The last of the year’s four major golf championships are over, following Sunday’s conclusion of the British Open. Next big series of events is the three-tournament FedEx Cup Playoffs, which begin Aug. 13 with the St. Jude Championship in Tennessee.
That series of tournaments will have an added appeal because that’s when the teams will be announced for the Presidents Cup, the Sept. 24-27 team climax to the Chicago season at Medinah Country Club.
Each team will have six automatic qualifiers and six captain’s picks. The current top six for the U.S. side are Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Russell Henley, Sam Burns, Ben Griffin and Colin Morikawa. Chris Gotterup, who won the John Deere Classic – Illinois’ only annual PGA Tour event – earlier this month, is seventh in the standings.
The names will be finalized after the BMW Championship at Bellerive, in St. Louis, on Aug. 23. Selections will be made on a weighted system based on FedEx Cup points from Jan. 1, 2025 through Aug. 23.
The International side will determine its six automatic qualifiers by the Official World Golf Rankings after the Tour Championship, in Atlanta, on Aug. 30. The top six at the moment are Si Woo Kim, of South Korea; New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, Australia’s Min Woo Lee, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, South Korea’s Tom Kim and Canada’ Corey Connors.
Though the U.S. holds a 13-1-1 edge in the series, the Internationals might be stronger this time based on results over the last two weeks. Kim won the Irish Open and Fox took the British Open.
Joie Chitwood, the Presidents Cup executive director, isn’t concerned about the onesided nature of the series.
“My job is to present this stage for the athletes to perform at the highest level,’’ said Chitwood, who has spent the last three-plus years getting things organized at Medinah. “We want to see the competition, and who wins or loses will happen.’’
The International’s lone win came in 1998, in Australia. The U.S. has won the last 10 meetings.
There’s an interesting sidelight to this staging. Geoff Ogilvy, captain of the Internationals, was a leader of the architectural team that re-designed Medinah’s No. 3 course. U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker has already visited Medinah to walk the course several times in preparation for the four days of matches.
Medinah has hosted three U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships, three Western Opens and the 2012 Ryder Cup. Most recently it was the site of the 2019 BMW Championship.
“Medinah has championship bones,’’ said Chitwood. “We’ve been building this one for a big championship event . It’s been fast and furious seeing the structures being built. Only three suites are left and we had over 120. People are already grabbing up the parking. As we get closer you can feel the energy.’’
KORN FERRY TOUR: The Evans Scholars Invitational returns to The Glen Club, in Glen View, this week with tournament rounds Thursday through Sunday.
The field includes reigning Illinois Open champion Michael Feagles, a fellow University of Illinois alum in Nick Hardy and Andy Svoboda, the reigning Illinois PGA Player of the Year and this year’s IPGA Match Play champion.
ILLINOIS AMATEUR: Chicago’s Charlie Kulwin, a Loyola University graduate, overcame a six-stroke deficit on the final day of the tourney’s 95th playing at Crestwicke Country Club, in Bloomington. Kulwin shot 68-69 in the 36-hole wrapup to the tournament and was the only player under par for 72 holes.
Kulwin posted a 2-under-par 282 – the highest winning score in the Illinois State Am since T.C. Ford was also 2-under in winning at Stone Creek, in Urbana, in 2004.
TV TIME FOR WESTERN: The 124th Western Amateur, starting July 31 at Chicago’s Beverly Country Club, will get TV coverage on ESPN networks. It’ll have its usual strong field during its run from Monday (JULY 27) though Aug. 1.
Heading the cast is Tyler Watts, ranked third in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. The incoming freshman at the University of Tennessee shot a course record 62 in the first round of last year’s Western Am at Skokie and made the cut in both of his two starts on the PGA Tour.
Virginia graduate Ben James won last year’s Western Am and has made the cut in five of his seven PGA Tour starts over the last 14 months. This year’s field has players from 25 countries, including 69 who are ranked in the top 100 in the World Amateur Rankings.