Rozner: Team USA looks to restore roar to Merit Club
If you build it, they will come.
Chicago sports fans have displayed over and over again their desire to see great golf, and if you build an event that promises drama and scoring, they will show up and make their voices heard.
Be it the Western, the BMW, the PGA or U.S. Open, the crowds have always been enormous, but offer a huge international team event like the Ryder Cup or Solheim Cup, and even the players are staggered by the record turnout and local support for American teams.
With that in mind, it wouldn't be surprising if UL International Crown - here at the Merit Club in Gurnee - did a big number this week, with an eight-country, 32-player team event that begins Thursday with three days of four-ball matches and finishes Sunday with the always intense singles.
Perhaps no one understands the fan support better than Cristie Kerr, who went the distance in all four of her matches in the Solheim Cup at Rich Harvest Farms in 2009, when she finished 2-1-1 in a Team USA victory.
"It's always great here," Kerr said with a smile Wednesday. "Just look at the number of young kids out here on a Pro-Am day. It's impressive."
All four Americans on the course Wednesday were swarmed by young women in their high school golf attire, getting autographs and following their heroes.
"There's a lot of USA fans out there following us in the practice rounds," Kerr said. "It's great to be the home team."
The 38-year-old Kerr should have a better feel for the Gurnee track than just about anyone, having finished second here at the 2000 U.S. Women's Open.
"I have some great memories of that," said Kerr, twice a major champion. "It's just a spectacular piece of property."
Just the second Crown - Spain won the inaugural in 2014 - the field includes eight major champions and 16 players who have qualified for the Olympics, but organizers don't want them suffering on a USGA, Open-style setup.
They want scoring, they want roars and they want fans believing Sunday will be monumental, which it will be if the U.S. is in the mix. Hard to fathom the Americans not competing for the title, with a four-ball mix that features two bombers and two short-game specialists.
"Cristie said (the course) is not even close to what they played for the Open," said Stacy Lewis. "There's reachable par-5s and drivable par-4s and a lot of tee options, so it's going to make for great golf."
Lexi Thompson, who leads the LPGA in driving distance, was putting on a power display Wednesday that made the course look small.
"You're going to see a lot of birdies. You're going to probably see a bunch of eagles on some par-5s," Lewis said. "We're not going to be struggling to make pars, and it's going to look great on TV."
In 2009 at the Solheim, the total attendance of 120,000 crushed the previous record, in large part because of a 20 percent walk-up crowd. That surely played a part in securing the Crown for Chicago, not to mention the Women's PGA here the next two years, first at Olympia Fields and then Kemper Lakes.
"It's one of the coolest cities I've ever been to," said Lewis, an Ohio native who grew up in Texas and resides in Florida. "I've always said if I didn't play golf and I could live somewhere, it would be in Chicago.
"And we get to play some pretty great golf courses here the next couple years."
Kerr experienced firsthand the passion of Chicago fans at the Solheim.
"This is such a huge sports town," Kerr said. "The residents here kind of expect big events to come and it's pretty cool that the International Crown is here."
In a very short time, the Crown has become a very big deal on the LPGA Tour and it means something to these women to be here participating.
"It's not just the U.S. against Europe. It's the U.S. against seven other countries, which allows a lot of other girls to be able to play for their country," said the 21-year-old Thompson. "There's a lot more media hype and a lot more people interested in coming out to watch us play."
With the BMW at Crooked Stick in Indianapolis this September, this is the biggest tournament to grace the Chicago area in 2016, and it has the added bonus of being a team event.
So while the International Crown doesn't have the history of the Solheim Cup, obviously, it may soon have as big an impact. And if the Crown has anywhere near the finish the Solheim Cup had here in 2009, Sunday will be extraordinary.
"I've said it time and time again," said the USA's Gerina Piller. "It never gets old putting on the stars and stripes and representing my country. I think that's one of my proudest moments."
Piller need not worry about support. Expect the Merit Club to be red, white and blue for the next four days.
If you're in the neighborhood and you hear the roar, you'll know what it means.
brozner@dailyherald.com
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