Jim Billiter, a 10-year assistant pro at the Merit Club in Libertyville, won the 64th Illinois PGA Match Play Championship on Monday, climaxing a week in which nothing went as expected at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove.

The first major tournament of the Chicago season figured to be another duel between Curtis Malm, the head pro at White Eagle in Naperville who was bidding for his fourth straight title, and Medinah teaching pro Travis Johns, last year’s IPGA Player of the Year. Both were eliminated on Wednesday, when Billiter beat Johns and Malm was ousted by Scott Baines, an assistant at Chicago’s Bryn Mawr club.

In fact, none of the top seven seeded players qualified for Thursday’s morning semifinals in which Billiter beat Simon Allan, head pro at Prestwick in Frankfort, and Brian Brodell, new teaching pro at Mistwood in Romeoville, survived a 19-hole match with Kyle Bauer, head pro at Glen View Club.

The Billiter-Brodell final also had a surprise ending on the winner’s 29th birthday. The end came on the third hole of a sudden death playoff that began when Billiter put his 8-iron tee shot in the water on a 171-yard par-3.

That put Brodell in a good spot to close out the match, but he couldn’t do it. His 7-iron tee shot bounded over the green and into thick rough.

“When I shanked it in the water I thought it was over,’’ admitted Billiter, “but then when I saw him hit it long I knew I still had a chance because he had a real delicate shot.’’

Billiter put a 90-yard shot from the drop area to six feet of the cup, then watched Brodell chunk his first chip shot and run his second four feet past the cup. Billiter holed his put for bogey, and that was good enough to win the match after Brodell missed.

“A sad way to end it,’’ said Brodell, who came to Mistwood last September to work with the club’s junior programs after serving as assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s teams at Purdue University. “I hit the same club on that hole as I did in the morning match, the wind was the same and I expected a two-putt uphill and the match was mine. Then all of a sudden my shot flew long and I had one bad chip.’’

Billiter won the Illinois PGA Assistants Match Play Championship last year, which had been his biggest win prior to Thursday. He won the first two holes against Brodell but lost the lead six holes later and needed to sink an eight-foot birdie putt on the last hole of regulation to force the playoff.

Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman won the traditional Par-3 Contest that precedes the Masters tournament on Wednesday. That’s not necessarily a good thing, because players consider winning the Par-3 a bad omen. No Par-3 winner has ever gone on to win the Masters.

In Streelman’s case, though, things might turn out differently. He didn’t take his participation in the Par-3 lightly.

His thought process started in December of 2013. That’s when Streelman and wife Courtney were expecting their first child. Daughter Sophia was born more than a month early after Courtney underwent a difficult, worrisome pregnancy.

“That changed a lot of the ways I see children,’’ Streelman told ESPN.com. “I have an entirely new appreciation for what parents with children having tough times are going through.’’

The Par-3 is a fun event, and players frequently use family members or friends as their caddies. Streelman’s father was on his bag in in his first Par-3 experience in 2012. His mother got the call in 2013 and his father-in-law last year.

Still moved by Sophia’s struggles at birth Streelman contacted the Make-A-Wish Foundation after securing another Masters berth by virtue of his win in the PGA Tour’s tournament in Hartford, Ct., last year. He asked if any of its patients wanted to attend the Masters and Ethan Couch, the 13-year-old son of a former golf professional in Canada, was anxious to have the opportunity.

Couch was diagnosed with a brain tumor that’s benign, but inoperable, two years ago. How it will affect the rest of his life is uncertain. He’ll undergo an MRI next week.

With Ethan carrying his bag Streelman went around the nine-hole short course at Augusta National in 5-under-par, which left him in a tie with Camilo Villegas for the top spot. They went to a sudden death playoff, which Streelman won on the third extra hole to make Couch’s day all the more special.

“I just wanted to open the door to someone, and hopefully give him a great day after going through some rough times,’’ said Streelman. “This isn’t about me. It’s about giving back. It’s about using that opportunity that I have to make someone’s wish come true.’’

Streelman, 36, was born in Winfield, developed his golf skills primarily at Cantigny in Wheaton, graduated from Wheaton-Warrenville South High School in 1997 and Duke University 2001. He has two wins since earning his PGA Tour card in 2008.

