CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Coming off of an exciting week of play at the PGA Championship that saw two Illini – Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry – play through to the weekend before each finishing tied for 40th at Oak Hill, both Belgian-born stars are back in action along with a host of fellow Illini alums set to compete across the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, and LIV Golf League.
PGA TOUR
Detry closed play at the PGA Championship by carding a 2-under 68 on Sunday, vaulting 18 spots up the leaderboard thanks to four birdies down the stretch after making the turn.
It marked Detry's best finish in two career starts at the PGA Championship, after missing the cut in 2021, and his second-best finish in a major overall, after tying for 34th last season at The Open Championship.
This week Detry, and fellow PGA pro Nick Hardy, are both back on the course at the Charles Schwab Challenge, hosted at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
Entering the week, Detry is 39th in the FedEx Cup standings, and 86th in the Official World Golf Rankings. Hardy – a month removed from his first-career PGA Tour victory at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans – missed the cut in his PGA Championship debut, and ranks 43rd in the FedEx Cup standings.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
Speaking of majors, Steve Stricker is coming off of his fifth PGA Tour Champions major victory, two weeks ago at the Regions Tradition. The win is just the latest in a dominant run atop the senior tour.
Now, the Illini great turns his attention to the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, teeing off this week Fields Ranch East in Frisco, Texas. Stricker tied for 11th in his last time playing in the event in 2020.
LIV GOLF LEAGUE
Thomas Pieters and his RangeGoats teammates have also continued a hot stretch that has seen the team slide up to third in the season standings with three consecutive top-three team finishes.
Pieters, prior to his finish at the PGA Championship, posted a season-best performance in his previous outing in Tulsa, Okla., finishing 17th with a season-best 9-under, to help the RangeGoats to a third-place team finish.
This week, Pieters tees off with the RangeGoats in Washington, D.C., at Trump National Golf Club, starting Friday.
KORN FERRY TOUR
The Illini will once again be well represented when the Korn Ferry Tour tees off at the Visit Knoxville Open, hosted at Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tenn., starting Thursday.
In addition to tour regulars Brian Campbell and Michael Feagles, who are each making their ninth Korn Ferry start of the year, Dylan Meyer will make his first Korn Ferry Tour start of the 2023 season after earning a spot via Monday qualifier.
Campbell enters the week coming off a tie for ninth at the AdventHealth Championship this past weekend. Campbell opened the event with a 6-under 66, including an ace on No. 12, his third hole of the event after teeing off on No. 10.
