Can Thompson hold off Sainz?

    Writing from Wheaton, Illinois
    Monday, October 6, 2014

    Matt Thompson is where you want to be heading into the final round of the 25th Chicago Open.
    He’s in the lead.
    But the man directly behind him is one of the last guys Thompson would want in hot pursuit.
    That would be Carlos Sainz Jr., the defending champion.
    If this sounds familiar, it should be. Thompson was the runner-up to Sainz in last year’s Chicago Open.
    Thompson, a 25-year-old third year pro from Marshall, Mich., scored his second straight 1-under-par 71 in a stiff breeze at Cantigny Golf on Monday, and stands at 2-under 142 with Tuesday’s final round looming.
    Sainz added a 71 to his opening 72 and is at 1-under 143 in his quest to be the first back-to-back winner of a Chicago Open – albeit under different management and in a different era – since Ken Venturi, who captured the 1958 and 1959 Gleneagles-Chicago Opens at that Lemont course.
    Sainz would be leading but for a major malfunction on the 18th hole. A double-bogey 6 at the last dropped him behind Thompson, who was in his threesome.
    Until that miscue, Sainz had been on a tear, racing back from a three-strokes deficit via a combination of his birdies and Thompson’s bogeys, including a two-shot swing in the par-5 14th.
    They’ll be coasing the $10,000 first prize in the final threesome on Tuesday, along with Ryan Martin of Prestonsburg, Ky., whose 71 for even-par 144 moved him into a tie for third. He’s deadlocked with Michael Davan of Hoopeston, who has flirted with the Illinois Open title the last two years.
    First round leader Chris Brant of Edwardsville blew up with a 7-over 79 and fell to 3-over 147 and a tie for 12th. Mike Small, Illinois’ men’s golf coach, added a 73 for 4-over 148. He’s tied for 17th, six strokes in arrears with 18 holes to play.
    – Tim Cronin

Edwardsville's Brant leads Chicago Open

Sunday, October 5, 2014

So far, the long trip from downstate Edwardsville has been worth it for Chris Brant.

Brant, looking to add the Chicago Open title to the Metropolitan Open crown he earned near St. Louis in July, fired a 4-under-par 68 on Sunday at Cantigny Golf in Wheaton and holds a two-stroke lead entering the second round of the 25th Chicago Open. Seven birdies splashed across his scorecard, offset by a trio of bogeys, added up to a pair of 34s on the Woodside and Lakeside nines of the 27-hole complex.

Brant’s nearest pursuer in the 54-hole test is Matt Slowinski, the head pro at Conway Farms with a stint at Cantigny on his resume. He played the back nine in 2-under 34 and stands at 2-under 70. That’s a stroke better than the trio of Matt Thompson, Andrew Ruthkowski and Garrett Jones, the first two from Michigan and the third a Wisconsin resident. They’re all at 1-under 71, the only other players under par.

Defending champion Carlos Sainz Jr., who recently earned his PGA Tour card, posted an even-par 72 that featured birdies on his first three holes, then three bogeys across the final 12 to bring him back to level. Sainz’s victory last year at Cantigny brought back memories of the days he worked at the course in high school.

Illinois men’s golf coach Mike Small, always a threat when there’s a purse available – first place awards $10,000 from the $50,000 purse – fired an untidy 3-over 75 and is tied for 20th. A holeout for eagle 2 from the fairway of the par-4 12th was more than offset by a pair of double-bogeys on the second and fifth holes.

Mark Hensby, the Australian native who became as well-known for sleeping in his car in the Cog Hill parking lot as for winning the 2004 John Deere Classic, scored 78 in his first round, and, tied for 50th, is in danger of missing the cut. The field of 96 will be trimmed to 40 and ties after Monday’s adventure.

Hinsdale’s John Callahan is the low amateur through 18 holes thanks to an even-par 72.