Though he lost to Streelman in the playoff, the day was special for Villegas as well. He made two holes-in-one in his first eight holes of the Par-3 competition. Six-time Masters champion Jack Nicklaus, now 75, also made a hole-in-one. He’s been playing at Augusta National since the 1960s but never had an ace there until Wednesday, and he somewhat predicted it in a television interview before his round.

The Illinois PGA, in an effort to stimulate more entries in its biggest annual tournament, announced major changes in the Illinois Open on Friday.

For the first time the finals in the 65-year old tournament will be played at two sites – Royal Melbourne in Long Grove and Hawthorn Woods Country Club. The field will also be expanded, from 156 to 258 players and the qualifiers for the final round of the 54-hole event will grow from 50 plus ties to 70 plus ties.

IPGA executive director Michael Miller used the opening day of the 32nd annual Chicago Golf Show at Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont to make the long-anticipated announcement.

The tourney will remain a Monday-Wednesday event, with both courses being used for the first two rounds, on July 20 and 21. The final round will be at Royal Melbourne on July 22.

Qualifying sessions for non-exempt players have been scheduled at seven locations, but only one outside of the Chicago area. That one is June 17 at Bloomington Country Club. Other qualifiers are June 4 at Royal Hawk in St. Charles, June 8 at Glencoe, June 11 at Turnberry in Lakewood, June 17 at Balmoral Woods in Crete, June 25 at Willow Crest in Oak Brook and June 29 at Elgin Country Club.

As was the case with last year’s championship site, The Glen Club in Glenview, both Hawthorn Woods and Royal Melbourne are managed by Northbrook-based KemperSports, one of the nation’s most prominent golf management companies. The Glen Club had hosted the event a record nine times, the first coming in 1991.

Unlike The Glen Club, both Hawthorn Woods and Royal Melbourne are private facilities. Hawthorn Woods, an Arnold Palmer design that opened in 2006, hosted the Illinois Open from 2008-11. Royal Melbourne, a Greg Norman design that made its debut in 1992, hosted the Illinois PGA Championship in 2003 and 2004.

OCALA, FL. – The first event of the LPGA’s 66th season wasn’t held very far from the site of the circuit’s very first tournament, in 1950. That one was at Palma Cella Country Club in Tampa.

The 2015 debut also wasn’t far from the organization’s headquarters. It was played at Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club, a beautiful facility nestled in the horse country of northwestern Florida. It’s about 100 miles from Palma Cella and it’s not much further to LPGA headquarters in Daytona Beach.

This season opener, though, was an indication of how far the LPGA has come, and the inaugural Coates Championship could trigger the biggest year yet for the premier women’s circuit.

The event drew great crowds, and organizers had no problem recruiting over 850 volunteers to help in putting the tournament on. The competition was excellent, as well. South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi captured her eighth win on the LPGA Tour, shooting a final round 68 to finish at 16 under par 272 and one better than 17-year old sensation Lydia Ko, Jessica Korda and Ha Na Jang.

That gave Choi the $225,000 top prize. Ko, though, gave the tournament a place in history. Her second-place finish in the Coates Championship boosted her to No. 1 in the Rolex World Rankings. That made Ko the youngest golfer — male or female — to reach No. 1.

LPGA commissioner Mike Whan called the whole Golden Ocala experience “impressive.”

“We could not be happier with the response we received,” said Whan. “The spectator support has been among the best on the LPGA Tour.”

This LPGA opener represented a departure from recent years, when the circuit usually played its first tournament outside of the U.S. (Four of this year’s first five events, though, will still be beyond U.S. borders – in the Bahamas, Australia, Thailand and Singapore).

The Coates Championship at Golden Ocala didn’t have the traditional Thursday-Sunday run. This one started on Wednesday and concluded on Saturday to avoid a conflict with the Super Bowl.

Coates also wasn’t your usual golf tournament sponsor. It’s a golf equipment manufacturer that is new to the market. Mollie and Randall Coates are Golden Ocala members who entered the golf business only recently. After several years of planning the Coates introduced their products at the 62nd PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando a week before hosting their tournament.

The big launching came at the LPGA season opener – and that was most appropriate. Coates Golf is producing clubs made strictly for women. Other companies have offered “women’s clubs’’ over the years but not like the slick black ones that Coates put on the market. Theirs aren’t men’s clubs with adjustments made for women. This club-maker is all about producing equipment strictly for women.

