ST. LOUIS – It’s not unusual for the PGA to pair friends in the first two rounds of its tournaments. That’s why Kenny Perry and Russ Cochran played together in the first two rounds of the 74th PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club.

The results, though, don’t always come out they did on Thursday and Friday. Perry and Cochran both shot 69 on Thursday and 66 Friday. They stand at 7-under-par 135 at the top of the leaderboard heading into today’s third round of the season’s first major on the Champions Tour, so they’ll be playing together again.

Cochran and Perry went to high school together in Paducah, Ky., They played the PGA Tour together, and now – in their fifties – they remain friendly competitors.

“It’s near when childhood friends pick up again on the Champions Tour,’’ said Perry. “We’re very comfortable together. We’ve had a lot of laughs and good times.’

“A great couple days,’’ chimed in Cochran. “Plus, my son (Ryan) was my caddie and one of my best friends, Freddie Sanders, caddied for Kenny.’’

Both players won on the PGA Tour in Illinois. Cochran, winner of the 1991 Western Open at Cog Hill, is 54 and two years older than Perry, winner of the 2008 John Deere Classic.

Perry plays right-handed and has had a slightly better professional career. He shifts between the PGA and Champions, and was in the field at the premier circuit’s Byron Nelson Classic last week. Cochran plays left-handed. Together they put on an annual outing for the course they grew up on, Paxton Park in Paducah.

Paducah is a three-hour drive from Bellerive, and Perry and Cochran had considerable friends and family members in their gallery as they opened a two-stroke lead on third place Kiyoshi Murota of Japan. First-round co-leaders Jay Haas, who grew up in nearby Belleville, IL., and Duffy Waldorf are three back along with Loren Roberts.

Haas, selected for induction into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame earlier this week, has played Bellerive more than any of the 156 starters. His first-round 66 was a career best on the layout, which was the site of the 1992 PGA Championship and 2004 U.S. Senior Open.

“I was in a U.S. Open sectional qualifier here when I was about 16,’’ he said. “I’ve probably played 30 rounds here. I don’t know if that gives me an advantage. Maybe it let’s me know where to miss it on certain holes.’’

Curtis Malm won both player-of-the-year awards handed out by the Illinois PGA last year, and – judging by what happened in the first of the section’s four major championships of 2013 – there’s no reason to think he won’t pull off another sweep this season.

Malm became the first player in 25 years to win back-to-back titles in the IPGA Match Play Championship when he defeated Doug Bauman 3 and 1 in Thursday’s title match at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove.

In his fifth year as an assistant professional at St. Charles Country Club, Malm became the first repeat winner of the 62-year old tourney since Aurora’s Bob Ackerman triumphed in 1987 and 1988.

“The format and golf course are absolutely perfect for me,’’ said Malm, who turned pro a day after winning the 2000 Illinois Open. He doesn’t think he’s as good a player now as he was then.

“I might be smarter,’’ he said. “Back then I never had a negative thought. You just played golf, and I was playing pretty much lights-out. Now my game may be more diverse.’’

After coming up one stroke short of qualifying for U.S. Open sectional play on Monday Malm stormed past six opponents over the next three days. His first four matches didn’t last beyond the 15th hole.

All three matches played at Kemper on Thursday concluded on the 17th green. Malm beat Matt Slowinski, assistant at Glen Oak in Glen Ellyn, in the morning semifinals while Bauman ousted Ivanhoe’s Jim Sobb. All four semifinalists were former winners of the tournament, and both matches were decided by 2 and 1 scores.

Bauman, a three-time winner, finished as the runner-up for the sixth time. In his 25th year as the head man at Biltmore in Barrington, Bauman started the final with three straight birdies. Malm, however, was able to overcome his opponent’s 3-3-2 start.

“The putt he made (for birdie) at the No. 2 and his bunker shot (that set up a win) at No. 4 were huge,’’ said Bauman. “I tried to put the pressure on him, but he didn’t flinch.’’

Bauman, 56, is 21 years older than Malm,. Though consistently outdriven by his opponent, Bauman’s 235-yard 5-wood to 18 feet at the par-5 11th was the shot of the match. It set up an eagle that put him just 1-down, but he left a shot in a bunker at No. 13 and missed a three-footer for par that would have won No. 14. Those letdowns enabled Malm to stay in command, and Bauman’s tee shot at the par-3 17th went wide right, leading to a bogey that ended 2-hour 41-minute duel.

Luke Donald was a three-time All-American and an NCAA champion for Northwestern before he went on to his brilliant career as a professional, which included his earning the status of the world’s No. 1 golfer.

