CURTIS MALM COMPLETES COMEBACK, WINS THE 61ST ILLINOIS PGA MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP
By Tim Kraft
- Illinois PGA Staff
 KILDEER, Ill. - As if five matches in three days weren't enough golf for Curtis Malm, he needed all 18 holes in the tournament's final match to beat Rich Dukelow 2 Up and become the 61st Illinois PGA Match Play Champion.
It wasn't always smooth sailing for the six-seeded Malm, however, as he found himself trailing with not many holes remaining.
Down three holes with six to play, Malm, 34, PGA assistant golf professional at St. Charles (Ill.) Country Club, completed a comeback for the ages, winning five of the last six holes to take down Dukelow.
Malm played a total of 97 holes throughout the week and it was only fitting for him to close out the tournament on the par-4 433-yard 18th hole at Kemper Lakes.
"Match play at Kemper Lakes is always a ride," Malm said, relieved to have outlasted the competitive field of 116 professionals. "I love this place. It's a great championship golf course. I won five of the last six holes and that's just the way it goes out here with this set-up."
Dukelow, PGA teaching professional at Cantigny Golf in Wheaton, Ill., got off to a hot start, winning three of the first five holes and looked determined to avenge his loss in the 2011 Illinois PGA Match Play Finals to Jim Sobb.
"I didn't start out very well. Rich jumped all over it and put me in a pretty good hole to start things," said Malm.
Malm got within two after a bogey by Dukelow at No. 7, but Dukelow birdied No. 8 to regain a 3-hole advantage. Malm responded again, though, winning the 9th hole after draining a 5-foot birdie putt.
Walking off the 9th green, Dukelow, the tournament's defending runner-up, turned to a few members of the gallery and said, "This is going to be a barn-burner."
He couldn't have been more spot-on with that prediction as Malm came roaring back.
The back nine started with each player making bogey on the 10th hole followed by a pair of birdies on the par-5 11th. Dukelow rolled in his birdie putt from about 15 feet and had Malm thinking that today wasn't his day.
"The birdie he made on 11 really stuck it to me," said Malm. "He drops that thing in on me and I'm thinking, ‘Maybe it's not meant to be.'"
Things looked bleak for Malm when Dukelow made par at the 12th hole to take a commanding 3-hole lead, but Malm wasn't just going to lay down and hand it to the number one seed.
Both players hit their tee shots into a greenside bunker on the 177-yard par-3 13th hole, but it was Malm who smoothly knocked his sand shot to one foot to win the hole.
"My sand saves are huge, especially starting on 13," said Malm. "I didn't have much green to work with but I stuck it to about a foot and that helped get the momentum going."
From there on in, Malm used that momentum and took his game to another level, connecting on shot after shot, putting all the pressure on Dukelow.
"I've been hitting the ball really solid and I stepped up to 15 and said to myself, ‘You're two down. It's now or never. You have to win these next couple holes,'" Malm said. "I hit 4-iron into the green and it ran through a bit, but I was able to make a nice up-and-down for birdie."
With that birdie, Malm snuck a little closer. Dukelow was just 1 Up with three holes remaining.
Malm confidently walked up to the par-4 444-yard 16th hole and ripped a tee shot he considered to be as good a drive as he can hit.
"On 16 I absolutely smoked my drive and I had 102 yards remaining to the hole. I don't think I can hit a better drive and I was able to take that hole, too."
Dukelow's drive on the 16th found a fairway bunker and from there his approach found the ever-present water hazard, which lurks on all three of the finishing holes at Kemper Lakes.
On the 190-yard par-3 17th hole, Malm's tee shot landed in a familiar and recently friendly place – a greenside bunker. Without much hesitation, he stepped up and landed his sand shot a few feet from the flag and saved par, while Dukelow missed a 10-footer and was unable to halve the hole.
Holding on to a 1 Up lead going into the 18th hole, his first lead of the match, it looked as if Malm had left the door open for Dukelow as he pushed his drive into the right rough. Dukelow proceeded to calmly power his drive into the middle of the fairway.
Both players launched their approach shots over the green. Malm chipped on leaving himself a four-footer below the hole for par. Dukelow failed to get up and down from the greenside bunker, conceded par and the championship match to Malm.
"It was an up-and-down match and (Dukelow) is a great player," Malm said. "It was a great day of golf and I'm fortunate to be standing here at the end."
Malm took down two previous Illinois PGA Match Play Champions and the 2011 Match Play Runner-Up in his final three matches to win the 61st Illinois PGA Match Play Championship and locked in his name on the Match Play trophy for the first time in his career.
After taking down 2008 Illinois PGA Match Play Champion Matt Slowinski in the quarterfinals and 2010 Illinois PGA Match Play Champion Travis Johns 3 & 2 in the semifinals, Malm felt good about his game and was looking forward to the championship match.
The semifinals, which were played out in the morning session, featured two professionals gunning for the first Illinois PGA major of the year.
In Thursday's first semifinal match, Dukelow put an end to an impressive run by the 108 seed Kevin Marion, who won five straight matches before losing to Dukelow in the final four.
After securing his second consecutive trip to the finals, Dukelow was humbled and gracious for another opportunity to take home the hardware this year.
"Curtis is a good buddy of mine so I'm really looking forward to playing him," said Dukelow before the final match began. "Obviously we both want to win but I'll be happy for Curtis if he beats me and he'll be happy for me if I beat him."
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