BEACH PARK, Ill. – Illinois head men's golf coach Mike Small is the Illinois PGA Professional Championship winner once again. Small won the event Wednesday for the 14th time in his storied career, shooting 9-under 135 at Thunderhawk Golf Club to win by a single stroke in a rain-shortened, 36-hole effort.
Small's 14 Illinois PGA Professional titles extend his Illinois PGA record, and now make him the winningest PGA Professional at a section championship across all 41 sections nationwide. Small owns Illinois PGA Professional Championship wins in 2001, an eight-year stretch from 2003-10, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, and now 2023.
Following the weather-related cancellation of Monday's opening round, and a delayed shotgun start to Round 2, Small opened the championship with seven birdies and just one bogey to pace the field with a 6-under 66 on Tuesday. Wednesday, he posted seven more birdies including on two of his final three holes, and needed every one, en route to a 3-under 69 to come away with the narrow one-stroke victory.
Small enters his 24th season as head coach at Illinois in 2023-24. His unprecedented list of accomplishments includes 13 Big Ten Coach of the Year awards, 12 GCAA Midwest Regional Coach of the Year awards, the 2015 Dave Williams National Coach of the Year, 33 All-America laurels by 16 golfers, two NCAA individual champions, five NCAA Regional titles, and 13 Big Ten Championships.
