Writing from Glenview, Illinois
Thursday, July 24, 2025
Kevin Streelman’s pals gave him all kinds of medical advice when he disclosed his meniscus tear in his left knee back in March.
“Oh, I was fine in three weeks,” he was told.
Streelman arched his eyebrows.
“They’re not walking seven miles five days in a row,” he said Thursday after his first round of competitive golf since he was sidelined.
That morning excursion, when the weather was only stifling, was a success, physically and mathematically. As to the latter, he scored 4-under-par 67 in the first round of the NV5 Invitational at The Glen Club. As to the former, he explained, “Goal one of this week was to just feel healthy.”
Streelman played some golf while healing – a 60 proved to him his game was intact – and also walked Chicago Golf four times last week to help prepare for the return to the grind.
“I smiled the whole way, but it is a little sore,” Streelman said. “But that’s to be expected. It was a pretty good meniscus tear on the medial side, probably 60 percent of it, so it’s a little more grindy. The priority was to feel healthy and see how the walk felt, but I’m a competitor.”
Thus, to Streelman, his highlight was making birdie on his first hole, the par-4 10th. Three more birdies mid-nine followed, a 4-under 31 start.
“Four months off, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Streelman said. “I didn’t take care of the par 5s, unfortunately. I can have a low one if I take care of these par 5s.”
But Friday will be another day – and may be delayed, given a two-hour thunderstorm delay Thursday in mid-afternoon.
It was a rare home game for Streelman, and only his third start on the Korn Ferry Tour. His last was in 2007, when it was the Nationwide Tour. The Wheaton native made the jump to the PGA Tour, where he’s made 305 cuts in 466 starts, almost at once, and he’ll be back there in the fall, a 46-year-old chasing a third Tour title. It’s the second major injury of his career.
“Both came from working out,” Streelman said. “You try to be smart with your workouts, but you see these kids and they hit it forever and you try to keep up.”
Case in point, the leader at the time of the weather delay, 26-year-old Davis Chatfield of Attleboro, Mass. The Notre Dame grad blistered the Tom Fazio-designed course with a 9-under 62 for a one-stroke lead over Cooper Dorsey and Caleb VanArragon. Julian Suri and 2024 Western Amateur winner Ian Gilligan were two strokes in arrears. They hit it far enough to need radar to track their drives rather than ShotLink.
Meanwhile, Streelman just wants to stay within reach as he regains his bearings.
“I’ll get six starts from my status in the Fall Series, and then I’ll have 15-16 starts next year on a medical exemption. I had a decent start this year, and those points will all count to my grand total. If I get enough points next year, I’ll jump right back into my status out there.”
“Out there” is where Streelman has been almost since graduating from Duke in 2001, which is a feat in itself.
“If not, I’ll be 47 next year and be home with my family, and I’ll do a few of these to get ready for Champions. But I’m confident of getting out there (on the regular tour). I stay in good shape and hit it far enough out there.”
And he knows how to chip and putt.
– Tim Cronin