be played on Thursday, July 17.

Here and there

Brian Carroll, of Royal Hawk in St. Charles, was a three-shot winner of Monday’s Village Links of Glen Ellyn Classic for Illinois PGA members after shooting a 7-under-par 65. The IPGA’s National Car Renal Pro-Am is on tap for next Monday at Chicago Highlands, in Westchester.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. will conduct a qualifying round for the U.S. Amateur on Friday at Heritage Bluffs in Channahon.

Eddie Fernandes, who trains at The Catalyst golf facilities in the Chicago area, won a regional qualifier for the ReMax World Long Drive Championship in Orlando, FL.

The only PGA Tour event in Illinois is coming up next week, and that means the return of Jordan Spieth. His victory in the John Deere Classic last year was one of the best feel-good stories in golf last year.

Spieth was just 19 when he survived a five-hole playoff with 2012 champion Zach Johnson and Canadian David Hearn to win last year’s JDC at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, about a two-hour drive from Chicago on the outskirts of Moline. That made Spieth the youngest winner of a major pro tour event since Ralph Guldahl won the Santa Monica Open in 1931.

Just a year earlier Spieth was invited into the tournament as one of tournament director Clair Peterson’s sponsor exemptions. He learned from that experience, turned pro and was an instant factor on the PGA Tour but the JDC is still his only victory.

Peterson has traditionally invited promising young players – this year he’s bringing in college stars Cameron Wilson, Patrick Rodgers, Jordan Niebrugge and Steven Ihm – and Spieth wishes other tournament directors would do the same. Most prefer to give their coveted exemptions to struggling older players who have supported their event in the past.

“Other tournaments need to look at this one as an example,’’ said Spieth. “There’s no way I win last year without getting those starts (off amateur invites). This tournament does it right.’’

Spieth was six strokes off the lead going into the final round last year, was nursing a sore wrist and made bogey on the first hole. Then everything came together, and he holed a bunker shot on the last hole of regulation play to earn his spot in the playoff.

“I had two shots that were more important than the bunker shot but that one was the most exciting,’’ said Spieth. “It was such a shock.’’

Spieth and Johnson, who is on the JDC board of directors, were partners in last fall’s Presidents Cup matches and Spieth will play in Johnson’s charity event on Sunday and Monday in Cedar Rapids, Ia., before arriving at TPC Deere Run.

Since his win at Deere Run Spieth finished second in both the Tournament of Champions and Masters, tied for fourth in The Players Championship, tied for 17th in the U.S. Open and climbed to No. 6 in the world rankings. He’s the highest-ranked player in the JDC field.

“I’ve been so set on looking forward,’’ he said. “I want to be the No. 1 player in the world, and I had opportunities to win again and didn’t pull it off, so that goal is still out there.’’

At the JDC he’ll face another strong field that includes Johnson, three-time winner Steve Stricker and Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman, who shocked the PGA Tour with his come-from-behind win at Harford, Ct., in his last start. After missing four straight cuts Streelman shot 28 on his final nine and one-putted his last 10 greens to win the Travelers Championship. Coming off a two-week break, Streelman will be on the chartered jet to the British Open as soon as the last putt drops at TPC Deere Run.

Pro-am play begins there on Monday, and there will also be a pro-am on Wednesday before the 72-hole tournament proper starts on July 10 when $4.7 million in prize money ($846,000 to the champion) is on the line.

Here and there

Hole-in-one reports are commonplace in golf, but not this one. Joe Perica, of Arlington Heights, struck not once but twice at Stonehenge Golf Club in Barrington – and that’s not all. Perica made his two aces a week apart, playing with the same three partners on the same hole using the same club. On June 9 he aced Stonehenge’s 189-yard eighth hole with a 5-wood. On June 16 he did the same. The same foursome returned a week later and Perica’s tee shot on the same hole stopped two feet from the cup.

The JDC comes three weeks after Illinois’ only other pro tour event of 2014, the Encompass Championship at North Shore in Glenview. Next year the two events figure to be played on the same dates. The Encompass has announced a switch to July 6-12 in 2015.

Peoria’s Jordan Fahel won the 95th Chicago District Amateur last week at Hinsdale, beating Blake Johnson, 45-year old Glen View Club member, 2 and 1 in the 36-hole final. Johnson, one of only two players over 30 to make the 16-man match play portion of the event, was in the final for the second straight year.

