Mr. Smith goes to the top

By Tim Cronin

Writing from Sugar Grove, Illinois

Saturday, September 17, 2022

If you are someone with a Claret Jug in your back pocket and the No. 3 world golf ranking in your wallet – along with the reported $125 million the LIV Golf group has shelled out for your services the next few years – you could probably take it easy on the golf course, not taking chances, not grinding, not worrying about anything but when the Dow Jones Industrial Average will rise again.

Cameron Smith is that someone, but he’s not thinking that way. Smith wants to earn his keep in the LIV Golf series, and Saturday at Rich Harvest Farms was an example of how he’s going about it.

How’s a windblown 4-under-par 68 for a 36-hole aggregate of 10-under 134 and a two-stroke lead sound? Smith accomplished that via five birdies against a solitary bogey and is two strokes ahead of Dustin Johnson with a round to play in the LIV Golf Invitational Chicago.

A large chunk of the gallery of 18,000 – a LIV series record, their group trumpeted – watched Smith, Johnson and Matthew Wolff traipse around Rich Harvest, and were rewarded at 4:49 p.m., when Smith dropped a seven-foot birdie putt on the devilish par-4 17th to move to 9-under and nudge Johnson out of the lead. Johnson’s 1-over 73 was his first over-par circuit in the larval LIV league, a mere five tournaments old, and 10 strokes over the course-record 63 he posted in the first round.

“We had a gusty, windy start,” Smith said. “Then it laid off a little bit and came up again at the end. It was quite tricky there guessing clubs. That’s when I made my bogey (on the 11th hole). If they leave the course be overnight I think it’ll be really fun tomorrow, firm and fast."

Smith’s effort was the second-best round of the day, trailing only Peter Uihlein, who paid no mind to a southwest breeze that gusted to 25 mph and was a steady 18 mph for hours. Uihlein fired a 6-under 66 to move into solo third at 7-under 137 and grab a spot in the final threesome with Smith and Johnson.

The shotgun start format – air horns, actually – had Uihlein opening on the fourth hole. He bogeyed the fifth, but a birdie on the par-4 eighth was critical in his view.

“That righted the ship,” Uihlein said. “After that, I played great. Steady, solid, hit some fairways, hit some greens, just took what the course gave me. I hit a bomb on 13 (one of his seven birdies), and kind of stole one there, but it was steady all the way.”

If anything, Smith was most impressed with the gallery. Friday’s first-round independent estimate of 8,000 was surpassed by 10 a.m., when 10,000 were already on hand. By 3 p.m., it was 18,000, according to a LIV staffer, and the only question was how everyone would fit onto the two-lane road after the round to get back to civilization.

“It’s a big walk out there, and the fans did it all day,” Smith said. “It was perfect.”

That shows Chicago’s golf fans, who last had a big-time tournament in town and open to the public three years ago, are starved for stars. The 2019 BMW Championship / Western Open at Medinah Country Club was a big hit. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2020 BMW at Olympia Fields was closed to the public unless you were watching through a fence on Vollmer Road.

Around Rich Harvest 

Greg Norman, the LIV commissioner whose original plan of a world golf circuit has come to reality almost 30 years later, was on hand Saturday, slapping players’ backs on the driving range and generally schmoozing his way around. He was absent on Friday, said to be in meetings elsewhere. For a TV deal, perhaps? … The YouTube audience was around 62,000 late in the round. The LIV telecasts in the U.S. are also on LIV’s website and DAZN, another online service. … Sunday’s start is 12:15 p.m., following a quartet of parachutists with the 18th fairway their target. Saturday, three of the four were on the mark. The fourth landed on the second fairway. … The 4 Aces, captained by Johnson, leads the Punch quartet, helmed by Smith, by a stroke. The top three teams split up $5 million of the combined $25 million purse, so even Marc Leishman, at even par individually, is playing for big bucks two ways in the final round.

Johnson races to LIV lead at Rich Harvest

By Tim Cronin

Writing from Sugar Grove, Illinois

Friday, September 16, 2022

Dustin Johnson says of Rich Harvest Farms, “The course is great.”

