Morrison unstoppable in ESI rout

Writing from Glenview, Illinois

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Looking for the next Scottie Scheffler?

Try Tommy Morrison. Here’s why:

1. He went to Texas like Scheffler, graduating last month.

2. He’s big, as in 6-foot-9.

3. He has a languid and powerful swing.

4. He’s a birdie machine.

5. He’s improved his position in each of his first four tournaments on the Korn Ferry Tour: a tie for 10th, a tie for fifth, solo second, and Sunday at The Glen Club, a victory – going away.

Morrison birdied the first five holes and ran away from the field like a rabbit hungry for green – in his case, $180,000 from the $1 million purse put up by the Western Golf Association.

An eagle 2 on the par-4 15th from 20 feet 7 inches was the capper on an amazing week.

His score looks like a typographical error: A tournament-record 29-under-par 255 on rounds of 65-63-64-63, the latter a bogey-free spree. It placed him three strokes ahead of runner-up Dylan Menante, who finished that close thanks to an eagle 3 at the last for a closing 65.

There was one more critical ingredient to Morrison’s victory: His caddie, Scott McGuinness, who caddied for Scheffler here in the inaugural ESI in 2019 and has been everywhere and seen everyone on tours large and small when it comes to today’s talent.

McGuinness’ assessment of Morrison: “Straightaway, he was amazing. The way he hits the ball is second to none. The sky’s the limit. Scottie progressed into a phenomenal player, but Tommy’s ball-striking is definitely on par and probably ahead of where Scottie was when he started. They say tall guys have trouble hitting the ball but he’s one of the best ball-strikers I’ve seen.”

Morrison also has a velvet touch around the greens. His roll for the eagle on 15, which sealed the deal, was the last in a series of perfect putts across four days.

Those five birdies to start Sunday? That wasn’t his longest streak. He birdied six straight – Nos. 12 through 17 – on Saturday. That’s 11 birdies in 12 holes, and 60 strokes across Saturday’s back nine and Sunday’s front nine, which is how to devastate the field. He had 29 birdies in all.

“I don’t know what we do next week, right?’ McGuinness said. “Can’t do any better.”

“He knows my game better than I know my game,” Morrison said. “I can’t imagine this without him. That was a special hug there on 18.”

Anyone who saw him for more than a moment over four days would agree. But even the one-stroke lead Morrison enjoyed after 54 holes didn’t mean he rested easily.

“My girlfriend and I had plans to go to a pancake house down the street this morning, but I woke up at 2:30, and again at 4:30, and 7, so I just went back to bed at 8 and slept as long as I could,” Morrison said.

“It’s been crazy, awesome. I’d had a lot of experience around professional golf tournaments before turning pro, so I had a pretty good idea of what it’s going to feel like. That definitely helped the transition a little bit, but the last weeks, to finish 10th in Amarillo, being in the final group in Springfield, Colo., crazy.”

How far ahead was Morrison? Ross Steelman’s 8-under 63 featured the shot of the tournament – a 1 on the par-4 15th, a.k.a. an ace and an albatross all wrapped up in a 358-yard Glen Club package. A witness said the shot came in hard and low, skid-bounced, then hit the flagstick and dropped into the cup. Otherwise it would have raced off the green. Steelman ended up solo third, eight strokes in arrears.

Morrison, a Walker Cup veteran who made the Sweet Sixteen in last year’s Western Amateur, lauded the WGA for its sponsorship, but you have to feel he’ll not be back this way again on the Korn Ferry circuit. This is only the first step, but one has the feeling it’s the biggest one, and the others will be surmounted before football season.

Around The Glen Club

Expect the ESI to return for a ninth year next summer, with or without a title sponsor. NV5, which had appended its name to the tournament the past few years, didn’t renew for 2026. … Morrison’s parents, James and Alison, were on hand for the victory. … Morrison’s pal Jackson Koivun won the 3M Open on the PGA Tour, beating Scheffler by three strokes.

