Illinois, Minnesota tied for the lead after two rounds of Big Ten Championship at a windy Cricket Club

   As promised, a ferocious wind greeted the Big Ten’s best golfers when they arrived at the Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course in Whitemarsh Township for the second round of the conference championship Saturday morning and the scores went up.

   I was caddying 50 miles to the west at Stonewall’s Old Course – it was a scramble, mercifully – and it was just a howler. Playing golf, even for a good player, in that kind of wind is as much a mental test as it is physical.

   Four-time defending champion Illinois, at No. 27 in the latest Golfstat rankings, the highest-ranked team in the field, and No. 91 Minnesota each carded a 23-over 303 over the 7,119-yard, par-70 A.W. Tillinghast classic to share the lead in the team standings at 30-over 590.

   No. 61 Purdue had grabbed the lead after Friday’s opening round with a 2-over 282, but the Boilermakers could do no better than a 29-over 309, although they are right there, a shot behind the co-leaders at 31-over 591.

   Somehow, No. 106 Michigan improved off its opening round of 299 with a 16-over 296, the low team round of the day that enabled the Wolverines to vault eight spots in the team standings into a tie for fourth with No. 56 Michigan State at 35-over 595.

   The Spartans, behind individual leader Donnie Trosper, a senior from Canton, Mich., added a 304 to its opening-round 291 to join Michigan in fourth.

   Trosper carded a borderline brilliant even-par 70, after opening with a 70 Friday to take a two-shot lead in the individual chase with an even-par 140 total.

    Nebraska, ranked 155^th, added a 305 to is opening-round 295 and was alone in sixth at 40-over 600, five shots behind Michigan and Michigan State.

   No. 58 Penn State struggled in the wild winds, carding a 317 that left the Nittany Lions in 13^th place in the 14-team field at 51-over 611. They had opened with a 294 Friday.

   Minnesota was led by Angus Flanagan, a sophomore from England who had grabbed the individual lead at the end of the opening round with a brilliant 5-under 65. In conditions more suited to the Open Championship, the Englishman still struggled to a 77, but was alone in second place in the individual standings, two shots behind Trosper at 2-over 142.

   The Golden Gophers had one other player in the top 10 in the individual standings, sophomore Evan Long, who capped a stellar scholastic career by finishing third in the 2016 PIAA Class AA Championship as a senior at Laurel. Long added a 3-over 73 to his opening-round 74 that left him alone in 10^th place at 7-over 147.

   Thomas Longbella, a junior from Chippewa Falls, Wis., was two shots behind Long in the group tied for 14^th at 149 as he added a 75 to his opening-round 74.

   Rounding out the Minnesota lineup were two freshmen, Lincoln Johnson of Chaska, Minn. and Harry Plowman-Ollington, another Englishman, in the group tied for 48^th at 156. Johnson added an 82 to his opening-round 74 while Plowman-Ollington carded a second straight 78.

   Illinois was led by a couple of its youngsters, Varun Chopra, a sophomore home boy from Champaign, Ill. who was tied for seventh at 5-over 145, and Adrien Dumont de Chassart, a freshman from Belgium who was alone in ninth place at 6-over 146. Chopra added a 4-over 74 to his opening-round 71 while Dumont de Chassart posted his second straight 3-over 73.

   Giovanni Tadiotto, a junior from Belgium, and Michael Feagles, a junior from Scottsdale, Ariz., both veterans of the Illini’s run to the NCAA semifinals two years ago at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., were next in the individual standings.

   Tadiotto landed in the group tied for 11^th at 148 as he added a 76 to his opening-round 72 while Feagles, who had opened with a 71, struggled to a throw-out 81 that left him in the group tied for 29^th at 152.

   Bryan Baumgarten, a junior from Granite Bay, Calif., carded an 80 that was the final counter for Illinois and left him among the group tied for 58^th at 158.

   Trosper will likely always consider the even-par 70 he shot Saturday one of his finest rounds of golf. He made birdies at the third, 16^th and 18^th holes to offset a bogey to start at the first and a double bogey at the 11^th.

   Purdue’s Timmy Hildebrand, a senior from Westfield, Ind., and Rutgers’ Christopher Gotterup, a sophomore from Little Silver, N.J., were tied for third in the individual standings, a shot behind Minnesota’s Flanagan at 3-over 143. Both had opened with a 1-under 69 and both added a 4-over 74 in Saturday’s wind.

   Maryland’s Peter Knade, a junior from Easton, Md., and Michigan’s Charlie Pilon, a sophomore from Australia, were tied for fifth place at 4-over 144. Knade made a big move with a 1-over 71 that was really a strong round in those conditions while Pilon somehow matched his opening-round 72 with another 2-over 72.

   Pilon’s fellow Wolverine, Nick Carlson, a senior from Hamilton, Mich., joined Illinois’ Chopra in a tie for seventh at 5-over 145 as Carlson added a 4-over 74 to his opening-round 71.

    Charles Huntzinger, a senior from Duluth, Ga., put together Penn State’s best round of the day, a 6-over 76, as he makes his final Big Ten Championship appearance, to join the group tied for 24^th at 151. Huntzinger opened with a 75.

   Ryan Davis, a junior from Berkeley Heights, N.J., added an 80 to his opening-round 73 to finish among the group tied for 34^th at 153. Senior Ryan Dornes, the 2014 PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a senior at Manheim Township, also carded an 80 after opening with a 74 to land in the group tied for 39^th at 154.

   Alec Bard, a junior from New Hartford, N.Y., had Penn State’s best opening-round score, a 2-over 72, but fell victim to the high winds, carding a throw-out 83 that left him in the group tied for 42^nd at 155.

   Senior JD Hughes, who starred scholastically at Carlisle, had Penn State’s final counter with an 81, which, combined with an opening-round 84, left him in 66^th place at 165.