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…
Tournament Reports
U.S. stays focused, regains Palmer Cup
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…
Memories of Medinah? U.S. takes big lead into last day of Palmer Cup
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…
U.S. gets off to a fast start in Palmer Cup
Just two weeks ago Thomas Detry was on the popular side, a key player in the University of Illinois’ drive to the semifinals of the NCAA golf tournament in Florida. Now, as a member of the European team in the Palmer Cup matches at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, he’s trying to do in…
Sluman’s charge comes up short against Montgomerie
FRENCH LICK, Ind. – Hinsdale’s Jeff Sluman made a run at the title in the final round of the 76th Senior PGA Championship on Sunday. After making five birdies in his first 10 holes Sluman even thought he had a chance to catch front-runner Colin Montgomerie. “I just played excellent golf, which you have to…
Another Montgomerie-Langer duel in Senior PGA finale
FRENCH LICK, Ind. – The Senior PGA Championship has been played for 75 years and only four players have successfully defended a title. Colin Montgomerie could be the fifth on Sunday. The Scotsman enjoyed a solid career on the European and PGA Tours but never won a major title. That changed when he joined the…
Lehman leads, Beck, Sluman survive on tricky Dye course
FRENCH LICK, Ind. – Scores were much higher than usual over the first two rounds of the 76th Senior PGA Championship at the Pete Dye Course, but not all the Champions Tour players were suffering. Tom Lehman, who will defend his title in July’s Encompass Championship at North Shore in Glenview, claimed the 36-hole lead…
Billiter survives a week of surprises at IPGA Match Play
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…
Winning Masters’ Par-3 contest was a just reward for Streelman
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…
Illinois Open gets a major facelift
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…