One of Donald’s most cherished collegiate records went by the wayside on Tuesday when NU junior Jack Perry posted a 54-hole score of 200 in the two-day NU Spring Invitational at The Glen Club in Glenview.

Perry made 20 birdies and posted rounds of 67, 67 and 66 in winning the individual title by eight strokes over Boo Timko of Ohio State. Perry’s 16-under-par score bettered the NU record for a 54-hole tournament set by Donald at the 2001 U.S. Intercollegiates in Mexico and later tied by David Lipsky in a 2002 event in Greensboro, N.C.

NU coach Pat Goss didn’t want to tell Perry how close he was to the record while play was in progress.

“But I was cheering hard for him,’’ said Goss. “He played flawless all week. He’s been on the cusp of greatness.’’

“I had no idea I was aiming for that accolade (Donald’s record),’’ said Perry. “But obviously it’s a good perk for playing well. I thought the record would be about 185, given the type of player (Donald) is.’’

Goss’ Wildcats won the 14-team event by 12 shots over second place Ohio State, and his only disappointment was that Perry’s 25-foot birdie putt on the last hole didn’t drop. He needed it to shoot 199 – a milestone score at the collegiate level, where most tournaments are over 54 holes.

“One of my goals as a coach is to have a player shoot 199,’’ said Goss. “It seems like such a neat number.’’

“That would have been pretty cool,’’ admitted Perry, “but it was still a good two days. We practice here a lot in these weather conditions, so we were well prepared.’’

Much of that practice was done at the Luke Donald Outdoor Practice Facility, which Donald had built at The Glen Club strictly for use by the men’s and women’s teams at NU.

The two-day tournament was the first significant competition of the Chicago season and good preparation for the Wildcats, who will bid for the Big Ten Championships at French Lick, Ind., in two weeks.

GALENA, IL. – It was a rarity when Steve Orrick won the Illinois PGA Championship in August. He was the first non-Chicago area club professional to take that title in 60 years.

It wasn’t so unusual for Orrick, the head man at Country Club of Decatur, to rule the last of the section’s four major championships on Tuesday, however. Orrick won the IPGA Players Championship for the third time in five years on the North Course at Eagle Ridge Resort. In addition to his wins in 2008 and 2009 Orrick tied for second in 2011.

“There must be something in the air up here,’’ said Orrick. “I’ve played good every time I’ve come here.’’

This week was no exception. He coped with two days of chilly weather and swirling winds to post a 4-under-par 140 total for the tourney’s 36 holes. Only three other players bettered par. Cog Hill’s Garrett Chaussard and teaching pro Travis Johns, of Twin Lakes in Palatine, were two shots back in a tie for second and Kishwaukee’s Dave Paeglow was another stroke back in fourth.

Though he won two of the IPGA’s four majors of 2012 Orrick didn’t claim player-of-the-year honors. That went to St. Charles assistant Curtis Malm, who tied for sixth at Eagle Ridge. Not only did Malm win the section’s top player-of-the-year prize, he was also player-of-the-year among its assistant pros. Only two players have swept those awards in the same year – Dino Lucchesi (1997 and 1998) and Matt Slowinski (2009).

Malm did it with consistency. He won the first major, the IPGA Match Play title, in May, tied for sixth at the Illinois Open in July and was solo second at the IPGA Championship in August. Orrick skipped the Match Play and missed the cut at the Open.

“The Match Play is too early in the year. I don’t want to take that much time off,’’ said Orrick. “It cost me, and this year was also the first time I missed the cut in the Illinois Open.’’

Malm won the Illinois Open as an amateur in 2000 and worked his way through the lower level professional ranks until his breakthrough season. He still has an IPGA stroke play event at Schaumburg on Oct. 22, a makeup of an event rained out earlier, and the PGA Assistants national championship at Port St. Lucie, FL., the following week. He was fifth in the national assistants event last year and has obviously gotten better.

“ I’m a better player in terms of consistency than I was when I won the Illinois Open, but I thought I was a pretty good player back then,’’ said Malm. “This has been a great year. I’m glad it’s (almost) over.’’

One footnote to Chicago’s last major golf event of 2012: Katie Dick, assistant pro at Bryn Mawr and the only woman in the 94-player field, make a hole-in-in on the 13th hole. She used a 5-iron and is in line for a $4,500 bonus if no one gets an ace in the final stroke play event at Schaumburg on Oct. 22.

Germany’s Martin Kaymer changed his attitude. For that he was rewarded Sunday with the honor of assuring the Ryder Cup would remain in Europe for two more years.

