IN SELECT COMPANY: Illinois men’s coach Mike Small (right) was paired with two former major champions in the first round of the Senior PGA Championship. Henrik Stenson (left) won the 2016 British Open and John Daly captured titles in both the 1991 PGA Championship and 1995 British Open. Stenson shot 72, Daly 73 and Small 79. (Joy Sarver Photos)
BRADENTON, FL. –Playing on any PGA Tour is no easy task. Neither is coaching at the major college level. Very few have done both, but Mike Small continues to both coach the University of Illinois men’s team and compete on PGA Tour Champions when possible.
This week is one of those rare times when it’s possible. Small is in the field for the 86th Senior PGA Championship at the Concession Club, It teed off on Thursday while his Illini were concluding their regular season in Indiana’s Hoosier Collegiate. His assistants are coaching the team in that tournament.“They’re excited and my team needs a break from me,’’ said Small. “Our administration was fine with it.’’
Small will return as coach for the biggest events of the college season. The Big Ten championships, which the Illini have won 13 times in his 25 seasons as head coach, are May 1-3 and NCAA tournament play begins May 18. The Illini have reached the NCAA tournament 16 of the last 17 years and won seven regional titles.
This year’s team won three tournaments and is ranked No. 10 in one national collegiate poll and No. 12 in the other.
While Small has survived cuts in 15 of 34 PGA Tour events and 18 of 19 Champions Tour starts since he began coaching, he has played in the Senior PGA only once. He missed the cut at Harbor Shores in Michigan in 2022.
“It was always played opposite the national (NCAA) championships,’’ said Small. “This year there was a date change.’’
Small qualified for a spot in the field by finishing 25th in the PGA National Club Professional Championship. He’ll go head-to-head with the best 50-and-over professionals beginning on Thursday at Concession, a Jack Nicklaus design that will host the event through 2028.
Illinois won the Big Ten title in 1988 when Small and Steve Stricker were the team’s stars. They stood up at each other’s weddings, then both spent time on the PGA Tour before Small turned to coaching.
Stricker, now one of the best senior tour pros, also qualified for the Senior PGA but withdrew on Sunday.
Small has won 14 Illinois PGA titles, four Illinois Opens and three Illinois Senior Opens. He also won three times in the PGA National Professional Championship and was low professional at two PGA Championships, but a few years have passed since then. He’s 60 now and figures to be rusty in a field that includes tournament-tough stars like Stewart Cink, John Daly, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie and Vijay Singh.
Thursday’s first-round leaders were Brian Gay, Steve Allan, Bernhard Langer and Miguel Angel Jiminez. All shot 6-under-par 66.
“I’ve been hitting balls for a week,’’ said Small, “but the first practice round (at Concession on Monday) was the first time I walked 18 holes since last summer.’’
HERE AND THERE: Countryside, in Mundelein, will host the first qualifying round for the 11th Chicago District Mid-Amateur Championship on Tuesday (APRIL 21).
KemperSports has taken over the management duties at Village Greens of Woodridge.
The CDGA has announced that the Chicago Adaptive Open, scheduled for June at Fox Bend, in Oswego, already has a full field of 84 players. Fox Bend will host through 2030 and Illinois Bone & Joint Institute will be the sponsor.
Pinseeker Media will sponsor Dave Lockhart’s Golf 360 when the long-running TV show begins broadcasting in June. Dan Roan will host.
