Future of Tour on display in BMW's renewal

Writing from Chicago

Monday, November 22, 2021 

There are several nuggets to take from Monday’s five-year sponsorship renewal by BMW of North America with the Western Golf Association for the BMW Championship, one that will extend the deal that began in 2007 through 2027.

First and foremost, this time, the renewal was swift and lengthy. At five years, this deal, beginning in 2023, comes 10 months before the 2022 deal that is the third in the current extension. In contrast, the three-year pact from 2020 to 2022 was only announced in the middle of the 2019 tournament at Medinah Country Club.

The prompt renewal, and the length, indicates more than any words in a news release that BMW NA finds it worthwhile to spend real money on a premier golf tournament. Sebastian Mackensen, the president and CEO of BMW’s North American division, called it “a great way to showcase our brand and engage customers.” He continued by noting the money raised for the Evans Scholars Foundation (over $40 million since 2007), but rest assured, if the BMW accountants and sales department couldn’t find a link between cars and SUVs moving off showroom floors and slapping the BMW logo on the Western Open, it wouldn’t be happening.

That it continues to is testament to the leadership of the WGA, starting with president and CEO John Kaczkowski, who has taken a somewhat sleepy golf association that did splendid work getting caddies, most of them in the Midwest, into and through college into a organization with a national outlook. As painful as it is for the loyal Chicago golf fan to see the tournament they call their own played in Denver and Philadelphia – and next year in Wilmington, Del. – taking the circus to places it’s not often seen has not only boosted fundraising, it’s broadened the reach of the Evans program. Chick would be pleased.

Second, Olympia Fields Country Club is getting a do-over. The 2020 BMW was played on Olympia’s testing North Course, where Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson traded outrageous long birdie putts down the stretch with Rahm sinking a 66-footer to win on the first hole of sudden death.

In a normal year, thousands would have said they were there, but 2020 was not a normal year. The COVID-19 pandemic pre-vaccine meant only a handful of volunteers were on hand, and spectators were along Vollmer Road, on the outside looking in. That reduced the fee Olympia received and the income of the Evans program, but at least it was played.

In 2023, the BMW will return to Olympia, and so will all of us.

Third, and it wasn’t mentioned in the PGA Tour’s release, the players will get richer than ever. Beginning in 2022, the BMW will be one of the first examples of the future of the game, at least financially. The Tour, rarely challenged as the leading week-in, week-out top tour in existence, is trying to fend off the Saudi-backed Super Golf League, which has yet to put a tee in the ground but has Greg Norman as its front man. He and the Saudis envision a series of $20 million tournaments played around the world. (A second European group, the Premier Golf League, has an idea of their own big weeks, but somehow played under the PGA Tour umbrella. At least, that’s the latest version.)

The PGA Tour is countering in two ways. First, by threatening their players with banishment – from a voluntary non-profit organization – if anyone dares play in Norman’s sandbox, and second, by showering their members with heretofore unseen millions of dollars.

The 2022-23 season starts a lucrative new television package – CBS will get the entire playoff series in odd-numbered years, so expect to hear Jim Nantz say hello to his friends from Olympia Fields – worth a ridiculous amount of money.

How ridiculous? The 70 players at Olympia (and in 2022, at Wilmington) will be playing for $15 million, up from the $9.5 million this year, according to a memo PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan sent to the players on Monday. If the usual 18 percent take of the loot goes to the winner, he’ll walk away with $2.7 million, or 4.35 times Sam Snead’s career earnings.

Playing for that kind of money should encourage loyalty to the kids in Ponte Vedra Beach. If not, well, oil’s well that ends well.

– Tim Cronin

Malm, Chaussard each win at Knollwood

Writing from Lake Forest, Illinois

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Curtis Malm of Naperville’s White Eagle Golf Club won on Knollwood Club’s golf course on Tuesday, capturing the Illinois PGA Players Championship.

Garrett Chaussard of Glencoe’s Skokie Golf Club also won at Knollwood, capturing the player of the year title by overhauling Chris French of Aldeen on Knollwood’s back nine.

For Malm, the achievement was deja vu. He captured the title last year after getting into the elite field of 36 players after someone else dropped out, and made it in this year in the same fashion. Shaun McIlroy of North Shore didn’t play, so Malm was in, and once again made the most of it.

