Olympia Fields lined up for 2028 BMW

Writing from Town and Country, Missouri

Wednesday, August 19, 2026

The Western Open, as Rory McIlroy called it after his pro-am round, will return to Olympia Fields Country Club in 2028, billed, of course, as the BMW Championship, two sources confirmed Wednesday.

The third visit to Olympia in nine years and eighth overall was expected, given the strong relationship between the club and the Western Golf Association. Olympia Fields trails only Beverly Country Club in the number of caddies who earned Evans Scholarships.

Preliminary work on Olympia’s already-testing North Course is already going on, accelerated by last week’s derecho, which took out a number of trees. The course shuts down completely on October 1 for the heavy lifting and is expected to reopen on or near Memorial Day 2027. Among the changes is a new par-3 sixth hole.

The 2028 BMW is expected to effectively be the penultimate playoff tournament, as it is now, in the PGA Tour’s restructured season, but the field is expected to be larger than the current 50 players and it is also expected to have a cut after 36 holes.

Along with work on a contract renewal with BMW that could run through 2032, the WGA is expected to return its big championship to several familiar haunts. Castle Pines in the suburbs of Denver is expected to host again in 2029 after a rousing success in 2024, and Medinah Country Club, currently gearing up for next month’s Presidents Cup, is in line for the 2030 BMW, which will coincide with the 100th anniversary of the first two Evans Scholars entering Northwestern.

Medinah last hosted on its No. 3 Course in 2019, when Justin Thomas obliterated the course record with a 61, triggering a massive renovation that cost $30 million. A 61, by North Carolina star Grant Roscich, has already been registered on the revamped No 3, albeit from the member tees.

– Tim Cronin

A Fox and his bounty

Writing from Town and Country, Missouri

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Have Claret Jug, will travel.

So it goes for Ryan Fox these days.

When you win the British Open, as Fox did at Royal Birkdale last month, you are not only presented with the trophy – and your name engraved upon it – but a replica as well.

The latter, you get to keep. The former, you bring back to the R&A before the tournament next year.

The only problem, and it must be a delightful one to have, is lugging the old jug – officially known as the Golf Champion Trophy – around.

Fox’s first issue was stuffing both trophies – encased in protective cases – into the overhead carryon on his flight from Scotland to London and then again to Miami.

“So I get to the check in desk and I go, ‘Can these things go on the plane?’ ” Fox said to the attendant. “Like, they're probably a little bit too valuable to go underneath. And she's like, ‘What are they?’ And I'm, ‘Oh, they're the trophies. It's the Claret Jug.’ And then I had to explain that it was the British Open trophy and I had won it yesterday and everything.

“So she's like, ‘Yeah, no problem. Normally you would call us.’ I said, 'Well this only happened late last night, and I wasn't in really any state to call anyone about it.’

Security was interested as well, but eventually Fox got on the plane and searched for a spot to stash them.

“Getting on the plane I felt bad, like, I'm, I never like holding people up when you get on a plane,” Fox said. “Like, everyone just wants to get to their seat. And I'm trying to figure out how to fit these two boxes in the overhead and take up all the space. Obviously I'm not in a really good place mentally at that point either. Like, all I want to do is just go to sleep and maybe have a couple glasses of water and stuff like that. So, yeah, it was interesting. But I made it to London and made it on the flight back to Miami.”

And with Cameron Young, whom he beat down the stretch at Birkdale, right in front of him.

“I’m like, ‘Oh no.’ I feel a bit guilty about this. Cam was brilliant. We chatted and everything like that.”

It turns out the Claret Jug is akin to the Stanley Cup or the Masters green jacket. Everyone wants to see it, touch it, get a picture with it, and in the case of the cups, have a drink out of it. So Fox, as affable as they come, first took it to his native New Zealand for another celebration and at the moment has it in the trunk of the BMW courtesy car he’s tooling around with this week while chasing the J.K Wadley Trophy in the BMW Championship – a.k.a. the 123rd Western Open – at Bellerive Country Club.

