75TH ILLINOIS OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERBOARD
FLOSSMOOR, Ill. – August 6, 2024 – The first round of the 75th Illinois Open concluded on Tuesday morning after a Monday filled with delays and restarts at Flossmoor Golf Club. Despite an unusual start to the Illinois Open, familiar faces still crowd the leaderboard as round one wrapped on Tuesday afternoon.
The leaders are at 4-under-par (68) and there are three of them. 2022 Illinois Open Champion, David Perkins (East Peoria, IL), is joined by Drew Shepherd (Hinsdale, IL), and Tommy Kuhl (Morton, IL) atop the leaderboard.
All three leaders have seen their names on the first page of an Illinois Open leaderboard in their careers. Already with one victory, Perkins also finished T3 at the 74th Illinois Open Championship last year at this same venue. Shepherd, who finished T11 last year, also held the 18-hole lead at the 2022 Illinois Open Championship at White Eagle Golf Club, and although Kuhl has missed the last two Illinois Opens due to schedule conflicts, he has six top 20 finishes at the Illinois Open dating back to 2016.
Perkins and Shepherd were paired together in round one and are both coming off appearances at the PGA Tour Americas’ BioSteel Championship in Windsor, Canada.
Starting on the back nine of Flossmoor Golf Club, Perkins put together a strong start making three birdies including back-to-back birdies on holes 14 and 15. He started to get things rolling on his back nine (the front nine at Flossmoor) making birdies on holes one, three, and four. At this time, he was 5-under-par and tied for the lead. An errant swing on the par-3 seventh hole resulted in a double bogey for Perkins who fell to 3-under-par as the first round was suspended for the day. The overnight delay did not seem to phase Perkins who came out on Tuesday morning and made an impressive birdie on the par-5 ninth hole to card an opening round 4-under-par 68 and tie the leaders.
“I hit a good tee shot on nine. It was playing into the wind, so I had no chance of getting home in two,” said Perkins. “I had to lay up to 112 yards. I hit a little gap wedge into the green to about four feet and knocked it in. It was a good end to the first round.”
Shepherd’s opening round started with a bogey, but he quickly righted the ship making birdies on the 14th hole and back-to-back birdies on holes 17 and 18. Shepherd shot to the top of the leaderboard with an eagle on the par-4 fourth hole.
The fourth hole was playing 330 yards. Shepherd drove the green and made a 35-footer for an eagle. He was one of only four players to make an eagle on the fourth hole in round one. Shepherd was the solo leader when the first round was suspended for the day on Monday evening. He came out on Tuesday morning and made his second bogey of the round to fall back to 4-under-par, but still holds a share of the lead.
“I would say I got my round going on 17. I made a good birdie there and then birdied 18 and made a nice two on the fourth hole,” said Shepherd. “I just played solid golf. It was a long round, but it was nice to get off to a good start.”
Kuhl, who played in the PGA Tour Americas event last week as well, was also the solo leader of the first round at one point. He began his round with a bogey-free front nine (the back nine of Flossmoor) recording three birdies including back-to-back birdies on holes 17 and 18. He added his third straight birdie on the par-5 first hole moving him to 4-under-par. Kuhl made his only bogey of the round on the par-4 sixth hole before play was suspended for the day. His opening round resumed on Tuesday with the par-3 seventh hole, which was playing 175 yards. Kuhl made his fifth birdie of the round, as one of only 11 birdies on the seventh hole in round one. Kuhl finished his first round with pars on the eighth and ninth holes to remain in a share for the lead.
“It was a good round. Flossmoor is a great golf course and a great venue for this event. It provides us players with a great test of golf,” said Kuhl. “This is a little bit different than the tests I’ve been experiencing up in Canada. I love this type of grind and this type of course. You just have to be patient and play your game. A lot of it was patience today and it was a very solid round for me.”
The clubhouse leaders on Monday evening sat at 3-under-par for the tournament. Luke Gannon (Monticello, IL), Charlie Nikitas (Glenview, IL), and Chase Walts (a) (Flower Mound, TX) carded matching 69s in the opening round and are currently T4 heading into round two.