This time, Malm’s 4-under-par 68, finishing with a birdie at the last, was the best round of the day, brought him to 3-under 141 overall, and vaulted him over Brian Carroll by a stroke. Carroll bogeyed the final hole for a 71 and 2-under 142 aggregate.

For Chaussard, it was similarly close. He trailed French by about 32 points in the season standings entering this final state major of the year, and was two strokes behind French at the turn. But Chaussard played steady, with eight pars and a birdie on the par-4 15th, while French hit the wall and scored 6-over 42, including a bogey-bogey-double bogey finish, to stagger home at 4-over 148, five strokes behind Chaussard. That was the difference.

“I definitely knew where I stood going into this week,” Chaussard said. “I didn’t peek at a leaderboard until 14 or 15. I just knew I had to finish one stroke better than Chris to sneak by.”

Chaussard finished 197.22 points ahead, earning him his second player of the year honor in three seasons.

“I wanted to do it twice to kind of validate it,” Chaussard said. “In 2019, I was so far ahead I didn’t even have to show up for the final tournament.”

He finished third on the 2019 Players anyway, and tied for third with Mistwood’s Andy Mickelson this time.

Malm, meanwhile, was locked in a duel with Carroll. The birdie-bogey swing on the 18th was the difference mathematically, but couldn’t have happened without Malm’s dramatic play on the par-4 13th. It can play as long at 357 yards, but Illinois PGA officials put the markers on the 302-yard front tee to encourage players to go for it, and Malm did.

“I hit a high cut and it stopped 18 inches for the cup for a 2,” Malm said as calmly as a tax assessor.

That eagle, one of only two on the hole, vaulted the 42-year-old into contention. He came on the scene as an amateur, winning the 2000 Illinois Open at Royal Fox, and has often been in the mix for trophies and professional cash – $1,615 of the $8,500 purse in this case – since.

“The drive is still there, but I’m a terrible player compared to that guy,” Malm said. “I’m still in there, but I’ll hit some Tour-esque shots and then some like a 16 handicapper.” 

Chip Shots

The return of the Illinois Open to White Eagle next year is official, both Malm, the club’s director of golf, and Illinois PGA executive director Carrie Williams confirmed. … The Illinois PGA is also running a Korn Ferry Tour first-stage qualifying tournament at Bull Valley in Woodstock this weekend. … Friday night brings the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Glen Club in Glenview. Call the Illinois PGA at (847) 729-5700 for ticket information.

– Tim Cronin

Mickelson trumps 100th Illinois PGA field

By Tim Cronin

Reporting from Ivanhoe, Illinois

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Seven years ago, Andy Mickelson was a PGA professional without a golf course.

He was working a desk job in a packaging facility. Then Mistwood called, and his life changed.

Wednesday, he celebrated again, winning the 100th Illinois PGA Championship by four strokes via his third straight 1-under-par 71. His total of 3-under 213 on the difficult Ivanhoe Club layout earned him his first Illinois major, a year after he tied for second and two after he was joint fifth.

“It’s five years since I did something special,” Mickelson said, recalling a victory at Pebble Beach in a TaylorMade-sponsored tournament. “I truly did take it one shot at a time today.”

Mickelson kept his game together, hitting most of Ivanhoe’s narrow fairways and, by his counting, 17 greens. That led to 15 pars, two birdies and a solitary bogey as the only player to finish under par. In comparison, the others in his group, Garrett Chaussard and Tim Streng, scored 76 and 81, respectively.

“Garrett has a bad start and Tim has a bad start, and I almost make it (with an approach on No. 3), and I think, ‘Why not me?’ ” Mickelson said.

Why not indeed. He trailed Chaussard by a stroke entering the day, and was four ahead of was him and Kurt Rogers of Champaign Country Club at the turn.

“I’ve been in the last group the last three years,” Mickelson said. “The rut I got into was playing match play against the guys in my group. I didn’t do that today.”

He didn’t check a leader board until the back nine and loved what he saw. He finished with eight straight pars, agonizing over missed birdie chances on several occasions.

“I could have shot a special number,” Mickelson said. “I put a lot into every shot. That’s why I’m exhausted right now.”