“It's been cool,” Fox said with a canary-munching grin. “Last week we had a celebratory dinner with Srixon and I was like, ‘Well, do you want me to bring the trophy?’ And they're like, ‘Of course.’

“So we chucked it on the table of a steakhouse and the boys put some wine in it and had a little drink out of it at dinner which was really cool to be able to do. It was with me last week, came straight here, so made sense. I'm going to do it a lot this year, to be honest, it's cool to be able to show it off. Yeah, like I figured out how it fits in an overhead compartment now at least, so it's a little bit easier to travel with.”

There was also fun back home.

“To go home while it was still fresh, while it was still in everyone's like front of mind was I think the right thing to do,” Fox said. “Yeah, it was a cool experience for me. We had a public appearance and the middle of the city there and we had a few thousand people turn up. And I had the Claret Jug and did a little Q&A and we had a press conference at home. Which, like all of that stuff was a little bit foreign. It seemed like more than what I expected it was going to be. But the reception was amazing. I'm glad we did it. Yeah, we certainly also celebrated pretty well. We had a couple of, we had one really good party and got to celebrate, got to have some drinks with some family as well out of it as well.”

One gets the feeling it gets a nightly washing out at the kitchen sink. By hand, of course. Never the dishwasher.

“I took the Claret Jug out to our golf course and said to the guys in the pro shop, ‘Do you guys mind if I just leave it here?’ ” Fix said. “And a bunch of the members came out and took photos with it and stuff like that. It was great to be able to do that. Definitely do it again when I go home at the end of the year. But the buzz around the golf course was pretty incredible as well with it.”

Ya think?

Around Bellerive

Fox played the front nine holes Monday to refamiliarize himself with the course finished 27th at in the 2018 PGA Championship. “It’s strong,” he said. “You’ve got to control your ball really well. Even with all the rain it didn't feel like there was a blade of grass out of place yesterday. Yeah, just a place that you walk off and just go, yeah, that's a lot of good holes, a lot of good shots you have to hit around here.” … “It’s just a big golf course,” said Viktor Hovland, seeking a second BMW title to go with the one he won in record-setting fashion at Olympia Fields.  “I can't believe it's already gone three years, but, yeah, I really enjoy playing this tournament,” he added. … The tournament is proving more popular than its previous visit in 2008, when it set a since-broken record for revenue returned to the Evans Scholars Foundation. The only weekend tickets remaining in WGA hands are for the Trophy Club on Sunday, at $55 to $225. An online scalper is asking $278 to $425 for a simple grounds ticket for Sunday.

– Tim Cronin

Nikitas doubles Illinois Open pleasure

Writing from North Barrington, Illinois

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

It was a first for Charlie Nikitas, who has accomplished a lot in 27 short years on this rock.

He was awarded a trophy with his name already engraved on it.

Not as “champion golfer of the year,” as the R&A so preciously calls the winner of the British Open when the Claret Jug is handed out.

No, something more dear to Glenview native Nikitas’ heart: The Illinois Open trophy, a two-foot tall piece of re-engraved metal which he won at Flossmoor two years ago.

“So cool,” Nikitas said after demolishing the field by adding a 2-under 70 to a pair of 9-under 63s – the new Club at Wynstone course record – for an Illinois Open record of 20-under-par 196 and a four-stroke victory.

Nikitas said it wasn’t over as far as he was concerned until his approach on the watery 18th hole hit the green and stopped six feet from the cup. That set up the 23rd and last birdie of his three jaunts around Wynstone, a Jack Nicklaus design that, when it isn’t soaked by nearly three inches of rain just before and during the tournament, is considered one of the more formidable tests in the midwest.