Three Illinois club professionals came close, but none qualified for the PGA Championship at last week’s Professional Players National Championship in Myrtle Beach, S.C. White Eagle’s Curtis Malm was the odd man out in a six-man playoff to determine the last five qualifiers for the PGA and Conway Farm’s Matt Slowinski and Illinois coach Mike Small both finish one shot out of the playoff. The top 20 club pros at Myrtle Beach earned spots in the PGA Championship.

Medinah Country Club has seen it all in its 90 years of existence – three U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships, three Western Opens, the last Ryder Cup in September of 2012.

Virtually all the big events were held on Medinah’s No. 3 course, and that eventually became a problem. The demands for member and guest play made No. 3 so busy that getting a tee time became difficult. Now that problem’s solved. Last week Medinah re-opened its No. 1 course, and the membership believes it’s good enough to take play from No. 3.

“We love it,’’ said club president Matt Lydon. “This provides us with two distinct golf courses that have the quality to be top-ranted. Course One is no longer in the shadow of Course Three.’’

Medinah membership addressed the issue before the Ryder Cup, hiring Michigan architect Tom Doak to supervise a $6.5 million restoration of No. 1. All three of the club’s courses were built in the 1920s, but No. 3 received virtually all the attention after that. It was renovated several times in preparation for the big tournaments as well as to deal with flooding issues.

Flooding was also addressed when work started on the No. 1 course 13 hours after the Ryder Cup ended on No. 3, but the project turned into much more than that.

“We did know we had to do something about water retention,’’ said Lydon. “Engineers were brought in to tell us what we needed to do to solve the flooding problem. What they told us was that we needed to expand water retention areas in certain spots. Those spots interfered with the routing of the golf course.’’

The end result was that Doak had to change the routing, create six new holes and make alterations to the other 12. That made Medinah No. 1 Doak’s first course in Illinois. His work has been well-received in a variety of other places.

“He did a magnificent job,’’ said Lydon. “He retained the best of the old holes and the new ones he put in are exciting. We won’t have trouble attracting guest play because our members are excited. We’ve found that people who have played No. 3 want to play No. 1, which is more playable for our members. Those courses require different skill sets.’’

Lydon said the club has had “loose discussions’’ about Medinah hosting “a tournament that would involve Nos. 1 and 3 – an amateur event.’’ Though he wouldn’t confirm it, that event sounds exactly like the U.S. Amateur, which will be played at Olympia Fields in 2015. The size of the field (312 players) requires two courses, but that wasn’t a factor in the upgrading of No. 1.

“The real reason was that we wanted our members to have an alternative to No. 3, which can be a brutal test,’’ said Lydon.

Work isn’t over at Medinah, either. The No. 2 course, generally used for women and youth play, is due for a restoration next year. Like the others, it was designed by Tom Bendelow, by far the most active designer in the early years of American golf. Both Nos. 1 and 3 were updated by other architects over the years, but not No. 2.

“It’s an untouched Bendelow design,’’ said Lydon. “Our plans are to restore the original contours of the greens, restore the bunkers, level the tees, improve the fairways and restore it to what it originally was.’’

Rees Jones, the architect who handled the last of the No. 3 renovations, has provided the club with some design work already for No. 2. “But this isn’t a re-design,’’ said Lydon. “It’s a restoration.’’

Here and there

Three of the players in Champions Tour’s Encompass Championship at North Shore – John Inman, Tom Byrum and Jose Coceres — survived Monday’s U.S. Senior Open qualifier at Village Links of Glen Ellyn. So did Oak Lawn’s Lance Ten Broeck, the former PGA Tour player and long-time caddie on that circuit. Medalist was Wesley Short of Austin, Tex., with a 6-under-par 66.

The 95th Chicago District Amateur runs through Thursday at Hinsdale Golf Club. The championship match is over 36 holes on the final day.

Northbrook’s Vince India had a breakthrough round on the Web.com Tour on Sunday, shooting a 64 to claim his best finish (tie for 17th) and biggest paycheck ($9,000) in his rookie season on the developmental circuit.

Three University of Illinois golfers – Brian Campbell, Thomas Detry and Charlie Danielson – were accorded All-America status, the first time the Illini have had three so honored since Luke Guthrie, Scott Langley and Chris DeForest were selected in 2011.

This week’s second Encompass Championship at North Shore Country Club has two major differences from the first staging as far as the 81-player field is concerned.

