SILVIS, IL. – Zach Johnson is not only on the board of directors for the John Deere Classic, he’s also the defending champion. Those roles might seem a burden for the PGA Tour’s leading member from nearby Iowa, but so far Johnson’s kept his focus. He tacked a second round 66 to the 64 he…
Tournament Reports
ILLINOIS WOMEN’S AMATEUR: Youngest champion in 80 years is just 16
ILL. WOMEN’S AMATEUR: Youngest champion in 80 years is just 16 The Illinois Women’s Golf Assn. has conducted a state amateur championship for 80 years, and this year’s version produced its youngest-ever champion. Bing Singhsumalee, 16, won the tourney in spectacular fashion, chipping in for birdie on the first hole of a sudden death playoff…
ENCOMPASS CHAMPIONSHIP: Couples’ birdie blitz didn’t faze Stadler
Craig Stadler’s first Champions Tour win in eight years seemed a foregone conclusion for awhile on Sunday. After all, he had a five-shot lead after playing his first six holes at North Shore Country Club in Glenview. That lead wasn’t so safe, though. A combination of Fred Couples’ birdies and Stadler’s own shaky play turned…
ENCOMPASS CHAMPIONSHIP: Stadler’s a surprise leader entering final round
ENCOMPASS CHAMPIONSHIP: Stadler’s a surprise leader entering final round Who would have expected Craig Stadler to be the 36-hole leader of the Encompass Championship? Well, certainly not Craig Stadler. The veteran long ago nicknamed the Walrus hasn’t won a tournament since 2004 and hasn’t even been in contention in one since 2007. Three months ago…
ENCOMPASS CHAMPIONSHIP: Another Langer-Frost duel begins
A 3-hour 28-minute rain delay disrupted the return of the Champions Tour to Chicago on Friday, but it didn’t interrupt the season-long duel of the circuit’s two top players. Bernhard Langer, the season money leader and No. 2 in the season-long battle for the coveted Charles Schwab Cup, posted a 5-under-par 67 at North Shore…
ENCOMPASS CHAMPIONSHIP: Irwin aims for sixth victory on Chicago courses
No golfer ever has had the success that Hale Irwin has enjoyed on Chicago courses. Not Fred Couples, not Mark O’Meara, not Bernhard Langer, not Tom Lehman, not even Illinois Golf Hall of Famer Jay Haas or Nick Price – the last winner of back-to-back Western Opens at Cog Hill back in the early 1990s….
SENIOR PGA: Kohki Idoki overcomes three Champions Tour superstars
ST. LOUIS – Who would have expected this? Three of the top stars in American golf were in position to win the 74th PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club on Sunday. None did. The first major title of the year on the Champions Tour instead went to Kohki Idoki, a 5-foot 5-inch 136-pound Japanese golfer…
SENIOR PGA: Perry-Cochran scenario makes for a neat story
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…
IPGA MATCH PLAY: Malm notches an historic repeat
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…
Northwestern golfer breaks a Luke Donald record
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…