Weather takes the lead in Illinois Open

Writing from Flossmoor, Illinois

Monday, August 5, 2024

The 75th Illinois Open started and ended with fireworks displays the sanctioning Illinois PGA didn’t pay for. It was Mother Nature, waking the neighborhood around Flossmoor Golf Club with a thunderstorm that pushed back tee times for the first round three hours, then ended play before it was to resume after a second delay.

The only possible beneficiaries were the quartet of players toiling on the Canadian Tour who finished up in Windsor, Ont., on Sunday and made their way across Michigan on Interstate 94 overnight. As it turned out, they all were in or close to the lead on a steamy 92-degree dat when the hooter blew a second time for a second wave of lightning at 4:33 p.m., shifting the schedule for the rest of the state championship well off the original plan. Players were going back to their positions when more flickers and rumbles ended play for the day at 7:10 p.m.

David Perkins of East Peoria and Drew Shepherd of Hinsdale, two of the international travelers, share the lead at 5-under through 15 holes. Perkins tied for 11th in Windsor, while Shepherd, who missed the cut, got an early start home from Canada.

Tommy Kuhl of Morton, who tied for 27th in Canada, was solo third at 4-under through 14 holes. And Glenview native Charlie Nikitas, also 27th in Canada, was tied for fourth at 3-under after his round of 69 and co-clubhouse leader with Monticello’s Luke Gannon.

All of the above are living the vagabond life of the Tour hopeful. All have ridiculously good games, which shows how hard it is to make a living playing golf as a professional. Nikitas and Kuhl, for instance, each made $1,568.57 for their toil in Windsor.

“It’s kind of fun,” Nikitas said of the quick turnaround. “I was saying to my parents my only complaint the last few months is a lack of opportunity to play. So it was an easy decision for me to come from Windsor. I was glad I made the cut and played the weekend there. It wasn’t that bad of a drive. I was never going to say no to playing here. It’s one of my favorite tournaments of the year.”

Nikitas, who has two T-9 finishes in the Illinois Open in the last three years, opened with a birdie on the back nine, then added two more on the front for his bogey-free 69.

“I feel I’m prepared,” Nikitas said. “It’s tough to make money up there. I’ve only gotten two starts, but I’ve made both cuts, and I’ve got enough points to hopefully shuffle in and play the last four.

“It’s tough, but I knew going in. It’s been good to have some guidance from my roommates, who are like my older brothers to me.”

Gannon, without Canadian Tour status, is playing when and where he can. He too has game, having finished second, tied for seventh and tied for third in the Illinois Open the last three years. He had a simple plan for waiting out the delay.

“I sat on my phone and watched Olympic highlights,” Gannon said.

Gannon started on the back and birdied the 18th and first holes to get his round going. But he yearns for more birdies.

“This year, I’ve hit it the best I have in all my years playing professionally,” Gannon said. “The last few months, I’ve been making more birdies, but I’ve made doubles that keep me from getting a win. Like at the NV5 (for which he Monday-qualified), making a double-bogey on a 330-yard par-4. That’s tough when the cut’s minus-6.

“Simple stuff I sometimes do really bad.”

In other words, golf, like bad weather, happens.

Around Flossmoor

Flossmoor owner George Goich birdied the first two holes, bogeyed No. 3, then birdied No. 4 before the hooter blew for delay No. 2. … Even with the second delay, the hope is to finish Wednesday afternoon. The inaugural three-hour delay was more for lightning and getting the course back to tournament condition than rain. Only a quarter-inch of rain hit the course, which barely slowed down the treacherous greens. … Defending champion Vince India posted a 1-over 73. Between this year and last, he served a six-month gambling suspension imposed by the PGA Tour, which boasts BetMGM as its official betting operator.

– Tim Cronin

Rosenmueller passes the NV5 test

Writing from Glenview, Illinois

Sunday, July 28, 2024

Two weeks ago, Thomas Rosenmueller wasn’t sure when or if he’d play golf again. He had to withdraw from a tournament because of an injured neck.

“It’s a big scary when you can’t turn your head left and you see two balls and you get super dizzy,” Rosenmueller said. “I had severe migraines. The connection between the skull and the C-0 vertebra was completely locked up. It was a combination of things.”

Thankfully, seeing a specialist not only got him a proper diagnosis but a cure.

“It was quite painful treatment, to be honest,” Rosenmueller said. “I walked out with no more headaches.”