Fred Couples, last year’s runner-up, won’t be there when play begins on Friday at the Glenview course but Colin Montgomerie will. Though Couples is one of the most popular players on the Champions Tour, the tradeoff seems a fair one.

Couples has a sore back and hasn’t played in a tournament since May 18 – the Regions Tradition, a Champions Tour major that was won by Kenny Perry. Montgomerie, meanwhile, won the 50-and-over circuit’s last major title – and captured his first victory of any kind in the United States – at the Senior PGA Championship three weeks ago in Benton Harbor, Mich.

“That definitely gives you huge confidence,’’ said Montgomerie. “It was a long time coming – 23 years and 130-odd tournaments without a win in the U.S. It was nice getting that monkey off my back.’’

Montgomerie was a long-time U.S. nemesis while playing for Europe in the Ryder Cup matches. The Scottish golfer didn’t play in the Champions Tour’s last stop — the Legends Championship, a two-man team event played in Branson, Mo. Jeff Sluman and Fred Funk won that title, and both will play at North Shore.

Last week Montgomerie worked as a TV commentator at the U.S. Open. No longer is he the sometimes misunderstood European player who irritated American galleries in his younger days.

“You do mellow with age and mature,’’ Montgomerie said. “I love the American way of life. I hope that’s coming across. It’s given me a new lease on life.’’

Montgomerie couldn’t play in last year’s Encompass tourney because he hadn’t turned 50 yet. He’s happy to make his debut this year in part because tournament director Mike Galeski is a long-time friend. They worked together for equipment manufacturer Callaway when Montgomerie started playing tournaments in the U.S.

The last time Montgomerie competed in Chicago was at the 2006 PGA Championship at Medinah. He was also at Medinah for the 2012 Ryder Cup, won dramatically by the Europeans with a huge comeback on the last day.

“We called it the `Miracle of Medinah,’ and we still do,’’ said Montgomerie. “I don’t know how we won that one.’’

They’ll be here

Montgomerie is one of seven players in the Encompass field to win on the Champions Tour this year. In addition to the Funk-Sluman team that won the Legends event, the others are Bernhard Langer (the circuit’s only winner of multiple tournaments in 2014), Michael Allen, Kirk Triplett and Perry, who tied for 28th playing against much younger players in the U.S. Open. Perry, 53, was the oldest player in the field at Pinehurst.

The Encompass field is a solid one. Fifty-six of the 81 starters have accounted for 370 victories in PGA Tour events. Forty-six have won a combined 252 titles on the Champions Tour. Eighteen have combined for 27 major titles on the PGA Tour and 23 have been responsible for 43 victories in the Champions Tour’s majors. Six are former Ryder Cup captains.

A $1.8 million prize fund will be on the line in the 54-hole event that pays $270,000 to Sunday’s champion. Last year’s winner was Craig Stadler. He’s ben hampered by injuries most of this year but teamed with Triplett for a third-place finish at the Legends event.

Here and there

Chicago players came up empty in Monday’s Encompass qualifying round at Deerfield Golf Club. Out-of-staters Joel Edwards, Bruce Vaughan and Jim Carter shot 6-under-par 66s and Patrick Horgan shot 67, then won the fourth and last berth in the field in a three-man playoff. That foursome completes the 81-man field for the tournament and all 81 will have an amateur partner in the first two rounds.

The 95th Chicago District Golf Assn. Amateur will begin its four-day run on Monday at Hinsdale Golf Club in Clarendon Hills – the site of the CDGA’s founding 100 years ago. There’s no defending champion since Bryce Emory, last year’s winner, has turned professional. Only past winner in the 73-man field is Steve Sawtell, who won in 2004 and 2009. The field will compete over 36 holes in stroke play on Monday to determine 16 qualifiers for the match play portion of the event. The 36-hole final is on June 26.

Construction has begun on the University of Illinois’ 24-acre Lauritsen/Wohler Outdoor Practice Facility, which is adjacent to the J.G. Demirjian Indoor facility in Urbana. Illini men’s coach Mike Small and PGA star Steve Stricker designed the $2 million outdoor facility, which is expected to open on Aug. 1. It was inspired by a similar one at Augusta National, the Georgia site of the Masters tournament.

Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman remains one of golf’s most promising up-and-coming players, but he’s not going into this week’s U.S. Open with any momentum. Chicago’s only homegrown PGA Tour player missed the cut in his last three tournaments.