Which brings to mind the old saying, “Winners tell funny stories and losers say deal.”

Johnson was in the mood for funny stories on Friday, authoring a course-record 9-under-par 63 to take the lead in the LIV Golf Invitational Chicago.

“It's just like anywhere, you hit it in the fairway and hit it on the green and you can usually shoot a good score,” Johnson said.

Aside from a putt that hung the lip on the first hole, Johnson played nearly-perfect golf, scattering nine birdies across his scorecard, including four straight from the sixth hole onward, though he’ll probably kick himself for settling for par at the last, a 522-yard downhill par 5.

“Obviously the reachable par-5s you need to take advantage of, but you've got to hit it in the fairway just so you can control the golf ball coming into these greens,” Johnson said. “I missed the fairway on 18, but all the other ones I could get to.”

Johnson’s birdie on the par-5 seventh came via one putt, as he decided to lay up because he wasn’t comfortable with the shot.

Because of such prudent play and a puissant putter, Johnson leads British Open champion Cameron Smith by three strokes and Matthew Wolff by four. Smith fired a bogey-free 6-under 66 on the 7,425-yard layout. Wolff’s 67 included a bogey on the par-4 17th hole, but he more than made up for it with an eagle-3 on the 18th.

Phil Mickelson is tied for 11th after a 2-under 70, his third straight sub-70 round following the last two rounds at LIV’s Boston stop.

David Puig of Spain, the newly-minted pro who played the first and third tournaments as an amateur while mulling whether or not to leave Arizona State, scored 1-over 73 in his debut round playing for money. Shaun Norris brought up the rear in the 48-man field with a 7-over 79.

Around Rich Harvest

Contrary to a rumor that had only 1,500 tickets sold, there was a solid crowd for the first round. Based on the nearly-full parking lot to the north side of the course, the educated estimate is about 8,000 spectators, not including volunteers. The retail ticket price was $49, but you could find tickets on StubHub for $9 in the morning. … The shotgun starts Saturday and Sunday are at 12:15 p.m.

WWGA mulls return of Women's Western Open

Writing from Golf, Illinois

Thursday, September 15, 2022

There are plans afoot to bring a ghost golf championship back to life.

The Women’s Western Golf Association, in conjunction with the Western Golf Association, is trying to bring back the Women’s Western Open, the first major championship in women’s professional golf.

The surprise announcement came at the WWGA’s annual meeting, and from Judy Rankin, who was being honored as the organization’s 2022 Woman of Distinction.

“I hope one of these days soon, and I’ve heard a lot about it, that the Women’s Western Open will be reinvented,” Rankin said. “I think that would be great.”

WWGA and WGA officials weren’t available for comment, but it is understood that recent work by both groups, part of their alliance to boost the visibility of the Women’s Western Amateur and Junior championships, led to investigating potential sponsors for a WWGA-bannered pro tournament.

First played in 1930, the Women’s Western Open was the first golf tournament open to female professionals. The first major championship on the LPGA circuit – which itself began in 1950 – the Women’s Western Open was shelved after the 1967 playing, a victim of rising costs.

The WWO had no purse the first few years, but there were also no female professionals. That changed by the mid-1930s, and by 1941, when Patty Berg claimed the first of her record eight titles, she won the entire purse – $100.

When the WWO was shelved after the 1967 playing, the WWGA said it was concentrating on amateur golf, which was true, but the second half of the story was the $10,000 purse became too much for the all-volunteer group to raise.

Even today, Women’s Western Open winners, of which Kathy Whitworth was the last, at Pekin Country Club in 1967, are listed as major champions by the LPGA.

Rankin played in four Women’s Western Opens in the 1960s, her best finish a tie for fourth in 1964, as Judy Torluemke.

“It was played at some great golf courses in my time,” Rankin recalled, mentioning Beverly on Chicago’s South Side by name.

– Tim Cronin

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

Small seeks new swing; Donovan seeks title

Writing from Barrington, Illinois

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Hang around a practice range at a golf tournament for even a short while, and the realization strikes that no matter how successful, golfers are perfectionists.

