Phil Arouca Wire-to-Wire Winner of Illinois Open

came down to a ball on a rock.

Fortunately for Philip Arouca of Wilmette, it was not his ball. It belonged to 25-year-old Michael Schachner of Libertyville, who had fought tooth and nail over 17 holes of the Hawthorn Woods Country Club Wednesday to pull within one stroke of Arouca for the Illinois Open lead with one hole to play.

On the 18th hole, however, Schachner’s approach shot to the green was wide to the left. The ball rolled down a small mulch berm and came to a rest on a decorative limestone rock by a waterfall. Schachner attempted to play the lie, but the result was not good.

“The ball was in a little hole and it didn’t really come out,” he said. “I just didn’t swing hard enough. … It’s not a shot you practice.”

(Earlier: Arouca Hits a Home Run in Illinois Open Golf Tournament )

The ball only made it a few feet toward the green before coming to rest in a bush. The lie was unplayable and Schachner had to take a drop. He finally finished with a double bogey on the hole.

Arouca, meanwhile, parred 18 to finish 1-under-par for the day and 11 under for the tournament. He said he was taking nothing for granted on the final hole, even after watching Schachner’s errant second shot.

“I saw that his ball ended up in the hazard, but after he chipped in on 11 for par, I thought he could just drop and chip it in and I’d still have to two-putt,” Arouca said.

Schachner put his drive on the par-3 11th hole into the water hazard left of the green, but after taking a drop, made a brilliant uphill chip shot that landed on the green short of the pin and rolled into the cup.

Blessing disguised as a bad tee shot

Arouca still had a three-stroke lead at that point, but everything changed on the 12th hole, when he hit his tee shot out of play, leading to a double bogey. Schachner, birdied the par-4 hole, and suddenly there was a tie at the top of the leader board.

“It could have been a blessing in disguise, really, because the two swings I made after hitting the ball out-of-bounds right were two really good swings and I think something clicked for the last six holes,” Arouca said. “I don’t think I missed a fairway on the last six holes and the only green I missed was 15.”

Arouca recorded birdies on holes 13 and 16, and once again had a three-stroke lead when Schachner recorded a bogey on 16. Schachner, though, was not done pulling rabbits out of hats. He put his second shot on the par-5 17th hole within three feet of the pin and made an easy putt for eagle.

Arouca was also on the green in two, but he three-putted the hole.

“I don’t know what the heck was going through my mind,” he said. “The first putt was awful. The second putt, I thought it was a good one, and it just turned outside the hole.”

First big victory for Arouca

Arouca, 26, was asked if he was surprised to win the Illinois Open at a relatively young age, especially considering his lack of big-time tournament victories.

“Yes, a little bit,” he answered. “I knew that good golf was coming. The thing about golf is that it doesn’t matter who you are playing against. You could play against Tiger Woods, you could play against a 10-handicapper, anybody can beat anybody on any given day.”

Arouca said the magnitude of his triumph probably wouldn’t sink in until he cashes the $15,500 check he received for winning the tournament.

“This definitely helps,” he said. “For the past two-and-a-half years, it’s been basically caddying and my family helping me out financially. … It takes the pressure off. You don’t feel like you have to make every cut.”

The New Trier High School alum didn’t have any trouble making this cut after shooting a 6-under-par 65 in the opening round and a 67 Tuesday. He started the final round with a four-stroke lead over Bennett Blakeman of Burr Ridge, but Blakeman took himself out of contention early with a bogey on the second hole and a double bogey on the fourth.

“In the beginning, Bennett definitely struggled with his swing,” Arouca observed. “Right in the middle, Mike played great.”

Schachner started the day 5-under-par. He brought himself into the title picture be registering birdies on the final two holes of the front nine.

The start of the final round was delayed over four hours by thunderstorms that dumped a lot of rain on the course. Arouca said the long wait to get started didn’t affect his game.

“I’m definitely pretty tired after today,” he said, “but I think that’s more from the golf than anything else.”

He’ll probably rest a little easier now that he’s got an Illinois Open championship trophy to place on the mantel.