No Chicago-born and raised golfer has accomplished more than Gary Hallberg, and now he’s coming back.

Hallberg was a state high school champion at Barrington, an Illinois Open winner twice, an NCAA champion at Wake Forest and the first player to earn PGA Tour playing privileges without going to qualifying school.

As a professional he was the PGA’s rookie-of-the-year in 1980. He won on the PGA Tour three times, the Nationwide (now Buy.com) circuit and the Champions Tour. He also won in Japan. Last year he was runner-up to Fred Couples in the Senior British Open.

About to turn 55 on May 31, Hallberg is a regular on the Champions Tour. He’ll be competing in the Senior PGA Championship, at Bellerive in St. Louis, starting on Thursday, and has entered the Encompass Championship, which begins at North Shore in Glenview on June 21. That event marks the 50-and-over circuit’s return to Chicago for the first time in 12 years.

Hallberg is happy to compete in Chicago again, though he’s lived in Colorado for several years. Born in Berwyn, Hallberg’s family lived in Park Ridge before moving to North Barrington in 1969. His parents still live there, and Hallberg’s heart has never left the area. He was back last week, in part for a practice round at North Shore before heading to St. Louis.

“My folks are here and my daughter goes to school here,’’ said Hallberg. “It’s my home away from home. I love to reminisce about the good days here.’’

His father George, a Swedish immigrant, introduced Hallberg to golf when he was 8 years old. His first round was at Rob Roy, in Prospect Heights. He developed his game playing the former Thunderbird (now Makray) course in Barrington and still holds the course record (a 64) at Stonehenge, the Barrington private facility. He also caddied at Biltmore, another Barrington private club.

“All I wanted to do back then was play golf,’’ said Hallberg. “If there was a patch of green grass I wanted to hit a ball off it. I developed an addiction to the game. I’d polish my clubs with a tooth brush.’’

The passion for golf has never left, though Hallberg is married with two grown children now. His son Eric, 19, is showing interest in playing golf.

“He wants to give it a shot, but it’s whatever he wants,’’ said Hallberg. “I stand back a little. It’s his journey. That’s what my dad did.’’

This Champions Tour season hasn’t been a rousing success yet. Hallberg’s best finish in a tie for 17th. But he’s well rested going into this week’s first major championship for the circuit at Bellerive. He’s also looking forward to North Shore, where he played several times as the guest of the club’s late long-time professional Bill Ogden.

“I feel prepared after a few works off to work,’’ said Hallberg, “and it’s fantastic we’re going to North Shore. I think we’ll get a great turnout.’’

More honors for Small

Life couldn’t get much better for Illinois men’s coach Mike Small these days. As a player he shot 69 and earned the last of four U.S. Open sectional qualifying berths offered in a local qualifier at Sangamore Club in Noblesville, Ind. As a coach, his Illini won an NCAA regional at Fayetteville, Ark., to advance to the finals starting next Tuesday (MAY 28)_in Atlanta.

To cap off the month Small was selected to the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame. The selection committee voted in Small, Champions Tour veteran Jay Haas and Bob Harris, former head professional at Sunset Ridge in Northbrook. Induction ceremonies will be held in October at The Glen Club in Glenview.

Another big event at Medinah

Medinah will never have an event as big as last fall’s Ryder Cup, but the club will host perhaps the year’s biggest charity event next Tuesday (MAY 28). It’ll include play on the famed No. 3 course, the Ryder Cup site.

The fourth annual Medinah Patriot Day will be played on both the Nos. 2 and 3 courses. No. 1 is undergoing a renovation supervised by architect Tom Doak. The event provides financial assistance to support Illinois military families.

Chicago’s two local qualifying tournaments for the U.S. Open are over. Now comes the hard part for the 10 golfers who survived.

They were the lucky ones among the 180 who entered the 18-hole eliminations at Northmoor, in Highland Park, and Seven Bridges, in Woodridge, the last two weeks. Next up is the U.S. Golf Association’s self-proclaimed “longest day in golf’’ – on June 3, when the 11 sectionals, all 36-hole sessions, are contested around the country to complete the 156-man field for the 113th Open proper at Merion, in Ardmore, Pa., from June 13-16.

