Streelman returns in style

Writing from Glenview, Illinois

Thursday, July 24, 2025

Kevin Streelman’s pals gave him all kinds of medical advice when he disclosed his meniscus tear in his left knee back in March.

“Oh, I was fine in three weeks,” he was told.

Streelman arched his eyebrows.

“They’re not walking seven miles five days in a row,” he said Thursday after his first round of competitive golf since he was sidelined.

That morning excursion, when the weather was only stifling, was a success, physically and mathematically. As to the latter, he scored 4-under-par 67 in the first round of the NV5 Invitational at The Glen Club. As to the former, he explained, “Goal one of this week was to just feel healthy.”

Streelman played some golf while healing – a 60 proved to him his game was intact – and also walked Chicago Golf four times last week to help prepare for the return to the grind.

“I smiled the whole way, but it is a little sore,” Streelman said. “But that’s to be expected. It was a pretty good meniscus tear on the medial side, probably 60 percent of it, so it’s a little more grindy. The priority was to feel healthy and see how the walk felt, but I’m a competitor.”

Thus, to Streelman, his highlight was making birdie on his first hole, the par-4 10th. Three more birdies mid-nine followed, a 4-under 31 start.

“Four months off, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Streelman said. “I didn’t take care of the par 5s, unfortunately. I can have a low one if I take care of these par 5s.”

But Friday will be another day – and may be delayed, given a two-hour thunderstorm delay Thursday in mid-afternoon.

It was a rare home game for Streelman, and only his third start on the Korn Ferry Tour. His last was in 2007, when it was the Nationwide Tour. The Wheaton native made the jump to the PGA Tour, where he’s made 305 cuts in 466 starts, almost at once, and he’ll be back there in the fall, a 46-year-old chasing a third Tour title. It’s the second major injury of his career.

“Both came from working out,” Streelman said. “You try to be smart with your workouts, but you see these kids and they hit it forever and you try to keep up.”

Case in point, the leader at the time of the weather delay, 26-year-old Davis Chatfield of Attleboro, Mass. The Notre Dame grad blistered the Tom Fazio-designed course with a 9-under 62 for a one-stroke lead over Cooper Dorsey and Caleb VanArragon. Julian Suri and 2024 Western Amateur winner Ian Gilligan were two strokes in arrears. They hit it far enough to need radar to track their drives rather than ShotLink.

Meanwhile, Streelman just wants to stay within reach as he regains his bearings.

“I’ll get six starts from my status in the Fall Series, and then I’ll have 15-16 starts next year on a medical exemption. I had a decent start this year, and those points will all count to my grand total. If I get enough points next year, I’ll jump right back into my status out there.”

“Out there” is where Streelman has been almost since graduating from Duke in 2001, which is a feat in itself.

“If not, I’ll be 47 next year and be home with my family, and I’ll do a few of these to get ready for Champions. But I’m confident of getting out there (on the regular tour). I stay in good shape and hit it far enough out there.”

And he knows how to chip and putt.

– Tim Cronin

Badger Brody prevails in Illinois Women's Open

Writing from Chicago

Wednesday, July 23, 2025 

Wauconda’s Liv Romer looked unbeatable early in Tuesday’s second round of the 30th Illinois Women’s Open. Two birdies in the first three holes at Mistwood Golf Club moved her to 7-under-par and a commanding lead over the field of 100 players.

The funny thing about golf, though, is how fleeting an advantage can be. Romer, a 20-year-old who’ll be at Southern Mississippi this fall after stops at West Texas A&M and Palm Beach College, discovered as much beginning on Mistwood’s fourth hole, a devilish par 4 featuring a blind tee shot. Her bogey there, and a pair more on the sixth and seventh holes, sent her out in 1-over 37, while Kate Brody of Grand Blanc, Mich., a junior at Wisconsin, was quietly going about her front-nine business in 2-under 34.

The amateurs were in the final threesome together along with Pontiac’s Ali Schrock, a recent graduate of Illinois State. Schrock could not duplicate her opening 68, falling 10 strokes to 78 and a total of 2-over 146. Romer stumbled further on the back nine, including a double-bogey 7 on the par-5 15th, dogleg skirting the big lake, and carded 4-over 76 for 1-under 143.

Brody? She tacked three more birdies, including one at the par-5 18th, on her card for a 5-under 67 to finish at 8-under 136 and capture the IWO by seven strokes over Romer, amateur Elyssa Abdullah of Hinsdale and professionals Taglao Jerravivitaporn of Chicago and Haeri Lee of Buffalo Grove.

