Davan's 66: Route to redemption?

    Writing from Glenview, Illinois
    Monday, July 21, 2014

    A year ago, Michael Davan left The Glen Club with his head spinning.
    A double-bogey on the final hole, when all he needed was a par-5, cost him the Illinois Open title. He didn’t even make the three-way playoff, which was captured by Joe Kinney.
    Monday, he left the course with his head held high. Scoring 6-under-par 66, Davan holds the lead entering the second round of the 65th Illinois Open.
    “This tournament’s been on my calendar the whole year,” said the 25-year-old Davan, who lives in Hoopeston. “It affected me more afterwards than I thought it would. It’s been fuel for me.”
    Davan ignited with a 5-under 31 on the back nine, his first nine holes, and added a 1-over 35 on his inward nine.
    That earned him a one-stroke lead over Bloomington amateur Alex Burge, a senior at Illinois who described his 67 as “as boring as I would like. It’s what Coach (Mike Small) says. One shot at a time. You want to make it boring.”
    A casual observer would have thought otherwise. Burge rolled in a 30-footer for birdie on the par-5 first, a 20-footer for a birdie on the par-4 third, a 10-footer for a deuce on the par-3 fourth, and two-putted for birdie on the fifth after reaching the par-5 in two.
    Ho hum.
    “It was solid,” Burge said. “I managed my game well, dropped a couple of putts.”
    Birdies on the 14th and 15th rounded out his round. Meanwhile, Davan was exorcising the demon of last year. He started to do so on Sunday, when, during a practice round, he dropped a ball on the same spot on the 18th and again took dead aim with the 3-wood that cost him so dearly a year ago.
    “Smoked it on the green,” Davan said. “It was good to hit that shot.”
    And better to finish his first nine with a birdie on the hole in the first round.
    “I have a better game plan going into this year,” Davan added.
    It paid off in January with a win in a one-round mini-tour tournament in Sarasota, Fla., but the Illinois Open was always in the back of his mind. Monday, he hit 14 greens and played the par-5s in 3-under.
    Scott Baines of Chicago, an assistant at Bryn Mawr Country Club, had a roller-coaster round en route to his 4-under 68 and a tie with Dustin Korte, Brad Hopfinger and Michael Schachner.
    Baines opened with two birdies, added two bogeys, then scored a couple more birdies to finish his front nine, then a was sideswiped by double-bogey on the par-3 11th. Finally, he collected four birdies in the last six holes, including a chip-in bird on the 13th.
    “It was a very interesting round of golf today,” said Baines, the anti-Burge.
    It comes after a sub-par performance, and not in a scoreboard way, at the PGA’s national club pro soiree. Baines missed the cut, and that’s put a burr in his saddle.
    “I feel I had to redeem myself a little bit,” Baines said.   
    Pro Bryce Emory (Aurora) and amateurs Thomas O’Bryan (Aurora) and Michael Abrahamson (Chicago) are locked at 3-under 69, while seniors Billy Rosinia and Jim Sobb, along with amateur Brian Bullington (Frankfort) are among a large group at 2-under 70.
    Defending champion Joe Kinney is among those at 1-under 71.
    “I wasn’t hitting the ball as solid as I liked but kept it in play and didn’t have any penalties,” Kinney said. “Finishing 1-under-par, I’m still in position.”
    There are 21 players under par and another 11 at even par 72. The cut, which fell at 3-over 147 last year, is to the low 50 and ties. That means four-time winner Mike Small, tied for 88th after an opening 77, will have to step on it.
    Country Club of Decatur head pro Steve Orrick had the shot of the day, an ace on the 191-yard 17th hole. He wielded a 7-iron, collecting the fourth hole-in-one of his career.
    While Hans Larson of Mount Prospect withdrew after four holes and amateur Trevor Jay of Westmont was disqualified for an incomplete scorecard – he was 18-over through 16 holes, as well – the oddest occurrence of the day was Tim “Tee-K” Kelly’s withdrawal due to a medical emergency. He’s fine now, doctors having diagnosed him with severe dehydration. Kelly believes it’s because of what he ate and drank on Sunday. He returned to the course at about 7:30 p.m., after an emergency trip to Glenbrook Hospital, having withdrawn after nine holes.
    Kelly said he began feeling heart palpitations in the morning, but decided to play and became more agitated as his front nine went on in the early afternoon. He fanned on a shot at one point, and asked for paramedics to be called on the 18th hole, his ninth. (The winner of last year’s Illinois Amateur, had uncharacteristically been 8-over through seven holes.)
    Kelly, a sophomore at Ohio State, finished the hole with a marvelous chip to inches from the hole, then walked to an ambulance. Three hours later, he was back at the course, feeling and looking much better.
    – Tim Cronin