Writing from Chicago
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
The image is indelible. Jim Furyk, in the mottled shadows of the ninth green at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest late on a Friday afternoon, pumping his right fist, the crowd going wild, after his final stroke of the day.
His 59th stroke.
Golf’s magic number, on the scorecard and in the record books as the lowest round – by three strokes – in the long and lusty history of the Western Open / BMW Championship.
And with a bogey, no less.
Furyk’s 12-under-par round, amazingly, did not vault him to victory at Conway Farms. That prize went to Zach Johnson, while leader Henrik Stenson faded to 33rd and blew up a locker but rebounded to capture the FedEx Cup point playoff and the Road to Dubai playoff as well, making him the first player to double up as the postseason champion of both the PGA and European tours.
But if Conway Farms’ members hunt around for a reason to put a plaque up commemorating the 2013 edition, it’ll be for Furyk’s fanciful feat.
Scoring 12-under-par 59 in the caldron of the playoffs was simply the best round of golf in the history of golf in Chicago. Thus, it stands unquestionably as the highlight of the 122nd year of golf in Illinois – using Charles Blair Macdonald’s creation of the seven-hole course on the backyard of the Farwell estate and the edge of a city park in Lake Forest in 1892 as the beginning of the game here.
What old C.B. might have thought of such an insane number penciled onto a scorecard can only be guessed at, but Furyk’s wonder round has relegated to a fight for second place such breathtaking feats as Ben Hogan’s 62 in the third round of the Hale America at Ridgemoor Country Club in 1942, Tiger Woods’ then record-tying 62 in the 2009 Western at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club, and the back-to-back 62s of Annika Sorenstam and Rosie Jones to open the 2002 Kellogg-Keebler Classic at Stonebridge Country Club in Aurora.
Opening on Conway’s back nine, Furyk had birdied his first three holes, made another birdie on the 14th, then eagled the par-4 15th by dunking a 9-iron from 115 yards. He was 6-under after six holes. Birdies on 17 and 18 equaled 7-under-par 28 on Conway’s inward half.
Then, he took stock of the situation.
“I’ve never shot 28 before to start with,” Furyk said. “It kind of dawned on me at the turn that it would only – only is a tough way to say it – it only takes 4-under on the (par 35) front to break the barrier of 60.
“The way I played it out in my head was, the back nine was over. I was just going to play the front nine and shoot as low as I could. I was trying to take the nerves out of it. Heck, I’ve shot 4-under on nine holes probably 100 times in my career. Probably even more.”
After a par on the first hole, it got crazy. A 13-footer for birdie on the par-3 second, in the shadow of the clubhouse. A 26-foot bird on the third, and a 5-foot bird on the fourth hole. He was 11-under for the first 13 holes, 10-under for the championship. Somehow, Brandt Snedeker, whose 63 on Thursday seemed a formidable score, was still in front.
So Furyk stood in the fairway on the fifth hole, on the eastern edge of the course by the railroad tracks, where galleries were small, hit the back of the green with his approach, and three-putted from 29 feet. The birdie try slid by the hole and the comebacker lipped out on the low side.
He was 10-under through 14 holes. Parring in would equal 61. He wanted better than that.
Furyk parred the sixth, birdied the par-4 seventh via a gap wedge to 11 feet, worked for his par on the par-5 eighth after ending up in the grass face of a bunker when hunting the pin on his second, and came to the par-4 ninth needing three strokes for 59.
The drive was long and perfect, 281 yards, middle-right.
“I knew the pin was in a benign spot,” Furyk said.
And 103 yards out. For Jim Furyk, on a windless day, that means a “smooth” gap wedge. It was pure. The gallery was cheering when the ball was at the apex of its flight, louder still when it hit the middle of the green, louder than that when it stopped three feet away.
“I noticed how many people came out to watch,” Furyk said.
He smiled when someone from the South Side – the accent was unmistakable – shouted, “Jimmy, I’ll give it to you!” while Furyk was marking his ball.
There was no need. The putt was perfect. Fifty-nine!
What else happened in state golf this year? Plenty. Herewith, the highlights:
Person of the Year
Ed Magaletta, who was playing in a foursome at Annbrier Golf Course in downstate Waterlook on March 8 when he heard a shout from behind him on the par-5 14th hole. One of his pals, Mark Mihal, had disappeared into a sinkhole. He took a step, it opened up, and whoomph! Mihal was in the bottom of a hole with a dislocated shoulder.
Playing partner Mike Peters got there first, with Hank Martinez, the fourth in the group. And when course general manager Russ Nobbe arrived with a ladder and rope, Magaletta, using his medical training and common sense, and amazingly having a flashlight with him – what well-prepared golfer doesn’t have one? – decided not to wait for paramedics. He went down the ladder, slid the rest of the way down to Mihal, and put a rope around his pal’s waist.
Within 20 minutes, Mihal was back above ground, and Magaletta was a hero. He ought not have to buy a drink or round of golf playing with Mihal for the rest of his life.
Player of the Year
Carlos Sainz Jr. nearly won the Illinois Open, falling to Joe Kinney in a three-man playoff at the Glen Club. But Sainz, who came into the state championship after winning the Players Cup in Canada the day before, rebounded nicely two months later, capturing the revived Chicago Open at Cantigny Golf. Coupled with his success north of the border, the P2 and 1 finish in the two big non-Tour tournaments in the state earned Sainz, a 26-year-old from Elgin, Illinois Golfer Player of the Year honors.
Shot of the Year
Jordan Spieth came to the 18th hole at Deere Run on Sunday needing a birdie to keep alive the hope of falling into a playoff in the John Deere Classic. He’d birdied the previous two holes, but plopped his approach into the right greenside bunker at the last. The green runs away from you and toward the water from there.
