CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini alums Thomas Detry, Nick Hardy, and Steve Stricker will take center stage this week in the 50th edition of THE PLAYERS Championship, as the prestigious event tees off Thursday at famed TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
PGA TOUR
Stricker returns to THE PLAYERS for the 23rd time in his storied career, and his first since 2021. The 12-time PGA Tour winner has recorded eight top-25s in the event, and his best finish came in 1999 when he finished T6.
Stricker earned his spot in this week’s field by virtue of his win last season at the Kaulig Companies Championship, one of six PGA Tour Champions wins during his 2023 campaign.
Stricker, who was featured this week on PGATour.com, finished T32 last week at the PGA Tour Champions’ Cologuard Classic.
Both Detry and Hardy will make their second consecutive starts at THE PLAYERS Championship in search of their first made cut in the event.
Hardy recently returned to campus and was courtside last week when the Illini men’s basketball team battled with Purdue at State Farm Center.
Though not in the field this week at THE PLAYERS, former Illini Adrien Dumont de Chassart is coming off the best finish of his rookie season so far. Dumont de Chassart followed an opening 73 with rounds of 65, 67, and 66 last weekend at the Puerto Rico Open en route to a T6 finish.
It marked his third made cut through his first eight PGA Tour events this year, and the first top-10 finish of his career.
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