NADLER GOLF CARS ILLINOIS PGA PROFESSIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
ELGIN, Ill. – August 28, 2024 – Brian Carroll (The Hawk Country Club) carded a 4-under-par 68 in the final round of the Nadler Golf Cars Illinois PGA Professional Championship today at Elgin Country Club to win the Championship by two strokes. Carroll’s victory marks his second Nadler Golf Cars Illinois PGA Professional Championship, and third Illinois PGA Major Championship in as many years (2022 Nadler Golf Cars PGA Professional Championship, 2023 Players Championship, 2024 Nadler Golf Cars Illinois PGA Professional Championship).
“I just stayed focused this week and did exactly what I was trying to do,” said Carroll. “I’ve been fortunate enough to play well in this over the years. Typically, over three days I know that if I play my game and limit my mistakes, I’ll be close at the end. My whole golf career was a series of runner-ups and close calls until two years ago, so it’s nice to get a string of majors over the last couple of years.”
Carroll began the day as the 36-hole leader and was protecting a two-stroke lead. He was attempting to hold off both his playing partners, Andy Svoboda (Butler National Golf Club) and Andy Mickelson (Mistwood Golf Club), as well as Matthew Rion (Briarwood Country Club).
The start could not have been better for Carroll who chipped in for eagle on the par-5 first hole. After an errant tee shot, Carroll left himself with about 25 yards for his third shot. His pitch shot hit the flag stick and dropped for an eagle. The chip-in increased Carroll’s lead on those trailing and allowed him to settle in for the round.
“Going into the day. I told myself it would be great to set the tone with an eagle,” said Carroll. “I was in a great spot, despite coming up short on my second shot. I was under the hole and had a good look at the flag. I’ve been working a lot on my pitch shots. With the slopes of these greens, you have to drive them in low. I caught it clean and it had some spin on it. The ball hit the flag stick dead center and dropped. It was certainly a nice start. Andy (Mickelson) was in there pretty tight. The momentum kind of flipped from the start as it looked like he might make an eagle. Even if I got up-and-down, I was looking at losing a shot on the first hole. So, it was great to see that go down and settle into the round.”
Playing with the lead, Carroll was plotting his way around the course hitting the greens in regulation and putting well for pars. With his playing partners not making up much ground during the opening nine holes, Carroll expanded his lead with a birdie on the par-5 eighth hole. With nine holes to play, Carroll was 14-under-par and led the Championship by three strokes.
Making a move in the group ahead of Carroll was Rion, who put together a bogey-free 3-under-par front nine and had moved into solo second place. At the time he was 11-under-par for the tournament.
“Early on you can’t think about what everyone else is going to do. You can’t control what they are going to do,” said Carroll. “You just have to try and hit the best shots that you can. Starting with the lead you just try to add to it and get it to a spot where the others can’t catch you. I knew I had three guys right there that are great players. I was watching two of them in my group and with the live scoring I could see what was going on up ahead of me.”
Rion would keep his impressive round going as he took advantage of the early scoring opportunities presented on the back nine, He made birdie on the par-5 10th hole and also converted a birdie on the drivable par-4 11th to get to 13-under-par and put some pressure on Carroll.
With things starting to tighten at the top, Carroll stepped onto the par-4 11th, which played 270 yards in round three. Carroll, who drove the green in round two, missed the green to the left but got up-and-down for birdie and moved to 15-under-par. The lead was back to two strokes in favor of Carroll with seven holes to play.
Carroll and Rion both made bogeys on the 12th hole and the deficit had not changed. Neither player was able to make up any ground on the par-5 14th hole as both faced circumstances that made it difficult to convert birdies.
Rion did his best to keep things interesting down the stretch, he had a birdie look on the 15th hole that he wasn’t able to convert, but then made a big putt on the par-3 16th hole to cut the lead to one stroke.
Carroll, who was on the 15th green saw Rion’s birdie putt drop and was well aware of the situation.
“Matt (Rion) was playing great ahead of us,” said Carroll. “I had a two-shot lead for most of the day. I scrambled and made a great par on 14. We were up on 15 and I saw Matt make that birdie putt on 16 and knew the lead was cut to one stroke. I didn’t have any breathing room, but luckily I hit a great pitching wedge into 16.”
His wedge shot landed about eight feet from the pin and spun back a touch, leaving Carroll with about 12 feet for birdie. It was the perfect spot for a birdie putt, straight up the hill with no break. Carroll walked in the putt and added a first pump as he regained his two-stroke lead with two holes to play.
“It was a good break. The putt was right on the fall line and was dead straight,” said Carroll. “I love straight putts, most people don’t, but if you give me a dead straight putt I’m going to bury it. It was nice to see that go in.”
Two pars on the way in was all Carroll needed as he played the 17th and 18th holes to perfection hitting both greens in regulation and sinking his two putts to secure his second career Nadler Golf Cars Illinois PGA Professional Championship. In total, Carroll finished at 15-under-par 201 for the three-day Championship.
Rion also finished with two pars on 17 and 18 and finished in solo second place at 13-under-par 203.
Carroll’s playing partners, Svoboda and Mickelson finished tied for third at 10-under-par for the tournament.
Carroll will be joined by 11 other Illinois PGA Professionals at the 2025 PGA Professional Championship. Rion, Mickelson, Kevin Flack (Mauh-Nah-Tee-See Country Club), Frank Hohenadel (Mistwood Golf Club), Chris Green (Glen View Club), Steve Orrick (Bloomington Country Club), Matt Slowinski (Hinsdale Golf Club), and Jonathan Duppler (Elgin Country Club) all qualified for the PGA Professional Championship at Elgin Country Club this week. Jeff Kellen (North Shore Country Club), Svoboda, and Mike Small (University of Illinois) were already exempted into the 2025 PGA Professional Championship.
These 12 Illinois PGA Professionals will represent the Section at the PGA Golf Club on April 27-30 in Port St. Lucie, Florida for the 57th PGA Professional Championship.
“The initial goal here is to make the PGA Professional Championship,” said Carroll. “It’s really important to me to qualify for that each year. I’ve made it eight years in a row now. It’s also nice to have a shot at the PGA Championship. It’s been nice to see three Illinois PGA Members get there in the last two years. I would like to keep that trend going next year.”
The Illinois PGA would like to thank Elgin Country Club for hosting the Championship and long-time partner and Illinois PGA Professional Championship sponsor, Nadler Golf Cars for their continued support of the Illinois PGA Section and this Championship, which they have supported for over 20 years.
About the Illinois PGA/Illinois PGA Foundation
The Illinois Section of the PGA of America is a professional organization serving the men and women golf professionals in northern and central Illinois who are the recognized experts in growing, teaching and managing the game of golf. The Illinois PGA is responsible for the administration of competitive golf tournaments, educational opportunities, support programs and growth of the game initiatives. With over 840 members and associates, the Illinois PGA is one of the 41 regional Sections that comprise the PGA of America. The Illinois PGA Foundation focuses its community efforts on promoting the goodwill and growth of the game with an emphasis on activities that benefit youth. Foundation initiatives include: GolfWorks Illinois, Youth-based Scholarship Funds and the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame. For more information about the Illinois PGA and the Illinois PGA Foundation, please visit www.ipga.com and join us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
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Kevin Quinn
Illinois PGA Communications
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