Take Mike Small, for instance. He scored 2-under 69 Tuesday in the second round of the 101st Illinois PGA Championship for 3-under 139 through 36 holes. When he signed his scorecard, he was among the leaders – two strokes behind only first-time player Kyle Donovan of Oak Park and sharing second with Jeff Kellen of Butler National and Curtis Malm of White Eagle, going into Wednesday’s final round at Makray Memorial Golf Club.

Small wasn’t satisfied. After a quick lunch, it was back to the range to work on the swing he’s been trying to revamp since the spring.

Small’s 56, the coach of the ultra-successful Illinois men’s golf team, has won the Illinois PGA a record 13 times, has a record 17 state majors to his credit overall, and he’s changing his swing?

“I haven’t hit it good in a couple of years,” Small explained. “I’ve had too much face rotation (of the clubhead). I’ve made three or four bogeys in two days with wedges. The divot’s going right and the ball’s going left. It’s kind of a do-it-yourself right now. I’m not practicing enough to waste somebody else’s time to help me get better. I’ll hit a bucket of balls a day and try to figure it out.

“Usually you have good days and bad days. This year, I’ve had good holes and bad holes, good shots and bad shots.”

He’s been working on reworking what has worked so well in the past since the spring and his appearance in the Senior PGA Championship, for which he has long been eligible, but which he made his first appearance in because Illinois didn’t advance to the NCAA Championship on the same dates. There, the combination of good and bad shots triggered the idea to find a more consistent way of striking the ball.

“I’m playing pretty good, really,” Small said. “It’s hard to make putts out here if you get outside of 10-15 feet. It’s so sloped, it’s hard.”

Small scattered five birdies and three bogeys across his card.

“I’ve taken advantage of the par-5s and the short par-4s for two days,” Small said. “I don’t think I’ve birdied a hole with more than a sand wedge in my hand. But then I had a three-putt and two bogeys with wedges. It doesn’t make any sense, but that’s my game nowadays.”

It’s one thing to install a new swing and another to get the body’s muscle-memory to forget the old one. That, Small’s working on.

“At this stage of my life, I just want to play good golf,” Small said. “Playing bad golf’s no fun.”

Kellen’s similar to Small in that he’s seeking improvement and already plays superb golf. He opened with 3-under 68, and while even par 71 was just Tuesday score, his length makes him a threat. He drove the green on the 310-yard third hole Monday and sank the 5-foot putt for an eagle, and Tuesday drove to 15 feet and two-putted for par. Rather than his swing, Kellen is working on his body.

“I’ve done a lot to the core of my body,” Kellen said. “I work on my mobility an extra 20 minutes a day.”

Malm played his last 13 holes in 5-under, including an eagle at the par-5 18th, sinking a 25-footer that, in his words, “started to the right of the pin and broke a ton.” It was the only eagle of the day on the 550-yard hole.

Malm has won the Illinois Junior – though at Edgebrook in Sandwich, not at Makray, the annual host now – the Illinois Open, and the Illinois Match Play. Winning this after a pair of seconds and a pair of thirds would complete a personal grand slam.

“This is about the only thing I haven’t won in Illinois back to junior golf,” Malm said. “But you can’t think about that. I just want to have a good round of golf and see what happens. Just hit the ball, find it, and hit it again.”

Donovan, the 27-year-old leader, is the only contender who has played Makray in competition – in the Illinois Junior, where he finished 18th. After a 68-69 start for 5-under 137, he seeks his first win as a professional. He won a handful of times at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis.

“I played great yesterday and today was the polar opposite,” Donovan said. “I hit it all over the place. But I committed to a good swing on the 18th tee.”

Which helped set up his birdie putt, which he called “a testy 3-footer” after a chip from just off the green.

Donovan, if he wins, will the the first player to win the Illinois PGA in his first attempt since Small did so in 2001 – when Donovan was a tyke of 5.

Around Makray: The cut fell at 16-over 158 and included 65 players. … Wednesday tee times begin at 8 a.m. … The field averaged 77.50 strokes on the par-71 course. … Chris French of Aldeen in Rockford holed out for eagle on the ninth and 15th holes en route to a 1-under 70 for 6-under 148.

– Tim Cronin