75th Illinois Open Championship Results
FLOSSMOOR, Ill. – August 7, 2024 – The 75th Illinois Open concluded Wednesday evening at Flossmoor Golf Club, despite the prolonged rounds that were experienced earlier in the week. Ultimately, it was Charlie Nikitas (Glenview, IL) notching his first professional victory. Nikitas carded rounds of 69, 69, and 71 for a three-round total of 7-under-par 209.
“This is the coolest thing ever. I’ve wanted to win this tournament since I started playing golf,” said Nikitas. “There’s a lot of cool names on this trophy. A lot of people that I’m friends with and it just means the world to me. I can’t really explain it, I’m just so excited.”
Nikitas was tied for the lead with Tommy Kuhl (Morton, IL) at 6-under-par entering the final round. Nikitas, who expressed the importance of patience all week, came out firing on the front nine but was met with stiff competition. He made his first birdie of the day on the first hole, but he found himself trailing after his playing partners Kuhl and Drew Sheperd (Hinsdale, IL) poured in back-to-back 60-foot eagle putts.
Nikitas’ round really got going on the par-4 fourth hole. He dropped back to 6-under-par and three strokes off Kuhl, who made birdie on the third hole. He made a nice birdie on the fourth hole from 80 yards out and followed that up with a birdie on the par-4 sixth hole after hitting his approach shot to five feet. He moved to 8-under-par and was trailing Kuhl by one stroke.
In what was shaping up to be a two-man race for the hardware, Nikitas made his first big move of the final round on the par-4 eighth hole. He hit his approach shot to about 25 feet, while Kuhl, who had the lead, hit it to about 15 feet. Nikitas was able to drain his putt, and Kuhl did not convert his. Play moved on to the ninth hole with co-leaders at 9-under-par.
Nikitas took the outright lead on the par-5 ninth hole making his fifth birdie of the front nine and moving to 10-under-par for the tournament.
“I knew it was going to be a battle,” said Nikitas. “I was excited for the final pairing with Tommy (Kuhl) and Drew (Shepherd). Tommy (Kuhl) and I have been traveling to Candana together, and I respect him and his game. I was just excited to get going with those guys. They made eagles on one. I made birdie on the first hole and lost the tee. I just told myself to keep doing what I was doing. I didn’t want to worry about them. I was just kind of hanging in there and I figured I would make a couple of birdies. I made four birdies on that front side. That helped a lot. I wanted to keep my foot on the gas but the back nine got hard out there.”
With Kuhl and others ahead lurking, Nikitas moved to the difficult back nine. He made bogeys on the 11th and 13th hole to fall back to 8-under-par. At the time he had a one-shot lead, but Kuhl was no longer the only competition he was fighting off.
2020 Illinois Open Champion Bryce Emory (Aurora, IL), playing one group ahead of the leaders, was making his move and was 7-under-par for the tournament. Mattis Besard (Belgium) was also putting together an impressive round and sat at 7-under-par, and Luke Guthrie (Ponte Vedra Beach, FL) was skyrocketing up the leaderboard and sat at 6-under-par.
The pressure didn’t seem to get to Nikitas, who kept moving along in his round. After making par on the 14th hole, Nikitas made his only birdie of the back nine on the par-4 15th hole. He moved to 9-under-par for the tournament and had a three-stroke lead with three holes to play.
Up ahead, things started to fall into place for Nikitas. Emory made a bogey on the 15th hole, and Besard made a bogey on the 16th hole. Despite a bogey on 16, Nikitas’ lead grew as Kuhl made a double bogey on 16. With just two holes left in the Championship, Nikitas had a two-stroke lead at 8-under-par.
Just needing a bogey to secure the victory, Nikitas hit his second shot on the par-5 18th hole to the right of the green. He had a difficult angle but hit a solid third shot. His ball did run off the green, but he was able to chip his fourth shot close and two-putt to card a 1-under-par 71 in the final round and captured his first career professional victory.
“I had a two-shot lead on 18 and I just figured push it up there somewhere near the green,” said Nikitas. “I kind of did that, but made a little bit of miss. I don’t know if anyone has ever hit a softer putt than the one I hit on the last hole. I was bummed to see what happened to Tommy (Kuhl) on 16, but I just tried to stay patient and stay in the moment.”
Alex Creamean (a) of Winnetka, Illinois won the 2024 Illinois Open Championship Low Amateur Award. Creamean carded rounds of 72, 70, and 73 for a three-round total of 1-under-par 215, and finished T12.
“Winning this award means a lot to me,” said Creamean. “There are so many good players in this field, and it’s such a difficult golf course. It was such a great test of golf this week, and I’m truly happy with how I played.”
He will now turn his attention to the U.S. Amateur Championship, taking place next week at Hazeltine National Golf Club, before returning to Penn State.
Guthrie and Besard finished in a tie for second with matching 6-under-par 210s. Both were making their first career appearances at the Illinois Open Championship and tied for the lowest score in round three with 4-under-par 68s.
Emory and fellow past Champion, David Perkins (Peoria, IL), both carded 2-under-par 70s in the final round and ended their tournaments tied for fourth place with 5-under-par 211s.
Kuhl struggled on the back nine and carded a 2-over-par 74 in the final round to finish in solo sixth place at 4-under-par 212.
Andy Svoboda (Oak Brook, IL) won the Low PGA Professional Award, finishing T7 at 3-under-par 213. He and Luke Gannon finished tied for seventh.
Rounding out the top 10 was Danny Fisher (Lake Forest, IL), Illinois PGA Professional Matthew Rion (Highwood, IL), and Drew Shepherd.
The Illinois PGA will turn its attention back to its member events as the Nadler Golf Car Illinois PGA Professional Championship takes place in three weeks at Elgin Country Club.
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 apprentices, 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.
# # #
CONTACT:
Kevin Quinn
Illinois PGA Communications
708.336.1294 mobile
847.729.4102 office
kbquinn@pgahq.com