Neither Gannon nor Nikitas are strangers to the Illinois Open leaderboard. Gannon has finished in the top 10 in each of the last three Illinois Opens, including two top-three finishes. While Nikitas has notched two top-10 finishes in the last three Illinois Opens.
“It was hot, and it was a long day with the delays,” said Gannon. “It started mediocre for me. I was one over through six holes. I made a birdie on one (his 10th hole of round one) to kind of settle in and then made a birdie on the drivable fourth hole and the ninth. My distance control was bad today. I was long a lot on the greens, which is not the place to be. Overall, it was a pretty solid day.”
“I had a whole lot of patience out there. I knew I was going to be tired. It was going to be a mental battle as much as a physical one,” said Nikitas. “My game is ready. I played well last week in Canada, and I just knew this was going to be a test of patience. The pins out here are hard, the golf course is hard, and you just have to take what it gives you. I hit a lot of greens to about 25 feet. The lag putts are not easy. So, it was just a test of patience, and I was just trying to wait and let it come to me.”
Walts is making his first career appearance in the Illinois Open. A native of Texas, Walts is leading the Low Amateur race while looking to become the first amateur to win the Illinois Open since Patrick Flavin in 2017.
Joining them at 3-under-par is Matthis Besard (Belgium), who didn’t start his first round until Tuesday morning. Besard is originally from Belgium but spent four years at Southern Illinois University as a member of the golf team before playing his fifth year at the University of Illinois. He is now a member of the DP World Tour in Europe.
“Chicago is home to me now. I moved to Chicago with my girlfriend last week,” said Besard. “I heard about this tournament last minute. I know a bunch of the University of Illinois guys play in this event. I just thought this would be great preparation for the DP World Tour events and it would be fun to try and beat some of my old friends.”
Besard came out firing on his front nine (the back nine at Flossmoor) making birdies on three of his first five holes. A fourth birdie on the par-4 17th hole moved Besard to 3-under-par at the turn. It looked as if Besard would be able to join the leaders at 4-under-par, but he dropped a stroke at the par-3 seventh hole before making birdie on the eighth hole to close his round out at 3-under-par and get into the tie for fourth place.
“I think the course is playing very differently than it did yesterday,” said Besard. “With the wind, it was playing a little trickier. It was hard to judge where the wind was coming from, especially on holes five, six, and seven, but I’m excited to go and do it again this afternoon.”
The second round of the 75th Illinois Open began at noon on Tuesday. The three leaders will start round two on Tuesday evening, but their rounds will undoubtedly be suspended due to darkness. Round two will restart at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
“It’ll be nice to get away from the course for a little, maybe take a nap,” said Shepherd. “You just need to be ready to go when you get back out here and be ready for those four or five holes and then get ready for a longer day on Wednesday.”
IN THE HUNT:
- Five players are tied for eighth at 2-under-par, and two shots back of the leaders.
- Nate Bibbey (a) (Oak Park, IL)
- Brian Ohr (Northbrook, IL)
- Paul Schlimm, Jr. (Shorewood, IL)
- Luke Guthrie (Ponte Vedra Beach, FL)
- Andy Svoboda (Oak Brook, IL)
HOW FAR BACK IS TOO FAR BACK?
- Six players are tied for 13th at 1-under-par, and three shots back of the leaders.
- Bryce Emory (Aurora, IL)
- Tyler Greenspahn (a) (Winnetka, IL)
- Devon Hopkins (North Aurora, IL)
- Mitchell Mazzei (a) (Orland Park, IL)
- Dylan Meyer (Evansville, IN)
- Nicholas Tenuta (Mt. Prospect, IL)
- Thirteen players are tied for 19th at even-par, and four shots off the lead. Some notable names in this group include Andy Mickelson (Lockport, IL), 2021 Illinois Open Low-Amateur Mac McClear (Hinsdale, IL), Brad Marek (Arlington Heights, IL), Brian Carroll (Crystal Lake, IL), and Anthony Albano, Jr. (Park Ridge, IL).
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.
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CONTACT:
Kevin Quinn
Illinois PGA Communications
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