Chicago’s 10 can pick their own sectional. Chicago won’t host one for the first time in at least five decades. Based on geography the closest is at Old Warson in St. Louis, but some players may opt for Columbus, Ohio. More qualifying spots will likely be available there with most of the PGA Tour players who haven’t already qualified the week before at the nearby Memorial tournament.

Most of the record 9,865 entries for this year’s Open were eliminated in the 111 local eliminations. Chicago’s 10 survivors are headed by 2011 Illinois Amateur champion Brad Hopfinger of Lake Forest, who has been playing on the Gateway Tour since leaving the University of Iowa. He posted the low round at the Chicago locals – a 66 at Northmoor.

Co-medalists at Seven Bridges were Chicago’s Michael Smith and Libertyville’s Michael Schachner, a perennial Illinois Open contender and mini-tour player who once shot a 60 while playing collegiately at Duke. Both posted 69s at the local.

Two of the top teaching club pros, Rich Dukelow and Travis Johns, also qualified for the sectionals. Dukelow was the Illinois PGA player-of-the-year in 2011. Johns, who won that honor in 2010, joined the staff at Medinah last week.

St. Charles assistant Curtis Malm, who swept Illinois PGA player-of-the-year and assistant player-of-the-year honors in 2012, didn’t survive the locals. He shot 74 at Seven Bridges, one shot out of a playoff for the final two sectional berths available.

Jeray advances

The lone Chicago area member on the LPGA Tour has qualified for the U.S.Women’s Open. Berwyn’s Nicole Jeray made it by posting a 143 total for 36 holes at Elkridge Club in Baltimore in last week’s first qualifying session. She was five strokes behind medalist Christina Kim and is assured a spot in the Women’s Open proper at New York’s Sebonack course June 27-30.

Life is looking up for Jeray, who missed the cut in her first three LPGA starts. In addition to surviving the Open qualifier she made the cut in her last two LPGA events and now has season winnings of $6,211.

Tuesday’s Chicago sectional at Cantigny didn’t produce a Chicago qualifier, though Chelsea Harris, a former University of Iowa golfer from Normal, was the first alternate. She lost in a playoff with Ana Menendez of Raleigh, N.C., for the second and last Open berth. Carolina Powers, of East Lansing, Mich., was medalist with a 71-72—143 for the 36 holes.

NCAA-bound

Northwestern is in the NCAA women’s finals for the second time thanks to a final-round charge in last week’s East Regional. With Winnetka freshman Elizabeth Szokol shooting a 4-under-par 68 coach Emily Fletcher’s team climbed from 10th to sixth in the final 18 of the 54-hole test.

NU’s only other berth in the finals came in 2000. This time the freshman-dominated squad will compete May 21-24 at the University of Georgia’s course

Both Big Ten champion Illinois and Northwestern are in the men’s NCAA tourney, which starts with regional play on Thursday. The Illini are the sixth seed of 14 teams in a regional in Fayetteville, Ark., while the Wildcats are the sixth seed among 13 teams at Baton Rouge, La.

Did you know?

The 62nd Illinois PGA Match Play Championship, first of the section’s four major tourneys, is in progress at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove. The semifinals and finals are on Thursday.

Tampa’s loss is Chicago’s gain.

The Champions Tour is preparing for its return to Chicago after an 11-year absence, and the new version will be much different than the 12 tournaments played here from 1991-2002. The Encompass Championship will be top-heavy in pro-ams when it takes over North Shore Country Club in Glenview from June 17-23, and about 10 of the amateurs will be celebrity types.

“The celebrity pro-am format will play well with the community here,’’ predicted Tom Ealy, president of Encompass – a Northbrook-based insurance firm that is a division of All-State. Very few pro tournaments on any of the tours have gone that route, the notable exception being the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA Tour.

Ealy felt a Chicago version would be ideal after a Champions Tour event in Tampa lost the Outback restaurant chain as its sponsor. As part of an agreement with the PGA, Encompass agreed to sponsor the Tampa event in 2012 and move it to North Shore for the next three years.

“We only had 45 days from the day we signed our contract, but (the Tampa event) exceeded our expectations,’’ said Ealy. “It was a very well-run tournament for 25 years, and we loved what we saw.’’