Hr margin of victory matched the second-largest in IWO history. Emily Collins’ nine-stroke rout over a quartet of contenders in 2014 remains the record.

Brody is the second amateur in three years to win the IWO. Grace Curran of Frankfort did so in 2023. Last year’s winner, Lauren Beaudreau of Lemont, tied for 19th at 7-over 151.

– Tim Cronin

Illinois Women's Open – Phil Kosin's greatest legacy

Writing from Chicago

Friday, July 18, 2025

Phil Kosin was never without an opinion.

The difference between Kosin and most others was his ability to transform a germ of an idea into action.

He had done so in the past, starting a radio show on a small suburban station, then creating Chicagoland Golf, a newspaper dedicated to the game, after working for Gary Holaway at the original Illinois Golfer. Then he added a radio version to the portfolio.

Now, in the summer of 1994, motivated by what he considered exploitation of women, he stepped forward again.

For two years, while the Illinois Open was played at Royal Fox Country Club in St. Charles, Kosin chafed while club owner Vince Solano used his host exemptions to invite women to play in the tournament.

“It’s a publicity stunt,” Kosin said. “They have no chance from the tournament tees.”

The tournament and the club got the attention. Of the female competitors in those years, only Renee Heiken, in 1994, made the cut, tying for 49th.

Then, two weeks later, during a rain delay at the LPGA Chicago Challenge at White Eagle Golf Club, Kosin huddled with other golf writers and proposed starting an Illinois Women’s Open. The idea was met with approval, and Kosin, without a course, a date, or outside financial backing, quickly pushed forward.

“This is long overdue,” he wrote in the Fall 1994 issue of Chicagoland Golf. “There are a lot of talented women players in Illinois, and now they will finally have their own state championship.

“We welcome any and all support. There are no egos involved in this project. Let’s just do what needs to be done and get it going.”

Kosin found a supporting sponsor in Tommy Armour Golf. He found a course in Odyssey Golf Course in Tinley Park, with dates in early August 1995. He found rules officials. He dug into his own pocket to fund the original purse, $5,000, with a grand to the winner if a professional. He dealt with an opening-day downpour wiping out the first round of what was slated for 54 holes – foul weather would be a continuing storyline in the tournament – in the inaugural.

He was then rewarded for his toil when Diane Daugherty, head coach of Southern Illinois University’s women’s team, scored 3-under-par 69 on the final day to total 5-under 139 and manage a five-stroke victory over fellow professional Andrea Kellar of Roselle. Proving the value of a statewide competition, a player from the south end of the state took the championship from a field comprised of 38 players, most from the Chicago area.

“Diane was really booming her drives today,” Kellar said. “That 69 was a great score.”

It was the only one under 70 in the tournament.

“This event is long overdue,” Daugherty said at the trophy ceremony. “Pros don’t get much chance to compete in Illinois. The Illinois Women’s Open is a wonderful thing provided all of us. Everybody got good competition.”

The Illinois Women’s Open was off and running.

It is 30 years on now, and the 30th IWO – only 2020 was skipped because of the COVID-19 epidemic – is upon us. It’s set for Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville, the site since 1999, this coming Monday and Tuesday. There are 99 entries, including defending champion Lauren Beaudreau, who grew up in Lemont and now registers from Marco Island, Ga., and two-time champion Nicole Jeray, who teaches at Mistwood. Tee times start at 7 a.m. each day.

– Tim Cronin

Campbell comes all the way back

Writing from Silvis, Illinois

Sunday, July 6, 2025

Brian Campbell, back on the PGA Tour this year after nearly a decade in the wilderness of the Korn Ferry Tour and battling injuries, is suddenly among those in contention for a berth on the American Ryder Cup team.

Winning twice on your return to the circuit, and in playoffs, no less, will do that for you. Earlier this year, the 32-year-old California native and Illinois grad captured the Mexico Open in sudden death. Sunday, he won the 54th John Deere Classic in similar fashion, beating Emiliano Grillo of Argentina on the first extra hole at TPC Deere Run.

“You’ve really got to dig deep and trust yourself,” Campbell said. “Easier said than done, but what worked for me a lot was trusting a lot of things I used to do when I was a kid.”

In other words, loving golf for the sport it is, not for the business demands it puts upon professionals. By doing that, by not worrying about the money, he’s suddenly rolling in it.

“There were definitely moments in the week where I was thinking about, hey, you know, this could be a special week,” Campbell said. “I don't know if I like to let myself get ahead of myself and think about winning all that much, but I know if we stick around and keep doing the right things that we're going to be there in the end.”

One would think that if American captain Keegan Bradley doesn’t have Campbell’s phone number now, he soon will. Players winning twice in a Ryder Cup year usually attract interest.

