Carroll beats Small in playoff for IPGA title

Writing from Barrington, Illinois

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Brian Carroll had been there before, been in the heat with something important on the line.

There was the 2018 Illinois PGA Championship, where he landed in a playoff with Brian Chang at Stonewall Orchard, and came up short.

There was the subsequent PGA club pro championship, where he landed in a playoff for one of the last spots in the PGA Championship, and just missed.

Then there was Wednesday in the final round of the 101st Illinois PGA Championship at Makray Memorial Golf Club, where he was three strokes behind tri-leaders Mike Small, Kyle Donovan and Curtis Malm at the turn and needing something special to happen to climb back into contention.

Something did. Carroll played the back nine in 5-under 31 for a tournament-best 4-under 67 and 6-under 207, then watched Small, the 13-time winner of this imbroglio, birdie the par-5 18th himself. Carroll then beat Small 10-12 in the three-hole aggregate playoff to capture his first state major, making birdies on the first and last holes, Nos. 16 and 18.

“I have three goals every year and I hadn’t gotten any of them done,” said Carroll, the head pro at The Hawk in St. Charles. “First, I hadn’t won an IPGA major.”

Carroll, 39, reminded listeners that aside from the playoff in 2018, he’d twice been runner-up in the IPGA’s match play scrap. Now, that can be a distant memory, probably as distant as the 70-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th that crashed into the middle of the cup, moving him to 6-under and forcing Small to birdie the last to play on.

“To win a tournament like this, you’ve got to get good breaks,” Carroll said. “I felt the speed on it was pretty good.”

As was the line, as was the result. And his reaction wasn’t bad either, even though there was still work left.

Carroll had knocked his approach on No. 10 to four inches, the spark that lit the fire. His approach on No. 11 stopped four feet from a back pin for another bird, birdied the 14th to go to 4-under and into the lead, as Small was polluting the 13th with a double-bogey at the same time.

Carroll’s 12-foot two-putt for birdie on the par-5 15th moved him ahead at 5-under, but Small went birdie-birdie on 14 and 15 to tie. Then Carroll dropped his bomb on the 17th and waited for Small to match, which he did.

“I didn’t putt well all week,” Small said. “You see that putt for eagle on No. 18?”

That one, he left four feet short, then knocked in the birdie putt.

“I didn’t make the putts when I needed to,” Small said after slamming his trunk. “And Brian shoots 7-under on his last 12. He won it.”

That includes the three playoff holes. Carroll made a 6-footer for birdie on the 16th and a 10-footer for birdie on the 18th after hitting his approach into the bunker, as did Small.

“It’s cool to play my A game on the last nine,” Carroll said.

A few minutes later, he was drinking a beer out of the Jim Kemper Cup, the oversize goblet-style permanent trophy for the championship. It was a long time coming. 

Around Makray

Carroll won $9,000, while Small can console himself with $6,000. … Small is 0-2 in IPGA Championship playoffs, falling to Gary Groh at Kemper Lakes in 2002. ... Jeff Kellen of Butler National took third at 4-under 209, with Curtis Malm (White Eagle) fourth at 210 and 62-year-old Roy Biancalana fifth at 211. … Oak Park assistant Kyle Donovan, the 36-hole leader, scored 4-over 75 for 212 to share sixth with Andy Mickelson of Mistwood. … The final-round field average was 75.64, but Makray still bared its teeth: 17 of the 65 finishers failed to break 80.

– Tim Cronin