So now Ealy, planning for its Chicago debut, is rounding up volunteers and pro-am participants. He’s also started his celebrity recruitment. This week he announced the first three – retired and present football stars Joe Theismann and Robbie Gould and TV and film actor Dennis Haysbert.

“We have asks out to some very high-profile people,’’ said Ealy. “Maybe some tournaments don’t have a celebrity format because – if they don’t get the right celebrities – it might not be positive for your tournament. But we think having a Chicago-themed event adds to people’s interest.’’

Standard pro-ams will be held on Wednesday and Thursday and the first two rounds of the 54-hole $1.8 million tournament will have 81 amateurs (some celebrities) playing with the 81 professionals. The tourney will conclude with only the pros playing on Sunday.

Ealy, who took over as Encompass president 18 months ago, went after the golf event “because it was very apparent that we needed to build our brand.’’ The tournament will do that and also help two charities – Bears Care and the Illinois Veterans Fund of McCormick Foundation.

Ealy expects the professional field to be outstanding.

“We’re really excited. The current commitment list has 27 of the top 30 from last year plus six Hall of Famers,’’ said Ealy. The Hall of Famers are Bernhard Langer, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Nick Price, Ben Crenshaw and Sandy Lyle. Fred Couples and Tom Watson haven’t entered yet but Ealy is hopeful.

The Encompass Championship falls between last year’s spectacular Ryder Cup at Medinah and the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship, which comes to Conway Farms in Lake Forest in September.

“We know about the Ryder Cup and BMW,’’ said Ealy, “but we’ll be the only tournament that stays here every year.’’

A strong statement

There’s no question about which state has the best golfers in the Big Ten these days. Illinois’ men won the conference tournament for the fifth straight year on Sunday and Northwestern’s women won their first-ever league title, tying with Purdue for the top spot at French Lick, Ind.

Not only that, but NU’s Hana Lee shot the low round (68) of the women’s competition, Illinois’ Thomas Pieters was medalist among the men and NU’s Jack Perry won the Les Bolstad Award for the lowest scoring average in the Big Ten this season. He’s the first Wildcat to win that award since Luke Donald took it from 1999-2001.

A wide Open field

Local qualifying rounds for June’s U.S. Open at Merion in Philadelphia begin here on Monday when Perry and 89 others compete for sectional berths at Northmoor in Highland Park.

Another 90-player local will be held on May 13 at Seven Bridges in Woodridge. Curtis Malm, the Illinois PGA’s player-of-the-year in 2012, heads the field there. The U.S. Golf Assn. announced a record 9,860 entries for the Open – 774 more than the previous high in 2009.

For the first time in many years Chicago won’t have a sectional qualifier, which sends its top players to the starting field at Merion. The closest one will be at Old Warson in St. Louis on June 3.

Finally there’s some good news involving Joe Affrunti, the Crystal Lake golfer who suffered a serious shoulder injury months after earning his PGA Tour card.

Affrunti earned the right to play on golf’s premier circuit by finishing in the top 25 on the Web.com Tour money list in 2010. In June of 2011, however, he suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder that required major surgery and lengthy rehabilitation time.

At least now he’s playing again. On a medical exemption with the PGA Tour, Affrunti is competing on the Web.com circuit again. He made the cut in two of his four starts, earning $4,500. This week’s South Georgia Classic will be the fifth and last Web.com start he’s allowed as part of medical exemption procedures. Then where he plays will be determined on a week to week basis.

“It’s confusing,’’ he said. “I get five medical starts to see how I’m feeling, then I can enter a (PGA Tour) event. I’m allowed 14 starts on the PGA Tour, but I still have to (be eligible to) get in (the tournaments). I won’t get in all 14 until next year.’’

As a low qualifier off the Web.com circuit, his eligibility for PGA Tour events is extremely limited. He was, for instance, only the 14th alternate for last week’s Heritage Classic.

“My first tournament back will probably be in Memphis (St. Jude Classic in June),’’ said Affrunti, “but I can play on the Web.com as long as my (PGA Tour qualifying) number doesn’t come up.’’

Affrunti played at Illinois and won the 2004 Illinois Open at The Glen Club before earning his playing privileges on the pro circuits. Injuries, though, have slowed a promising career. He had major wrist surgery before the shoulder flareup.

