Let the birdie binge begin

Writing from Lake Forest, Illinois

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Star-studded.

First-namers.

Rory. Jordan. Rickie. Jason. Bubba.

All the guys.

Well, all the guys playing well right now, at least.

So, not this first-namer.

Tiger.

The absence of Tiger Woods from the lineup of the BMW Championship for the second straight year won’t detract from the excitement of the four day-fandango that commences on Thursday morning. Some fans in Denver were no doubt disappointed, but the Chicago crowd that will descend on Conway Farms Golf Club through the weekend are sophisticated enough to realize that the old Western Open is a playoff tournament these days, and only the best get the fancy courtesy car for the week.

Thus, the favorites to hold the J.K. Wadley Trophy high are the favorites of the moment in men’s golf. Rory McIlroy, the top-ranked player in the world rankings by two-hundredths of a point. Jordan Spieth, the current Masters and U.S. Open champion, likely player of the year, and right on McIlroy’s rear bumper. Rickie Fowler, who won the last outing in Boston and would have a major if the Players Championship was considered one. Jason Day, who captured the PGA to go with a win at Firestone and more recently the Barclays, the first playoff tournament. Bubba Watson, who may be too long for the bandbox that is Conway Farms, but is certainly a threat.

Not a bad fivesome, eh?

Then throw in Zach Johnson, a.k.a. the Champion Golfer of the Year, plus Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose, and Billy Horschel, who just happens to be the defending champion of both this derby and the playoff cash-grab, and the assembled multitude, as well as those tuning in on the magic lantern, are in for a golf treat.

These guys can play, as the PGA Tour’s slogan goes, and Conway Farms, certainly lengthened and said to be toughened, is a course these guys can play on.

Last time around here, Brandt Snedeker fired a 63 to open the proceedings, and tied for eighth.

Furyk scored a 59, with a bogey, in the second round, on a day when the average score was over par – and came in third.

Matt Kuchar put up a 61 in the third round – and finished tied for 24th.

Zach Johnson was the winner, going about the premises in 64-70-69-65 for a cool 16-under-par 268 aggregate, edging Nick Watney by two strokes in an affair that finished on Monday thanks to a Sunday monsoon.

There’s plenty to play for, from the heritage angle of joining Hagen and Hogan and Snead and Nicklaus and Watson – Tom, not Bubba – on the Wadley spittoon, to boodle, a record $1.485 million from the record $8.25 million purse, to the opportunity to lock in a top-five placing in the Tour’s playoff standings. Those five would win the FedEx Cup, and the $10 million bonus that goes with it, automatically if they win the Tour Championship next week at East Lake.

Since the Western Open was shoved into September and renamed the BMW in 2007, when the Tour’s often-tweaked playoff dance began, three players have won both this semifinal playoff test and the Tour Championship. When Woods did so in 2007 to inaugurate the affair, it was expected. When Camilo Villegas did the same in 2008, but Vijay Singh took the playoff title, apoplectic PGA Tour officials began to fiddle with the format. Horschel’s twin-killing last year brought him the big bonus as well.

Thus, a high finish just behind the winner this week could pay off even more handsomely in Atlanta next week than the champion’s take for four days work. Given that those in the chase for the pot o’gold are already rich beyond all comprehension, it may not matter to them. Perhaps they’re really playing for the honor and the glory.

Their accountants will probably tell you otherwise.

Around Conway Farms

Rory McIlroy and tee times in Chicago don’t always get along. He almost missed his Sunday singles assignment in the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah because he got out of bed late, and Wednesday, had to flip starting times with Webb Simpson in the pro-am because of a delayed flight. There were still about 60 fans following him when he came up the 8th fairway, his penultimate hole of the day, at 6:25 p.m. ... Bill Murray and his five brothers – collectively responsible for CaddyShack, the movie based on their experiences at Indian Hill Club, were inducted into the WGA’s Caddie Hall of Fame on Wednesday night. Murray, erratic off the tee on Wednesday, reported he won a dollar from Charley Hoffman. “I got $40 off each of my playing partners. I’m going to get myself a new BMW.” ... Tee times run from 11:20 a.m. to 1:21 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Day, Spieth and Fowler go off No. 10 at 11:53 a.m. Thursday, while McIlroy plays with Hideki Matsuyama and Snedeker at 12:59 p.m. off No. 10. Horschel, now sporting a Lexus logo on his shirt – which may help explain his absence from pre-tournament publicity – starts with William McGirt in the last pairing at 1:21 p.m. off No. 1.

