In the Big Ten, there’s Illinois and there’s everybody else.
The last time a Big Ten Championship was contested in April of 2019 at the A.W. Tillinghast gem that is Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course, Mike Small’s Fighting Illini won their fifth straight team crown and ninth title in the past 10 years. The second round of that tournament was contested in basically a windstorm.
Looks like the weather may have contributed to some high scores in the LSU Invitational, which concluded Sunday at The University Club in Baton Rouge, La. But Illinois, No. 6 in the latest Golfstat rankings, came from behind with a solid final round of 6-over 294 to hold off Southeastern Conference power Vanderbilt, ranked 10th, by two shots with a 12-over 876 total.
The Big Ten wouldn’t allow its teams to compete in the fall, but Illinois was ready when the coronavirus-shortened 2020-2021 season finally got started. The victory in the LSU Invitational was the second straight for the Fighting Illini, who captured the team title earlier this month in the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate at the Magnolia Grove Golf Club’s Crossings Course in Mobile, Ala.
Illinois opened with a 5-over 293 in Friday’s first round over the 7,227-yard, par-72 University Club layout before adding a solid 1-over 289 in Saturday’s second round. That left the Fighting Illini three shots behind another SEC entry, No. 11 Florida, heading into Sunday’s final round. The Gators struggled to a 310 in the final round to fall back to fifth place.
Vanderbilt, behind individual runnerup Matthew Riedel, a sophomore from Houston who closed with a 4-under-par 68, had opened with a 7-over 295 and added a 4-over 292 in Saturday’s second round that left the Commodores eight shots behind Florida and five behind Illinois. Vanderbilt closed with the best team round of the day, a 3-over 291, but couldn’t quite overtake Illinois, the Commodores finishing two shots behind the Fighting Illini at 14-over 878.
It was another three shots back to another SEC entry as South Carolina outperformed its No. 71 ranking, the Gamecocks finishing in third place with a 17-over 881 total. After opening with a 10-over 298, South Carolina added solid rounds of 2-over 290 in Saturday’s second round and 5-over 293 in Sunday’s final round.
No. 42 Arkansas State seemed unfazed by all the SEC teams in the field as the Sun Belt Conference’s Red Wolves were right in the mix in a tie for third place with Vanderbilt after adding a 4-over 292 in Saturday’s second round to their opening-round 295. Arkansas State struggled a little in Sunday’s final round, finishing six shots behind South Carolina in fourth place at 23-over 887.
After opening with a 10-over 298, Florida unfurled the best team round of the weekend, a 7-under 281 in Saturday’s second round, to take the team lead into Sunday’s final round. The Gators’ final-round 310 left them two shots behind Arkansas State in fifth place at 25-over 889.
No. 17 Auburn, out of the SEC, was two shots behind Florida in sixth place at 27-over 891 as the Tigers bounced back from an opening-round 303 by carding a 7-over 295 in Saturday’s second round and a solid 5-over 293 in Sunday’s final round.
No. 22 Tennessee, another SEC entry, was a shot behind Auburn in seventh place in the 15-team field as the Volunteers opened with a solid 6-over 294 before falling back a little with a 10-over 298 in Saturday’s second round and closing with a final-round 300 that left them with a 28-ovoer 892 total.
Illinois was led by one of its two graduate students, Michael Feagles of Scottsdale, Ariz. as he was one of three players who finished in a tie for fourth place with a 2-over 218 total. After opening with a 75, Feagles carded a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.
Adrien Dumont de Chassart, a junior from Belgium who was the co-medalist in the Big Ten Championship at the Cricket Club two years ago, finished a shot behind Feagles in a group of six players tied for seventh place at 3-over 219. Dumont de Chassart struggled in the opening round with a 76, but was the Illinois medalist in the second round with a 3-under 69 before closing with a 2-over 74.
Only one player broke 70 in Friday’s opening round and that was Illinois’ Jerry Ji, a sophomore from the Netherlands who fired a 3-under 69. He struggled to a 79 in the second round, but closed with a 1-over 73 to land among the group tied for 15th place at 5-over 221.
