Masters week, but unfortunately no Illini qualified this year. Detry is ranked 66th in the world (Top 50 qualified), while Hardy didn't qualify since his win at Zurich didn't give the full Fedex Cup points. I took a peek at the other majors to see if any Illini can qualify, the PGA Tour website lays out the details nicely (
link):
PGA Championship:
Already Qualified: Stricker (Senior PGA winner)
Should be in: Detry (currently 65th on the "
Special Money List" that they use to make the field. Top 70 automatically get in, and usually another dozen or so will make the field. Plus the Top 100 normally get in per the website.
Work to do: Hardy (109th) would need a couple strong finishes. ADDC (226th) would probably have to win an event.
Note: Mike Small probably won't make another field because the PGA Professional Championship always coincides with the Big Ten Championship.
U.S. Open:
Work to do: Detry can get in by getting inside the Top 60 in world rankings by May 20 or June 10. If not, he will have to qualify via sectionals, which is probably the only path for Hardy and ADDC barring a breakout performance. Plenty of other Illini (current and former) will likely try to qualify as well. The "longest day in golf" will be June 3rd, with 10 sectional qualifiers.
The Open:
Work to do: Everyone. I think the ones that have the best chance (in order) are Detry, Hardy, Besard, ADDC. There are a few paths:
Top 50 world ranking as of May 27th - probably only applies to Detry, but attainable if he keeps posting top-10 finishes
Qualify through a designated PGA Tour event - Canadian Open, Memorial, John Deere Classic (usually it's top 2 or 3 not already qualified)
Qualify through a designated DP World Tour event - KLM Open, Italian Open, Scottish Open
Get inside the top 20 in Fedex Cup points
Sectional Qualifier (I'm guessing only Besard will try this route, but he could definitely pull it off)