Coates clubs, understandably, haven’t caught on with the top players yet. Only Alexandria Jacobsen, who lives in Palm City, FL., and got into the tournament on a sponsor’s exemption, played their clubs in the LPGA opener. But women golfers will learn about Coates clubs quickly, now. The company isn’t just sponsoring this one tournament. Coates has signed on to sponsor LPGA events for two more years.

The company has a full line of its sleek black and golf-colored clubs available along with bags, towels, gloves and hats. A full apparel line is expected to be offered in the fall.

For its first tournament Coates chose an interesting place that has more advantages than just being close to home. Golden Ocala’s 6,541-yard par-72 course was designed by well-regarded Florida architect Ron Garl. His creation includes eight tribute holes, three of which are patterned after holes at Augusta National – the Georgia site of the Masters every April.

Garl’s other tribute holes were patterned after holes at St. Andrews, Royal Troon, Muirfield and Baltusrol. Golden Ocala also has a 10-acre short game area and two practice holes in addition to its spacious driving range. It wasn’t exactly a mystery to the 120 LPGA players who showed up. Golden Ocala was the site of the Golden Flake Classic, a stop on the LPGA’s Futures Tour 20 years ago. Australian Karrie Webb made that event her first professional victory, and she was also in the field for the Coates Championship.

The field had other noteworthy players in the $1.5 million tournament, since 19 of the top 20 in the Rolex Rankings, nine of the top 10 on the 2014 money list and 28 of last year’s tournament champions competed in the Coates Championship.

Of more historical note, the LPGA had two African American players in one tournament for the first time since 1971 when Cheyenne Woods and Sadena Parks earned places on the tee sheet. Woods, nephew of Tiger Woods, made her debut as an LPGA member. She earned playing privileges at last fall’s Qualifying School. Park earned her privileges off her play on the Symetra Tour in 2014.

Though several others have played in tournaments on sponsor exemptions over the years, Woods and Parks are only the fifth and sixth African American players in the history of the LPGA. The first was the great tennis player, Althea Gibson, who competed on the golf circuit from 1964-71. Renee Powell had the longest such run, from 1967-80 and LaRee Sugg was on the circuit for two stints, from 1995-97 and 2000-01. Prior to Woods and Parks and last African American woman to play as an LPGA qualifier was Shasta Averyhardt in 2011.

The Coates Championship was the first of 34 tournaments on the LPGA schedule. The circuit will have a record 390 hours of television coverage on NBC and The Golf Channel.

WINDERMERE, FL. – Tiger Woods’ return to competitive golf figured to be the most noteworthy event in the sport last week. Now, maybe it wasn’t.

Woods played hurt, and tied for last in his Hero World Challenge at Isleworth. Just an hour away his niece, Cheyenne Woods, earned her playing privileges on the LPGA Tour in the Qualifying School’s 90-hole elimination in Daytona Beach. She’ll be a focal point on the women’s circuit at times next season.

And that’s not all that may have overshadowed the Tiger return. Jordan Spieth’s victory at Isleworth was astounding — a 10-shot win on the heels of his six-shot victory in last week’s Australian Open.

And that still wasn’t all. John Daly announced his engagement, then won his first tournament in 10 years at the Beko Classic in Turkey. Padraig Harrington, whose world ranking had dropped to No. 385, won his first tournament since the 2008 PGA Championship by taking the Bank BRI Indonesia Open and English golfer Danny Willett overtook Luke Donald in the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa.

Still, that was a great showing by Donald — on his 37th birthday after his world ranking had dropped to No. 37. Donald shot 63 in the third round and was the 54-hole leader before struggling to a 73 in the final round. His strong showing came shortly after he announced he’s working again with Pat Goss, his college coach at Northwestern.

As for Woods, at least he’s playing again — and healthy. That suggests he’ll be a factor during the rest of the 2014-15 season.

When Woods hosted his World Challenge in 2013 he was the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world. A lot has changed since then for the player whose success, many claim, is critical to the growth of the game.

Woods lost the title of his own charity tournament in a playoff with Zach Johnson a year ago, when the event was played in California, and his year went downhill from there. This year the main storyline of the World Challenge figured to be Woods more than the competition. Could he come back again after all that happened?

Unfortunately, no definitive answer came from the Hero World Challenge. He was understandably rusty (as underscored by nine chunked chip shots during the course of the 72 holes), but Wood was also sick during most of the tournament — so sick, in fact, that he experienced vomiting and nausea on the course.