– Tim Cronin

An honest sportsman: Jordan Spieth

Writing from Lake Forest, Illinois

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Jordan Spieth is the rare sports figure who is both nonpareil at what he does and speaks in complete paragraphs.

And honestly.

The current holder of the Masters title and U.S. Open championship does not dodge questions, does not dissemble, does not dismiss. This 22-year-old with a 30-year-old noggin thinks them through on the fly and presents to the questioner a real answer.

This is not something that most professional athletes – golf or otherwise – can accomplish. Bobby Orr was the greatest hockey player before Wayne Gretzky came along, and perhaps after, but couldn’t explain how his genius came about. Neither could Gretzky. Joe Montana was the master of the two-minute drill, but couldn’t put two sentences together about how he saw Jerry Rice open for that one instant.

Michael Jordan was brilliant, and said much, but revealed little.

Jack Nicklaus was the last golfer who knew he was the brightest man in the room and didn’t mind explaining why the cut 3-iron was a better option than the knockdown 2-iron, never mind that he would have made the putt from wherever the ball landed.

Speith tells all. He is friendly and smart and, delightfully for those with empty notebooks,  blunt.

This empty notebook holder was reminded of this during Spieth’s chat with scribes in advance of the BMW Championship, which has available a snootful of PGA Tour playoff perks, and not incidentally, $1.485 million from the $8.25 million purse for the winner. It commences on Thursday at Conway Farms Golf Club, that Tom Fazio creation squeezed into the middle of a posh housing development where even the ZIP code is unlisted.

Here is Spieth on the ever-changing identity of the world’s No. 1 player: “Rickie (Fowler) wins, and all of a sudden people are coming out of their igloos saying, man, that’s my guy. He’s

the best in the world. I think he is because he won the last tournament. That’s who the best player in the world is.” (If you’re keeping track, Rory McIlroy is No. 1 at 11.98 points, Spieth No. 2 at 11.96, Jason Day No. 3 at 10.94. Fowler is fifth, behind Bubba Watson.)

On changing irons and missing two straight cuts: “It wasn’t because I changed clubs. It’s never made a difference in the past, and I don’t think it was in the last tournament. Everything is normal, everything’s on point. I was just off a little bit.”

On confidence and the lack thereof: “I had self-doubt and it showed throughout 2014. I just let it affect me a bit more, had a little bit of lack of patience. Then, having the confidence in my own game to peak at the right time and not back off it that last round in Australia and then into Tiger’s event.” (Both of which he won, setting the stage for his outstanding current season.)

On 45-year-old Phil Mickelson as a Presidents Cup selection by captain Jay Haas: “I don’t think there’s anybody better in the locker room. He brings some adrenaline and excitement we don’t normally see in people his age to these team events.”

On the Tour’s Byzantine playoff system: “I’ve just got to get some points going into next week (and the Tour Championship). Because of the reset (in points), I don’t think the difference between No. 3 and No. 2 is big. It’s really just a free-rolling scenario. You want to win because you want to win a PGA Tour event. But it makes you feel you may as well go for broke here and play some shots under pressure that are more dangerous so you can almost have it ready for next week.”

Which makes his goal for this week: “To win the tournament. You’re still playing for a full purse. You still want to be No. 1 in the world. “

On getting criticized for missing those two cuts: “I’m that way with sports teams, so why can’t people be that way with me?”

On focusing within all the commentary: “You just need to keep your head down, stay focused, and try to be the guy people are talking about next week.”

There’s no reason to think he won’t be.

 – Tim Cronin

Billiter wins Illinois PGA, 2nd major of year

Writing from Medinah, Illinois

Wednesday, September 2, 2015 

MEDINAH – Three holes into the round, and Jim Billiter’s three-stroke overnight lead in the 93rd Illinois PGA Championship was gone.

“Thank God I birdied No. 3 or it would have been a different story,” Billiter said after holding off Matt Slowinski by two strokes and fast-closing Travis Johns by three on Medinah Country Club’s Course One to capture his first section title and second state major of the year.

Billiter, from Libertyville’s Merit Club, scored 1-under-par 70 for a total of 9-under-par 204 to capture the Jim Kemper Cup and the $10,000 first prize. He played the last 11 holes in 3-under-par after going 2-over on the first seven holes.

