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