75th Illinois Open Championship Leaderboard
FLOSSMOOR, Ill. – August 7, 2024 – Round two of the 75th Illinois Open Championship concluded on Wednesday morning after play was suspended on Tuesday evening due to darkness. Charlie Nikitas (Glenview, IL), and Tommy Kuhl (Morton, IL) are tied for the lead at 6-under-par with 18 holes left to play at Flossmoor Golf Club.
Nikitas and Kuhl both started their second rounds on Tuesday evening. Nikitas was able to get through the first nine holes of his second round on Tuesday. He started the round two-shots behind Drew Shepherd (Hinsdale, IL). Low temperatures and high winds combined to make for a difficult Tuesday for the players.
Nikitas did well to take advantage of the scoreable holes on the front nine, making birdies on the par-5 first hole, and on the drivable par-4 fourth hole, which was playing 285 yards. Nikitas kept the round going with two great par saves on holes seven and eight.
Only playing 105 yards, the seventh hole was trickier than what could be seen on paper. With a tough hole location to attack, players who played it safe hit the middle of the green and left themselves about 20 feet for birdie. However, if the putt carried too much pace, there was the risk of de-greening.
Nikitas hit the center of the green on seven but ran his first putt by the hole. For a moment it looked as if his ball would roll off the green, but it stayed up and Nikitas was able to save par and stay bogey-free for the tournament. He then moved to the eighth hole where he hit his approach shot over the green. He had a difficult chip that ran the risk of running off the green into the water. Nikitas did well to hit his chip shot close and make par, again remaining bogey-free for the tournament.
As the darkness rolled in, Nikitas had time for one more hole before the suspension of play. He unfortunately hit his approach shot to the front of the green and was unable to save par. The horn was blown for darkness and Nikitas was tied for the lead at 4-under-par.
With a fresh start for his back nine on Wednesday morning, Nikitas came out and grabbed the solo lead with a birdie on the par-5 10th hole. He would drop a shot on the par-3 11th hole, which played as the second hardest hole in round two.
He stuck to his patient game on the back nine, taking advantage of the par-4 14th which only played 340 yards with helping wind. With only a short chip left into the green, Nikitas’ second shot checked up on him and he was left with about 12 feet for birdie. He poured in the putt to move to 5-under-par and was one shot off the lead at the time.
“Like I said after the first round, it’s just about having a lot of patience,” said Nikitas. “It’s always weird having to come back with the stops and restarts, but I think that might have played in my favor because I’ve had to do it the last few weeks. I’m just trying to be really patient and hit good shots. I got off to a shaky start this morning. I just took a few deep breaths, steadied the ship a little bit, and got a couple of good ones coming in.”
Another birdie on the difficult 16th hole moved Nikitas into the solo lead and a great up-and-down on 18 kept him at 6-under-par for the tournament. At the end of his two-day second round, Nikitas fired another 3-under-par 69.
“I just need to continue to do the same stuff. I knew my game was ready coming into the event,” said Nikitas. “I’m just going to lean on my preparation. This has been such a fun environment. I love this tournament, so I just need to continue to be patient and keep doing what I’m doing.”
Kuhl also started his second round tied for the lead but was only able to play four holes on Tuesday evening. Fighting through the tough windy conditions, Kuhl dropped out of the lead on the par-3 second hole, but quickly got the shot back by making birdie on the drivable par-4 fourth hole.
The middle part of Kuhl’s round seemed to give him trouble as he fell to 3-under-par, however, an eagle on the par-4 14th got Kuhl back into the thick of the championship.
“I was coming off a bogey on 13,” said Kuhl. “The tees were moved up today. It was 330 to the pin, downwind. I teed up driver and hit it a little right but got a good kick. I had about 30 feet from above the hole and poured it in. That was a good momentum putt. It was probably going 15 feet past the hole if it didn’t go in. But it went in, and I carried that momentum through the end of the round and I finished strong.”
The eagle moved Kulh back to 5-under-par and he only trailed Nikitas by one. Similar to Nikitas, Kuhl did well to take advantage of scoreable holes during the second round. The 18th hole played as the fourth easiest hole in round two and had the third most birdies made on it. Kuhl’s second shot landed just short of the green on 18 and he hit his chip shot to five feet. He knocked in his fourth birdie of the day to card a 2-under-par 70 and tie Nikitas for the 36-hole lead.
“I’m just doing what I know to do, which is stay in the present and take it one shot at the time. I’m looking forward to this afternoon. It’s going to be a great challenge and I’m excited to be in contention.”
Shepherd, who was the leader after round one, will join Nikitas and Kuhl in the final group for round three. He carded an even-par 72 in round two and currently sits at 4-under-par for the championship, just two shots back.
A pair of past champions sit at 3-under-par (three shots back) after 36 holes. 2022 Champion, David Perkins (East Peoria, IL) carded a 1-over-par 73 in round two and dropped three spots back to T4. 2020 Champion Bryce Emory (Aurora, IL) carded the third-lowest score in round two (tied with four others, including Kuhl) at 2-under-par 70. Emory jumped up nine spots after his second round.
A group of four players trail by four strokes heading into the final round. Matthis Besard (Belgium), Alex Creamean (a) (Winnetka, IL), Luke Guthrie (Ponte Vedra Beach, FL), and Andy Svoboda (Oak Brook, IL) are all 2-under-par for the tournament.
Rounding out the top ten are Devon Hopkins (North Aurora, IL), and Luke Gannon (Monticello, IL) who are both 1-under-par for the tournament and trail the leaders by five strokes.
Curtis Malm (Aurora, IL) carded the lowest score of round two with a 4-under-par 68. In total, Malm posted six birdies to move up 39 spots to T12 and even par for the tournament. Malm’s Tuesday was highlighted by an eagle on the par-4 fourth hole in round one. After hitting hybrid off the tee, Malm holed out from 78 yards for a two on the scorecard.
“My putter got a little hot. I was able to get back to even-par today (Tuesday), which was really good,” said Malm. “This was one of the hardest rounds of golf I’ve played. It was good. The course is set up hard. You have to hit it in the right spots and make putts. Even par is a great score out here. It’s really hard out here. I’ve never played in a U.S. Open, but minus some of the rough lengths, I would assume this is as close to the U.S. Open as it gets. But this is the State Championship of golf and the goal is to identify the best golfer in the state.”
Malm is joined by Michael Feagles (Scottsdale, IL), Mac McClear (Hinsdale, IL), and Brian Carroll (Crystal Lake, IL) at even-par for the tournament and tied for 12th.
The final round of the 75th Illinois Open Championship began at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday at Flossmoor Golf Club with the leaders teeing off at 2:20 p.m.
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