Golfers with Illinois ties struggling to qualify for FedEx Cup
Last week’s John Deere Classic was the 30th event of the 2024 PGA Tour season, and only six tournaments remain before the season-ending FedEx Cup Playoffs.
This season, impacted by the presence of the LIV Tour, represented a major departure from past years. The last event of the 2024 season is the Tour Championship, which tees off on Sept. 1. There’ll still be fall tournaments, but the split season format is no more. The 2025 campaign begins in January.
That means Illinois-connected players are running out of time to make the most of the current campaign and, so far, it’s hardly been a rousing success for them. Only Thomas Detry, a University of Illinois alum from Belgium, is likely to qualify for the three-tournament FedEx Cup postseason events.
The top 70 in the point standings make it to the first playoff event, and Detry is currently No. 27. He’s had a good year, making 13 of 17 cuts and notching four top-10 finishes, including a tie for fourth in the PGA Championship.
Here’s how the others are doing:
DOUG GHIM, Arlington Heights — No. 87 in the FedEx standings but has seven missed cuts and one withdrawal in 17 starts on the PGA Tour. His best finish was a tie for eighth in February in Mexico. He was the top local in the John Deere Classic, finishing in a tie for 34th.
DYLAN WU, Northwestern alum — No. 111 in the FedEx standings. Best finish was a tie for 10th in Detroit’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, his last event before missing the cut in the John Deere Classic.
NICK HARDY, Northbrook — No. 163 in FedEx and in the midst of a strange season that began with five straight tournaments making the cut and then four in which he missed it. His best finish in 17 events was a tie for 25th in the Valero Texas Open.
KEVIN STREELMAN, Wheaton — No. 172 in FedEx. This veteran suffered a back injury hitting from the rough in February at Pebble Beach. He’s on the upswing now and made five cuts in a row, but his best finish is a tie for 26th at the Valspar Championship in March.
LUKE DONALD, Northwestern alum — Europe’s Ryder Cup captain has only played in five tournaments, missing the cut in the first four before tying for 68th in the PGA Championship.
ADRIEN DUMONT DE CHASSART, Illinois alum — PGA Tour rookie has missed six cuts in 18 starts with his best finish a tie for 10th in March in Puerto Rico. He’s No. 157 in the FedEx standings, but his season is far from over. He’ll represent Belgium in the Olympics.
Detry, Ghim and Donald will be in the Scottish Open this week while Hardy, Streelman and Dumont De Chassart will compete in the PGA Tour’s ISCO Championship in Kentucky.
Another win for Small
University of Illinois men’s coach Mike Small resumed his domination of senior golf in the state, capturing the Illinois Senior PGA Championship for the seventh time. He played the 36 holes at The Grove in Long Grove in 5-under-par 139 to edge Roy Biancalana, the 2022 championship, by two strokes.
“It was fun to compete again,” said Small. “I haven’t done that a lot this year, and I love this event.”
Small and Biancalana led nine qualifiers to the national PGA Senior Championship Sept. 24-29 at Sunriver in Oregon.
Here and there
The Chicago Baseball Cancer Charities outing, one of the longest-running fundraisers in the area, has a date change. Ex-Cubs and White Sox player Gene Hiser, an event organizer, said the tourney will be played on Aug. 1 at Twin Orchard in Long Grove. It had been scheduled for July 18.
The 93rd Illinois State Amateur begins its three-day run on Tuesday at the Atkins course in Urbana. The next big event on the Chicago calendar is the Women’s Western Amateur. It’ll run July 15-20 at Onwentsia in Lake Forest.
The next tour stop in the area is the NV5 Invitational, a Korn Ferry event staged by the Western Golf Association. It’s scheduled for July 23-28 at The Glen Club in Glenview.