Still, he finished at even par and in a tie with Hunter Mahan for 17th in the star-studded 18-player field. If a sick Tiger can do that, what can a healthy one do down the road? Time will tell.

At least Woods wasn’t deflated by the slow start in his first tournament back.

“I made some progress. I hadn’t played in four months, and I’m in absolutely no pain,” said Woods. “That’s nice.”

What was even nicer Spieth’s record 26-under-par 262 performance. The score was a tournament record, and Spieth became the first wire-to-wire winner of Woods’ charity event.

“The best I’ve ever played, which is what I said in the Media Center in Sydney (after his win in the Australian Open),” said Spieth. “I played better this week.”

The flu-like symptoms that Woods experienced at Isleworth didn’t compare to what he went through since the World Challenge of 2013. He had back surgery on March 31 and tried to salvage the 2013-14 PGA Tour season but his attempt was futile. He was in too much pain.

During the season he played in only eight tournaments world-wide, and his best finish was a tie for 25th place. That’s why he entered this week’s newly-named Hero World Challenge with just a No. 24 world ranking.

Still, hopes were high for the game’s long-time No. 1 player who turns 39 on Dec. 30. The Challenge was his first competitive event since he limped off the Valhalla course in Louisville after missing the cut in the PGA Championship in August.

Since then Woods underwent extensive rehab on his back, rarely touching a golf club until the last few weeks. He dropped swing coach Sean Foley and named Chris Como his“swing consultant.’’ Together they’ve begun work on a swing change to accommodate his potentially vulnerable back.

There’s been one big positive for Woods recently, too. He landed his biggest endorsement contract since his fall from grace in the aftermath of the car crash in the Isleworth community here five years ago. Hero Moto Corp, a motorcycle manufacturer based in India, will pay Woods upwards of $6 million per year for the next four years as part of his latest endorsement deal.

Woods has never ridden a motorcycle, and said he doesn’t intend to, but he was photographed sitting on his new sponsor’s products this week. Hero will continue sponsorship of Woods’ World Challenge, which will be played in the Bahamas the next three years. Next year’s Challenge will be played at the luxury resort Albany, which is jointly owned by Woods, Ernie Els and the Tavistock Group — the developer of Isleworth. Els designed the course at Albany.

All looked good in the world of Tiger before the first ball was struck on the long, challenging Isleworth layout on Thursday. Woods looked lean and strong, suggesting he had lost weight during the rehab. He was in good spirits. The back, he said, felt fine. He said he had regained his explosiveness and just needed to hit more balls.

That became obvious as soon as it was time to compete. His first tee shot on Thursday went out of bounds. He made bogeys on his first two holes and added another on a par-5. That put him in a hole early and he never got out of it, shooting 77 in his first round back.

Patrick Reed and Woods were the first twosome off the tee in Round 2 and their games couldn’t have been much different. Reed was 8-under-par after 10 holes and envisioned shooting in the 50s. He settled for a course-record 63 and didn’t considered the disparity in scores — Woods improved to a 70 — as a cause for concern for his playing partner.

“His game seemed fine,” said Reed. “Of course he didn’t like the score he had. He had a couple loose shots out there, but he knows what he’s doing.”

Woods did admit that his latest swing change hasn’t fully kicked in yet.

“The good news is, I know the process,’’ said Woods. “I’ve
made changes before in my game, and it takes time.’’

Steve Stricker, like Woods, had been on rehab duty and was in his first competition in three months. He had 67 in the first round but struggled after that and was paired with Woods in the third round.

The hip that had troubled Stricker most of the 2013-14 season turned out to be a herniated disc in his back. He could sympathize with Woods’ plight.

“There’s a comfort level with this game, and if you don’t have that comfort it’s difficult to play,’’ said Stricker. “So, it’ll take some time, I’m sure…It’ll be a challenge for Tiger, but he’ll be fine.’’

Woods finished the third round with three straight birdies while posting a 69 — his best round of the week. On Sunday he avoided solo ownership of last place by shooting a 72 that pulled him into a tie with Mahan.

So, while there were some positives, Woods may not be seen in competition for awhile now. Without giving specifics he said his schedule for 2015 will be a bit different than in previous years and that he expected to be very busy beginning in the middle of the year.

