Scheduling conflicts have been a problem for Chicago’s tournament organizers for years. This week marks the first big conflict of this season, and the two tournaments involved are very big ones. The 93rd Illinois State Amateur and the 124th Women’s Western Amateur both teed of on Tuesday. The State Am concludes on Thursday and the…
Daily Herald Columns
This first-time PGA Tour winner also set a JDC scoring record
SILVIS, IL. – Sungjae Im started his Sunday round in the John Deere Classic with five straight birdies, and Ben Griffin also was 5-under through the first five holes, making an eagle, three birdies and a par. Those were extraordinary starts in the $8 million PGA Tour stop at TPC Deere Run, but not nearly…
Another first-time champion looms in the John Deere Classic
SILVIS, IL. – Saturday’s third round was the traditional moving day at the John Deere Classic, and Jordan Spieth set the tone for that. His fast start inspired others with later tee times, especially Davis Thompson. Thompson shot the week’s low round – a 9-under-par 62 – and will take a two-stroke lead over Eric…
Spieth, Streelman, Ghim make it to the weekend at the JDC
SILVIS, IL. – Friday’s cut day at the John Deere Classic wasn’t pretty, but it produced some popular results. Jordan Spieth, a playoff champion at TPC Deere Run twice before skipping the Illinois’ only annual PGA stop the previous nine years, was below the projected cut line with six holes remaining in his…
Spieth’s return gives John Deere Classic a gigantic boost
Jordan Spieth was just a kid – albeit a very promising golfer – when he played in the John Deere Classic for the first time in 2013. To say he took advantage of the opportunity is putting it mildly. Not only did he win the title in the only annual PGA Tour event left…
Cog Hill hosts inaugural Chicago Adaptive Open
Marty Neal, the Libertyville Township Highway Commissioner, has long been an avid golfer. Now 61, he’s been playing for 40 years – and that’s since he lost his right hand after it got caught in a meat-grinder when he was 15. On May 10 he made his first hole-in-one when his tee shot on…
CDGA’s involvement gave Women’s State Amateur a big boost
The Illinois Women’s State Amateur had been conducted by the downstate-based Illinois Women’s Golf Association for 90 years before the IWGA – beset by a loss of members – turned the event over to the Chicago District Golf Association this year. While the site remained at The Grove, in Long Grove, the shift in…
Here’s the Illinois players teeing off in the U.S. Open
In most years there are two, maybe three, Illinois-connected players in the finals of the U.S. Open. This year, for the 124th Open that tees off on Thursday in Pinehurst, N.C., there will be four such players among the 156 starters. Interestingly, though, none of them are among the area’s regular PGA Tour players….
Cantigny starts a renovation just as Dubsdread re-opens
It may have been coincidental, but two of the Chicago area’s most prominent public golf facilities made announcements on the same day last week that will have a big impact on the area’s golf community. At Cantigny, in Wheaton, it was the ground-breaking for an extraordinary three-year redo. At Cog Hill, in Lemont, it was…
Defending champ says PGA Tour needs more John Deere Classics
Illinois is one of those few states to have both a PGA Tour and a LIV Tour tournament this year. The friction between the two circuits is still there, but Sepp Straka downplayed it during the John Deere Classic’s annual Champions Day in Rock Island last week. Straka will defend his title in Illinois’…