Big week ahead for LPGA's Nicole Jeray at Legends Championship
Nicole Jeray has long been the only Chicago area woman playing on the pro golf tours, and it hasn't been easy for her.
The Berwyn resident has had an ongoing battle with narcolepsy, a sleeping disorder, since turning pro in 1993 following a great collegiate career at Northern Illinois. She has been in the qualifying tournament for the Ladies PGA Tour on an almost annual basis. Sometimes she made it, sometimes not, but this week could be her biggest of this season.
At 45 she has already cashed checks on all three of the women's tours this year and her biggest payday could be coming at the fourth annual Legends Championship on the Pete Dye Course in French Lick, Ind. That's the senior circuit's lone major championship until the U.S. Women's Senior Open makes its debut at Chicago Golf Club in 2018.
Jeray has made one cut on the LPGA circuit in seven starts, cashing in for a tie at 70th place at the Marathon Classic in her last start, and she has made two cuts in six tournaments on the Symetra Tour after making 18 in 21 starts in 2015.
The Symetra - the LPGA's version of the men's Web.com Tour - is filled with up-and-coming young players, most just out of the college ranks.
In her lone Legends start of the year, Jeray tied for 11th at the Walgreens Charity Classic in Phoenix in March. Cashing on all three tours is an accomplishment. Rosie Jones is the only other player to do it.
The Legends circuit was kind to Jeray from the moment she became eligible on her 45th birthday last November. She entered the Monday qualifier for a tournament in Delray Beach, Florida, and got into the starting field by making a birdie on the first playoff hole, eliminating three other rivals for that spot.
In the 36-hole tournament, she shot 73-66, posting five birdies in the first eight holes of her second round to finish runner-up to Sweden's Liselotte Neumann. Neumann's 68-68 performance was 8 under par and good for a three-shot win over Jeray, who was happy to pocket $18,000 as the runner-up.
This week the stakes are much larger. The Legends Championship offers a $325,000 purse with $37,700 going to the champion. Juli Inkster will defend her title and the field includes such prominent players as JoAnne Carner, Jane Blalock, Patty Sheehan, Donna Caponi, Michelle McGann, Nancy Scranton, Pat Bradley and Val Skinner. In addition to Inkster, past champions in the field include Lori Kane (2013) and Laurie Rinker (2014).
The schedule calls for practice rounds and a qualifying tournament on Thursday, a pro-am and the Legends Hall of Fame inductions on Friday, and tournament rounds starting at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Sandra Haynie and Elaine Crosby will be the inductees into the Hall, based at the West Baden Springs Hotel near the Pete Dye Course.
Banner week for the Illini:
University of Illinois golfers had their moments all over the globe the last few days. Thomas Pieters was the most notable. Playing for Belgium, he finished fourth in the Olympics in Brazil on Sunday, the same day recently-turned-pro Charlie Danielson tied for 22nd in the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic, an event that had five Illini products in the starting field.
Illini success continued on Monday. Coach Mike Small, who made the cut in the U.S. Senior Open at Scioto, in Columbus, Ohio, finished with a 70 in the rain-delayed event to finish in a tie for 43rd place and junior-to-be Nick Hardy moved into an excellent position on the first day of the U.S. Amateur at Oakland Hills in Michigan, shooting a 68 to stand tied for 14th after the first day of stroke play qualifying.
Here and there:
• Vince Antoniou used his home-course advantage to win the 15th Chicago District Senior Amateur over Pekin's Tim Sheppard at Wynstone in North Barrington. They have more battles coming up, in the 24th Illinois State Mid-Amateur at Flossmoor Aug. 30-31 and the 30th Illinois State Senior Amateur at Bloomington Country Club Sept. 12-14.
• Ivanhoe's Jim Sobb captured the Illinois PGA Senior Championship, posting a 4-under-par 140 total for 54 holes at Whisper Creek in Huntley.
• A few spots are still available in the KemperClub Championship, a two-man team event that will be played Sept. 26-28 at Hawthorn Woods, The Glen Club in Glenview and Royal Melbourne in Long Grove.
• The Fore the Bees outing has been scheduled for Sept. 21 at Cantigny in Wheaton. It'll benefit the Bayer Bee Care program and the Children's Discovery Museum.
• The fourth Chicago District Super Senior Amateur is Thursday (AUG 18) at Biltmore, in North Barrington.
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