That allowed Rosenmueller to get back on the Korn Ferry Tour last week, where he finished tied for 66th, and this week, where he improved his standing by 66 players.

The 27-year-old German’s closing round of 5-under-par 66 on Sunday brought him in at 25-under 259 and a two-stroke winner in the 6th NV5 Championship at The Glen Club. The outcome, which all but guarantees him a PGA Tour card next year, earned him a $180,000 bounty from the $1 million purse.

Karl Vilips scored a final-round 63 to finish second at 23-under 261. Steven Fisk, Davis Chatfield, Zach Bauchou and Sam Bennett were joint third at 22-under 262. Fisk moved back to the top spot in the series standings with his finish.

The margin of victory was effectively his eagle on the par-4 15th hole, a 32-yard 60-degree spinner of a chip in for a deuce after a 312-yard drive. Coupled with a birdie on the 14th, it snapped the tie with Vilips and gave him a three-stroke lead on the field. Even after a bogey at the 16th, he knew he was in control.

“I had a lot of good chances on holes 6 through 12 but didn’t capitalize on them,” Rosenmueller said. “Then the putt on 14, an eight-foot downhill slider, that was a great putt. And the chip-in on 15, that’s when I realized this was mine for the taking. I saw where I wanted it to land and it came off the club face exactly like I wanted it. It just worked out great.”

Rosenmueller slept on the lead Saturday night, a first for him on the KFT after 63 starts, but he clearly slept well. He birdied three of the first five holes and was on the way.

He counted the victory as his biggest since winning the German Boys Team Championship as a junior. He had won three times on a German mini-tour after turning pro, which got him Challenge Tour status, the step before the DP World Tour, but he abandoned that for the KFT, the path to the PGA Tour.

The decision was not without drama. Rosenmueller decided not to go to PGA Tour qualifying last fall and concentrate on honing his game for a big run on the KFT this year. The biggest change was in his putting. He’s gone from 140th in putting to the top 30, proving the old adage, “putt for dough,” is true.

“Then I made the first cut of the year and missed six in a row,” Rosenmueller said. “I looked like the biggest clown on Planet Earth. You take three months off to get yourself ready and then you play like that?”

Things turned around in April with a pair of ties for 20th sandwiched around a tie for ninth. That ended the cash drain. Aside from the injury withdrawal a fortnight ago, he’s cashed every week since.

“It started to be, ‘I really did take a step,’ but I think I could have done a better job of it going into the season,” he said. “The technique was there, but the playing wasn’t.”

He’d also contemplated quitting two years ago, when the Challenge Tour wasn’t working out and he was bleeding cash, but soldiered on. Sunday’s hurdle of winning was just another in the series Rosenmueller knows as life.

“In 2019, when I couldn’t break 80, I was a week away from quitting golf forever,” he said. “And I was lucky to have sponsors in 2022 or I’d have had to quit playing. I’d have to go work somewhere. Now I’m on the verge of a PGA Tour card.”

Around The Glen Club

Paul Peterson had the round of the day, a 9-under 62 that featured an outward 6-under 29. He finished tied for seventh. … The strong southerly wind made for a chaotic par-5 18th hole. Players trying to reach the green in two were crashing their approaches into the grandstand and hospitality tents behind it. At least one person in the Old National Bank tent was hit by a ball. … Only three of the 75 players in the field scored over par on Sunday, with Erik Compton the high man at 3-over 74. He finished last at 5-under 279, and collected $3,800. The cascade of low scores averaged 67.613 strokes, about 3.4 under the par of 71, on Sunday, and 68.090 for the week.

– Tim Cronin

Living the life of Weiler

Writing from Glenview, Illinois

Friday, July 26, 2024

Joe Weiler can’t stop smiling these days.

His opening two rounds of the WGA-sponsored NV5 Invitational at The Glen Club has put him near the top at 14-under-par 128 going into the weekend. Only Ryan Gerard, whose 10-under 61 on Friday is the best round of the tournament thus far, is ahead of him, three strokes to the good at 17-under 125.

Gerard’s 61 bested morning showman Tano Goya of Argentina, who blistered the Tom Fazio-designed layout with a 9-under 62, including a front-nine 28.

Weiler will worry about the math later. The other reason for his smile: He’s a newlywed.

“July 5 (was the ceremony), so there’s a lot of good things happening outside of golf that makes it a fun time. Things are happening that make golf even easier and less pressured. That’s super helpful.

“It was a great day. Me and Sophie were super-excited.”