Kaymer hadn’t been playing well leading into this year’s Ryder Cup. In fact he skipped the last qualifying tournament for Team Europe even though he held the last automatic berth and was in danger of losing it.

“This year I haven’t done much. I’ve been through a few things’’ said Kaymer. “But I’m playing good now.’’

Still, Kaymer was the only player on either team to compete just once in the two days of team matches at Medinah. European captain Jose Maria Olazabal sent him out only in the afternoon four-balls on Friday. Later that day Kaymer and Olazabal had a long talk about the significance of the Ryder Cup.

It wasn’t that Kaymer didn’t know about the competition, which began in 1927. He earned 2 ½ point for Europe in the 2010 matches in Wales but, Kaymer admits, “My attitude wasn’t the right one.’’

Even though Kaymer was on the winning side on Friday, partnered with Justin Rose, Olazabal sat him on Saturday and didn’t put him off in singles until the 11th of the 12 matches. It was Kaymer, though, who provided the point that kept the Ryder Cup in Europe.

“Jose Maria came up to me at the 16th hole and said `We need your point,’’’ said Kaymer. “That didn’t really help. I was so nervous.’’

Kaymer was all square with Steve Stricker when Olazabal arrived, and he was able to follow his captain’s orders in part because Stricker was struggling.

On the 17th Kaymer rolled in a four-foot par putt after Stricker made bogey to go 1-up. That was a big putt, but the six-foot par-saver he made on the 18th was even bigger.

Kaymer put his tee shot in a fairway bunker on the finishing hole, but his second found the green inside of Stricker’s ball. Stricker missed badly on his first putt. So did Kaymer. Stricker connected on his par putt, and then Kaymer made the par-saver that clinched the point and set off a long and wild victory celebration by his teammates.

German golfers haven’t had much impact on the Ryder Cup over the years, and the biggest one was negative. Bernhard Langer missed a similar six-foot putt on the last hole of the most emotional of the biennial competitions, the 1991 staging at Kiawah Island, S.C., that has become known as “the War on the Shore.’’ That miss gave the U.S. the Cup. Langer also helped convince Kaymer of the significance of the event this week.

Kaymer owns a major title, the 2010 PGA Championship at Wisconsin’s Whistling Straits course. That was an emotional event, too, as Kaymer won in a playoff with Bubba Watson after Dustin Johnson, who would have also been in the playoff, was penalized for grounding his club in a bunker on the last hole.

Winning a major brings a career upgrade, and – Kaymer now believes – so does the Ryder Cup.

“But it’s a completely different level,’’ said Kaymer. “The major win was just for myself, but I can see the guys behind me. My brother was here, my father was here. Sergio (Garcia) ran onto the green. There was so much more behind me. Now I know how it really feels to win the Ryder Cup.’’

Luke Donald did his job perfectly for Team Europe on Sunday.

With his team trailing 10-6, captain Jose Maria Olazabal sent former world No. 1 and Northwestern alum Donald out first in Sunday’s singles in hopes of building some quick momentum for his team.

Donald didn’t disappoint. His opponent, long-hitting Bubba Watson, had been a momentum generated for the U.S. the first two days of the 39th Ryder Cup, but not on Sunday. Donald won Nos. 2, 4 and 11 with birdies and No. 12 with a par to go 4-up.

Watson got two holes back with birdies at the 15th and 16th, one with a chip-in, before Donald closed him out with a sand save par at the 17th for a 2 and 1 win. That stage for Europeans’ epic comeback.

“It was a big honor for me that Ollie (Olazabal) had enough trust in me to go out and get that first point for Europe,’’ said Donald. “I did what I had to do.’’

This Ryder Cup, Donald’s fourth, was a strange one. His first two matches, in foursomes, were blowout losses. One ended on the 12th hole the other on the 15th.

Just a few minutes after the second loss things got better in a hurry. Donald, teaming with Sergio Garcia, put up a 1-up victory over Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker – the first indication that Team Europe wasn’t dead even before a singles match was played.

Prior to the competition Donald was hopeful that his popularity in Chicago would at least partially defuse crowd partisanship for the Americans. At least he was not quite viewed as the enemy throughout.

“It certainly helped having some local support,’’ said Donald. “I felt a lot of love from the crowd, and it was just a feeling of relief when the game was over. Bubba pushed me hard at the end.’’

It was Donald’s job to set a positive tone for his team after a largely dismal first two days.

“Our spirits were low halfway through the afternoon (on Saturday), and when we won those last two matches we really had a pep in our step. We still had an opportunity to make history. We felt that Seve (the late Seve Ballesteros) was watching down on us.’’