“I don’t think I”ll ever be 100 percent,’’ he said. “My wrist surgery was five years ago, and it still acts up. With the shoulder I went a long time without playing. The rehab took a lot longer than I thought it would, and I’ve had trouble being consistent. But you never know when you’ll have good weeks, when your games will come around. The more you play, the more comfortable you feel.’’

An Illini-NU duel?

The Big Ten men’s championship, which tees off Friday at French Lick Resort in Indiana, figures to be an all-Illinois affair with Northwestern trying to end Illinois’ run of four straight titles.

“We’ll go in seeded one-two,’’ said NU coach Pat Goss, whose Wildcats had a run of three straight Big Ten Match Play titles snapped by the Illini in February. “They have kids on their team who have experienced nothing but winning the Big Ten. That’ll give them a lot of confidence. If both of us get going we should have a fun battle.’’

NU tuned up by winning its Spring Invitational at The Glen Club. Illinois finished third in last week’s Boilermaker Invitational at Purdue.

The men’s tourney will be contested on French Lick’s Pete Dye Course when the conference women’s title will be decided at the nearby Donald Ross Course. Michigan State goes for a three-peat on the women’s side.

Did you know?

(BULLET) The full 18 holes of Elk Grove’s Fox Run course, renovated by Aurora architect Greg Martin, are expected to be available this weekend. Last Sunday’s grand re-opening outing was cancelled due to the heavy storms that forced the closing of many area courses.

(BULLET) Cog Hill, in Lemont, will hold a Demo Day from 9 a.m. -3 p.m. on Saturday.

(BULLET) The Illinois PGA holds its first stroke play event of the season on Monday at Bloomington Country Club. The IPGA Assistants Match Play Championship will also begin on that day at courses throughout the state.

(BULLET)) Flossmoor’s Ashley Armstrong won her second tournament of the collegiate season for Notre Dame, taking the Lady Jaguar Invitational at Augusta, Ga.

(BULLET) The Illinois Patriot Education Fund and the McCormick Foundation have joined forced in the staging of the May 28 Medinah Patriot Day outing. It’ll be played over the Nos. 2 and 3 courses at Medinah.

(BULLET) Mundelein-based GolfVisions has taken over management of Fyre Lake, a Jack Nicklaus-design near the Quad Cities.

Berwyn golfer Nicole Jeray spent most of the winter in Augusta, Ga., and she had a pass to get into last week’s spectacular Masters tournament there. The Chicago area’s lone member of the Ladies PGA Tour, however, had more important things to do.

“I could have gotten in off my LPGA pass, ‘’ said Jeray. “I’ve been to the Masters numerous times, but now I prefer to watch on TV. Plus, I’ve got work to do for my own tournaments.’’

Hopefully that work will pay off starting this week, when Jeray’s tournament schedule dramatically picks up. It’s hard to improve your golf game in Chicago winters, so Jeray has been staying with her boyfriend and practicing at Jones Creek – a challenging Rees Jones design near the site of the Masters. When the weather improves her she’ll do her practicing back at Cog Hill, where Jones recently renovated the Dubsdread course, and work with her long-time swing instructor, Dr. Jim Suttie.

At 42 Jeray is among the oldest players on the women’s circuit. She qualified for the first time after her 1992 graduation from Northern Illinois University, where she won eight collegiate tournaments – an accomplishment that led to her being the youngest inductee into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.

As a professional, however, things haven’t come so easily. Not only was the competition much stiffer, but Jeray has had to deal with narcolepsy – a sleep disorder. Still, she remains the only LPGA card member from Chicago since Medinah’s Deedee Lasker, who competed briefly in the 1970s.

Jeray’s dedication and determination is extraordinary. She has been on and off the premier women’s circuit several times and has been to its fall qualifying school 19 times.

“Kind of crazy, isn’t it,’’ she said. “My game is better than it’s ever been. A lot of the girls now are 18 years old, but I’m a mature player. I feel I can compete.’’

Lending credence to that belief is her standing in one of the LPGA’s more important statistical categories. She is second among all LPGA players in driving accuracy, having hit 86 percent of the fairways in her first three tournaments.

“I’m very straight. I just need to putt,’’ she said. “When I putt I make money. I’ve tried all kinds of putters. Now I’m holding one that I feel I can make anything with, so we’ll see.’’