– Tim Cronin

It's official: BMW to Indy in 2016

    Writing from Chicago
    Tuesday, September 9, 2014

    Crooked Stick Country Club members have approved the return of the BMW Championship to Carmel, Ind., club in 2016, the Western Golf Association announced today.
    The vote, taken Au. 28, was expected. Other details took longer to iron out. Crooked Stick hosted the 2012 tournament, won by Rory McIlroy, and spectators turned out en masse despite several downpours and wet conditions over the course of the week.
    It also earned close to $3 million for the Evans Scholars Foundation, the Western’s caddies-to-college arm.
    “We are thrilled to be bringing the BMW Championship back to Crooked Stick Golf Club, where we had such a successful event in 2012, thanks in large part to the tremendous community and business support in the market,” Vince Pellegrino, the WGA’s senior vice president of tournaments, said in a release.
    “We look forward to engaging again with the great people of Indiana and to producing the very best fan environment possible.”    
    The precise date has not yet been set. The 2016 schedule is complicated but not only the Ryder Cup, but the Olympics.
    Next year’s BMW – the 112th edition of the traditionally-named Western Open – is Sept. 17-20 at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest. Conway Farms is also expected to host in 2017, with the WGA settled into a routine that has the tournament in Chicagoland in odd-numbered years and out of town in even-numbered years.
    Tournament officials and the brass at Cherry Hills Country Club, which hosted last year’s edition, were thrilled with the response from the public, corporate support, and the players, but when the Western might return to the club, or go to nearby Castle Pines Golf Club, host of the old International, is the big question. The next available date is 2018.
    “It’s my personal opinion that the state of Colorado has to be looked at for the BMW Championship in the next five, 10 years,” club member George Solich, an Evans Scholar and the general chairman of the big week, told The Denver Post. “I know the PGA Tour wants to come back to Colorado.”
    Solich, also a member of Castle Pines, noted it’s in Cherry Hills’ charter to host championship golf.
    “We wanted to get in the conversation,” he told the Post. “I think we’ve done that.”
    – Tim Cronin

