Mickelson trumps 100th Illinois PGA field

By Tim Cronin

Reporting from Ivanhoe, Illinois

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Seven years ago, Andy Mickelson was a PGA professional without a golf course.

He was working a desk job in a packaging facility. Then Mistwood called, and his life changed.

Wednesday, he celebrated again, winning the 100th Illinois PGA Championship by four strokes via his third straight 1-under-par 71. His total of 3-under 213 on the difficult Ivanhoe Club layout earned him his first Illinois major, a year after he tied for second and two after he was joint fifth.

“It’s five years since I did something special,” Mickelson said, recalling a victory at Pebble Beach in a TaylorMade-sponsored tournament. “I truly did take it one shot at a time today.”

Mickelson kept his game together, hitting most of Ivanhoe’s narrow fairways and, by his counting, 17 greens. That led to 15 pars, two birdies and a solitary bogey as the only player to finish under par. In comparison, the others in his group, Garrett Chaussard and Tim Streng, scored 76 and 81, respectively.

“Garrett has a bad start and Tim has a bad start, and I almost make it (with an approach on No. 3), and I think, ‘Why not me?’ ” Mickelson said.

Why not indeed. He trailed Chaussard by a stroke entering the day, and was four ahead of was him and Kurt Rogers of Champaign Country Club at the turn.

“I’ve been in the last group the last three years,” Mickelson said. “The rut I got into was playing match play against the guys in my group. I didn’t do that today.”

He didn’t check a leader board until the back nine and loved what he saw. He finished with eight straight pars, agonizing over missed birdie chances on several occasions.

“I could have shot a special number,” Mickelson said. “I put a lot into every shot. That’s why I’m exhausted right now.”

Rogers, 60, was encouraged to make the long trip from his home in Forsyth, a Decatur suburb, by Illinois Section tournament director Brad Slocum, who thought his arrow-straight driving game would buoy his chances on the narrow course. That proved correct.

“I probably hit driver 10 (of 14) times,” Rogers said. “I tried to stay patient. You can’t go firing at every flag.”

He made 11 birdies in three days, including three in the final round, with two in the last four holes.

Mickelson earned $9,800 from the purse of $81,650 for the victory, with Rogers and Chaussard, who tied for second at 1-over 217, collecting $5,690.50 each. Chris French of Aldeen in Rockford was solo fourth at 2-over 218, and earned $4,333.

All of the above made the PGA club pro championship – formally the National Professional Championship. It’ll be Mickelson’s third appearance.

“I thought I was prepared for it last time and wasn’t,” Mickelson said. “I couldn’t have been more uncomfortable. I learned so much. Now I know better where I rank among pros around the country.”

Higher than before, to be sure, and with limitless possibilities.

Around Ivanhoe

Chris Green of Glen View Club had a tough day, scoring 6-over 78 and snapping a club while throwing two along the way. An earlier version of this story had him scoring 77 and snapping two clubs, but only one snapped when thrown across Ivanhoe’s verdant turf. … The 10 club pro qualifiers: Mickelson, Rogers, Chaussard, French, Frank Hohenadel, Matt Slowinski, Brian Carroll, David Pagelow, Streng and Reece Bartlet, the latter beating Curtis Malm, Andrew Godfrey and Jim Billiter for the last contested spot. Mike Small, the Illinois men’s coach, is also in as a past champion. Small played the last three holes of the second round in 7-over, and triple-bogeyed the first hole Wednesday. He scored 5-over 221 and finished seventh. If he played those four holes in even par, he beats Mickelson by two.