The Illinois PGA hasn’t been afraid to make changes to its tournaments – especially the biggest ones.
First the section opened its Illinois Women’s Open to out-of-state players because, said IPGA executive director Carrie Williams, “We wanted the strongest field it could be.’’ So did the staff at long-time tourney site Mistwood Golf Club, in Romeoville.
Not only did the field get stronger, it also got bigger. This year’s IWO had over 100 entries for its 30th anniversary staging.
The men’s version of the Illinois Open took a recent change, too. Long limited to Illinois residents, the field now permits players who grew up in the state or attended college here. That led to University of Illinois alum Michael Feagles winning this year and long-time PGA Tour and Champions Tour member Gary Hallberg competing again after he moved back to Barrington after residing for years in Colorado.
Hallberg was an Illinois Open winner twice. Another past champion, Carlos Sainz Jr., was also back in the field. He now lives and works in Texas.
Again, the field got stronger and the policy change allowed for the participation of players now living in other states and competing on the PGA’s Latin American and Canadian tours.
“Making that change wasn’t easy, but its is the best thing for the event,’’ said Williams.
And to think that years ago just the participation of PGA Tour players and long-time Chicago area residents Bob Zender and Rick Dalpos created controversy — especially after both won IPGA Section Championships.
Well, that event – first played in 1923 — will undergo an even more radical change next week when Chicago’s Beverly Country Club is the host site. The IPGA Championship had long been contested at 54 holes. This year’s it’ll be over only 36 holes with 18 on Monday and 18 more on Tuesday (AUGUST 25-26).
“A little more than half of the PGA sections are doing that,’’ said Williams. “It helps us getting the field and the sites. More pros can play and we don’t have to ask a club to give up its course for three days, just two. We think that will open us up to go to more high-profile facilities.’’
Beverly is certainly one of those. Heading the field there will be defending champion Brian Carroll and 14-time winner Mike Small, head coach of the University of Illinois men’s team. Carroll, head professional at The Hawk in St. Charles, won titles in 2022 and 2024 and the last of Small’s victories were in 2020 and 2023. Butler National’s Andy Svoboda, the low pro at the last two Illinois Opens and leader in the IPGA’s Sam Bernardi Player of the Year standings, also looms a strong contender.
FROM THE TOURS: Both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf League conclude their seasons this weekend. The PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs end with The Tour Championship on Sunday in Atlanta.
The top 30 on the point list after last week’s BMW Championship in Maryland will battle in the season-ender, and it’ll have a most appropriate change in format. Gone are the handicaps that were used in recent years. Now all 30 players start the 72-hole test at zero.
Jon Rahm retained his LIV Individual Championship on Sunday in Indiana, but it had a strange ending. Rahm, who won the title last year at Bolingbrook, didn’t win a tournament this season while his nearest rival, Joaquin Niemann, won five. That discrepancy would suggest a change in the season-long point structure is in order.
LIV now has committed sites and dates for eight of its 14 tournaments in 2026. The circuit announced the return to The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Ind., even before last week’s event was over. Chicago hosted two LIV events at Rich Harvest Farms, in Sugar Grove, and the last two at Bolingbrook. No word yet on whether the Saudi-backed circuit will be back in 2026.
HERE AND THERE: Only one LIV golfer, Bryson DeChambeau, was among the six automatic selections to the U.S. Ryder Cup team. The others were PGA Tour members Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Harris English, Russell Henley and Xander Schauffele. Keegan Bradley will announce his six captain’s pix after The Tour Championship.
The Illinois Super Senior Open concludes its two-day run on Wednesday at Pine Meadow, in Mundelein.