A Horschel of a winning color

    Writing from Cherry Hills Village, Colorado
    Sunday, September 7, 2014

    Here is how you go out and win the BMW Championship six days after after you fatted a 6-iron into the gunch and took yourself out of a shot at a trophy in Boston:
    1. You par the last 11 holes.
    2. You watch your closest pursuers, including the top-ranked player in the world and various pretenders to his crown, blow up down the stretch.
    Not a likely scenario, you say? Too many chances for someone to go wild on the scoreboard?
    Well, it worked on Sunday for Billy Horschel. He scored 1-under-par 69 for a total of 14-under-par 266 and a two-stroke victory over Bubba Watson, who didn’t quite bring Cherry Hills Country Club to its knees with his altitude-influenced length.
    The saving grace for Horschel was that while there were low rounds galore on Sunday – 45 of the 66 remaining players were under the par of 70 – the lowest rounds came from those too far back to challenge. A course-record tying 62 from Russell Knox. A 63 from Morgan Hoffman following a Saturday 62, which got him into next week’s chase for the bullion in Atlanta. And 66s from the likes of Watson, Jim Furyk, Adam Scott and Rory “Four Putt” McIlroy. Yes, he did it again on Sunday, and again on the 12th hole.
    Watson might have challenged had he not bogeyed the first and ninth holes. He was close at the finish only because he birdied the 16th and 17th. Hoffman finished third at 11-under 269 because he played the last 13 holes in 8-under, but a bogey and double-bogey in his first five holes prevented him from forcing the issue.
    Those who had that chance squandered it. Ryan Palmer, three back at dawn, and who tied Horschel briefly on the front nine, played his last seven holes in 5-over, finished with a 71, and stumbled into a tie for fourth at 9-under 271. U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer, also in the final threesome, slept his way to a 73. Sergio Garcia was in the chase until the par-5 17th hole, where he landed in the rough behind the island green with his third shot, then rolled his overcooked pitch into the water. He made an 8. And McIlroy, the world’s top-ranked player, followed Saturday’s four-putt triple bogey 6 on the par-3 12th with a four-putt double-bogey 5. So much for hitting the green in regulation.
    Where was Horschel during all this? Serenely making par after par, 11 in a row to finish after a birdie on the par-4 seventh. The man didn’t three-putt all week, a big reason he ranked first in putting.
    “I sure didn’t make it as easy as I would have loved,” Horschel said. “But I was able to grind something out and get a victory at the end of the day.”
    Which was the point of the exercise. Aside from a photo session with an old trophy and $1.44 million to shove in his pocket, he also moves to the No. 2 spot in the point standings. A win next week in the Tour Championship, and he collects the $10 million FedEx is putting up for first spot.
    It was quite the turnaround from the bobble in Boston.
    “That never crossed my mind,” Horschel said. “I guess you say it’s redemption, but I was coming from behind (there).”
    Here, nobody could surpass him. A 22-foot birdie putt on the par-4 seventh following a bogey on the sixth put him back into the lead. Palmer nipped at his heels for a time, but his bogey on the 12th and double on the 13th took him out of the picture.
    Garcia was two back with two to play until his improbable snowman meltdown on the 548-yard 17th. Into the water with the fourth shot was not something anyone contemplated.
    “It’s what happens when you’re not just mentally sharp,” Garcia said, slyly referencing the four-week playoff grind – though he skipped last week. “If I was mentally sharp, if I was rested, the way I was at the beginning and the middle of the year, I would have talked myself into going for the green (on the second shot). Then just a mistake after another mistake.
    “At least if I’m up there, that’s what is important.”
    Watson ended up up there with a third straight 66. His back nine of 4-under 36 was only surpassed among the top finishers by Hoffman’s 6-under 30.
    “I turned it around,” Watson said.
    All except his putting. He took 119 putts, compared to Horschel’s 113.
    “You’re going to have weeks like that,” Watson said. “I had a chance to scare him (at the last), but I missed it. I’ll take it. Second place is a start in the right direction.”
    Just about the only run that was made was Horschel’s, up the hill in front of the 18th green. It was a 50-yard sprint by a man in need of relief.
    What Horschel is not – at least at this writing – is a well-known winner. Over 111 Western Opens, the old carnival has had its share of lesser-known champions. Joe Durant comes to mind, only because he wouldn’t otherwise come to mind.
    But, unlike Tom Watson’s breakthrough at Butler National in 1974, this isn’t Horschel’s first victory. He won in New Orleans last year. This victory, though, is bigger, thanks to the bonuses: the shot at the $10 million bonus, the automatic berths in the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open, the exemption through 2016, and the knowledge that he can beat the best, even if he didn’t think he was playing his best. And for someone who wasn’t going to look at leader boards, he broke down and peeked.
    “I looked on the 16th and saw Sergio was two back and Bubba was three back, and I liked my chances,” Horschel said. “On the 17th, before I hit my second, I saw that Sergio chipped into the water.”
    All he had to do was play the last two holes in par, as he had the previous nine. And he did.
    “It means a lot to win, especially an event in the FedEx Cup playoffs,” Horschel said. “Now I’ve got a chance to win $10 million. It’s another step down the road.
    “I like my chances (to win it all). If I was a betting man I’d put some money on me. I’m not going to go ahead and guarantee a victory, but I will say I expect to play very well and expect to have a chance to win on Sunday.”
    – Tim Cronin