“I’ve had no thought about that whatsoever,” Campbell said. “I just know how much I love the Ryder Cup, and to be in the same conversation as the Ryder Cup is wild. So the best thing I can do is just keep working on what I’m doing and keep moving forward. I think we’ll see what happens when that comes around."

Campbell and Grillo each scored 4-under-par 67 to arrive at 18-under-par 266 on a day when three showers fell on Deere Run, softening the course but not making it easier. There was just enough breeze and the greens were still hard enough after an overnight shower to be crispy.

Thanks to his Illinois ties, many in the gallery of about 20,000 were pulling for Campbell, complete with “I-L-L” chants.

“It’s awesome,” Campbell said. “I’ve never had this much support at any golf tournament, so I never knew it would be this awesome to feel the crowd out there and get it done in this fashion.”

With overnight leader and defender Davis Thompson stumbling to a 1-over 72 for 13-under 271, thus ending the three-year run of winners from “Trophy House,” a bed-and-breakfast in nearly Geneseo, the way was clear for a new champion.

Everybody wanted to get into the act. At one point, there were 16 players within two strokes of then co-leaders Campbell and Max Homa, but it came down to Campbell, who would have won the Deere outright but for a pull-hook-induced double-bogey on the par-4 15th, and Grillo, whose 8-foot birdie putt on 17 seconds after Campbell parred the last set up sudden-death.

It would have been three in the extra session but for David Lipsky, erstwhile Northwestern notable, bogeying the 18th after a spectacular eagle 3 on the 17th that drew him into the tie. His attempt to salvage par at the last after a poor the shot edged the left side of the hole.

“I’m disappointed the putt didn’t drop at the last,” Lipsky said. “The shot on 17 was unbelievable to give myself a chance.”

Campbell hit the 18th fairway dead center in the playoff, hit a 192-yard trap draw to 16 feet 2 inches with his approach, and two-putted for the par and win. Grillo had pushed his tee shot to the trees on the right, got a drop after a mindless marshal picked up the ball, rammed his approach over the green, was short with his third, and left his fourth shot short of the cup. Then Campbell finished the job.

“Magic does happen at the John Deere,” said Campbell, echoing the tournament’s slogan. “I’m just so proud to be in the same conversation as (three-time winner and Illinois grad) Stve Stricker.”

Campbell earned $1.512 million and pushed his season earnings to $3,174,658.83.

Grillo, as balm, could content himself with $915,600 and climbing back into the Tour’s playoff race. He’s 64th now in the chase to land in the top 100 for the first playoff tournament, up from 105th. (And Campbell is 28th, up from 59th.)

“Obviously we’re aiming for (the top) 50,” Grillo said. “You want to be in all the elevated tournaments, play the big ones. Hopefully a little bit better and play Atlanta (the Tour Championship).

“Working towards that, and this is a big step.”

The 18-under 266s posted by Campbell and Grillo were the highest for first place since Bryson DeChambeau’s winning 266 in 2017.

For Campbell, this has been a renaissance season. Getting his PGA Tour card back after last year’s Korn Ferry exploits was the start. He’d played 159 KFT tournaments beginning in 2015, most of them after his one season as a PGA Tour regular in 2016-17. But he’d not won on the stepping-stone tour, losing once in a playoff, and once wondering if playing golf as a living was worth it.

“It was second stage of Q school two-three years ago,” he recalled. “I made like a quintuple bogey on a par 3 and I thought my career was over in that moment.

“That night I just kind of had a self-talk with myself. I said, ‘You know what, whatever happens is okay. Trust yourself.’ The next round I want out there and shot 8-under and got myself right back in there. I guess I was like, ‘Maybe golf is not over for me.’ That was the moment when everything changed.”

Look at him now.

Around Deere Run

There was a point early in the afternoon when Beau Hossler was the leader in the clubhouse, having scored eight birdies and an eagle, the latter offsetting two bogeys, for a stylish 8-under 63. That placed him at 15-under 269, but he had no notion that score would prove victorious. “I have no chance,” Hossler said. “I’m going to eat lunch, pack my stuff, get a coffee from 392 Cafe, my favorite coffee spot in town, and get on a flight.” To Louisville, not Scotland. … Michael Thorbjornsen also scored 63, the low number of the day. … The Deere charter to Scotland was full fo the first time with over 35 players taking advantage. A player, caddie and spouse can make the trip, paying for the privilege. Deere puts that money in the Birdies for Charity endeavor. … Amateur Jackson Koivun tied for 11th, finishing with 4-under 67 for 15-under 269.

