Tag: University Ridge Golf Course

Boo Weekley, who sometimes drives U-Hauls to tournaments, co-leads American Family Insurance Championship

Weekley is seeking his first PGA Tour Champions victory.

Boo Weekley, who drove a U-Haul to last week’s PGA Tour Champions event in Iowa, is co-leading this week’s American Family Insurance Championship after Friday’s first round.

Weekley, seeking his first Champions tour win in his 19th start, shot a 4-under 68. He had three birdies in a row early on Nos. 2, 3 and 4 and then closed with a birdie to tie Glen Day after one round at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wisconsin.

During an interview at Wakonda Club in Des Moines last week while fishing at the golf course, Weekly explained how they couldn’t get a rental car out of Michigan after the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

“We got to looking around,” he said in his unique Southern drawl. “And finally, me and my old gal said ‘Let’s just get a U-Haul’ and I started laughing.”

“That ain’t my first U-Haul experience,” he added.

Steve Stricker, the Madison native who is back defending his title, is tied for third with fellow Wisconsinite Jerry Kelly at 3 under. In fact, there’s a six-way tie for third, along with David Duval, Lee Janzen, Duffy Waldorf and Thomas Bjorn.

Stricker, also the tournament host, felt he struck the ball well enough to have gone 5 or 6 under but couldn’t make enough putts before finishing with a 3-under 69.

“It was a challenge,” Stricker said. “I mean, the wind was gusty, the greens were super fast, the ball was moving around once you putted it, you know, the wind would take it. That was the hard part probably is getting a good feel on the greens. Some of them could really get away from you and one did on me on, especially on 17. I was able to make it coming back. You really had to be careful not just running it by 8, 10 feet on some of these downwind putts.”

Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journdal Sentinel contributed to this article.

Steve Stricker has been looking for an old Callaway driver since he cracked his at the Players (and he found it)

“I tried some Titleists, I tried some of the new Callaway stuff, and it’s just not the same for me.”

Steve Stricker still remembers the exact moment when he realized his beloved driver was cracked. The Callaway Epic Speed, with which he’d gotten comfortable, wasn’t performing as he’d hoped during the 2024 Players Championship and he noticed a hairline fracture just before missing the cut.

“I was hitting a shot that I hadn’t been hitting for a while,” Stricker said Thursday in advance of the American Family Insurance Championship. “You know, that’s a few models ago, let’s put it that way. I’m kind of one of those guys that finds something and sticks with it.”

Stricker thought he had found a solid replacement for the KitchenAide Senior PGA, playing a Titleist driver which he paired with his older V2 shaft.

And while he played well, finishing eighth, Stricker still felt he could improve a bit.

“I’m a big boy, I should be able to try to hit some of this new stuff,” he said. “I tried some Titleists, I tried some of the new Callaway stuff, and it’s just not the same for me.”

More: Callaway Epic Speed, Epic Max, Epic Max LS drivers

In advance of this week’s PGA Tour Champions event in his native Wisconsin, Stricker set out to find the exact Epic Speed he’d had before, putting in a call to a family shop from Naples, Florida, with whom he’d previously done business. A friend from The Golf Guys scoured inventory and found just what Stricker needed.

“I said, ‘Hey, do you happen to have any used Epic Speed heads, 9-degree triple diamond, all this kind of stuff,’ told him what mine was. He’s like, ‘I’ll get back to you,'” Stricker explained. “Sure enough he had a brand new one still in the wrapper. I’m like ‘How fast can you get that to me?’ Monday morning at 6:30 the Amazon guy dropped it off at my doorstep. Monday morning I was out there hitting it.

“The start lines are much better. I had to do a little finagling with the weights on it and all that kind of stuff.”

Stricker is hoping for improved performance this week at University Ridge, and that’s saying something for the 17-time PGA Tour Champions winner. He’s played seven events on the senior circuit this year and finished inside the top 10 on all but one occasion.

But in case he has a mishap with this driver, he got a little great news this week while preparing for this event.

“I go in the trailer this week and they found me another one,” Stricker said. “All of a sudden, I’ve got two where I didn’t have one before that, so things are looking up.”

Thongchai Jaidee, once a paratrooper in Thailand, is now a PGA Tour Champions winner

Thongchai Jaidee won the 2022 American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wisconsin.

MADISON, Wisc. — The leaderboard was crowded throughout the final round Sunday during the PGA Tour Champions’ American Family Insurance Championship at University Ridge. At one point, nine golfers were tied for first.

Thongchai Jaidee, a former paratrooper in the Royal Thai Army, calmly waited for his opportunity and then pounced to the claim the title.

Jaidee took sole possession of the lead with a birdie putt from around 20 feet on No. 17. He then made par on the 18th hole to become the first player from Thailand to win on the senior circuit.

He won with a 14-under 202 total after shooting a 68 on Sunday.

“I’m very, very happy to be on tour the more important thing I think. I think thank you to my caddie, the important more thing, too, because he helped me a lot. It’s family support, my sponsor support me for whole life, that’s more important things,” Jaidee said after his round. “Great tournament here. I played solid, solid, solid week.”

Much to the delight of local fans, Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker vaulted themselves into contention on the final day with strong play.

Kelly had three birdies on his front nine and was tied for the lead, but he couldn’t pull off his third straight victory in the event.

Kelly carded a 5-under 67 and finished two shots behind Jaidee, but he lamented missing three birdie putts on Nos. 16-18.

“I struck it well,” Kelly said. “I putted well; they just didn’t go in this time. I gave myself some good looks.

“I come into this week every year thinking, yeah, this is going to be my year, I want to knock this one off, and then I always end up here trying to rally at the very end,” Stricker said. “I’ve got to get off to better starts.”

Stricker will get a week to rest before the U.S. Senior Open Championship at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It’s been an eventful year for Stricker with a Ryder Cup victory, a mysterious illness and then a golf comeback that included a major victory in the Regions Tradition in May.

“I’ve got a different perspective on life and all sorts of different things now,” Stricker said. “I still have some battles to kind of get over. I’ve still got to get stronger and continue to work on that part of it.

“I’m just thankful to be able to do this, to be able to continue to play, something that I really love to do. And yeah, so it’s come a long ways and the ups and the downs in these last six months were something else, but I’m glad where I’m at now.”

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