That birdie on the par-4 third, created via a chip to one inch, broke the instant tie Slowinski forged with a pair of birdies and Billiter going out 5-5, the latter a bogey. And Slowinski bogeying the third, fourth and fifth provided separation as well.

It was anything but smooth sailing for Billiter, who survived a case of the hooks, including the tee shots on the 10th, 11th and 12th holes.

“I had no business making par,” Billiter said.

He did on all three occasions, twice thanks to remarkable recoveries from some of Medinah’s thousands of trees, and with both Slowinski – 4-under on the last six holes – and Johns, who like Slowinski closed in 3-under 32, putting pressure on, par saves were key. Billiter one-putted the first five holes on the back, including birdies on the 13th and 14th, and then parred in.

“I didn’t think I could ever win this one,” Billiter said. “I’m more a match-play guy.”

He won the Illinois PGA Match Play title at Kemper Lakes on a raw day in May. Capturing the Illinois PGA Championship in the same year puts him in company with eight other players, seven of whom are in the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame.

“I never thought I could win one major, much less two,” Billiter said.

As the only player to score under par all three days, Slowinski did his best to disrupt Billiter’s glory. For him the killer was a bogey created by a bad chip on the par-4 11th. He birdied the next three holes and the 17th to finish with 2-under 69 for 206, but Billiter wouldn’t crack.

“I was happy with the way I played today,” Slowinski said. “I tried to make it interesting. It was going to be hard to catch Jim. When he hit bad shots, he was making nice pars, and on his good holes, he made birdies. He didn’t really let anyone get close.

“On the 11th, Jim saved par and we (he and Steve Orrick) both made bogey.”

Orrick, the 2012 champion, started the day four strokes behind but never put a string of birdies together and scored 1-over 72 to finish fourth at 3-under 210.

Slowinski’s last chance to make a move came on the 14th, when he rolled in a curling 30-footer for birdie. Billiter rolled in an 8-footer on top of him.

Johns, one of Medinah’s teaching pros, started the day six strokes behind, and was still four back at the turn. Then he birdied the 10th, 11th, 13th and 15th holes to climb within two strokes. But just as quickly, a three-putt bogey at the 16th knocked him out of contention, and when Slowinski birdied the par-5 17th, Johns was shuffled back to third even with a 67 for 207.

Defending champion Mike Small’s 1-under-par 70 lifted him to a tie for seventh at 2-over 215.

– Tim Cronin

Corrected to reflect that par on Medinah No. 1 is 71, not 70.

Billiter bids for bundle of boodle

Writing from Medinah, Illinois

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

MEDINAH – It may be time for Jim Billiter to revise his goal for the Illinois PGA Championship.

“My goal is top nine,” Billiter said, referring to the placing needed to qualify for next year’s PGA Professional Championship.

He’s qualified for that the last two years. This time, if he keeps up his good work of the first two rounds, he may advance as the Illinois PGA champion.

Billiter added a course-record 5-under-par 66 to Monday’s 68 and stands at 8-under-par 134 entering Wednesday’s final round of the 93rd Illinois PGA Championship on Medinah Country Club’s Course One. He leads Matt Slowinski by three strokes and first round leader Steve Orrick by four.

Representing Libertyville’s Merit Club, Billiter scattered eight birdies across his card, starting with the first three holes, part of an outward 4-under 32. That calmed his nerves.

“I’d never shot under 70 in the section championship before,” Billiter said. “I knew 68 was a great start. I couldn’t be happier with the way I played.”

His goal was even par 71. He exceeded that by five strokes.

As for potentially winning?

“I have to think about that tonight,” Billiter said. “The goal is still top nine. If I play great, I’ll win. If I play average, it’s not guaranteed, because I know Matt is outstanding, and Steve is about as steady as it gets and he’s the best putter I’ve seen.

“If I can put it in the fairway, because I can hit it as far as Matt, and me and Matt both hit it a little farther than Steve, I’ll be in good shape,” Billiter added. “There are some long holes out there.”

Slowinski opened with a watery bogey on the par-4 10th but birdied four straight holes on the back nine, his outward nine, for a 33, part of a card that featured eight birdies, six bogeys and four pars. He parred only one hole coming in and closed with a pair of bogeys, part of his three three-putt day.

“It would be hard to make it around without one three-putt,” Slowinski said.