Weiler came into the week 69th in the Korn Ferry Tour standings. The top 30 at the end of the season advance to the PGA Tour. The Korn Ferry numbers crunchers say he’d jump to 20th if he wins this week.

“There’s still so much golf left,” Weiler said. “I’m at a better spot than I was this time last year. It takes one or two weeks to change your entire year. And I’m playing a lot different golf.

“I have way more control of my golf ball. I feel I have a good idea of what I’m doing when I get here on a Monday or a Tuesday. I know what I need to be doing to get better for the week. At times I was searching last year.”

Friday’s highlight came in the middle of his round. He played the back nine first, in 2-under 33, put his tee shot on No. 1 on the right side of the fairway, then slammed a 3-wood 268 yards uphill to, by his estimation, within a foot of the cup.

“I probably brushed the hole a little bit,” Weiler said.

While the albatross failed to land, the eagle was a gimme, and with with six birdies to offset a pair of bogeys, buttressing the opening 63 with a 65 added up not only to 128, but a good feeling.

Another aid to Weiler is being a second-year tourist. He’s previously been to most of the courses he’s played this year. Familiarity, in this case, breeds contentment.

“I don’t feel I even have to play 18 holes before I play on Thursday,” Weiler said. “I would like to but if I want to take a Monday or Tuesday off, I can do that. It’s nice to have some regularity, knowing where the range, the putting green, the first tee is.”

He’d not seen The Glen Club until last year, when he tied for 21st, but growing up in Bloomington, Ind., and going to Purdue means he knows Midwest golf.

“For some reason, Midwest golf does favor me,” Weiler said. “This is a hidden gem.”

Around The Glen Club

Dawson Armstrong has been on and off the Korn Ferry Tour since 2020, but had to Monday qualify his way into the NV5. The 2015 Western Amateur winner scored 5-under 137 with rounds of 69-67–137 but missed the cut, which fell at 6-under 136. Armstrong made five cuts in his previous 16 starts. … Brad Hopfinger, who won at Illinois Open at The Glen Club, also missed advancing by a stroke thanks to a bogey at his last hole, the par-3 ninth. … Curtis Thompson, the 2020 winner at Chicago Highlands, went from one off the lead to rolling down the highway on Friday, adding a 6-over 77 to his opening 7-under 64. An aggregate of 1-under 141 doesn’t cut it on this tour. The cut brought 75 players into the weekend dash for cash for the $1 million purse, of which $180,000 is handed the winner. … Last year’s Western Amateur champion, Kazuma Kobori, scored 6-under 136 to make it on the number thanks to Friday’s sparkling 7-under 64. He’s already eligible to play on the DP World Tour thanks to his success on the Australasia Tour, but came here on the sponsor exemption awarded for winning last year at North Shore Country Club.

– Tim Cronin

Looking for the next legend

Writing from Glenview, Illinois

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Where will the next Scottie Scheffler come from?

In North America, the answer probably is, the same place the first one came from – the Korn Ferry Tour.

The PGA Tour’s triple-A circuit has proven phenomenally successful at identifying future stars since it took root at the Ben Hogan Tour in 1990. This week, it returns to the Chicago area with the sixth playing of the Western Golf Association-sponsored NV5 Invitational at The Glen Club. Hostilities commence Thursday morning and continue through Sunday.

Scheffler is used here as the example because he won the NV5 in 2019, when it debuted and was known as the Evans Scholars Invitational. Scheffler went around The Glen Club four times with an aggregate of 17-under-par 273 – with a final round back nine of 30 – and then beat Marcelo Rozo on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff.

It was his first win on the then-Web.com Tour, and kick-started his pro career. By the end of the season, Scheffler led the both the regular and playoff points and earned a spot on the PGA Tour. He has been rolling since then, with this year’s six wins, including a second Masters, the best stretch of his career.

The next Scheffler? Maybe it’s Trace Crowe, last year’s winner, who advanced to the PGA Tour via qualifying school after coming close to getting his card via the Korn Ferry trail.

“Chicago’s where all this started,” said Crowe recently. “The confidence and believe that I can be where I am now.”

Crowe, who tees off in the 3M Championship on the big tour Thursday, could be back here next year. While he’s made $448,709 so far, he’s 165th in the Tour’s standings, and only the top 100 are locked in for the following year. Everyone else goes into the Korn Ferry playoff mosh pit. Curtis Thompson, the 2020 winner at The Glen Club, is the only returnee of the first five winners.