Not a Rory-ing finish

    Round 4 Notebook

    Writing from Cherry Hills Village, Colorado
    Sunday, September 7, 2014

    It can be tough to be Rory McIlroy. Especially when you could have contended in the BMW Championship except for how you played the 12th hole over the course of the week.
    Basically, over the weekend the world’s top player played it like he was wearing boxing gloves instead of a golf glove. A triple-bogey 6 on Saturday. A double-bogey 5 on Sunday. A pair of four-putts.
    It was unfathomable.
    “It hasn’t been what I wanted,” McIlroy said. “But I’m playing solidly and hopefully I can just put everything together next week.”
    But what of the 12th green, the little putting surface of horrors?
    “It’s not my worst, I’ve five-putted before,” McIlroy said. “It’s one of those things that at least I can laugh about and move on.”
    Saturday’s misadventure came into his mind when he was over the second putt on Sunday. He knocked his first putt from 19 feet 4 inches to 5-9. Not gimme range, but he Rory McIlroy, for crying out loud.
    “I said to myself, ‘Let’s not give any more shots away to this hole.’ That was what I said. So maybe I out a little bit too much pressure on myself to hole the second putt,” McIlroy said.
    The putt rolled past the hole, and kept going. It stopped 7 feet 6 inches away.
    “On the third putt, I’m thinking ‘OK, you don’t want to 4-putt again,’ ” he said.
    And it ran 4 feet 3 inches by.
    “I actually holed a decent-length putt for a 4-putt. So.” And there was the boyish grin again.
    McIlroy finished tied for eighth at 8-under 272. Pars on the 12th on Saturday and Sunday, and his total is 13-under 267, a stroke behind winner Billy Horschel. And who knows how the final 25 holes would have played out?
    But McIlroy won’t dwell on the mishaps.
    “It sort of shows everyone out there that we do the same things as they do every weekend,” McIlroy said.

    The road ends for Appleby, Bradley

    That Morgan Hoffman and Ryan Palmer played their way into the top 30 and Tour Championship berths means two players can take next week off. Those two are Stuart Appleby and Keegan Bradley.
    Bradley cast his die snake eyes on Saturday morning, when he withdrew because of personal doubt over an embedded ball ruling on Thursday. He finished 33rd after starting the week 28th.
    Appleby started 26th and finished 31st by playing 46th in the BMW. Hoffman rose from 68th to 21st, while Palmer moved from 37th to 23rd. And Hoffman's 62-63 for 125 over the weekend is a Western Open / BMW record for 36 holes by three strokes.
    The 30-man field will be a man short thanks to Dustin Johnson’s presence in the No. 30 spot. Johnson is in what he and the PGA Tour calls a “leave of absence” but what has been reported as a six-month suspension for a third drug-use violation. Whatever you call it, Johnson will still profit. The 30th spot in the standings earns $303,000 from FedEx, part of their $35 million distribution to the top 125 players, with $10 million going to the winner.
    The top five can win it all next week by winning the tournament: Chris Kirk, Horschel, Bubba Watson, McIlroy and Hunter Mahan. One with no shot is Henrik Stenson, who won last year’s playoffs. He didn’t qualify, finishing 23rd in the BMW for a 52nd-place points finish.

    To Castle Pines in 2018?

    There’s a possible second option for the WGA for a return visit to the Denver area, which could happen as early as 2018. It’s Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Pines, south of downtown Denver by about 23 miles, and 18 miles south of Cherry Hills.
    WGA director and Cherry Hills member George Solich, the prime mover behind the presence of the tournament here this week, is also a member there. Castle Pines owner Jack Vickers, who created the International, the modified Stableford format tournament that was a success for 21 years through 2006 until the PGA Tour asked him to put move to the old Western Open dates when the Western became the BMW and moved to September, might be persuaded to open the gates of his club again.
    The first tee at Cherry Hills is 5,411 feet above sea level, and the ball flies. Castle Pines is even more lofty, at 6,335 feet. Bubba Watson could launch one into orbit there.
    The sticking point, aside from Cherry Hills being interested, is the age of Vickers. He’s 89. At that age, long-term plans aren’t always made.

    Around Cherry Hills

    Defending champion Zach Johnson finished 43rd at 2-over 282. ... For the fifth straight day, the gallery – a sellout of 28,000 – arrived early and stayed late, savoring the appearance of the PGA Tour’s best. ... With 45 players bettering par and another five at par, the field posted a blistering 68.697 strokes on the par-70 (for the week) layout. It’ll be back to a par 72 for the members. The average for the week was 69.840. ... Sergio Garcia’s 3-under 67 started with an outward 29 featuring his second eagle 2 of the week on the par-5 seventh. He’ll not remember that as long as he does the snowman at the 17th. ... Next year’s tournament at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, from Sept. 17-20, two weeks later than this year because there’s no Ryder Cup to jam up the schedule.
    – Tim Cronin