– Tim Cronin

He's baaaack – Davis Thompson, that is

Writing from Silvis, Illinois

Saturday, July 5, 2025

Davis Thompson just won’t go away.

He’s greedy, this silent birdie-maker from St. Simons Island, Ga. He won the John Deere Classic last year, when the course was soft and yielded birdies unreluctantly, and he leads the 54th edition this year with a round to go.

Thompson assumed the position Saturday afternoon with a 4-under-par 67 for a 54-hole aggregate of 15-under 198. That’s the highest leading score though three rounds at the Deere since a trio was tied at 199 in 2009. In this case, Thompson leads the quartet of Max Homa, David Lipsky, Emiliano Grillo and Brian Campbell by a stroke, with a foursome including Camilo Villegas at 12-under 201 and five more players, including standout amateur Jackson Koivun, stationed at 11-under 202.

That adds up to 13 players within four strokes of Thompson, so while he may sleep late on Sunday morning, it likely won’t be a deep sleep. There’s a lot of firepower looming.

“Just got to stick to my game plan tomorrow,” Thompson said. “I feel your focus sharpens a little more – I find it easier to commit to every shot when I’m in the lead as opposed to the back of the pack.”

With about 22,500 watching, with the wind up and with many greens adding a shade of purple, scores were comparatively high. The field averaged 68.894 strokes, the highest in a third round since 2015. There were only 254 birdies, the fewest on a Saturday since a mere 206 found the sanctuary in 2003. The paucity of circled numbers may impact the tournament’s vaunted Birdies for Charity fund-raising program.

Thompson’s concerned with Sunday, when expected overnight rains soften the course and make birdies more likely.

“Deep breaths, one step at a time, make sure I’m sticking to my routines, eating something, staying hydrated,” Thompson said.

If that doesn’t sound exciting, he doesn’t want to be exciting. He wants to be efficient.

That may make Thompson hard to root for, but it certainly helps his bottom line. But will efficiency be enough to hold off the charge of the birdie brigade?

“I think it’s going to be another birdiefest,” Illinois grad Campbell said. “Guys coming from deep behind, especially playing in twosomes. I think I’ve got to be aggressive tomorrow. I love the wind. Going to school (in Champaign) that’s all we played in. I like to get creative with it.

“If it’s a birdiefest, go out and make a lot of birdies.”

Campbell won in Mexico earlier this season, so is not a stranger to the winner’s circle. But complacency is not his forte.

“You can’t get lazy out here,” Campbell said. “Nothing is given to you.”

Campbell fashioned his 3-under 68 with a quartet of birdies offset by a solitary bogey. Sinking a 37-footer for birdie at the last allowed him to finish with a flourish.

“I was right into the wind with a 6-iron in the fairway and gave myself a look,” Campbell said. “My caddie said I was due for a long one.

“Hopefully, going to have one of those tomorrow for something bigger.”

Homa, whose 68 featured four birdies in the first 11 holes but ended with a bogey, is the most experienced of the contenders, with six wins on the PGA Tour – five by coming from behind in the final round – but has hit a dry patch of late. He’s eager to change that.

“Golf has been very boring for me this year,” Homa said. “I haven’t had a whole lot of stress, and you want to be stressed out. I look forward to the butterflies in the morning. It’s been a while.”

He, Thompson and all the other leaders will feel it to some extent. At the other end of the scale, there’s Doug Ghim, who paced the field for 36 holes and played the role of human pace car as the field raced by on Saturday.

Ghim’s 3-over 74 for 9-under 204 dropped him into a tie for 21st. It’s only six strokes behind Thompson, and deficits as large and larger than that have been made up at the Deere before – then-teenager Jordan Spieth was six back in 2013, and young Roger Maltbie was seven in arrears at Oakwood Country Club in 1975 – but the pride of Arlington Heights has a pile of people to surpass to – how do they say it here? – make magic happen.

He’ll need a magic putter to rally. He’s last among the 65 who made the cut in stokes gained putting, and the average length of his made putts is just under 2.5 feet, which indicates a lot of long misses.

Around Deere Run

Aldrich Potgieter, winner in Detroit last week, withdrew after a Saturday 76 that included six bogeys and a double-bogey. He’s slated to play in next week’s Scottish Open and is first alternate for the British Open. He’ll be on Sunday night’s Deere-arranged charter flight to Scotland. … The course average after three rounds is 69.619.  … Chris Kirk is the caboose through 54 holes at 1-over 214 after his 8-over 79, and gets the honor of starting first Sunday as a single at 7:10 a.m. Leader Davis Thompson goes off with David Lipsky in the final pairing.

– Tim Cronin