On years when she didn’t have LPGA privileges Jeray competed on the much less lucrative Symetra (formerly Futures) Tour. Her latest venture to Q-school was in December, when she tied for 17th among 122 finalists. It took her 90 holes of regulation play and five playoff holes to earn playing privileges in 2013.

Her current card, though, hasn’t gotten her into every tournament and she’s been in limbo the last four months. Just an alternate in the field for the season-opening tournament in Australia, she didn’t know she could play until a week before the event. She hurriedly made the long trip there, but missed the cut.

“I wasn’t prepared mentally or physically,’’ she said. “People were dropping out like flies, so I got in. Then at Phoenix I signed up for Monday qualifying and got in.’’

With an uncertain schedule Jeray has played in three of the year’s six events, missed the cut in all of them and hasn’t earned a dime yet. That could change starting this week, when her schedule solidifies. She’s playing the next three weeks – the Lotte Championship, which tees off Wednesday in Hawaii; the North Texas Shootout, April 25-28 in Dallas; and the Kingsmill Championship, May 2-5 in Virginia.

“It’s been frustrating. When I left Q-School I knew I’d get into a lot of events,’’ she said. “But from now on I should get into all of the full-field events the rest of the year.’’

Last year Luke Donald was the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer entering all four of the sport’s major championships. He was No. 1 for 55 weeks, and it was at the 2012 Masters that his duel for the top spot with Rory McIlroy started.

This year’s Masters begins Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club and Donald has dropped to No. 4 in the world (behind Tiger Woods, McIlroy and Justin Rose) and he hasn’t been having a Luke Donald type of year so far. The Northwestern graduate and long-time Chicago area resident had a tie for fourth as his best showing in four starts on the PGA Tour and he missed the cut the week at the European PGA Tour’s Maybank Malaysian Open.

That missed cut in his last tournament appearance was significant, as it was his first MC on the European circuit after surviving in his first 118 events.

Tweeting that he was “hugely disappointed,’’ Donald philosophized that “all good things come to an end eventually’’ and returned to his winter residence in Jupiter, FL., to prepare for the Masters.

His long-time Northwestern coach, Pat Goss, spent last weekend with Donald. Goss says the missed cut is no cause for concern and that Donald has “a special short game shot that he has worked on for Augusta….You won’t be able to miss it when he uses it!’’

But their Masters preparation hasn’t been easy. Donald and Goss were to meet at Augusta National last Thursday but bad weather there led to them hooking up in Florida instead. They went to Augusta for Friday and Saturday practice sessions and the Friday practice round lasted an unusually long 4 ½ hours with Donald playing by himself and hitting plenty of extra shots en route to the green.

“That’s an example of how important he thinks it is to figure out where you can miss it around the greens and how important short game and putting are at Augusta,’’ said Goss. On Saturday Donald practiced in the morning and played 18 holes with fellow competitor Matteo Manassero in the afternoon, then returned to Jupiter before returning to Augusta on Monday.

Donald conducted his pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday and is excited to have his 3-year old daughter Elle be his caddy in Wednesday’s par-3 contest. After that it’s all business, as Donald tries again to claim his coveted first major title.

He’s come closest at the Masters – a tie for third in his first one in 2005. His third top-10 there in eight appearances came in a tie for fourth in 2011 but he tied for 32nd last April.

Donald’s tournament results this season aren’t encouraging, but there’s a reason. He initiated swing changes in the offseason in hopes of adding a reliable draw to his list of shot options, and swing tweaks frequently cause temporary setbacks in performance.

In is last extensive interview prior to this week Donald said he’s making progress with his swing change. His best U.S. tournament was his last one, a tie for fourth at the Tampa Bay Championship where he was the defending champion. Kevin Streelman won there, but Donald was pleased after a bogey-free weekend.

“I’ve made a lot of progress. My game is trending,’’ Donald said three weeks ago. “Hopefully I’m peaking at just the right time.’’

He skipped the PGA Tour’s Bay Hill Invitational the following week to go to Malaysia, a move that was due at least in part to the availability of appearance money. Donald, with over $28 million earned in American PGA tournaments alone, didn’t need it but there were other factors.

“I’ve struggled at Bay Hill. I don’t feel like the course suits my game very well,’’ said Donald, who rested during the Shell Houston Open and Valero Texas Open the past two weeks.