Carlos Sainz Jr., the new PGA Tour member from Elgin, was in position to defend his Chicago Open title Tuesday and Mike Small, the University of Illinois men’s coach, had a chance to win, too. He jumped into a tie for the lead after making five birdies in a row in a furious back nine charge at Cantigny in Wheaton.

Sainz and Small could only finish in a five-way for third place in the last major event of the local golf season, however. Andy Ruthkoski of Muskegon, Mich., nabbed the title, beating Lewis University graduate Casey Pyne, of Bloomington, with a 10-foot birdie putt to conclude a two-hole sudden death playoff.

Windy conditions hampered scoring on the final day of the 54-hole test. Ruthkoski and Pyne, who played on the Dakotas Tour this year, were the only players to finish under par. Both posted 2-under 214 totals before going to extra holes. Pyne and Small had the best scores of the final round with 4-under 68s.

Small, who won a record 11th Illinois PGA Championship in August and celebrated his Illini’s climb to the No. 1 national ranking in collegiate golf last week, saw his hopes evaporate with a double bogey at No. 16. Sainz, playing in the last group, shared the lead several times until his drive at No. 18 found water in front of the green.

“A bad shot at the wrong time,’’ said Sainz. “I don’t usually hit driver on that hole. I got a little too aggressive.’’

He was forced to gamble after both Ruthkoski and Pyne posted their 2-under scores. Sainz needed a birdie on the last to get into the playoff.

A 2005 Michigan State graduate, Ruthkoski grabbed the lead with great chip shots that set up birdies at Nos. 11 and 12. He hit a pitching wedge from 103 yards to one foot for the first one and chipped to within inches from 44 yards out for the second, then endured a long wait before he could claim the $10,000 first prize.

The Chicago Open, revived as a fundraiser for the Illinois Junior Golf Assn. last year, was played for the 25th time since its first staging in 1914. Its champions when the event was part of a more loosely organized PGA Tour included Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead and Ken Venturi. Luke Donald also won it while still an amateur.

“I really like looking at the trophy and seeing the names that have won it,’’ said Ruthkoski. “It’s an honor to have my name with them.’’

Ruthkoski has played in six PGA Tour events and earned money in three of them, but hasn’t cashed a check on that circuit since 2009. He was invited to the Chicago Open by virtue of repeating as winner of the Michigan PGA Tournament of Champions in July.

WEST POINT, MS. – Given the Americans’ lack of success in the last three Ryder Cup matches and the last two Solheim Cups, Sunday’s U.S. victory in the ISPS Handa Cup represented a breath of fresh air.

The U.S. had struggled in the previous two Handa Cups, the premier team event put on by the LPGA Legends Tour. After six straight victories the World teams managed a tie with the U.S. in 2012 and its first victory in 2013.

This year’s ninth staging was up for grabs after the teams battled to a 12-12 tie after Saturday’s best ball and alternate shot matches. In Sunday’s 12 singles matches, however, it was a different story. The U.S. got the better of those, winning 28-20 to take a 7-1-1 edge in the series.

Both teams sent out their big guns early. Reigning Scottish Open champion Trish Johnson was 5-under-par on the front nine en route to winning the day’s first match against Laurie Rinker, winner of the Legends Championship last month.

Beth Daniel put the U.S. ahead with a win over Lorie Kane in Match 2 and the third – a much anticipated duel between Juli Inkster, in her first Legends competition at age 54, and England’s Laura Davies was an epic.

Davies was 1-up before her tee shot went left at No. 9 and ended up a lost ball. She took a bogey to Inkster’s birdie, and Inkster never trailed again. She matched Johnson as the best player of the final day, touring Old Waverly Golf Club in 5-under par.

“I had a lot of chances,’’ said Inkster after catching fire on the same course on which she won the U.S. Women’s Open in 1999. “I had three-putted for bogey at the fifth and three-putted for double bogey at the seventh, so Laura owed me a little and I made some putts on the back nine. It all works out.’’

Inkster was delighted with her visit to the Legends and may play another event before the year is out.

“I enjoyed playing. I had a blast hanging out with the gals I grew up with and went to college with and played a lot of golf with. It’s been a lot of fun. I’d love to come back if they invited me back.’’

That’s certain to happen, and Inkster said she might play in November’s 36-hole Walgreen’s Charities Championship in Florida if she doesn’t make the field for an LPGA stop in Japan.