Slowinski was the runner-up in 2011 and tied for second with Curtis Malm in 2013. As much as he wants to win, he’s not looking at playing strictly against Billiter and Orrick, with whom he’ll be paired.

“Not at the start,” Slowinski said. “Play your game. You can have a lot of back and forth here with the amount of birdies that are out there.”

On a sweltering day when the scoring average of 77.33 strokes, Orrick’s even-par 71 was pedestrian compared to the rounds of Billiter and Slowinski. The 2012 champion had three birdies and three bogeys, two of them caused by three-putts, and groused about his play, especially on the greens.

“I just didn’t hit it good and didn’t putt good,” Orrick said. “The slopes (on the greens), it depends on where you’re putting from. There are subtle reads.”

Host Medinah has three players among the 61 who made the cut, which fell at 11-over 153. That includes director of golf Marty DeAngelo, who made the cut on the number, and a pair of teaching pros: Rich Dukelow, tied for eighth at 1-over 143, and Travis Johns, whose 2-under 69 places him fourth at 2-under 140.

B.J. Paul is fifth at 1-under 141 following a second round 67, with Frank Hohenadel and Dakun Chung tied for sixth at even-par 142.

Defending champion Mike Small is tied for 10th at 3-over 145 following a 2-over 73.

Katie Pius, who is four months pregnant, added a 74 to an opening 72 for 4-over 146 and in a tie for 13th. If she finishes in the top nine, the Biltmore Country Club assistant will be the fourth woman to qualify for the PGA Professional Championship, and the first from the Illinois Section.

– Tim Cronin

Orrick paces pros in Illinois PGA

Writing from Medinah, Illinois

Monday, August 30, 2015

Golf course architect Tom Doak will love to hear what the players said about his re-imagination of Medinah Country Club’s Course One on Monday.

“It’s a thinking golfer’s second-shot golf course,” said Beverly Country Club professional John Varner after a 2-under-par 69 in the first round of the 93rd Illinois PGA Championship. “I love it. It’s about hitting more shots on the ground than usual.”

“I found myself looking at the yardage book and the green contours,” said Matt Slowinski of Conway Farms following a 3-under-par 68 on the 6,873-yard adventure.

“It’s just so different, just the look of it,” Steve Orrick mused, thinking back to the original Tom Bendelow version, after a course record 4-under-par 67 earned him the first-round lead. “In some cases, if you’re off the green, you’re in better shape than if you’re on the green (above the hole).”

Orrick was in the right spot more often than not, scoring five birdies against a single bogey in his round in the heat of the afternoon. And he followed his only miscue, a bogey 4 on the par-3 seventh, with his longest birdie putt of the day, a 20-footer for a 3 on the par-4 eighth.

For Orrick, the round came at the best possible time.

“This year for me, I’ve played the least golf I’ve played in a while,” said Orrick, who represents the Country Club of Decatur. “The last month or so, I’ve been a little more confident playing. Today I was feeling real confident over the ball.”

The payoff doesn’t come until Wednesday in the 54-hole test, but Orrick’s been in this rodeo before. He won at Stonewall Orchard Golf Club three years ago, and was runner up to 11-time winner Mike Small both last year at Stonewall and in 2008, on that occasion on the Bendelow version of Course One.

Orrick’s 67 knocked Jim Billiter off the leader’s perch. Billiter, winner of this year’s Illinois PGA Match Play title, was the first player to finish, and his 68, buttressed by four birdies in the first six holes, held up as the lead for nearly six hours.

“I started leaking oil on the back nine,” Billiter said. “I honestly left three shots out there. But I’m genuinely happy where I’m at.”

Conversely, Curtis Malm of White Eagle Golf Club closed with a rush, an inward 4-under 31 that featured three straight birdies and four in a five-hole stretch on the back nine. Malm joined Billiter and Slowinski a heartbeat behind Orrick at 68, with Varner two back at 69. That fivesome comprised the under-par brigade.

Four more players, including Medinah teaching pro Travis Johns, were tied for sixth at par 71. Seven players are tied for 10th at 1-over 72, including Small, who headed for the range immediately after signing his card, and Biltmore Country Club assistant Katie Pius, the only female in the field of 133 starters.

The field averaged 77.26 strokes in the first round, between the 78.59 average of 2008 and 76.90 in 2011, the most recent two playings on Course One.

– Tim Cronin