“I’ve never played that well at Houston, and I don’t know anything about Valero,’’ said Donald. “Certainly I didn’t want to take three weeks off before Augusta.’’

Donald, like McIlroy, is a member of both the PGA and European tours and playing in Malaysia helped him fulfill commitments in Europe. The absence of the pressure of being No. 1 helps, too.

“There are less people looking at me, less media attention with more on Rory and Tiger,’’ said Donald. “I can go about my business a little bit more.’’

Goss considers Donald’s game “very solid right now’’ and that the swing change won’t be a factor at the Masters.

“The key for him,’’ said Goss, “will be seeing some putts go in. We’ve worked a lot on his putting, and it is technically good. He just needs that confidence that comes from holing some putts.’’

Kevin Streelman may be the best feel-good story in golf these days, and maybe in all of sports.

Last month Streelman, who grew up in Winfield and built his golf game playing and working at both Cantigny and Arrowhead public courses in Wheaton, won the PGA Tour’s Tampa Bay Championship.

That got him into next week’s Masters, and it also improved the décor in the basement of his home in Scottsdale, Ariz. Streelman made it to the Masters for the first time in 2011 after finishing in the top 30 on the PGA Tour’s FedEx standings in 2010. He missed the cut that time, but vowed he’d be back.

“When I left all I could think about was getting back,’’ he said. “In my basement I’ve got my first Masters invitation from 2011 framed, and I put up an empty frame next to it. I used it as motivation.’’

The motivation paid off when Streelman won his first tournament on the PGA Tour at Innisbrook’s Copperhead layout, a Florida course designed by long-time Chicago course architect Larry Packard. Packard, now 100 years old, was on hand for Streelman’s win and his son Roger was the designer at Cantigny, the 27-layout where Streelman worked to earn a college scholarship to Duke. This is where his story of extreme perseverance began.

After captaining the Duke team Streelman put 400,000 miles on three cars criss-crossing the country in search of professional tournaments. Frequently sleeping in those cars, he wasn’t earning much money and at one point his would-be financial sponsors deserted him, leaving Streelman stranded in California without the money to get home on.

Frustrated, he applied for an assistant coaching job at Duke in 2003 and was one of two finalists. He didn’t get the job, which turned out a blessing – even if it took awhile.

Streelman married and settled in Arizona where he cleaned clubs on weekday mornings and resumed work as a caddie – a job he had performed at Wheaton’s Chicago Golf Club to earn money on summer breaks from Duke – on weekends.

This time Streelman did his bag-toting at Whisper Rock, a haven for PGA Tour players — Phil Mickelson and Fred Couples are among the members — in North Scottsdale. He used the money he earned over two years there, as well as Whisper Rock’s excellent practice facilities, to get his game sharp enough for the PGA Tour. Then, while he was playing in the Puerto Rico Open as a PGA rookie in 2008, Whisper Rock owner Greg Pryhus invited him to join the club.

Not only did Streelman go from caddie to club member, he immediately won the club championship.

That was a clear indication that hard work and dedication can pay off, and now Streelman’s career has taken still another upward turn thanks to the win at Tampa Bay. Even a week later the significance of it was hard to fathom.

“It hasn’t entirely sunk in,’’ said Streelman. “It means I belong out there. It has nothing to do with money or trophies. I just love the competition. Now my dream is to be in that position in a major.’’

It could be at this year’s Masters. Streelman felt he knew Augusta National well enough to pass on an early practice round. Instead he took a two-week rest break and won’t arrive at Augusta National until Sunday.

“In 2011 I spent a few weeks there in preparation for my first Masters, but this time I had played four weeks in a row and was really exhausted,’’ Streelman said. He feels rest and better planning will produce a better result in his second try.

“The first time I was overwhelmed,’’ he said. “There were a lot of distractions from family and friends and media requirements.’’

That first Masters was more like a party. Streelman and wife Courtney rented a big house, where they stayed with both sets of parents as well as some brothers and sisters.

“We even had some dogs,’’ said Streelman. “It was fun, but a very hectic week. This time they (family members) will be there again, but Courtney and I are going to get a house by ourselves.’’

