Perkins paces Illinois Open entering final round

Writing from Naperville, Illinois

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

There was a time when the Illinois Open leader board would be crowded with club pros, both head and assistant, plus an amateur or two.

The amateurs are there, but the club pros, the veterans who give lessons and work behind the counter more hours than they envisioned growing up, aren’t on the first page of the standings any more.

They’ve been replaced by the up-and-comers, the college students who hope for tour glory some day and those recently graduated who are chasing it.

Wednesday’s final threesome for the 73rd Illinois Open is the prototype for the current era. David Perkins and Varun Chopra, both in the larval stages of their professional careers, and college amateur Marcus Smith Jr., will tee it up at White Eagle Golf Club, each hoping to lift the old trophy at the end of the day.

Perkins, a former CDGA Amateur winner from East Peoria who is fresh out of Illinois State, is at 4-under 140 after a 3-under 69 in the heat of the afternoon. Chopra, a Champaign native who played for Illinois, and then a year at Northwestern while pursuing a graduate degree in sports administration, also scored 69 for 3-under 141. Each is also looking to snag the first prize of at least $20,000 from the record purse of $125,000. Smith, the Rockford standout headed to Howard University for his junior year in the fall, added a 1-under 71 to his opening 70 for 141. As an amateur, he would gladly settle for holding the trophy.

All three players are from well outside the immediate Chicago area, as is Luke Gannon of Mahomet, one of two players at 2-under 142 following a 4-under 68. Of the top five, only Anthony Albano Jr. of Park Ridge, who matched Gannon’s 68, is a Chicagoland resident.

Brad Benjamin of Rockford was the last downstate winner, at Hawthorn Woods Country Club in 2009.

Perkins said the conditions were among the most difficult he’s dealt with.

“I like it when it’s hard; it eliminates some of the field,” Perkins said. “I have no experience with PGA Tour or championship golf, but it’s got all those attributes.”

Nonetheless, Perkins birdied five holes, including the inward par-5s, Nos. 14 and 17, coming in, and had only two bogeys compared to Monday’s four blemishes.

“I made good shots coming in to make pars,” Perkins said.

Chopra’s 69 featured a quartet of birdies across six holes on the back nine, including a 15-footer for a 3 on the par-4 15th. Even a bogey at the last occasioned by a watery tee shot didn’t dampen his mood.

“I played pretty good; I haven’t played great yet,” Chopra said. “I had a good stretch there.”

Chopra is working through a swing change but tries not to think about it on the course.

“You play golf, try to be creative,” Chopra said of his mindset.

Smith, following his opening 70 with a 1-under 71 to reach 141, closed his round with a splendid par save on the ninth hole. Bunkered off the tee, he opened up a 9-iron and slammed the ball to the back of the uphill green, from where he two-putted for a par 4. He had faced a similar lie in a bunker on No. 4, played a similar shot, and filed the experience away.

This is Smith’s second tournament at White Eagle this season. Clearly, he’s using the experience gained in the Mid-American Conference championship, where he finished tied for 26th at 13-over 229, to good effect.

“That helped me a lot,” Smith said. “I learned a lot about the course: Where to hit it and where the misses are. Where can I miss it and still be in good position. Knowing that gives me a lot of confidence on the tee, because if it doesn’t go exactly how I want it, I can have a spot to miss it and still be fine.

“And the conditions were a lot tougher during the MAC. It windy and it was cold, so the ball didn’t go as far.”

Gannon, whose second place finish last year makes him the highest returning player with winner Tim “Tee-K” Kelly on the Korn Ferry Tour, birdied three of the last five holes to race home with his 68. But he didn’t think it spectacular.

“A lot of good two-putts,” Gannon said. “The pins are definitely tucked.”

Gannon got experience with that in June, when he played in the U.S. Open at The Country Club, where he had one nine of 1-under but missed the cut.

Pierre Grieve of Lake Forest is among the elites tied for sixth at 1-under 143, and took that position with a 2-under 70. His round was marked by a 150-yard 8-iron to three feet for a kick-in birdie on the eighth hole and a two-putt birdie after driving the green on the 330-yard 10th hole.

“It was a pretty stress-free round; a lot of 3-irons off the tee,” said Grieve, entering his sophomore year at Louisville, and who, in trying to qualify for the Western Amateur, didn’t play a practice round at White Eagle.

Around White Eagle

The cut came at 6-over 150, advancing 56 players to Wednesday’s final round, including Tim Puetz of Deer Park Golf Club in Peru, who was in the next-to-last group and birdied his last hole, the par-4 ninth, to squeeze in. … Final round tee times have been moved up to dodge potential threatening weather in the late afternoon. Players will commence in threesomes beginning at 8 a.m. off both tees. … Monday’s unrecognized highlight was the ace authored by Reece Bartlet of Warrenville on the 150-yard fifth hole. The first round scoring average on the par 72 course was 78.15 strokes, with the field improving to 75.82 strokes in the second round.

– Tim Cronin