– Tim Cronin

Menante, Rosenmueller share ESI lead

Writing from Glenview, Illinois

Friday, July 24, 2026

If you liked the pace of British Open champion Ryan Fox, you’ll love Dylan Menante.

The 36-hole leader of the Evans Scholar Invitational could go toe-to-toe with Fox in speed golf and come out ahead. In Friday’s second round at The Glen Club, Menante was sometimes ready to hit his shot before his opponent’s ball stopped rolling on the green.

The brisk pace of the 25-year-old North Carolina graduate, one that harkened back to Chi Chi Rodiguez, was complemented by his sparkling play. Menante added a 7-under-par 64 to his opening 63 and vaulted over Tommy Morrison into the co-lead of the Korn Ferry Tour stop at the halfway point.

Menante’s company at the top is Thomas Rosenmueller, who announced himself at the dinner hour with an eagle 3 at the last for a 9-under 62 for 15-under 127.

“I got a pretty good lie for my drive (on the left fringe of the fairway) and it was a perfect number for my 4-iron,” said Rosenmueller, a 29-year-old German who won this affair two years ago when it was known as the NV5 Invitational. “It ended up 9 feet past it and I made the downhill right-to-lefter.”

Eagle 3, added to eight birdies and a bogey, pretty as you please.

For Menante, who won on the circuit earlier this season, it was his hottest start of the year. He didn’t see it coming.

“That’s just how golf is,” Menante said. “You can practice all you want, but it’s a lot different in a tournament. I’ve hit (only) a couple good shots, so my putting’s saving me quite a bit.”

Menante birdied his first there holes, then went 4-under the rest of the way, including sinking a sidehill 10-footer for a birdie on the par-5 18th. That placed him 127 after 36 holes and shoved him past Morrison, and it could have been better.

“I left a few out there,” said Menante, echoing countless golfers over the last 600 years.

As so often happens at The Glen Club, it was a day to go low, even with a brisk southwest wind that reached 15 mph racing over the lake by the 18th hole. It made holding a second shot on the green a challenge even for the longest hitters, such as Menante, who bounced his long approach into the rough behind the green. His delicate lob out of the deep stuff was almost too delicate, but he negotiated the final 10 feet without incident.

Morrison appended an 8-under 63 to his opening 65 for 128 and is solo third by two strokes over Davis Shore, Ryan Burnett and Jackson Buchanan, who sit at 12-under 130 entering the weekend.

Around The Glen Club

The day was punctuated by two aces on the 183-yard 17th hole. Jorge Garcia, in the morning, and Carson Young, in the afternoon, did the honors. The ace enabled Garcia to hang around for the weekend. He finished at 5-under 134 and made the cut on the number. … Admission is free to those who register at https://tickets.esinvitational.com/e/evans-scholars-invitational-2026/tickets … Northbrook’ Brian Ohr, Winnetka’s Patrick Adler, La Grange’s Daniel Hudson and erstwhile Illinois grad Luke Guthrie all missed the cut. 

– Tim Cronin

Choi captures 126th Women’s Western Amateur

Writing from Elmhurst, Illinois

Saturday, July 11, 2026

What commenced as something similar to hundreds of rounds of golf in the Chicago area, a couple of folks teeing it up a 7:30 a.m. under sunshine and a cool breeze, heated up even as the temperature did this morning.

By the finish, it was clear both Kylee Choi, the champion, and Grace Lee, the vanquished, dearly wanted to hold the W.A. Alexander Trophy, emblematic of the Women’s Western Amateur championship.

Choi did by virtue of a 2 and 1 triumph built on steady play, holding off Lee’s late rally by sinking a 5-foot birdie putt on River Forest Country Club’s par-5 17th hole to settle the issue in the 126th consecutive championship match.

In so doing, the 19-year-old Choi, from Murietta, Calif., served notice that she’s not only to be dealt with nationally, but also in the West Coast Conference. The freshman of the year in that league carrying Pepperdine’s colors, in Lee she knocked off the recent graduate from Gonzaga, among whose next steps is the LPGA qualifying tournament.