“It’s been a strange year golf-wise,’’ said Streelman, “but it’s been a wonderful year off the course thanks to Sophia. She’s been my priority.’’

Streelman and wife Courtney became parents for the first time on Dec. 26 when Sophia was born. She arrived a month ahead of schedule, and Courtney had a difficult delivery that led to Sophia spending some time in intensive care. All is fine with the Streelman now, however.

“The first three months were tough, but Sophia’s been an angel,’’ said Streelman, who reluctantly left wife and daughter to finish in a tie for third at the Tournament of Champions in January before deciding to radically alter his schedule.

“I played great at Maui, then was home for five-six weeks after that,’’ he said. “I didn’t go to the Bob Hope (Chrysler Classic), Pebble Beach or Honda – tournaments that I usually play.’’

Since returning to the circuit his play has been sporadic, but he’s not concerned and his career tour earning will likely top $10 million with his next good showing (he’s over $9.9 million now since turning pro in 2001 and joining the PGA Tour in 2007). Sophia, meanwhile, has learned to travel. She’s already made 15 airplane rides.

This year’s Open begins Thursday on the famed No. 2 course at Pinehurst, N.C. Streelman went to college at nearby Duke but hasn’t played that course since it was renovated three years ago. He didn’t see that new look until arriving this week.

“I wasn’t going to go there early because the course wouldn’t have been even close to the conditions we’ll be playing in the Open,’’ he said. “But I’m excited. I’m feeling good and hoping things will click this week.’’

The Open will be his third of four straight weeks of tournaments. Then he’ll head overseas to play in the Scottish and British Opens and re-evaluate his schedule for the remainder of the season after playing in those events.

Luke Donald, the former Northwestern star and former world No. 1, and Elmhurst’s Mark Wilson, who survived sectional qualifying, are also in the Open field. So are University of Illinois alums D.A. Points and Luke Guthrie and Brian Campbell, who was the Big Ten player-of-the-year for the Illini this season.

Remembering Payne

Kemper Lakes will mark the 25th anniversary of the late Payne Stewart’s victory in the 1989 PGA Championship at the Kildeer course with a 5:30 p.m. reception next Wednesday (JUNE 18).

Peter Jacobsen, the popular Champions Tour player and TV golf analyst, will be featured at the event, which also marks the 35th anniversary for Kemper Lakes. Jacobsen was one of Stewart’s best friends and the latest winner of the Payne Stewart Award. Stewart lost his life in a 2000 airplane incident in the aftermath of his second U.S. Open victory at Pinehurst No. 2 in 1999.

A limited number of tickets, priced at $250, are still available for the event. Proceeds will go to the Payne Stewart Family Foundation. Contact Kemper Lakes for details.

Also on tap that night is Donald’s sixth annual Taste of the First Tee event at North Shore Country Club in Glenview. Champions Tour stars Tom Kite, Bernhard Langer, Tom Lehman and Colin Montgomerie will join Donald on the stage at that one. They’ll be in town to compete in Chicago’s only pro tour event of 2014. The Champions Tour’s Encompass Championship will begin its 54-hole run at North Shore on June 20.

Before that, though, there’ll be a pre-qualifier on Thursday (JUNE 12) at Deerfield Golf Club and the top five there will advance to the final qualifier on Monday (JUNE 16), also at Deerfield.

Here and there

Medinah Country Club will formally open its renovated No. 1 course on Friday. Tom Doak, the architect who handled the project that started the day after the 2012 Ryder Cup concluded on Medinah’s No. 3 course, will hit the ceremonial first tee shot.

Ray Hearn, the Michigan architect who directed well-received renovations at Flossmoor Country Club and the Mistwood course in Romeoville, has signed on to supervise another re-do at Midlothian Country Club.

Jack Perry, who concluded a solid collegiate career at Northwestern, took advantage of an invitation to last week’s Cleveland Open on the Web.com Tour. He survived the 36-hole cut in his first tournament as a professional.

Cog Hill, in Lemont will host the first of 50 world-wide qualifiers for the Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup amateur event on Monday (JUNE 16). The finals are in Turkey in November.

The Illinois PGA will hold a qualifier for the Illinois Open at Inverness on Monday, and the Chicago District Golf Assn. will host a similar elimination for the Illinois State Amateur at Lake Bluff on the same day.