For Nikitas, the pillow-soft greens meant it was a pushover. His lead Wednesday was never less than two strokes, that on three occasions, the last time midway through the back nine when Luke Gannon of downstate Monticello, just ahead of Nikitas in the day’s penultimate group, was stitching together a 3-under 69 for second and 16-under 200.

Nikitas’ birdie on the par-4 10th elicited his first fist pump of the week, and moved him up three strokes on Pierce Grieve of Lake Forest.

“It just came out,” Nikitas said of the gesture. “That one felt really important.”

As did getting up and down for par on the 13th, just after Grieve chipped in from 30 feet to save par, and thus remained three strokes ahead.

“The tee shots I hit last three or four holes, I just let it loose,” Nikitas said. “I wasn’t going to guide it around.”

Nikitas won $23,576 for his effort, Gannon $12,859. Tommy Kuhl, whose 5-under 67 was the round of the day, took third at 15-under 201 and took home $8,573. Grieve ended up in a tie for fourth with Timmy Crawford of Arlington Heights, each earning $5,948 from the record purse of $123,000.

The low amateur was Illinois junior Dujuan Snyman, whose even par 72 gave him solo sixth. He had been one off the lead after 18 holes, and hung around all week.

“I’m glad the hard work I’m putting in is paying off,” Snyman said. “It’s more work on the mental game than the golf game specifically. I wasn’t hitting it as nicely (today), but stayed in it by staying patient."

Two years ago, Nikitas toured Flossmoor in 209 strokes and beat Luke Guthrie and Mattis Besard by a stroke. That was nerve-wracking as well, but he thought the second time around was more challenging.

“This one, I had to sleep with the lead and I didn’t eat today,” Nikitas said. “I was hungry but couldn’t eat.”

Clearly, the man was starved for victory. What a feast.

Around Wynstone

Nikitas is the 15th multiple winner, the most recent being Vince India (2018, 2023), who finished tied for 15th this year. … Timothy Lim of Hoffman Estates aced the fourth hole, sinking his tee shot from 185 yards. … The third round scoring average was 71.78, best number of the week thanks to fine play, albeit with lift-clean-and place for the third straight day, from the 50 players who made the cut.

– Tim Cronin

Nikitas races to Illinois Open lead

Writing from North Barrington, Illinois

Tuesday, August 11, 2026

The term clubhouse leader goes back to the old days of golf, before on-course scoring was accurate or up-to-the-minute.

It applied Tuesday to a degree at Wynstone thanks to a 3 hour 15 minute severe weather delay, which shove back tee times and ensured much of the afternoon wave in the 77th Illinois Open would not finish.

The overall leader, however, is not yet in this posh club’s posh clubhouse. That would be Charlie Nikitas, who stands 16 under through 34 holes, and is threatening to make a mockery of the competition. The Illinois Open’s record for low 36 holes compared to par is 14 under.

The 2024 champion and PGA Tour Americas regular is four strokes ahead of a trio, including clubhouse leader Pablo Castro, an Illinois Wesleyan junior out of Palatine, whose 7-under 64 places him at 12-under 132. He was the leader before Nikitas teed off and went on a birdie binge – eight in 16 holes, along with a bogey before the hooter blew at 7:47 p.m., nine minutes before sunset. Amateur Dukuan Snyman of Champaign and Pierce Grieve of Lake Forest are 12-under with two and nine holes left, respectively.

The long wait to tee off was no big deal to Nikitas. 

“I feel it’s pretty normal, to be honest,” Nikitas said. “We’ve had a lot of delays on PGA Tour Americas this year and last year. There’s a lot of stop and starting. You kind of have to be prepared for whatever happens.

“I tried to keep the foot on the pedal a little bit. I had a lot of god (yardage) numbers yesterday, and you kind of have to be prepared to be extra patient in the following round. I went at it with that attitude, tried to keep doing what I was doing: Picking small targets, having a god attitude. It worked.”

To the tune of five birdies on the front nine, including Nos. 5 through 8, and then Nos. 10, 13 and 14 on the back, with a bogey on the par-5 12th.