Inkster’s win over Davies gave the U.S. a 16-14 lead, and the groups playing behind them couldn’t keep pace. The U.S. seemed headed for victory at that point, though, leading in six of the remaining nine matches and standing all square in two others.

The World team got within 19-17 after more matches were completed but Pat Bradley’s gutty double bogey on the last hole, which netted a point for a tied match with Alison Nicholas, kept the U.S. comfortably in front at 24-18.

“If ever there was a good double bogey, that was it,’’ said Bradley. “I wanted to show all the youngsters here that you should never give up.’’

She didn’t, and Sherri Steinhauer clinched the Cup for the U.S. in the next match with a dramatic 30-foot putt on the last hole against Alicia Dibos.

“I remember some advice I received when we were way down,’’ said Steinhauer. “Get your point, get your point, get your point! My goal was just to get my point.’’

Steinhauer hadn’t played a competitive round since getting a bad break in August’s Legends Championship at French Lick, in Indiana. She shot a course record 63 in the second round at the challenging Pete Dye Course to get within striking distance of leader Rinker, but the final round was rained out and Rinker was declared the champion.

Since that near miss Steinhauer suffered torn cartilage in her ribs and wasn’t sure if she could play at Old Waverly.

“I was so excited to come here,’’ she said. “This was all about playing as a team, and our team just jelled. Any time you play for your country you want to play well.’’

The last two matches couldn’t affect the team outcome, and both Old Waverly owner George Bryan and Legends chief executive office Jane Blalock said they’d welcome a return to the beautiful Mississippi club.

“I hope it happens,’’ said World captain Sally Little, despite admitting “their team beat ours at our best.’’

“It’s been a fun week,’’ said U.S. captain Nancy Lopez. “This competition was special. Our team played its heart out. We had to really play well.’’

WEST POINT, MS. – Juli Inkster received a rude welcome in her debut on the LPGA Legends Tour on Saturday.

Winner of seven major titles in a Hall of Fame career on the LPGA circuit, Inkster partnered with Meg Mallon in both of her matches in the ninth annual ISPS Handa Cup at Old Waverly Golf Club – the site of Inkster’s first win in the U.S. Women’s Open in 1999.

The Inkster-Mallon team drew the World team’s premier pairing, Laura Davies and Trish Johnson, and the U.S. pair was no match for them. In fact, no team was in the first day of the two-day competition that concludes with 12 singles matches on Sunday.

Davies and Johnson were 5-under-par in winning their best ball match with Inkster and Mallon on Old Waverly’s front nine. Matchups were shuffled for the afternoon nine-hole matches, played in a modified alternate shot format.

The format change didn’t cool off the Davies-Johnson team. They were also 5-under in polishing off the U.S. team of Val Skinner and Rosie Jones in the last match of the day. The result created a 12-12 tie, meaning today’s singles matches will decide who gets the Handa Cup.

Davies, Johnson and eight other members of the current World team also played last year, when the U.S. was beaten for the first time. The U.S. still leads the series 6-1-1, but the World squad has a draw and victory in the last two.

Inkster and Mallon recovered from their morning defeat to defeat Liselotte Neumann and Alicia Dibos in the first match of the afternoon session. The U.S. trailed 7-5 after the morning session and the Inkster-Mallon effort was a springboard to tying up the competition at the end of the day.

Davies and Johnson have been factors on more than just the Legends circuit, for players who have reached their 45th birthday, this season. The long-hitting Davies finished in the top 10 at the Women’s British Open and Johnson won the Scottish Open.

That dynamic duo was broken up for singles play, but World captain Sally Little put them in prominent positions for the final day of the competition as well. Little had first choice in the pairings decisions for Sunday, and she opted to send Johnson out first.

U.S. captain Nancy Lopez will send Laurie Rinker against Johnson. Lopez then named Beth Daniel for the second match, where she’ll face Lorie Kane. Little came back with Davies in the third match. Her opponent? Inkster.

That could be the match of the day, as the World squad hopes to retain the Cup with a strong singles showing much like it produced last year in a 27-21 win at Hermitage in Nashville, Tenn.

Daniel was sent out first by then-U.S. captain Joanne Carner against Davies last year. Daniel took a stirring victory, but the World squad was better the rest of the way.

