CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – With the 151st Open Championship looming on the horizon next week in England, several Fighting Illini alumni will be in action far and wide highlighted by two PGA Tour-sanctioned events on the schedule, plus Champions Tour and Korn Ferry Tour stops.
PGA TOUR
Fresh off of the John Deere Classic in nearby Silvis, Ill., which featured three former Illini in D.A. Points, Tommy Kuhl (making his PGA Tour debut) and Nick Hardy (who tied for 21st), the tour hosts a pair of events this week.
First, as a lead-up to The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, PGA Tour and DP World Tour players will test their skills on the links in a co-sanctioned event, the Genesis Scottish Open, at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland.
Among those teeing off with an eye toward prepping for The Open is Illini alum Thomas Detry, who played his way into the major as the co-winner of a 36-hole qualifier held July 4 at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club in Kent, England. He and fellow Belgian Thomas Pieters, will both tee off next week in the hunt for the Claret Jug.
Now in his first full season on the PGA Tour this year, Detry is currently No. 51 in the FedEx Cup rankings with a trio of top-10 finishes on the year. Last season the Belgian tied for 10th at the Genesis Scottish Open, one off three top-10s he posted on the DP World Tour.
Stateside, D.A. Points is back in action for the second straight week, representing the Orange and Blue at the Barbasol Championship at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Ky. Points, a three-time PGA Tour winner, will tee off in the event for the sixth time in his career. He posted his best finish, a tie for 40th, in 2018 with a 12-under 276.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
Steve Stricker continues to hold a comfortable lead atop the Charles Schwab Cup standings and looks to add to his 15-career Champions Tour wins this week at the Kaulig Companies Championship at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
Stricker is coming off a second-place finish at the U.S. Senior Open (which also featured a T47 finish by Illini head coach Mike Small), and has now finished first or second in nine of 12 events on the senior tour this season, including all three (of the five) senior majors heading into this week's event (previously known as the Senior Players Championship).
Stricker won the event in 2021, one of six career senior major titles, and finished as the runner-up in 2022.
KORN FERRY TOUR
Three Illini – Brian Campbell, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, and Michael Feagles – will again be in action this week at The Ascendant presented by Blue at TPC Colorado.
All three currently rank inside the top 100 on the Korn Ferry Tour points list, led by Dumont de Chassart at No. 6 after three consecutive top 10s (including a victory in his debut) to begin his career.
