Palatine's Emerich ready to defend Illinois Open title

He didn't appear on David Letterman.

He wasn't asked to serve as grand marshal of any parades.

But nevertheless it has been quite a year for Joe Emerich of Palatine since he won the Illinois Open as an amateur last July at Hawthorn Woods Country Club.

He finished with the low stroke average as a junior on his Illinois State golf team, he won the Mobile Bay (Al.) Intercollegiate tournament - his first college win - and recently he finished in the semifinals at the CDGA Amateur.

"It's been great," the 22-year-old Emerich said. "Just the recognition locally with a lot of people - that's helped me get into a lot of national events. It's helped my world amateur ranking a ton.

"But mostly it's helped me a lot just within myself. It's given me confidence that I can play with a lot of great players."

He'll get that chance again Monday when he tees off against 155 other golfers at Hawthorn Woods as the defending Illinois Open champion. And, in what can't be good news for the rest of the field, he is quite happy with the state of his game heading into the 60th edition of the Open.

"I've been feeling great about my game," said Emerich, who has the chance to become the first amateur to win consecutive titles in the history of the Open. "The nice thing is I really feel fortunate because I feel that I'm constantly improving, I've never hit a slump or anything like that."

Last year Emerich won by 2 strokes over Justin Fetcho of McLeansboro and Mike Small, the head coach at the University of Illinois and a four-time Open champion.

Small heads into the Open on the heels of a victory in the PGA Professional National Championship, where he outlasted 311 competitors to capture his second PPNC title, his first coming in 2005. Small earned $75,000 for the victory and a spot in the 91st PGA Championship in August.

While Small prepares to go from the Illinois Open to the PGA Championship, Jim Sobb, the PGA head pro at Ivanhoe Club, has a much tighter schedule. Sobb recently qualified for the U.S. Senior Open Championship at Crooked Stick in Indiana which begins on July 27.

"The Illinois Open is more important to me than the U.S. Senior Open because I feel I have a better chance at finishing higher," Sobb said. "The U.S. Senior Open is an outstanding experience but my expectations are more realistic for the Illinois Open - and it is our state championship."

60th Illinois Open

When: Monday-Wednesday

Site: Hawthorn Woods Country Club

Defending champion: Joe Emerich, Palatine

Field size: 156 (107 professionals, 49 amateurs)

Past champions in field: 6 - Joe Affrunti (2004), Joe Emerich (2008), Dino Lucchesi (1993), Martin Schiene (1991, 92, 97), Brad Payne (2002) and Mike Small (2003, 05, 06, 07)

Method of play: 54-hole stroke play

Purse: TBA. Last year the purse money was nearly $82,000