Commencing at 8:30 a.m., those left to finish will do so, and then the course will be reset. Te Illinois PGA’s Brad Slocum, a devotee of tough tests, is expected to give the survivors of the cut a challenging examination.

“I like the way Brad sets up golf courses,” Nikitas said. “Just enjoy it and keep moving.”

Said clubhouse leaders who moseyed in before play was suspended ran the gamut of golf. Castro represents the young set. Then there’s PGA Tour veteran Nick Lindheim, a 41-year-old California native who grew up a skateboarder and never played college golf.

He’s lived in Illinois for 14 months and included his seventh career hole-in-one in the course of his 4-under 68. He stands at 5-under 139 through 36 holes.

Like Nikitas, Castro’s card featured eight birdies, as against a solitary bogey. He’s not a long hitter but is getting the job done with precision.

“These wet conditions are not my friend,” Castro said. "When you have 6-irons into some of these par 4s, you have to trust it, commit to it. Trust the starting line and the shot shape, the work I’ve put into my swing these weeks and months.”

It worked. Castro, already 5-under, hit a 8-iron into the par-4 15th from the rough after just clearing the water and birdied it from four feet.

“That was a great way to keep the momentum going,” Castro said.

Lindheim’s ace, accomplished with a 7-iron on the 171-yard seventh hole, acted as a similar tonic.

“I had 8-iron in my hands,” said Lindheim, who had daughter Shyla as his caddie. “But my playing partners switched clubs, and one hits 8-iron harder than me. So I tried to hit a little 7-iron and the rest is history.

“I hope I’m within shouting distance. My game’s been off and on, good shot, bad shot.”

He’s played three times on the PGA Tour this season, making the cut only at the John Deere Classic, where he tied for 74th.

Lindheim has yet to birdie a par 5 in eight chances, parring each time.

“I burned the edge on the two par-5s on the back nine,” Lindheim said.

Nikitas is burning up the course.

Around Wynstone

The golf course and community escaped the brunt of the squall line that roared though the Chicago area just before noon. Only .19 inches of rain fell and the wind never gusted over 13 mph despite the threatening skies. In contrast, south suburban courses were hit hard, notably Flossmoor Golf Club and Idlewild Country Club in Flossmoor, where a tornado was reported and gust of 127.5 mph was recorded on radar in the vicinity of Ravisloe Country Club. … Because of the soft conditions, players had ball-in-hand again Tuesday, and likely will again Wednesday. … The cut is to the low 50 and ties, but won’t be determined until Wednesday morning. … Wynstone head pro Joe Strahl followed up Monday’s 97 with a 104, including four quads, and will be high among the 153 finishers. … At the point play was suspended, the second round field scoring average was 74.13 strokes, about the same as Monday’s 74.09.

– Tim Cronin

Records smashed in Illinois Open at Wynstone

Writing from North Barrington, Illinois

Monday, August 10, 2026

Move over, Jack.

The Golden Bear might have designed the golf course at The Club at Wynstone, but his old course record of 6-under 66, set on opening day in 1989, is now a distant fourth statistically.

Jack Nicklaus’s mark fell in 2007, a member whose name can’t be deciphered on his scorecard posting a 65. That was matched Monday morning in the first round of the 77th Illinois Open by Timmy Crawford of Arlington Heights, who was finishing on the 18th green about the time Illinois sophomore Dujuan Snyman, South African-born and Australian-bred, put the finishing touch to his course-record 8-under 64 on the ninth green.

Snyman’s feat was eye-popping, but wait, there’s more. Snyman’s record lasted about 20 minutes, until 2024 champion Charlie Nikitas of Glenview crashed the party with a 9-under 63.

By the end of lunch hour, Nikitas’ achievement had been matched by Michael Davan of Zionsville, Ind., whose collegiate stint at Parkland College in Champaign qualifies him to play in the Illinois Open. By the end of the morning wave, the duo of Nikitas and Davan led a trio at 8-under, Crawford at 7-under and a quartet at 5-under.

