The Chicago Open boasts a Hall of Fame roster of champions that includes such golf icons as Sam Snead, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson. PGA Tour star and former World Number One golfer Luke Donald is a Chicago area resident and won the event in 2000 as an amateur playing for Northwestern. 
 
The championship is again being conducted by and for the benefit of the Illinois Junior Golf Association (IJGA).  IJGA is the second-largest junior golf program in the nation, serving 2,800 golfers between the ages of eight and 18, and managing more than 100 separate events throughout Illinois. The IJGA also is the umbrella organization for the Mid-American Junior Golf Tour (MAJGT), which specializes in conducting tournaments for higher-level junior players, particularly those seeking exposure to college golf coaches.
 
In 2013, the event drew a field of top amateur and professional golfers from 18 states and three countries, and served as a tune-up to the fall’s PGA Tour Qualifying School competition. The 2013 champion was Carlos Sainz, Jr., an Elgin native, former IJGA member and former Cantigny Golf employee. Sainz is now fully exempt on the PGA’s Web.com Tour and plans to return to defend his title