Illinois’ other graduate student, Giovanni Tadiotto of Belgium and Tommy Kuhl, a junior from Morton, Ill., rounded out the Fighting Illini’s lineup as both landed in the group tied for 33rd place at 8-over 224. Tadiotto sandwiched a second-round 74 with a pair of 75s while Kuhl added a pair of 75s to his opening round of 2-over 74.
Feagles, Tadiotto and Dumont de Chassart were all in the Illinois lineup in the Big Ten Championship at the Cricket Club two springs ago. Looks like Feagles and Tadiotto accepted the NCAA’s offer of an extra year of eligibility to make up for the spring of their senior year that was stolen by the pandemic.
Nobody mastered the difficult conditions at The University Club better than Mississippi’s Jackson Suber, a junior from Tampa, Fla. who sandwiched a 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round with a pair of 71s to capture the individual title with a 5-under 211 total.
It was the second straight individual victory for Suber, who was the medalist in Ole Miss’ last start in November in the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate at Old Overton Golf Club in Vestavia Hills, Ala. Suber was the only player in the field at The University Club to better par in all three rounds.
Vanderbilt’s Riedel battled back from an opening-round 76 by registering a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s second round before closing with that 4-under 68 that left him three shots behind Suber in second place at 2-under 214. Riedel was the only other player beside Suber to finish under par for three rounds.
Alabama’s Wilson Furr, a senior from Jackson, Miss., also struggled in the opening round with a 79, but was strong the rest of the weekend, firing a 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round and closing with a 4-under 68 to finish alone in third place with an even-par 216 total.
Furr put his considerable talent on display in qualifying for match play in last summer’s U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes as he earned medalist honors, a brilliant 9-under 62 at the Bandon Trails course at the rugged Oregon resort in the second round giving him an 11-under 132 total.
Joining Illinois’ Feagles in the three-way tie for fourth place at 2-over 218 were Missouri’s Ross Streelman, a redshirt sophomore from Columbia, Mo., and South Carolina’s Ryan Hall, a junior from Knoxville, Tenn. Streelman moved up the leaderboard by closing with a 3-under 69. Hall added a 4-under 68 to his opening-round 73 and trailed Suber by just a shot in the race for individual honors going into Sunday’s final round before cooling off with a 77.
Five players joined Illinois’ Dumont de Chassart in the tie for seventh place at 3-over 219, including a pair of Arkansas State players, Luka Naglic, a sophomore from Slovenia, and Julien Sale, a senior from France. Naglic was solid throughout, matching par in the opening round with a 72 and adding a 74 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 73. Sale matched par in the second round with a 72 after opening with a 73 and he finished up with a 1-over 73.
It was a disappointing weekend for No. 12 Georgia, which finished in 10th place with a 35-over 899 total, but Travis Phillips, a junior from Inman, S.C. and No. 44 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), did earn a top-10 finish as he was part of the group tied for seventh place at 219. Phillips added a 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round after opening with a 73 before falling back with a final-round 77.
Rounding out the large group at 3-over were Mississippi State’s Ford Clegg, a junior from Birmingham, Ala., and Auburn’s Graysen Huff, a senior from Eagle, Idaho. After opening with a 77, Clegg bounced back with a 2-under 70 before matching par in the final round with a 72. Huff matched par in the second round with a 72 after opening with a 74 and finished up with a 1-over 73.
To give you an idea how competitive these college golf tournaments are, Georgia’s Davis Thompson, a senior from Auburn, Ala., rose to the No. 1 spot in the WAGR in the last couple of weeks.
Thompson closed with his best round of the weekend, a 1-over 73, to finish among the group tied for 24th place at 7-over 223. Thompson’s lofty ranking has already earned him an automatic berth on the U.S. Walker Cup team that will battle a side from Great Britain & Ireland in May at iconic Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla.
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