It's Small vs. Mistwood duo for Illinois PGA crown

Writing from Medinah, Illinois

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Mike Small has trouble keeping up with his accomplishments.

It’s a great problem to have, especially when they keep piling up.

Tuesday, for instance. The Illinois men’s coach fired an 8-under-par 63 on Medinah No. 1, taking the lead in the 99th Illinois PGA Championship with a 36-hole aggregate of 10-under-par 132.

That’s a competitive course record by three strokes – and matches the 63 punched in by member Tim “Tee-K” Kelly in a casual round on No. 1 a few years ago.

It’s also the third 63 Small has authored in Illinois PGAs. He’d scored a 9-under 63 at Stonewall Orchard in 2007 and an 8-under 63 on Olympia Fields’ South Course in 2010.

“I thought I had more than that,” Small said.

No, but nobody else has more than one.

Small needed every one of his six birdies – plus an eagle – to take the lead. The Mistwood duo of Andy Mickelson and Frank Hohenadel are a stroke back at 9-under 133. Hodenadel scored 66, Mickelson 67, and they’ll join Small in Wednesday’s final threesome.

The winner will likely come out of that trio. Jim Billiter, the 2015 winner – and the previous record holder on the revamped No. 1 – is at 5-under 137 after a 3-under 68, while Medinah’s Travis Johns dropped to 4-under after a 1-over 72 and is joined at 138 by Roy Biancalana.

Nobody else was close to Small’s 63 on Tuesday. Out in the day’s third group, he took advantage of negligible wind and eagled the first hole via a 230-yard 2-iron to six feet, then birdied the next two holes, the start of an opening nine that featured only eight putts. That’s eight one-putts and a chip-in to save par on No. 9.

Small said the four par saves on the front were the key to the round. As important was hitting every green on the inward half.

“I got off to a good start,” Small said. “Finishing strong yesterday put me in a good frame of mind today. I could have really gone low on the back nine.”

Three birdies and six pars, with 15 putts for a total of 24 for the round.

It could have been better, of course. With golfers, it can always be better. Small noted lipping out a birdie putt on the 15th hole, coming close on the 11th and 18th, and failing to hit the par-5 17th green in two. Instead, he had a 50-yard bunker shot, but managed to scramble for par.

“But I’m happy,” Small said. “I needed that. Best round of the year? Yeah.

“I tried to get out of my way today,” the 12-time Illinois PGA winner and Illinois Golf Hall of Fame member added. “I get in my way a lot. I’ll coach myself up and I’ll hit bad shots. It’s gotten worse over the years.”

In other words, he does to himself what he preaches to hit players not to do.

“Right, but I do what I do all the time,” Small said. “I evaluate all day long, and I shouldn’t evaluate.”

A dozen titles does not diminish the thirst for a 13th, especially after having to withdraw after being close to the lead two years ago, and squandering a five stroke lead in the middle of the final round last year.

“It’s weird,” Small said. “I’ve won this thing 12 times, and I blow a lead once, and it’s like it’s a big deal. I should just forget about it. Last year was weird. I’ve never done that, not even in the club pro.”

Hohenadel won the Illinois PGA on No. 1 in 2011, when the fairways were grassless and the course was a a year from renovation. He went wire-to-wire. This time, he’ll need to come from behind, but is at a place that inspires him.

“There’s something about these grounds, all the great events played here,” Hohenadel said. “It’s going to be fun. Usually, I’m looking at the cutline to qualify for the national club pro. Now, I can go for it.”

Hohenadel scored five birdies, offset by a long bogey, in stitching together his 66, and played the back nine in 3-under 32. Unlike the old layout, he was able to swing away.

“You can do whatever you want off the tee,” Hohenadel said. “The old layout, you were hitting driving irons 250 (yards). It’s a ton of fun. I like the changes. It fits my game better.”

Mickelson, with four birdies on a six-hole stretch on the back nine, was looking at a 66 as well until three-putting the rolling 18th green to drop his only stroke of the day.

“I hit it pin high, but on the wrong side,” Mickelson said. “Until then, I was piling on (birdie) looks of 10- to 12-feet on the back nine.”

Regardless, he said he’ll sleep well going into the final round.

“The hardest night’s sleep is last night, wondering if you can put another good round on the board,” Mickelson said.

Going 66-67 seems to fill that bill.

Like Small, who won the Illinois PGA on No. 1 in 2008, and Hohenadel, Mickelson also carries good Medinah memories. He took Kyle English to the 37th hole in the CDGA Amateur championship match on No. 3 in 2011 before falling. But he was undefeated on No. 1.

Around Medinah

Since Tom Doak’s renovation of No. 1 in 2012-13, the course record had been the 66 scored by Jim Billiter in the second round of the 2015 Illinois PGA. Small obliterated that. Billiter went on to beat Matt Slowinski by two strokes. … Brian Dalton aced the 311-yard par-4 third hole. It’s the first ace and albatross for the Stonewall Orchard pro. He and 61 others made the cup, which fell at 9-over 151.

– Tim Cronin