Wheaton Golfers in Final 50 at Illinois Open

A foursome of Wheaton golfers will hit the links again Wednesday at Hawthorn Woods Country Club after making the cut at the PGA’s .

Rich Dukelow, a pro at , leads the quartet at 2-under-par after shooting a 72 Tuesday on the par-71 course. He’s tied for seventh, eight strokes behind Philip Arouca of Wilmette.

“I was a little sloppy out there today,” Dukelow said. “I hit a couple errant shots and didn’t putt quite as well, but I enjoyed the day. It played a little harder today than it did yesterday.”

Dukelow bogeyed the first two holes, but birdies on the third and sixth holes brought him back to even par for the day. A double bogey on the 471-yard, par-4 eighth hole proved costly, however.

He managed to again get back to even after a birdie on No. 17, but his day ended with a bogey on the tough par-4 18th hole.

“It played a little longer,” he said of the course. “There was a little more wind today. It just played a little more difficult. And, you know, the cut’s coming so everybody kind of tightens up a little bit.”
Dukelow is taking a realistic view of Wednesday’s final round.

“I’ve got to figure I’m not going to make up eight shots,” he said. “But it would be nice to finish in the top five or so. That would be a good goal right now.”

Kelly and Sanders remain tied

 and Kyle Sanders of Wheaton are tied for 29th place at 3-over-par. Both golfers were 2-under after Monday’s opening round.
“I didn’t score as well, but I played about the same,” Kelly said after carding a 75 Tuesday. “I had some good shots and I hit the ball really well off the tee. I just couldn’t get a putt to drop. I had a lot of lip-outs.”

Kelly had three bogeys on the front nine, but bounced back after the turn with back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13. Unfortunately, a string of three straight bogeys followed, but they didn’t shake the Wheaton Warrenville South student’s resolve heading into the final round.

“I just know that if I keep playing the way I’m playing and tomorrow those putts fall in the hole instead of lipping out, I’ll be good. I’ll have a really solid round,” he said. “I was making good swings out there and I was hitting really good putts. It was just one of those days they weren’t falling in the hole.”

Sanders, 25, scored birdies on three holes -- 2, 8, and 13, but was hurt by a double bogey on No. 10 that was sandwiched between bogeys.

Mulhearn in, Skurla out

Danny Mulhearn of Wheaton just made the cut after carding a 74 Tuesday, leaving him at 5-over-par for the tournament. After starting on the 10th tee, the 44-year-old pro at Glen Oak Country Club rallied with birdies on the final two holes on the front nine to qualify for the final round.

Steve Skurla was just 1-over-par after shooting a 72 Monday, but his round Tuesday got off to a bad start.

“I had a triple bogey on 1, which kind of flustered me a little bit,” he said. “I started to press a little and wasn’t able to make the birdies I was trying to. I hit some good shots, but the putter wasn’t working today.”

He wound up with a 79, leaving him four strokes over the cut line.
Skurla has spent the summer working at Cantigny Golf. On August 18th he’ll leave to return to Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where he’s on the men’s golf team.

“I’m ready to get back at it and hopefully bring home a Big East championship,” the junior-to-be said.