So Spieth, a mere 19 years old, merely holed the bunker shot for a birdie. That meant a spot in a three-way playoff with David Hearn and defending champion Zach Johnson when Johnson bogeyed the last. And Spieth, after the others had gilt-edged opportunities to win – hats were already off for the handshakes – won the playoff with a par on that same 18th, the fifth sudden-death hole, to jump-start his career.
Suddenly, he had a spot in the British Open, a passel of playoff points, a PGA Tour card through 2015, and $828,000 burning a hole in his pocket. But it doesn’t happen unless the impossible happens.
“I dodged a lot of bullets,” Spieth said. “Whatever it was, the Golf Gods up there, I just caught the breaks. They were hitting great shots, and I was just making the six-footer to go to the next one. Just somehow found an opening.”
No teen has won on the PGA Tour since Ralph Guldahl, like Spieth a Texas, won the Santa Monica Open at Riviera Country Club in 1931. Eighty-two years later, here was Spieth posting 265 and surviving five more holes to equal the old legend.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve those breaks,” Spieth said.
Sometimes, there doesn’t have to be a reason.
Executives of the Year
Carrie Williams, executive director of the Illinois Junior Golf Association, and IJGA president Marty Schiene, for spearheading the successful rebirth of the Chicago Open, an old title with a grand history. The 2013 edition featured a purse of close to $50,000, and many amenities, from player dining to live scoring, that bought it a cut above the usual fare for mini-tour players.
The location – Cantigny Golf in Wheaton, site of several USGA and CDGA tournaments over the years – was also a plus. It was conducted impeccably, and next year, with dates earlier than October, should attract a larger field than the 114 who were exempted or qualified in 2013.
Hail and Farewell
Notable deaths in 2013 included this quartet, all of whom made an impact in golf in Illinois and beyond:
Dick Hart, 77, member of Illinois Golf Hall of Fame, retired pro at Hinsdale Golf Club who won eight state majors (three Illinois Opens, two Illinois PGAs, three Illinois PGA Match-Plays) and excelled in occasional forays on PGA Tour, notably beating Phil Rodgers in an eight-hole sudden-death playoff for the 1985 Azalea Open; also led the 1963 PGA Championship after 36 holes, April 10.
Bill Heald, 85, member of Illinois Golf Hall of Fame, tireless chair of the hall’s selection committee, multi-national PGA award winner, rules guru, and retired pro at Riverside Golf Club, Dec. 6.
Carl Hopphan, 80, member of Illinois Golf Hall of Fame, most recently oversaw the Sunshine Course at Midwest Golf House and raised funds for the Sunshine Through Golf Foundation; previously pioneering superintendent at Aurora and Evanston golf clubs, a total of 43 years at the helm, May 26.
Ken Venturi, 82, twice winner of the Gleneagles-Chicago Open at the Lemont course and a television commentator on CBS’s decades of Western Open coverage from Butler National and Cog Hill, one month and a day after the death of broadcasting partner Pat Summerall (who also had a Chicago connection: he played for the Cardinals for two seasons), May 17.
The Champions of 2013
BMW Championship / Western Open – Zach Johnson
John Deere Classic – Jordan Spieth
Encompass Championship – Craig Stadler
Western Amateur – Jordan Niebrugge
Western Junior – Collin Morikawa
Women’s Western Amateur – Ashlan Ramesy
Women’s Western Junior – Heather Ciskowski
Chicago Open – Carlos Sainz Jr.
Illinois Open – Joe Kinney
Illinois Women’s Open – Elise Swartout
Illinois PGA – Mike Small
Illinois PGA Match Play – Curtis Malm
Illinois Players – Eric Ilic
Illinois PGA Senior – Doug Bauman
Illinois Amateur – Tim Kelly
Illinois Women’s Amateur – Bing Singhsumalee
Illinois Junior Amateur – Brendan O’Reilly
Illinois Junior Women’s Amateur – Renee Solberg
Illinois Mid-Amateur – Todd Mitchell
Illinois Senior Amateur – Dave Ryan
Illinois Senior Women’s Amateur – Leslie Page
Illinois Public Links – Mike Henry
CDGA Championship – Bryce Emory
CWDGA Championship – Rosanna Lederhausen
IJGA-CDGA Junior Amateur – Robert Renner
CDGA Mid-Amateur – Matther Minder
CDGA Senior Amateur – Tom Miler
CDGA Public Links – Ken Molnar
Chick Evans Junior Boys – Orion Yamat
Chick Evans Junior Girls – Jessica Yuen
Symetra Tour Players Championship – Sue Kim
Radix Cup – Illinois PGA Professionals
Thanks for playing
Ken-Loch Golf Links was slated to close for good at the end of the 2013 season, but DuPage County has yet to rezone the 31-acre property in Lombard to allow apartment buildings, the only way co-owners Richard Kensinger and Linda Lies, whose father built the course in 1963, believe they can get a proper price for the land. Will Ken-Loch, a fun nine-holer, open for a 52nd season? Stay with us.
Meanwhile, Tuesday brought the news that 2014 will be the 27th and final season for Woodbine Golf Club in Homer Glen. The village is buying the course for $3.3 million, with the clubhouse to become the village hall and the property to become a park, which the village does not have.
Finally...
Congratulations to 2012 Western Open / BMW Championship winner Rory McIlroy on his New Year’s Eve engagement to tennis star Caroline Wozniacki. That’s the way to turn a bad year into an absolute winner!
And birdies and eagles to all of you in 2014!
– Tim Cronin