It wouldn’t be surprising if Streelman, now 34 and the winner of $7 million in five seasons on tour, made another career jump by challenging at the Masters. Just earning his first PGA Tour win – a milestone that didn’t come until his 153rd start — will change his life, however. It qualified him for the PGA Championship, the World Golf Championship events and the big-money invitationals. He isn’t sure yet whether he’ll be in the U.S. and British Opens, but life as a champion will be better than life as a journeyman.

“I’m really excited, because this helps me with scheduling,’’ said Streelman, who didn’t consider his first win a big surprise. “I had a nice start to the season, and my stats were up from last year. It showed that I’d worked hard in the offseason.’’

It’ll be nothing like the just-completed Ryder Cup, but there is one big competitive event left in the Chicago golf season.

The Illinois PGA will stage the last of its four major tournaments, the IPGA Players Championship, at Eagle Ridge in Galena on Monday and Tuesday. The section’s player-of-the-year and assistant player-of-the-year awards will be on the line with Curtis Malm, assistant pro at St. Charles Country Club, in position to clinch them both.

If Malm finishes at least tied for third he’d be the second section member to sweep both awards. Dino Lucchesi did it in the 1997 and 1998 and Matt Slowinski in 2009.

If Malm doesn’t finish that high in the 36-hole competition on the resort’s North course there’ll be one stroke play event — the Schaumburg Classic on Oct. 22 — left to determine player-of-the-year winners. That rescheduled event was rained out in August.

Malm won the IPGA Match Play title in May, tied for sixth at the Illinois Open in July and was second to Steve Orrick of Country Club of Decatur at the IPGA Championship in August.

Cantigny’s Rich Dukelow won last year’s Players Championship en route to winning player-of-the-year honors. He’ll try to become the first back-to-back winner of the Players since Orrick did it in 2008-09.

WGA is branching out

The Western Golf Assn., which has long conducted the BMW Championship, Western Amateur and Western Junior tournaments to bolster its Evans Scholars Foundation, will add a Web.com Tour event to its managerial duties in 2013. It’ll be part of the PGA Tour developmental circuit’s new four-event Tour Finals.

“Obviously it’s not the BMW, but it is a big deal and about the scope of the old Western Open,’’ said WGA executive director John Kaczkowski. “We don’t expect the same size crowds, but the (Web.com) tour has worked well in small to middle-sized markets.’’

The WGA-run event will be the Hotel Fitness Championship, and it’ll be held at Sycamore Hills in Ft. Wayne, Ind., from Aug. 26-Sept. 1. It’ll have 156 players and a $1 million purse and kick off the Finals to determine 50 players advancing to the PGA Tour in 2014.

Since Kaczkowski stepped up from tournament director the WGA has looked for additional tournaments. It also reached a merger agreement with the Women’s Western Golf Assn.

“We’ve been considering adding more professional events for several years,’’ said Kaczkowski. “We pursued others that didn’t make sense financially, but this one does. We’ll look at all options going forward.’’

State Amateur, Open will be back-to-back in 2013

When the U.S. Golf Assn. decided to move its 2013 U.S. Amateur championship at Brookline, Mass., up a week, to Aug. 12-18, that led to some changes on the local front as well.

The Chicago District Golf Assn. made the biggest adjustment, moving its 83rd Illinois State Amateur from its usual dates the second week in August to July 16-18 to reduce the scheduling demands that having the state and national tourneys back-to-back would have created. Next year’s Illinois State Amateur will be at Aldeen, in Rockford.

The IPGA only slightly adjusted its Illinois Open dates. That tourney dropped back a week, to July 22-24 at The Glen Club, in Glenview. The new scheduling will create a big two-week focus on golf for the state’s best players.

Onwentsia’s Carson is top professional

The IPGA has announced its annual award winners for 2012 with Bruce Carson, the veteran head professional at Onwentsia in Lake Forest, taking the top honor. He was named the section’s 58th Illinois Golf Professional of the Year. He’ll receive the award Nov. 15 at Medinah.