The reason for the low scores: the weather. Extreme heat a few weeks ago just as Wynstone was holding its member-guest and pushing the agronomic envelope stressed the greens, and while they were coming back, 2.21 inches of rain over the weekend both softened the course and put the greens at risk again if they were sped up. So Illinois PGA and Wynstone officials agreed to a less pernicious setup than is usually the case for the Illinois Open.

The combination of easier pin positions, slower dartboard-like greens and the soaked layout triggering lift-clean-and-place options for the players brought forth the record scores and a wholesale assault on par. In the morning wave alone, 34 of 78 players were under the par of 72 and another 10 were at par.

“You just have to hit it in the fairway, especially with the rough up, the greens soft and the ball in your hand,” said Nikitas. “Just a solid round. I was comfortable. I’m sleeping in my own bed. Both my parents were out here, my coach, my cousins, even my grandma.”

Nikitas has three top 10s on the PGA Tour Americas circuit, pro golf’s version of single A baseball, and has seven scores of 63, 64 or 65 on it this season. The trick is to having multiple solid rounds the same week. That’s happening. In his most recent outing, he had a pair of 65s in the Osprey Valley Open, and managed a pair of 64s a fortnight ago.

“It’s getting comfortable,” Nikitas reiterated. “I birdied the first three holes today. In the past, maybe I would have gripped it a little tighter, but maybe I’m getting used to doing it a little more often."

While Nikitas, 27, chases his professional dream, Davan, having given that a go, is grounded in club work, teaching at Plum Creek Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. A month ago, his bid for the Indiana Open title came up short in a sudden-death playoff at Brickyard Crossing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his second straight runner-up placing in the Hoosier state’s championship.

“I got some putts to fall early and rode that wave,” Davan said after his 10-birdie, 1-bogey round, the best of the former a 50-foot birdie putt on No. 15. “Ball in hand makes it a little easier, but I can see where this golf course could show its teeth if it was firm and fast.”

No club-based professional has won the Illinois Open since 1988, when Todd Tremaglio, an assistant at Chicago Golf Club, outlasted D.A. Points in a playoff.

“We’ve still got a lot of golf left, but it’s good to get off to that start you always dream of,” Davan said.

Snyman, who authored a 65 on Olympia Fields’ U.S. Open-tough North Course last fall, was feeling pretty good about his 64, especially his near-ace on the par-3 14th.

“I don’t know how it didn’t go in,” Snyman said of his deuce on the 132-yard hole, negotiated with a gap wedge. “Landed just past the flag and spun back.” It moved him to 4-under through five holes.

“The greens were soft but balls weren’t spinning off the greens,” Snyman said. “I don’t think I have a course record anywhere, so this is a first for me.”

Or it was until Nikitas and Davan barged in. At the least, Snyman is within striking distance with 36 holes left, and eight strokes ahead of his coach, Mike Small, who went around in even par 72.

Perennial contender Luke Gannon of downstate Monticello – 6-under on par 5s thanks to a pair of eagles –  and Morton native Tommy Kuhl also crafted 64s, while Crawford scattered eight birdies across his card, blighted by only one bogey.

“You’ll definitely have to keep making birdies,” Crawford said. “There’s not much wind in the forecast.”

Around Wynstone

The field averaged 74.09, or 2.09 strokes over par, on the 7,020-yard test. All four par-5s were among the six holes playing under par. … Nikitas co-leads the field and paces the dozen former champions on hand, with Tim “Tee-K” Kelly, David Perkins and Curtis Malm grouped at 5-under 67, among those tied for seventh. … Wynstone head professional Joe Strahl managed one birdie but had an untidy 97, 25 over for his home course, including two triple-bogey and two quads, and was last in the field of 156.

– Tim Cronin