CURTIS MALM CLAIMS BACK TO BACK ILLINOIS PGA MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

For the first time in 25 years, the Illinois PGA Match Play Championship trophy will stay in the same hands for two straight years.  1-seed and defending champion, Curtis Malm (St. Charles Country Club) defeated Doug Bauman (Biltmore Country Club) in the championship match 3 & 1 to claim the 62^nd Illinois PGA Match Play Championship.

The weather was warm today at Kemper Lakes Golf Club for the final round match.  The start for both players was even hotter.  The 22-seed, and three time champion, Bauman got off to a birdie-birdie-birdie start tamed only by a Malm birdie on hole #2.  “I got off to a great start, and I tried to put the pressure on him, but he didn’t flinch.  He made a great putt on #2 and another good birdie on #4,” said Bauman.

Bauman was 2-up on the 4^th tee when Malm’s ball ended up through the fairway and into the pines left of his target.  Bauman found the fairway with his tee shot and looked primed to add another circle to the scorecard and increase his advantage over the 2012 Illinois PGA Player of the Year. 

“The shot from the trees on the par-5 fourth hole in my match against Doug was the best shot I hit all week.  I knifed a 3-iron through a small window and got it up to the greenside bunker in two,” explained Malm after the round.  There he would get up and down for a birdie as Bauman failed to convert his chip for the half.  Malm squared the match on the sixth hole, and they played the next two holes right in stride with each other.  On the ninth, Bauman and Malm left their approach shots short, both electing to putt the ball from the fringe, Malm would make his par and Bauman couldn’t find the cup with his par attempt, giving Malm a 1-up leading heading to the back nine.

On #10, Malm kept the pressure on by striping a 3-iron down the center of the fairway, while Bauman tugged his drive left into the hazard.  After taking a penalty shot and dropping, Bauman found the green with his third, a small chance to salvage his par from 12 feet away was quickly squashed as Malm rolled in a 15-foot birdie to claim the 2-up lead.

The match seemed like it was tilting towards the defending champion at this point, but Bauman’s comfort level with this golf course and this format didn’t have him rattled.

Bauman safely hit the fairway with tee shot at the par-5 11^th, and with Malm in the left woods, Bauman decided it was time to make a statement shot.  Bauman had over 235-yards to the hole and hit his fairway wood to perfection, leaving it about 15 feet below the hole, with a chance for eagle.  Malm had to chip out of the woods, and then his third found the rough left of the green, he couldn’t get his birdie chip to the hole and he conceded Bauman’s eagle putt.  Both players made par on the 12^th hole and Malm held the slimmest of leads standing on the 13^th tee. 

Playing at 218-yards, both players hit their tee shots to the right greenside bunkers which guard the par-3 green.  Neither player was able to get up and down from the bunker, but when Bauman missed his bogey putt, Malm had the 2-up lead once again.

The players tied the next three holes, and when they stepped up on the teeing ground of the famed 17^th hole at Kemper Lakes, Malm was dormie.  He hit a six-iron to the center of the green, and Bauman missed the green right and landed in the bunker.  Malm rolled his putt up close and when Bauman didn’t make his par attempt, he conceded the hole to Malm, giving him the 3 & 1 victory.  Afterwards, Malm summed up his play this week with one quote, “This championship means a lot to me personally, to comeback and defend at a place like Kemper Lakes, helps me to feel like I validated last year’s victory.”

These two players got to the final match by beating two other past champions.  Curtis Malm bested 2008 IPGA Match Play Champion, Matt Slowinski (Glen Oak Country Club) 2 & 1 and Bauman defeated his close friend and fellow three-time IPGA Match Play winner, Jim Sobb (Ivanhoe Club) by a margin of 2 & 1 in the morning semifinal matches.

The Illinois PGA would like to thank Kemper Lakes Golf Club for graciously hosting this premier major championship on the tournament schedule. 

Harris Golf Cars, Mizuno, and Wittek Golf Supply are supporting sponsors of the 62^nd Illinois PGA Match Play Championship.