JDC memories sweet for this Barry

The John Deere Classic is so much more than a golf tournament to Barry Cronin. In many ways, the local PGA Tour stop has been a lifesaver for the 68-year-old Chicago media veteran, with the latest and greatest example coming in 2016. “I had cancer,” said Mr. Cronin, the JDC’s media relations director since 2000. […]

The John Deere Classic is so much more than a golf tournament to Barry Cronin. In many ways, the local PGA Tour stop has been a lifesaver for the 68-year-old Chicago media veteran, with the latest and greatest example coming in 2016. “I had cancer,” said Mr. Cronin, the JDC’s media relations director since 2000. “Thank God they got it, and I’ve been in remission now for eight years. “But I’ll never forget, when I came here for media day a buddy of mine said, ‘you’re wearing your dad’s sport coat’ because I was so thin from the weight loss and had lost all my hair from the emergency chemotherapy. And I was still very weak when the long hours of tournament week came.”

He added: “But the people here carried me through. (Former tournament director) Clair Peterson is such a wonderful human being. He must have told everybody about my situation. So, when I got here, I was greeted by so many people who were unbelievably welcoming, compassionate and warm. I’ll never forget how good that made me feel.” The support drove even deeper, said Mr. Cronin who has since 1999 owned his own public relations firm, Cronin Communications. “As a contractor, they can easily get rid of you if they’re worried you can’t deliver,” Mr. Cronin said. “But I never lost my opportunity to work. Clair and the people here would never do that – and it was never a question from them. “I had other clients who were very nice and stuck by me, too. But I really appreciated the support that I got from everybody connected with the tournament and John Deere. There’s so many special people here.” But then, Mr. Cronin has known that for a quarter century. He first met Mr. Peterson, his predecessor Kym Hougham, and former Deere communications chief Ken Golden in the late 1990s while working for Motorola, and more specifically the time-honored Western Open, which the company sponsored. While showing them around the behind-the-scenes operations of a golf tournament older than the PGA Tour itself, Mr. Cronin struck up a lasting friendship with Mr. Peterson, and offered his services in case the JDC ever needed any help. Instead, Mr. Cronin was the one who needed aid when Motorola decided to abruptly end its sponsorship. “I was worried how I was going to support my family,” said Mr. Cronin, the father of 31-year-old twins, who were 6-years-old at the time. “But then Clair called. And that’s when I found out I was going into business by myself. Besides my family, the most important relationship I’ve ever had was with Clair,” Mr. Cronin said. “Not only is he the greatest guy you could know, he changed my life. I’m so lucky and blessed that I landed on my feet (after Motorola) and never stopped moving forward.” Mr. Cronin was a hired consultant for the 1999 JDC – the last at Oakwood Country Club but the first under Deere’s sponsorship banner. He became much more in 2000, though – taking over a former volunteer position to help shape a different media presence for the JDC, as well as build a workable Media Center out of the cart barn in the basement of the clubhouse at the new TPC Deere Run in Silvis. The effort included a fact-finding mission to tournaments – including a couple of majors – to determine what worked best in media centers, from the kind of workstations used to how the interview room should look. “What do the writers, photographers, TV and radio people need to do their job? That’s always been my focus because I was them at one time,” said Mr. Cronin, a golf writer for 12 years at the Chicago Sun-Times before Motorola recruited him away. That mantra also drove the JDC to become one of the first PGA Tour events to offer transcripts of interviews – something that started in the mid-90s at the U.S. Open. “My first year, we hired a court reporter out of Peoria, and it didn’t work out so well,” recalled Mr. Cronin. “The next year, I called up McCorkle Court Reporting in Chicago, and I said, ‘Do you have anybody who knows anything about golf?’ And bingo, we got lucky.” Mr. Cronin also hired a crew to send updates and interviews to radio networks – not just Radio Iowa or the Illinois Radio Network, but major stations such as WGN or WBBM in Chicago, as well as international carriers such as Voice of America and the BBC. “So, when we had Australian winners like Mark Hensby and John Senden? The radio guys were sending stuff to Australia,” Mr. Cronin said. “They act as another arm of our communications team. A lot of stations can’t afford to send a reporter. But they send content out all over the country and world. And what that does is project Deere’s brand a little bit more – and for what it costs us, it’s a great bargain. I’m surprised more tournaments don’t do it.” During his tenure, several moments stand out, Mr. Cronin said, including two that created national media buzz. The first came in 2005 when teen sensation Michelle Wie barely missed the cut after appearing to be a weekend survivor when she made the turn during Friday’s second round. Producers from “Good Morning America” called seeking a Monday morning appearance from the future LPGA star and dispatched a crew in a satellite truck from the ABC affiliate in Chicago to capture weekend action. Then Ms. Wie double-bogeyed her third-to-last hole to dash her hopes. “I can still picture the crew racing at 85 miles an hour on Interstate 88 to get here for their big network break,” Mr. Cronin said. “And then they hear the news she’s not going to make it, so they’re looking for a place to turn around.“ The other came in 2015 when Jordan Spieth won a second JDC title in three summers – with a furious comeback and playoff victory – after also winning both the Masters and US Open and before contending in the British Open in a historic bid for golf’s Grand Slam. “He was so close that year – and we were part of that story,” said Mr. Cronin, who in addition to his clients, returned to journalism four years ago as the editor of the Chicago District Golfer Magazine. “That was also the year I convinced the brass that it would be important for the JDC to be represented in the Media Center at the British Open, so I went on the (Deere-sponsored) jet.” Many believed 2022 might be Mr. Cronin’s last tournament with Mr. Peterson retiring from day-to-day tournament director duties. “I told Clair: ‘Tell Andrew (Lehman, his successor) that if he wants me to go out with you, I’m happy to ride off into the sunset,’” Mr. Cronin said. “And I told that to Andrew myself during the tournament. ‘If you want to bring in your own people, I totally understand. No hard feelings.’ But Andrew said, ‘No, I want you to stay.’” So, Mr. Cronin was back in his familiar green slacks presiding over the Media Center for the 52nd edition of the local tournament. “As long as I offer them something, I’d love to do it,” Mr. Cronin said. “I love the people, I love the tournament, and I love Deere. This has meant everything to me and I’m very appreciative of every moment I’ve had.”