I am, at present, completely enamored of the Duramed Futures Tour. So I am delighted that the “Road to the LPGA” will once again be running through central Illinois this week for the Team WLF.org Golf Classic.

The tournament, which is being held at the Kankakee Elks Country Club in Saint Anne, is not nearly as big or prestigious as the Michelob Ultra Duramed Futures Tour Players Championship, which I attended two weeks ago. Nevertheless, all the good things about that “major” still hold for this event: cheap parking, intimate galleries, no entrance fee, and some superior golf.

Who will I be rooting for? Well, I think I’ll stick with two of the players I followed for a few holes two weeks ago:

A player with a ton of promise is Taylor Leon, a recent University of Georgia graduate whose father followed her shot-by-shot at the Players Championship. That event was her first of the year, and she finished a respectable 12th.

Another personal favorite is Heidi Helliesen, one of the rare Norwegian golfers on any tour, and certainly one of the most endearing smiles on any tour. Helliesen has only made one cut in seven tournaments this year (her first year on the Futures Tour), and finished 66th. A good finish would be a shot in the arm for her young career.

So if you get tired of watching the U.S. Women’s Open on TV, and happen to be in the northern half of Illinois, you might want to check out some of the women who someday may well be contending for the U.S. Women’s Open title.

Taylor Leon, from Dallas, Texas, finished 12th
in her one 2007 Futures Tour start

Norwegian Heidi Helliesen tees off during the
second round of the Futures Tour Players Championship.

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