Notably absent from last year’s winning World side is Australian Jan Stephenson, who rolled in the 30-foot putt on the final green in the next-to-the-last match to clinch her team’s first Cup win. Stephenson is here, but pulled out of the competition on Friday due to a wrist injury.

Dawn Coe Jones, who is Little’s assistant captain, stepped into the lineup as Stephenson’s replacement and was a factor in Day 1. Playing with different partners, her teams earned points for halving both of their matches. Last year Jones was scheduled to play but came up with an injury. She helped her team win by working as a caddie instead.

WEST POINT, MS. — This week in golf isn’t all about the Ryder Cup. The LPGA Legends Tour will have its premier team event, the ISPS Handa Cup, going on at the same time.

The Handa Cup isn’t as old as its male counterpart, but the U.S. teams in both are in precarious positions. The Handa Cup has been played every year since 2006. It’s not a biannual competition like the Ryder Cup. Like the Ryder Cup, however, the U.S. side dominated the competition early on, but now it’s a different story.

After losing the first six meetings the Internationals managed a 24-24 tie at Reunion Resort in Orlando, FL., in 2012.

That wasn’t good enough to claim the cup, named after Dr. Haruhisa Handa, a Japanese businessman and philanthropist, but the Internationals managed their breakthrough win last year, taking a 27-21 victory at Hermitage in Nashville, Tenn.

That didn’t sit well with Nancy Lopez, who was on the losing side as a player last year and will captain the U.S. in this Handa Cup.

“My team is ready to win back the Handa Cup,’’ she said. “I’m mad. I’m tired of this. We have a great team, and we’re not going to let (the Europeans) celebrate.’’

Sally Little, captain of the Internationals, isn’t so sure.

“It’s going to be a heckuva go,’’ she said. “Winning last year moved our team to the next level.’’

Like Lopez, Little is serving as captain for the first time. Sweden’s Pia Nilsson captained the winning European side last year while Joanne Carner completed her second year directing the U.S. side. Kathy Whitworth handled those duties during the U.S. victory run from 2006 to 2011.

The captains aren’t the only thing that’s different this time.

Old Waverly, a beautiful facility that hosted the 1999 U.S. Women’s Open and the 2006 U.S. Mid Amateur, should be a more familiar venue for the U.S. players – especially a most notable one. Juli Inkster, who won that U.S. Women’s Open at Old Waverly, is making her Legends debut at the Handa Cup after enjoying a brilliant career on the LPGA circuit. The Legends is for players who have reached their 45th birthday.

Also known as the Country Club of Mississippi, Old Waverly was co-designed by Jerry Pate and Bob Cupp. The course opened in 1988 and a second course, to be designed by Gil Hanse, is in the planning stages.

Joining Inkster on the 12-player U.S. team are Pat Bradley, Beth Daniel, Christa Johnson, Rosie Jones, Meg Mallon, Barb Mucha, Laurie Rinker, Nancy Scranton, Val Skinner, Sherri Steinhauer and Sherri Turner. Elaine Crosby is Lopez’ co-captain..

The Internationals roster features Helen Alfredsson, Jane Crafter, Laura Davies, Alicia Dibos, Wendy Doolan, Trish Johnson, Lorie Kane, Jenny Lidback, Liselotte Neumann, Allison Nicholas, Mieko Nomura and Jan Stephenson. Little’s co-captain is Dawn Coe-Jones.

Inkster is one of three U.S. players who weren’t part of last year’s team, the others being Mallon and Skinner. Mallon, though, has played in the Handa Cup in the past. Doolan is the lone newcomer on the International side.

In the biggest early season Legends events of the year Neumann won the Walgreen’s Charity Classic, Jones took the Wendy’s Charity Challenge and Rinker was the titlist in the Legends Championship. Trish Johnson also won a big one, taking the Ladies Scottish Open in August.

Players on both sides played practice rounds at Old Waverly on Thursday morning, and participants in Friday’s Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi Pro-Am tuned up on the course in the afternoon. Opening ceremonies are on tap for Thursday evening and pairings for Saturday’s team matches will be announced afterwards.

Saturday’s program calls for nine holes of alternate shot competition in the morning and nine holes of best ball in the afternoon. Twelve singles matches are on tap for Sunday to conclude the competition. The singles pairings will be announced after Saturday’s play is concluded and closing ceremonies will be held after the last putt drops on Sunday.