“It feels like a fever dream right now,” Choi said after calling her parents. Her mom broke into tears when the good news was relayed.

The key hole might have been the par-4 15th, where Lee was long with her approach and then overcooked a chip off the front of the green. Choi was looking at a sidehill two-putt for par and the potential of going dormie 3. Instead …

“On her second chip I just had this gut feeling she was going to make it,” Choi said.

Lee did, wowing the gallery. Choi’s two-putt kept her lead 2-up. The margin was trimmed in half when Lee parred the par-3 16th and Choi failed to get up-and-down after short-siding herself in a bunker.

Choi’s superior distance off the tee, on display through the round, helped decide the match. She had a half-wedge to the green of the par-5 17th and dropped it 5 feet from the cup, inches inside Lee’s fine third shot. Lee edged the right side of the cup with her birdie attempt, Choi sank hers, and that was it.

Lee aims for professional glory after barely falling short of capturing one of the venerable titles in the game. She had everything but luck on Saturday morning.

“It was a really tough match out there with really good competition,” Lee said. “After chipping in, I’m just thinking stay positive, keep marching forward. Match play is anyone’s game.

“She’s a great golfer, great competitor,” Lee said of Choi.

Lee, from Bellevue, Wash., had her sister on the bag, but Choi took ace club caddie Santiago, who has walked this leafy acreage for six summers and knows every inch of it.

Choi made it to the quarterfinals last year at Red Run Country Club near Detroit, losing in extra holes. That stuck in her craw.

“"I really wanted redemption here,” Choi said. “I haven't won a tournament in about six years, so I was not trying to regret anything."

She left River Forest with no regrets.

– Tim Cronin

Lee among three to lead Women's Western Am pack

Writing from Elmhurst, Illinois

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Rachel Lee of Australia was 1-over after two holes of her second qualifying round in the 126th Women’s Western Amateur after a ho-hum even par round on Tuesday. Staying there would make qualifying for match play, limited to the low 32 players, dicey.

She didn’t stay there. She moved, and vigorously.

Lee birdied seven of her next 14 holes and raced back to the clubhouse at leafy and steamy River Forest Country Club with a 6-under-par 66, good for a 36-hole aggregate of 6-under 138 and a share of medalist honors in this oldest continuously-played championship in golf. To say the least, she felt comfortable.

“This course is very similar to my Sydney course,” said Lee, who won the Sydney Amateur late last year. “It felt more like home. I was a little worried, but not too worried, because yesterday I started with two bogeys. I knew I could get it back.”

Her 66, which she thought was highlighted by a deuce on the par-3 seventh via a 13-foot putt, her 16th hole, matched the best round of qualifying. Thailand’s Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang, affectionately known to one and all as “Pinky,” fired a 66 on Tuesday, and remained in the lead until squandering four strokes to par across the first five holes of her final nine on Tuesday. Her total of 4-under 140 after Wednesday’s 2-over 74 still qualified her easily.

Lee was matched at 138 by Oregon State senior Raya Nakao of Kaheohe, Hawaii and Pepperdine sophomore Kylee Choi of Murrieta, Calif. They shot 70 and 68, respectively, in the second round to grab a share of medalist honors.

“It’s pretty tough conditions out there,” Nakao said. “You’ve got to keep it in the fairways here. The rough is pretty high. Playing in the short stuff makes it easier. And the greens can be tricky to read. But my putting has saved me.”

Grace Lee of Bellevue, Wash., and Jaclyn LaHa of Pleasanton, Calif., tied for fourth at 5-under 139. The lone area qualifier is Alabama-bound Alli Wiertel of west suburban Oswego, who added 1-over 73 to Tuesday’s opening 70 for a 1-under 143 total.

The playoff at even par 144 encompassed nine players chasing the last seven match play spots.