Ballesteros played his last Ryder Cup match in 1995 and captained a winning European team in 1997, so Donald was never his teammate, but all the Euros used golf bags emblazoned with Ballesteros’ likeness.

Donald’s unique position as a hometown player competing for the visiting team produced only mediocre results. Point-wise it was his worst Ryder Cup. Donald made his first Ryder Cup team as a captain’s pick in 2004 and went 2-1-1. He was more successful in the next two, going 3-0-0 in 2006 and 3-1-0 in 2010. He didn’t play in 2008.

In his four Ryder Cups Donald played two on American soil and two in Europe.

“It’s always tough to play away from home in a Ryder Cup, but I actually felt somewhat loved this week – even though I was playing for the Euros. It was nice to hear all the cheers.’’

There may be no better match play competitor in Ryder Cup history than England’s Ian Poulter. He’s kept Team Europe alive – at least barely – through two days of the 39th staging of the event at Medinah, and he gave a pulsating finish to Saturday’s session.

After playing partner Rory McIlroy made birdie at No. 13 Poulter reeled off five birds in a row, the last of which clinched a 1-up victory over Americans Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson. Poulter and McIlroy were 2-down when their run began.

“We had to make birdies and – wow! – five in a row. It was awesome,’’ said Poulter, who is 3-0-0 this week, even though his team trails the U.S. 10-6 going into Sunday’s concluding 12 singles matches.

Poulter, who made the European team as a captain’s pick this time, ran his career Ryder Cup record to 11-3-0. He won his morning matches Friday and Saturday with another Englishman, Justin Rose, as his partner.

European captain Jose Maria Olazabal rested Poulter on Friday afternoon, but sent him off first Saturday. Poulter was good throughout but saved his best for the last five holes. His first two birdies came off great bunker shots and his last was the best of all – a 15-footer as darkness was setting in.

“After 13 I could have walked in,’’ in said McIlroy, the No. 1-ranked player in the world. “It was a Poulter shoot from there on in, and it was a joy to watch. He’s very intense, and when the putts start going in he gets that look in his eye. He looks right through you. This event brings the best out of Ian.’’

“I surprised myself,’’ said Poulter. “In match play I love the fight. You stare your opponent in the face. In match play I’m tough to play against. It’s that simple.’’

In addition to his sterling Ryder Cup record Poulter won the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship in 2010 and the Volvo World Match Play Championship in 2011. Though ranked No. 28 in the world, he was the only player to finish in the top 10 at three of the four major championships this year.

Though he’s built a reputation off his match play record Poulter isn’t bad in singles, either. He was 3-0-0 in his Ryder Cup singles matches in 2004, 2008 and 2010.

“It’s pretty fun, this Ryder Cup,’’ said Poulter, who believes his team can get at least the eight points it needs to retain the trophy today.

“You can win from this position,’’ he insisted. “It’s been done in the past (by the U.S. in 1999), and it will be done again.’’

Opening day at the 39th Ryder Cup didn’t go well for Team Europe on Friday, but the gang that won four of the last five competitions did win one battle.

The two captain’s picks made by European captain Jose Maria Olazabal were twice as productive as the four captain’s picks made by U.S. captain Davis Love III.

Different selection methods were used to decide the rosters of the two teams. The top five on the European PGA Tour were automatic picks for Olazabal as were the next top five (not counting those players) in the world rankings.

So, all that Olazabal had to pick were England’s Ian Poulter and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, and both of them played big roles in taking down Tiger Woods on Thursday.

Poulter and fellow Englander Justin Rose took care of Woods and his long-time partner Steve Stricker 2-1 in the morning foursomes and Colsaerts did almost all the work himself when he paired with Lee Westwood for a 1-up win in the last four-ball match of the afternoon.

Europe trails after Day 1 by a 5-3 margin, but its captain’s picks went 2-0. By comparison Love’s four choices – Dustin Johnson, Stricker, Brandt Snedeker and Jim Furyk were a combined 1-4.

Poulter may not have earned an automatic berth on the team, but he may just as well have been one because he was an obvious choice for Olazabal. In three previous Ryder Cups Poulter was a star for Europe, posting an 8-3-0 record, and he was the only player with top-10 finishes in three of the year’s four major championships.

Two of Poulter’s three Ryder Cup losses came when Woods was an opponent. This time, though, Poulter holed a bunker shot and made a critical five-foot par save as he and Rose never trailed.

Colsaerts, 29, earned his captain’s pick with a strong finish to a season that included a title in the Volvo World Match Play tourney. One of the longest hitters in Europe, he is the first player from Belgium to play in the Ryder Cup, and his debut may well be the most spectacular in the event’s history. He was 10-under-par on his own ball, making eight birdies and an eagle.

