Tournament Reports

The sense of urgency arrived for the first time at the 113th playing of the Western Amateur on Wednesday, and that was evident with some of the scores posted at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. Most of the 156 starters were eliminated after Wednesday’s second round, as only the low 44 and ties advanced…

Madasyn Pettersen, at 15, was the youngest player in the Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open at Mistwood, in Romeoville. She was also the best – and by a long shot. Pettersen, who enters her sophomore year at Auburn High School in Rockford in the fall, finished off the 54-hole competition with a 66 and won…

David Cooke’s victory in the 66th Illinois Open was a run-away. His five-shot victory at Royal Melbourne, in Long Grove, was the biggest since Gary Hallberg’s triumph in 1977. Though the tourney lacked suspense, it was loaded with emotion and another historical touch. Cooke was the first amateur to win the title since Brad Benjamin…

Monday turned out a big day for the golfers at Conway Farms – but an even bigger one for David Lawrence. The Moline golfer shot a 9-under-par 62 at Royal Melbourne in Long Grove. That’s the lowest round in the 66-year history of the Illinois Open. Lawrence, who has been playing golf’s mini-tour since attending…

SPRINGFIELD, IL. – A year ago Naperville’s Ray Knoll and Northbrook’s Nick Hardy battled through four playoff holes before Knoll won the Illinois State Amateur title. Knoll couldn’t repeat this year, and Hardy didn’t win, either, but nobody played better than those two during this year’s final round at Panther Creek Country Club on Thursday….

SILVIS, IL. – Bring on the British Open. Jordan Spieth is more than ready to claim the third leg of what could be the first modern day golf Grand Slam. The 21-year old Masters and U.S. Open champion won the John Deere Classic for the second time without his best stuff on Sunday, then boarded…

SILVIS, IL. – Another John Deere Classic hasn’t been won yet and the British Open – the third leg of golf’s Grand Slam — is next week’s target. Still, Jordan Spieth’s game is good enough right now to win them both, no doubt about it. That was underscored on Saturday when the 21-year old Masters…

SILVIS, IL. – Second-guessers abounded when Jordan Spieth announced he would return to the John Deere Classic for his last tuneup tournament before next week’s British Open. A large segment of the world-wide golf community felt Spieth was short-changing himself by not heading to Europe a week ahead of his bid for a third straight…

The U.S. team in the Palmer Cup certainly didn’t want a repeat of the epic collapse the country’s professionals had in the 2012 Ryder Cup matches at Medinah. In that Ryder Cup the U.S. took a 10-6 lead into the final day’s singles matches and blew it. In the Palmer Cup, a similar team event…

Beau Hossler vowed even before the Palmer Cup matches began that he wouldn’t be looking ahead to his title defense in August’s Western Amateur. Both competitions are being played at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. The Palmer Cup is a 19-year old team event pitting the college stars of the U.S. against their counterparts…