CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini men's golf program will once again be well represented when the PGA Tour tees off this week at its annual stop at the John Deere Classic held at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill.
PGA TOUR
Three former Fighting Illini standouts – Tommy Kuhl, Nick Hardy, and D.A. Points – are slated to tee off this week in the Quad Cities, hoping to follow in the footsteps of another Illini legend, Steve Stricker, in the hunt for the title at the 52nd playing of the John Deere Classic.
Stricker played in the event 18 times between 1993 and 2021 to great success, highlighted by an incredible stretch of three consecutive victories in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Points, like Stricker, has been a mainstay in the field at TPC Deere Run, and the 2023 edition will mark his 16th John Deere Classic. His best finish came in 2011 (T38).
Nick Hardy is set to make his fourth John Deere Classic start, having previously finished 55th in 2017 and 43rd in 2018, followed by a tie for 30th in 2022.
Points and Hardy will be joined by the newest Illini to play at golf's highest level, with recent Fighting Illini graduate Tommy Kuhl set to make his PGA Tour debut. Kuhl, who hails from Morton, Ill., was awarded a sponsor exemption. He began his professional career last month on PGA Tour Canada, after the All-American finished 15th in the 2023 PGA Tour University rankings.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
After some well wishes, and a little familiar advice from some of his past players, Fighting Illini head coach Mike Small turned some heads last weekend at the U.S. Senior Open.
Small bookended his week with opening and closing rounds of 70 (-1) at SentryWorld, and finished tied for 47th with a 72-hole tally of 297 (+13).
Meanwhile Small's former Illini teammate, Steve Stricker, continued his impressive play with a runner-up finish. It marks the ninth time that Stricker, a Wisconsin native, has finished second or better in 12 PGA Tour Champions events this season.
KORN FERRY TOUR
The Korn Ferry Tour also made a recent stop in Illinois last week and the field at the Memorial Health Championship at Springfield's Panther Creek Country Club featured four former Illini.
Rookie Adrien Dumont de Chassart made a hard charge up the leaderboard with a closing 63, and finished 21-under to secure a tie for eighth, his third-consecutive top-10 finish to start his career in just over a month since turning pro.
Michael Feagles also continues to trend upward. The 2021 PGA Tour University alum followed his opening 70 with rounds of 66, 64 and 65 to grab a tie for 17th and post one of the best scores of his young career at 19-under.
Brian Campbell finished just three shots of Feagles' pace to tie for 32nd, while Luke Guthrie, who Monday qualified for the event, narrowly missed the cut with scores of 68 and 70 in Rounds 1 and 2.
LIV GOLF LEAGUE
Thomas Pieters is also back in action, July 7-9, at the Centurion Club in Hertfordshire, England. Pieters finished 18th last week in Spain, helping his RangeGoats squad to a second-place team finish.
The RangeGoats are currently third in the season-long LIV Golf team standings after finishing top-3 as a team in five straight events.