“I don’t know what to say,’’ said Colsaerts. “When I was a kid I dreamed of being in this tournament, and it felt wonderful to produce on such a big stage.’’

“I had the best seat in the house to watch it,’’ said Westwood, long one of Europe’s best Ryder Cuppers. “His round was a joy to watch. I didn’t really have a lot to do. Everything he looked at went in.’’

Colsaerts’ biggest putt was a clutch 25-footer with a two-foot break for birdie at No. 17. The Euros needed it with Woods’ coin marker sitting three feet from the cup for the birdie that could have evened the match had Colsaerts missed.

While Olazabal made good captain’s picks, he didn’t make full use of them Thursday. Poulter played only in the morning and Colsaerts only in the afternoon.

“Ollie (Olazabal) really wanted to get everybody playing on Friday, so four guys had to change after the morning round,’’ said Poulter. “I realize we’re a team, and that team is very, very, very strong this year. He said he would like to keep me fresh for Saturday and Sunday.’’

Pittsburgh’s Nathan Smith made U.S. golf history Thursday en route to earning another coveted invitation to next April’s Masters tournament.

Smith became the first four-time winner of the U.S. Mid-Amateur – the national championship for players 25 and over — with a tense victory over Canadian Garrett Rank in the 36-hole final at Conway Farms, in Lake Forest.

“I gutted it out. I don’t know how I did it,’’ said Smith. “It’s pretty surreal to do something that no one else has done.’’

Rank, who hoped to become the 32-year-old tourney’s youngest champion and first foreign winner, found himself 3-down twice before winning three straight holes to pull even on the 33rd.

Two holes later, however, the match swung to Smith for good when Rank stubbed a difficult chip shot from green-side rough. Rank, who turned 25 three days before the tournament, had already conceded Smith a par putt when his chip rolled past the cup and down a steep slope on the green. He was left with a 30-foot putt to halve the hole but couldn’t get it to drop.

“It was a bad chip,’’ said Rank, who works as a referee in the Ontario Hockey League. “My lie was dicey, but I had momentum and was feeling good so I went for it.’’

Both players parred No. 18, Rank missing a 15-footer that would have sent the match to extra holes.

Smith became the 16th player to win the same U.S. Golf Assn. national championship four times. His other wins were in 2003, 2009 and 2010, but Thursday’s was the most difficult.

His first title came after his opponent in the finals withdrew because of injury and Smith was 7-up in his other two title matches when his foe was closed out. His latest win broke a tie with another Pennsylvania golfer, Jay Sigel, who won the Mid-Am three times between 1983 and 1987.

No golfer in the 32-year history of the U.S. Mid-Amateur has won the tournament four times. Nathan Smith could be the first to do it today at Conway Farms, in Lake Forest.

Smith, from Pittsburgh, won the national championship for amateurs 25 and over in 2003, 2009 and 2010. He advanced to another final with a 3 and 1 win over Tim Jackson, of Germantown, Tenn., on Wednesday.

Only Canadian Garrett Rank stands in the way of Smith breaking a tie with Jay Sigel, who won three times between 1983 and 1987. Rank and Smith will determine the champion in a 36-hole match that begins at 7 a.m.

Rank, who reached the final with a 1-up victory over South Carolina history teacher Todd White in Wednesday’s semifinals, will be playing for some history, too. He could be the youngest player to win the Mid-Am as well as the first foreign player to do it. Rank turned 25, and eligible for the tourney, three days before this year’s championship started.

Smith, who was the youngest champion when he won his first title as a 25-year-old in 2003, has a 36-4 record in the tourney over the years as he goes after his fourth title.

“Doing it would be unbelievable,’’ said Smith. “But I’m a long way from that. This has been a fun event, and I’ve enjoyed playing it over the years. It means a lot to me just because I care so much about amateur golf. It’s about as pure as it gets.’’

“I’m disappointed,’’ said Jackson, the champion in 1994 and 2001, “but Nathan’s probably the best Mid-Am golfer going these days. I knew beating him would be a tall order.’’

This year’s Mid-Am started with 3,810 entries nation-wide and 264 qualified for the finals that began on Saturday at Conway Farms and Lake Forest neighbor Knollwood Club.

Last of the players with Chicago connections – Dennis Bull (Illinois State alum) and Matthew Mattare (Notre Dame) — bowed out in Wednesday morning’s quarterfinals. So did Californian Casey Boynes, at 56 the oldest qualifier for the finals.