Also to be honored are: Scott Baines, Des Plaines, Assistant Professional of the Year; Pat Goss, Evanston Teacher of the Year; Michael Carbray, Glen Ellyn, Junior Golf Leader; Jim Sobb, Barrington, Bill Strausbaugh Award; Nick Papadakes, Wadsworth, Horton Smith Award; Jeff Siegmund, Plainfield, Player Development Award; Wade Gurysh Libertyville, PGA Merchandiser of the Year (Private Facilities); Robert Falkiner, Prospect Heights; PGA Merchandiser of the Year (Public Facilities); and Pat Kenny, Bill Heald Career Achievement Award.

Get ready, get set…..

The golf season is reaching a climax, with The Tour Championship concluding the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs this week and the 39th Ryder Cup coming the following week to Medinah Country Club.

Medinah, though, will open its gates to the public on Saturday. There won’t be any PGA Tour players there, but spectators can check out the Ryder Cup merchandise offerings and watch the conclusion of the PGA Youth Skills Challenge, a summer-long competition for youngsters between the ages of 6 and 17.

The Challenge drew over 3,000 entrants, and 32 will participate in the two-hour finals, which start at 1:45 p.m. There’ll be no admission charge on Saturday or Sunday, with the course closing at 5 p.m. both days. It’ll open at 10 a.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday. Spectators can park at 333 E. Lake St., and shuttle buses will take them into the club.

“It’s a chance for people without tickets to get a glimpse of what’s going to be going on here,’’ said tournament director Michael Belot. “They can’t roam the course. They can shop and leave, and they’ll see what’s been done.’’

And that’s quite a lot. It took four months for workers to prepare the club for the big event. There are 75 corporate hospitality tents set up for when the big crowds arrive on Tuesday (SEPT 25) for the formal Ryder Cup festivities, which begin with a Captains-Celebrity Scramble at 1 p.m.

Tickets, of course, were sold out long ago, but Belot said a “small number’’ still remain through the event’s charity arm, www.magnificentmoments.org. Tickets are more readily available for next Wednesday’s Ryder Cup Gala ($100, at Rosemont’s Donald E. Stephens Convention Center) and next Thursday’s (SEPT. 27) Bagpipes & Blues pep rally ($250 at the Field Museum).

Big money’s on the line

Twenty of the 24 players competing on the U.S. and Europe Ryder Cup teams will also be in this week’s Tour Championship, which tees off Thursday at East Lake, in Atlanta. Most will be rested, as the PGA Tour took a rare week off last week after three strenuous playoff events concluded with the BMW Championship in Indianapolis.

The BMW whittled the qualifiers for the Tour Championship from 70 to the 30 who will vie for the biggest money available in competitive golf. In addition to an $8 million purse for the 72-hole competition, the FedEx playoff champion will get an additional $10 million.

The big bonus will go to any member of the current top five in the FedEx Cup point race – Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Nick Watney, Phil Mickelson or Brandt Snedeker – if they win the Tour Championship. Only Watney isn’t in the Ryder Cup. Other finalists could still win, but would need help from other competitors.

All 12 U.S. Ryder Cuppers were among the 30 qualifiers for the last event of the playoffs. While the PGA Tour took the week off, three members of the European team competed in the Italian Open on the European PGA Tour.

Germany’s Martin Kaymer, who barely made his Ryder Cup squad after having a sub-par season, showed signs of regaining form in Italy. He shot 67-67 on the weekend to finish in a tie for fifth with Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, the only Ryder Cup rookie on the European side. It was Kaymer’s first top-five of the year.

Another European Ryder Cupper, Italy’s Francesco Molinari, only finished in a tie for 46th in the Italian Open but he shot a dazzling 65 on Sunday.

Here and there

Luke Guthrie, who completed his eligibility at the University of Illinois in June, clinched his PGA Tour card for 2013 with his first professional victory at the Web.com Tour’s Boise Open on Sunday…. Tartan Art on the Avenue, part of the Ryder Cup’s fundraising effort, includes an oversized golf ball painted by LPGA player Michelle Wie as part of its six-block stretch on Michigan Avenue….Blue Island’s Jerry Vidovic won his second Illinois Senior Open in a four-man playoff at McHenry Country Club. His playoff victims included past winners Mike Harrigan and Billy Rosinia and amateur Ron Waytula…..Charlie Waddell, representing the Glen View Club, won the 10th Chicago District Mid-Amateur at Bowes Creek, in Elgin. The CDGA’s 26th Illinois Senior Amateur concludes its three-day run today at Prestwick, in Frankfort, today.