Rogers, 60, was encouraged to make the long trip from his home in Forsyth, a Decatur suburb, by Illinois Section tournament director Brad Slocum, who thought his arrow-straight driving game would buoy his chances on the narrow course. That proved correct.

“I probably hit driver 10 (of 14) times,” Rogers said. “I tried to stay patient. You can’t go firing at every flag.”

He made 11 birdies in three days, including three in the final round, with two in the last four holes.

Mickelson earned $9,800 from the purse of $81,650 for the victory, with Rogers and Chaussard, who tied for second at 1-over 217, collecting $5,690.50 each. Chris French of Aldeen in Rockford was solo fourth at 2-over 218, and earned $4,333.

All of the above made the PGA club pro championship – formally the National Professional Championship. It’ll be Mickelson’s third appearance.

“I thought I was prepared for it last time and wasn’t,” Mickelson said. “I couldn’t have been more uncomfortable. I learned so much. Now I know better where I rank among pros around the country.”

Higher than before, to be sure, and with limitless possibilities.

Around Ivanhoe

Chris Green of Glen View Club had a tough day, scoring 6-over 78 and snapping a club while throwing two along the way. An earlier version of this story had him scoring 77 and snapping two clubs, but only one snapped when thrown across Ivanhoe’s verdant turf. … The 10 club pro qualifiers: Mickelson, Rogers, Chaussard, French, Frank Hohenadel, Matt Slowinski, Brian Carroll, David Pagelow, Streng and Reece Bartlet, the latter beating Curtis Malm, Andrew Godfrey and Jim Billiter for the last contested spot. Mike Small, the Illinois men’s coach, is also in as a past champion. Small played the last three holes of the second round in 7-over, and triple-bogeyed the first hole Wednesday. He scored 5-over 221 and finished seventh. If he played those four holes in even par, he beats Mickelson by two.

Mickelson trumps 100th Illinois PGA field

By Tim Cronin

Reporting from Ivanhoe, Illinois

Wednesday, August 25, 2001

Seven years ago, Andy Mickelson was a PGA professional without a golf course.

He was working a desk job in a packaging facility. Then Mistwood called, and his life changed.

Wednesday, he celebrated again, winning the 100th Illinois PGA Championship by four strokes via his third straight 1-under-par 71. His total of 3-under 213 on the difficult Ivanhoe Club layout earned him his first Illinois major, a year after he tied for second and two after he was joint fifth.

“It’s five years since I did something special,” Mickelson said, recalling a victory at Pebble Beach in a TaylorMade-sponsored tournament. “I truly did take it one shot at a time today.”

Mickelson kept his game together, hitting most of Ivanhoe’s narrow fairways and, by his counting, 17 greens. That led to 15 pars, two birdies and a solitary bogey as the only player to finish under par. In comparison, the others in his group, Garrett Chaussard and Tim Streng, scored 76 and 81, respectively.

“Garrett has a bad start and Tim has a bad start, and I almost make it (with an approach on No. 3), and I think, ‘Why not me?’ ” Mickelson said.

Why not indeed. He trailed Chaussard by a stroke entering the day, and was four ahead of was him and Kurt Rogers of Champaign Country Club at the turn.

“I’ve been in the last group the last three years,” Mickelson said. “The rut I got into was playing match play against the guys in my group. I didn’t do that today.”

He didn’t check a leader board until the back nine and loved what he saw. He finished with eight straight pars, agonizing over missed birdie chances on several occasions.

“I could have shot a special number,” Mickelson said. “I put a lot into every shot. That’s why I’m exhausted right now.”

Rogers, 60, was encouraged to make the long trip from his home in Forsyth, a Decatur suburb, by Illinois Section tournament director Brad Slocum, who thought his arrow-straight driving game would buoy his chances on the narrow course. That proved correct.

“I probably hit driver 10 (of 14) times,” Rogers said. “I tried to stay patient. You can’t go firing at every flag.”

He made 11 birdies in three days, including three in the final round, with two in the last four holes.

Mickelson earned $9,800 from the $81,650 purse for the victory, with Rogers and Chaussard, who tied for second at 1-over 217, collecting $5,690.50 each. Chris French of Aldeen in Rockford was solo fourth at 2-over 218, and earned $4,333.

