India inks Illinois Open title

Writing from Flossmoor, Illinois

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Vince India came into Illinois Open week unsure of his swing.

He left, racing to O’Hare to catch a 7:59 p.m. flight to Salt Lake City, more sure of every phase of his game.

India, three strokes behind with six holes to play, first passed Luke Gannon of downstate Monticello, then caught Dylan Meyer with a birdie on Flossmoor Golf Club’s par-5 18th hole to force extra holes. India then beat Meyer with another birdie on the classic finishing hole, the last of a three-hole aggregate, to win the Illinois Open for the second time.

The prize, along with $21,702, was the confidence that he could accomplish what he attempted to do. By his admission, the 34-year-old India didn’t play perfect golf, but outlasted Meyer.

“I had to be smart about where I was attacking and where I was laying down,” India said. “You could be in some awful spots on the wrong side of the hole. I rolled the ball really well. My putter kind of bailed me out, to be honest.”

Twists and turns abounded all day, including at the end. India rebounded from a three-putt bogey on the 17th hole to tap in for birdie on the 18th for a 54-hole total of 8-under-par 208, then, after matching Meyer with a par on the first playoff hole, was wide and short with his approach on No. 17 in the second hole of the playoff.

“I whiffed it,” India said of his 6-iron.

His third went over the green and he hit a sub-par chip, but recovered to sink a tremendous 10-footer for bogey, then watched Meyer three-putt for a matching five. The third playoff hole loomed.

India split the fairway, picked up at least 60 yards of roll, and had only a 9-iron in on the 535-yard hole. Meyer was in the left rough, and still managed to get home, but his approach drifted into the left bunker, and on a downslope, at that, close to plugging.

“Bad rake job,” he said. “I went for the hero shot, went a little right and got in that bunker. I tried to hit a high spinner. It went high and it ran.”

He caught more ball than he wanted and saw his third shot end up well past the hole, about 18 inches off the back edge of the green. From there, his birdie putt went wide left. India two-putted from about 20 feet for the birdie and win.

India, who won his first title in 2018, becomes the 13th multiple winner of the championship. Mike Small had been the most recent repeat winner, with four titles in a five-year span ending in 2007.

“I haven’t won something in a long time,” India said. “In a sport full of losing, this is pretty awesome.”

India hadn’t played in the Illinois Open since that 2018 triumph, settling in on the Korn Ferry Tour. He registered for this year’s state championship because the KFT was in town last week. He finished 21st in the NV5 Invitational at The Glen Club, earning $9,392. Thursday, he has an afternoon tee time in the Utah Championship, about $31,000 richer for seven rounds of golf close to home.

Remarkably, Small was in the hunt when the day began, trying to become the oldest winner at age 57, but stumbled to a 4-over 76 for 1-under 215, part of a fivesome tied for 13th.

Meyer, eager to gain full-time KFT status this fall, took the solo lead at the turn thanks to a birdie at the par-5 ninth. He was 8-under, India and Gannon 7-under and nobody else closer than three strokes. He played the back nine in even-par 36, kicking himself verbally on several occasions for missing putts.

“Pretty disappointing,” Meyer said. “Hit it pretty solid but didn’t make any putts. Made a few 20-footers, missed a few crucial five-footers. That led to some pretty unfortunate bogeys. I keep looking back on hole 4, playing it 2-over on a 280-yard hole. It’s pretty piss-poor, honestly.”

Gannon led twice only to see Meyer and India rally. Gannon was 9-under after birdies on the 10th and 12th holes, but paid the price for attempting to drive the green on the 293-yard 14th. He left his ball in the front bunker and was fortunate to escape with bogey while both Meyer and India birdied, but then bogeyed the 15th and 16th as well.

Gannon finished with even par 72 for 6-under 210, tied for third with defending champion David Perkins, whose 4-under 68 matched the best round of the day, and low amateur Quinn Clifford, the 20-year-old who plays out of Beverly Country Club and attends Illinois Wesleyan.

“It means a lot,” said Clifford, who holed out for eagle for 1-under 71 from the same bunker that brought Meyer his greatest distress in the playoff. “It’s good for confidence rolling into school season, but for me, it resonates that I can compete with the best out here.”

Gannon’s decline left it between India and Meyer, which was what the smart money figured in the first place. They were the most experienced players of the moment, and their matching 70s on a day with the course set up to punish showed their worth.

Meyer left kicking himself, India left thrilled, and both – India beginning Thursday in Utah, Meyer beginning Friday in the Iowa Open – will try to make magic happen again this weekend. The grind goes on. 

Around Flossmoor

Flossmoor owner George Goich, a PGA pro, missed the 36-hole cut but caddied for Meyer on Wednesday. … India joins Bob Harris and Lance Ten Broeck as Illinois Open winners at Flossmoor. … It’s India’s third state major title. Along with the 2018 Illinois Open, he captured the 2010 Illinois Amateur. … It was the first playoff since 2013, when Joe Kinney won a three-way battle with Carlos Sainz Jr. and amateur Dustin Korte at The Glen Club. ... The field of 52 survivors averaged 74.26 strokes on Wednesday. … Gannon, Joe Zawaski (T-13), Timothy Lim (T-13), Zach Burry (T-20), Tim “Tee-K” Kelly (T-24), Kyle Kochevar (T-26), Luke Armbrust (T-32), Roy Biancalana (T-38) and Ethan Farnam (MC) are among those who followed Meyer down I-80 to the Iowa Open, which offers a $25,000 first prize but only $53,800 overall. India won it in 2009.

– Tim Cronin