Back in 2019 Scottie Scheffler won the first NV5 Invitational Championship – a Korn Ferry Tour event played at the Glen Club in Glenview. Now he’s the world’s No.1-ranked golfer with five major titles, the most recent coming in last weeks’ British Open.
This year’s NV5 Invitational, conducted by the Western Golf Association, returns to The Glen this week. Teeoff for Thursday and Friday rounds are off both the Nos. 1 and 10 tees starting at 6:30 a.m. On the weekend they run from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Scheffler is one of many players who have used the Korn Ferry as a path to the PGA Tour. Not all, of course, have been as successful on the preview circuit as Scheffler has been but the quality of play is impressive.
Last year’s champion at The Glen was Thomas Rosenmueller, who was 25 under par in winning the $180,000 first prize, and he’s on the PGA Tour now. Last week’s winner on the Korn Ferry was Chandler Blanchet. He was 27-under in his three-stroke victory in the Price Cutter Championship in Missouri. Adrien Dumont de Chassard, who starred at the University of Illinois, tied for fifth last week and he’s also spent some time on the PGA Tour.
WISCONSIN WINNER: Amateur Kate Brody of Madison, WI., captured the 30th anniversary staging of the Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open Tuesday at Mistwood, in Romeoville.
Brody won by seven strokes after posting an 8-under-par 136 for the 36 holes. Tying for second were professionals Taglao Jeeravivitaporn, of Chicago; and Haeri Lee, of Buffalo Grove; and Elyssa Abdulah, an amateur from Hinsdale.
Defending champion Lauren Beaudreau, of Marco Island, FL., tied for 19th; two-time Illinois Women’s State Amateur champion Sarah Arnold, of Geneva, tied for 28th’ and two-time IWO titlist Nicole Jeray, a teaching professional at Mistwood, tied for 32nd.
LIV COUNTDOWN: Only one of the four events left on the Saudi-backed tour season will be played on foreign soil – next week’s tournament in Great Britain. The last three are in the U.S., starting with LIV/Chicago Aug. 8-10 at Bolingbrook Golf Club.
LIV players had a presence at the British Open, headed by Bryson DeChambeau. After opening with a 78 he finished with 65-68-64 to finish in a tie for 10th. His last three rounds were the second lowest in the event’s 153 years, and Keegan Bradley, captain on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, gave strong indications that he will pick DeChambeau for his team at the matches in September at New York’s Bethpage Black.
Ten LIV players made the cut in the British Open and nine didn’t, including season points leader Joaquin Niemann, Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka and Cam Smith.
PGA COUNTDOWN: The PGA Tour has only two tournaments remaining before the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. This week it’s the 3M Open in Minnesota. Both Chicago area tour players – Doug Ghim and Nick Hardy – are in the field. Last week Ghim tied for 20th in the Barracuda Championship in California while Hardy missed the cut.
JDC AFTERMATH: The John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour stop, has announced that it has reached a milestone in charitable giving. The tourney was first played in 1971, and this year’s event earlier this month has topped the $200 million figure. The official total for this year will be revealed in October.