All of the above made the PGA club pro championship – formally the National Professional Championship. It’ll be Mickelson’s third appearance.

“I thought I was prepared for it last time and wasn’t,” Mickelson said. “I couldn’t have been more uncomfortable. I learned so much. Now I know better where I rank among pros around the country.”

Higher than before, to be sure, and with limitless possibilities.

Around Ivanhoe

Chris Green of Glen View Club had a tough day, scoring 5-under 77 and snapping a pair of clubs along the way. … The 10 club pro qualifiers: Mickelson, Rogers, Chaussard, French, Frank Hohenadel, Matt Slowinski, Brian Carroll, David Pagelow, Streng and Reece Bartlet, the latter beating Curtis Malm, Andrew Godfrey and Jim Billiter for the last contested spot. Mike Small, the Illinois men’s coach, is also in as a past champion. Small played the last three holes of the second round in 7-over, and triple-bogeyed the first hole Wednesday. He scored 5-over 221 and finished seventh. If he played those four holes in even par, he beats Mickelson by two.

Chaussard leads soaked Illinois PGA

By Tim Cronin

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

When the rain came for good, Garrett Chaussard, the teaching pro at Skokie Country Club, was in a good place – in the clubhouse at the Ivanhoe Club and atop the leader board.

Chaussard’s 2-under-par 70 for 3-under 141 earned him a one-stroke lead entering the final round of the 100th PGA Championship – presuming those who finish on Wednesday morning, in advance of Round 3, don’t change the standings.

Chaussard leads Tim Streng of Wildcat Golf Academy and Andy Mickelson of Mistwood Got Club by a stroke, while Mistwood’s Frank Hohenadel, the overnight leader, is two strokes back with three holes remaining. He was caught out by the big squall line that rolled through the north suburban course before nightfall just after hitting his tee shot on the 16th hole.

Chaussard, a two-time Illinois PGA Match Play winner, was just happy to be finished.

“It’s very tough out there,” Chaussard said. “I’m glad I got it done. The break was actually good. It slowed me down. I happened to birdie No. 16 coming in and scrape together a couple of pars.”

The break, while long, helped Chaussard. First, he was out of the heat, a 96-degree scorcher with a heat index of 103.

““It was very refreshing, especially because I was one of three people to wear pants today,” Chaussard said. “Plus those last three holes are pretty hard, so it was good to get them without wind.”

The quartet Chaussard heads features the only players under par. Matt Slowinski of Hinsdale Golf Club is even through 36 holes after a 2-under 70, while Champaign’s Kurt Rogers is at 2-over 146 after consecutive 73s, and Eric Ilic of Merit Club is 2-over with six holes remaining.

The first break for severe weather lasted from 4:25 to 6:25 p.m. When it ended, players were told to go straight to their spot on the course without a warmup, unusual considering the length of the delay, though not unprecedented. They played 31 more minutes before the hooter sounded again.

The quick restart in the heat after the long wait in air conditioning might have cost 13-time winner Mike Small. The Illinois men’s coach was 3-under, having gone birdie-eagle on the two holes immediately before the stop, including an eagle on the par-5 15th. But he came out and promptly double-bogeyed the 16th, bogeyed the par-3 17th and made a quadruple-bogey 8 on the watery final hole, a 7-over train wreck that added up to 77 and a tie for ninth at 4-over 148 at nightfall.

Small did everything not to be a human Mount Vesuvius after the round.

Conversely, Mickelson took the quick restart in stride, even though his game changed.

“It was the right move to get back on the golf course,” Mickelson said. “I really had a lot of momentum going, but once the weather came through, I wasn’t making great swings. I band-aided it at the last four holes we played after I played so good in the middle of the round and I made nothing.”

Four straight approaches to within six to 15 feet earned nothing but two-putt pars.

“I had a stretch where it could have been a pretty darn good round if I made a few putts,” Mickelson said. “I had more control of my golf ball today, and that’s the stupid thing about golf. I played a lot better today and shot the same score.”

Welcome to golf.

Around Ivanhoe

The field averaged 79.80 strokes before play was halted, nearly identical to the opening round’s 79.81 average. … Twenty-nine players will finish Round 2 on Wednesday morning before Round 3 commences, with the cut trimming the field to the top 60 and ties from the original 116.