A glance at the pairings finds a cross between fringe PGA Tour players of the past, recent notable amateurs – including last year’s Western Amateur winner, Kazuma Kobori of Auckland, New Zealand – and sundry other hopefuls.

Remember Bo Van Pelt, knocking around the PGA Tour for years? He’s here. So is Jamie Lovemark, who won the 2005 Western Amateur, turned pro and has been chasing stardom since. Likewise Tag Ridings, who may still have his own fan club. Five-time PGA Tour winner Ben Crane’s on hand as well.

Local heroes abound. Brad Hopfinger, who won an Illinois Open at The Glen Club, is teeing it up. So is two-time Illinois Amateur champ Ethan Farnam of Crystal Lake, now playing for cash. The field is deep enough that Dylan Meyer, erstwhile Illinois standout, is the ninth alternate.

There’s a million bucks on offer, and $180,000 to the winner, the same pricey purse the Western Open offered in 1989. In 1990, when the Hogan Tour began, the purses were $100,000, with $20,000 to the champion. The world of golf has changed. But the Scottie Schefflers of the game still emerge.

– Tim Cronin

Beaudreau breaks through at IWO

Writing from Romeoville, Illinois

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Ten years and six days ago, Lauren Beaudreau won an American Junior Golf Association tournament at Mistwood Golf Club. After it, she posed with the Midwest Junior Players trophy with one of Mistwood’s iconic bridges in the background.

Tuesday, Beaudreau returned to the same spot, with a different trophy. She posed with the Phil Kosin Cup, emblematic of victory in the Phil Kosin Illinois Women’s Open.

“This is definitely a trophy I wanted my name associated with,” Beaudreau said while clutching the cup.

Beaudreau, a Lemont native who won a state title at Benet Academy in 2018 and captured the NCAA East Regional for Notre Dame in May, triumphed in her fourth start as a professional, following tournaments in Normal, Ill., Michigan and Florida since turning pro following graduation. A final-hole birdie 4 gave her the title by a stroke over Nicole Jeray and amateurs Carolina Lopez-Chacarra of Madrid, Spain and Caroline Smith of Inverness.

Jeray also birdied the last, but Beaudreau, who went for the par-5 in two and saw her approach land just off the green, chipped to three feet and sank the winning putt.

“I’ve never gone for that green in two,” Beaurdeau said. “But I hit my drive 304 yards and I only had a 6-iron in. It felt a little silly to lay up. It seemed like a no-brainer.”

It proved to be the winning move, as Jeray played the hole conventionally, sinking a 10-footer for her birdie, finishing with a 1-under 71 for 2-under 142 compared to Beaudreau’s closing 71 for 3-under 141.

“I feel like Mistwood really sets up for my game,” said Beaudreau, who has played Mistwood often in the last decade. “The first day I got off to a really hot start – 4-under through seven holes. I didn’t have my best ball-striking today, but I grinded it out.”

And withstood the pressure.

“People say the more you’re in that position, the easier it gets, but I think it never feels the same,” Beaudreau said. “I could have been in the lead 50 times but every time you’re in that position, it feels different. I did feel some nerves today. Sometimes it’s on cruise control and somethings it’s a battle. Today I had to scrape it around.”

Birdies on the 17th and 18th on Monday brought her in at 2-under 70. But she was tied for fourth with five holes to play, behind Lopez-Chacarra, Smith and overnight leader Jessica Jolly. Beaudreau played the last five holes in 1-under, four pars followed by the birdie at the last, while both Lopez-Chacarra and Smith lost a stroke and Jolly lost three. Jeray had four birdies on the back nine, but bogeys on 14 and 15 from putts that slid past the cup doomed her.

Jeray plays more of her golf in senior tournaments these days, but a generation ago, she was in Beaudreau’s position, just graduated from Northern Illinois and trying to break into professional golf.

“She’s a lot better than I was,” Jeray said. “She hits it longer. And she plays against better competition. There are a lot more players now.”

Beaudreau tied for 16th in the Florida Women’s Open last week, tied for ninth in the Michigan PGA Women’s Open in late June, and opened her professional career with a tie for third in the Redbird Championship at the Weibring Golf Course at Illinois State in mid-June.

She earned $3,100 there. That and the $5,000 she picked up for winning at Mistwood will more than take care of her LPGA qualifying tournament fee next month.

Jolly, a Rockford native who’ll be entering Illinois State next month, added an untidy 77 to her opening 5-under 67 and finished solo fifth at even par 144.

– Tim Cronin