Ziehm: Clark wraps up automatic spot in Presidents Cup
Wyndham Clark didn’t just win the $3.6 million first prize in the PGA Tour’s second FedEx Cup Playoff event on Sunday. He also earned one of the six automatic spots on the U.S. team for next month’s Presidents Cup at Medinah.
Clark had been No. 7 in the FedEx standings going into the BMW Championship but moved up to No. 3 with his victory at Bellerive in St. Louis. Ben Griffin lost his spot in the top six, dropping from fifth to No. 8 after finishing in a tie for 44th.
The other five automatic qualifiers are No. 1 Scottie Sheffler, No. 2 Cameron Young, No. 4 Sam Burns, No. 5 Russell Henley and No. 6 Collin Morikawa.
Brandt Snedeker will name his six captain’s picks to fill out the U.S. team after the Tour Championship concludes the three-tournament FedEx Playoffs on Sunday in Atlanta. Snedeker completed his staff, naming Gary Woodland as his fourth assistant. Woodland, who will compete in the Tour Championship, joins Jim Furyk, Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson on Snedeker’s staff.
The six automatic picks for the International team, which will compete against the U.S. in the Sept. 24-27 matches at Medinah, will be determined off the Official World Golf Rankings after the Tour Championship.
Snedeker and the International side’s Geoff Ogilvie will announce their six captain’s picks from PGA Tour Studios next Tuesday.
FedEx Cup
Three of the U.S. automatic selections for the Presidents Cup are in the top five in the FedEx Cup standings going into the Tour Championship. Scheffler is No. 1 with 4,986 points and is far ahead of second place Matt Fitzpatrick of England, with Clark third and Young fourth.
Though he’s an automatic qualifier for this Presidents Cup team, Scheffler hasn’t fared well in the team competition. He had a 1-2-1 record at Quail Hollow in 2022 when he made the team as a captain’s pick.
Fitzpatrick isn’t eligible for the Presidents Cup, leaving South Korea’s Si Woo Kim and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama looming as the International team’s top players.
Illinois PGA
Two noteworthy events, both played at 36 holes, climaxed the IPGA tournament season. Gary Hallberg, the longtime PGA Tour regular, was the overall winner of the Illinois Super Senior Open at Pine Meadow in Mundelein.
Now settled again in North Barrington, Hallberg was a two-time winner of the Illinois Open (1977 and 1982) before becoming a tour player. He covered the two rounds at Pine Meadow in 4-under-par 140 and led the 65-69 Division by six shots.
David Hannon of LaGrange Park and Dunlap’s Jeff Ott shared the title in the 60-64 Division and amateur Ted Pecora of Winnetka ruled the 70-74 Division. Dale Tallon, former general manager of the Blackhawks, and Neil Kopinski were the winners in the 75-and-above categories.
“There were a lot of really good players and a lot of great guys I hadn’t seen in many years,” Hallberg said. “To come back and see them again was really a highlight for me.”
Andy Svoboda, representing Elevation Golf, captured the Illinois PGA Professional Championship on Tuesday in a three-hole playoff with Andy Mickelson of Mistwood in Romeoville. They finished the 36 holes of regulation play at 7-under-par 137, two strokes better than 14-time champion Mike Small, the men’s coach at the University of Illinois.
LIV Tour
University of Illinois alums Thomas Detry and Thomas Pieters finished tied for 10th and tied for 17th, respectively, when the Saudi-backed tour concluded its sixth season in Indianapolis.
Michael LaSasso, at 22 the youngest winner in LIV history, posted a record-low score (18-under-par 262 for 72 holes) to edge Jon Rahm for the title. Rahm was LIV’s season champion for the third straight year and his Legion XIII team won the team title.
The future of the circuit is uncertain, but is planning to return.
“There’s something fun coming,” said Bryson DeChambeau, who tied for third with Sergio Garcia on Sunday. “There’s a lot of potential moving forward. I have great thoughts about what could happen next year. I wish I could be more upfront about it.”
LIV had two Chicago stops at Rich Harvest Farms and two at Bolingbrook during the circuit’s six seasons.
Here and there
Bloomington’s Brandon Holtz, the reigning U.S. Mid-Amateur champion, won the Illinois State Mid-Am by six shots at Edgewood Valley in Burr Ridge.
Nicole Jeray, a teaching pro at Mistwood in Romeoville, tied for 30th in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Barton Hills in Michigan.
Oswego East High School junior Alli Wiertel, committed to the University of Alabama, set the Wedgewood women’s course record with a 7-under-par 64 in the Joliet Twp. High School Invite.