CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Several Fighting Illini alumni have teed off a new season in the professional ranks over the last few weeks, with plenty of opportunities ahead in the 2025 season across the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LIV Golf League, PGA Tour Champions and more.
PGA TOUR
Thomas Detry opened the year in impressive fashion in Hawai’i, posting a T5 finish at The Sentry, Jan. 2-5, in Maui before traveling to Honolulu where he made his second straight cut the following week at the Sony Open. Detry ranks No. 59 in the OWGR this week, the highest among the current crop of former Illini.
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Thomas Detry drives the green on the 14th, and finishes it off with an eagle ??
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— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 4, 2025
Nick Hardy and Brian Campbell have also been in action early this season, playing at both the Sony Open, alongside Detry, and the American Express in last week in La Quinta, Calif.
All three former Illini are in action this week in Southern California, teeing off at Torrey Pines for the Farmers Insurance Open.
DP WORLD TOUR
Thomas Pieters, who last month moved from the Range Goats GC to 4Aces GC for his third LIV Golf season which tees off Feb. 6-8, has been active since the new year on the DP World Tour. The former NCAA champion for the Illini competed Jan. 16-19 at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
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— 4 Aces GC (@4AcesGC_) January 21, 2025
This week he is competing at Ras Al Khaimah Championship, alongside fellow Belgian and former Illini Adrien Dumont de Chassart.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
The PGA Tour Champions season opened Jan. 16-18 in Hawai’i at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, where Illini legend Steve Stricker continued to show his strong play. Stricker posted a T19 finish, his 73rd top-25 in 76 events on the Champions Tour since 2017.
KORN FERRY TOUR
Luke Guthrie has started strong on the Korn Ferry Tour in the Bahamas, competing in The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantics Paradise Island where he finished T76 before a T5 showing last week at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club.
Guthrie’s finish at the Great Abaco Classic marks his best Korn Ferry Tour finish since a T4 at the Evans Scholars Invitational in May 2019.