– Tim Cronin

Gotterup wins a major Deere

Writing from Silvis, Illinois

Sunday, July 5, 2026

Those who believe the John Deere Classic is the runt of the PGA Tour haven’t been around Chris Gotterup. Earlier this year, at no less than the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Gotterup said the Deere was his personal fifth major.

Sunday at TPC Deere Run, Gotterup showed why. Starting the day five strokes behind the leaders, right on the edge of being considered in contention, Gotterup fired a 9-under-par 62 to first jump into the fight and then into a tie for the lead, and finally the outright lead.

There he stayed. Finishing an hour ahead of overnight leaders Lucas Glover and Lee Hodges, with no less than perennial contender Zach Johnson and the likes of Rickie Fowler to jump over, Gotterup won the 55th Deere by a stroke over fast-closing Max Homa and by two over Glover, Hodges and Ben Kohles, who was tied with Gotterup on the 18th fairway and splashed his approach at the last, leading to a double-bogey.

Gotterup was on the range at that moment, alternating between hitting warmup shots and watching on his phone. When Kohles finished, Gotterup and his caddie, younger brother Patrick, had a long embrace, and Gotterup had tears in his eyes during his first interview.

“They’ve been super nice to me,” Gotterup said. “Clair (Peterson, then the tournament director) gave me an exemption four years ago. That kick-started my career.”

Gotterup finished fourth in the 2022 Deere and was on his way. The 26-year-old has now won five times on the PGA Tour, and four times in the last 52 weeks. After his triumph, he was one of 33 players to board the Deere-supplied charter to the Scottish Open, where he’s the defending champion. Given his position entering the round and the need to hop over some notables, this might have been his least likely victory.

“I really felt like I grinded it out this week,” Gotterup said. “Today it kind of all came together, but the first three days I didn’t have my best stuff.”

He noted his “not so good” stuff is now better than it was. Sunday, his best stuff was golden. He one-putted 13 greens, needed only 23 putts, and was 4-for-4 scrambling in a round that was bogey free.

His best shot was the chip shot from 44 feet to 32 inches on the par-5 17th to set up a birdie putt and the 20-under status that earned him the title.

“My short game has been kind of iffy over the last couple of weeks, which is why I wanted to keep playing and getting good reps,” Gotterup said. “It’s a mix of hitting it in the right spots, and I did a great job of that today. It’s not going to happen very day, but when it happens, usually good things happen.” 

He was hardly playing slovenly golf earlier in the week. He made only three bogeys in his first 54 holes.

Kohles would have paid good money for a par on the 18th and instead spent it with the hook that caromed off the sloped rough to the left of the green, bounding off the stone and into the pond. He needed a miracle chip-in to force a playoff, and even after a drop from a sprinkler head that gave him a 45-foot putt, managed only a double-bogey 6.

“I was a little in between (clubs),” Kohles said. “I hit an 8-iron and thought 9 was going to be too short. I was trying to hit a three-quarter punch shot. Tugged it a little.

“Obviously sucks to just have that happen on the final hole, but hey, I learned a lot about myself."

If not for Gotterup’s 62, Homa would be holding the trophy. His 7-under 64 matched the second-low round of the day.

“I had a good chance to catch him; he just played better,” Homa said. “He’s a phenomenal golfer. I tip my cap but that’s not exactly how I felt out there. I just needed to be a little sharper.”

Around the Deere

Arlington Heights native Doug Ghim finished tied for sixth after a 3-under 68 for 17-under 267, good for a $297,000 check. … Amateur Preston Stout used a final round 69 to finish tied for 15th at 14-under 270. … Fan favorite Zach Johnson posted a final round 68 for 16-under 268, tying for ninth. … Gotterup’s haul was $1,584,000, a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, and 500 points in the playoff race, where he’s now sixth. … Deere Run averaged 68.684 strokes Sunday, just off the record fourth-round low of 68.660 two years ago. For the week, Deere Run took 69.330 strokes to negotiate, 1.670 strokes under par, fourth lowest in Deere history and second-lowest at TPC Deere Run (69.190 in 2010 was the low).

– Tim Cronin