Illinois relies on its veterans to claim a sixth straight Big Ten crown at Crooked Stick

    Picking up some men’s conference championships I missed with the men’s regionals getting ready to tee off Monday ...

   It would be easy to just ho-hum Illinois’ sixth straight Big Ten crown, its 11^th in the last 12 playings of the conference championship. But the Fighting Illini really had to do some fighting to pull this one out as they rallied on the back nine of the May 2^nd final round a couple of Sundays ago to pull out a one-shot victory over stubborn Iowa at a tough Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind.

   Cold and wind conspired to make the Crooked Stick layout, site of John Daly’s epic 1991 PGA Championship victory, a tough customer, something that might help the Illini as they head for the Stillwater Regional and the Karsten Creek Golf Club. A week earlier Illinois had captured the Kepler Intercollegiate, hosted by Ohio State at its challenging Scarlet Course, again in some tough unspringlike cold and wind.

   Illinois, No. 9 in the latest Golfstat rankings, opened with a 12-over-par 300, a total matched by the Hawkeyes. The Fighting Illini added a 6-over 294 in the May 1^st second round, but Iowa was right with them, carding an 8-over 296. And the Hawkeyes never went away, matching par with a 288 in the final round to come up just a shot short of Illinois, which closed with a 1-over 289 for a 19-over 883 total.

   Iowa, led by individual champion Mac McClear, a sophomore from Hinsdale, Ill., ended up with a 20-over 894 total. The Hawkeyes, ranked 32^nd, will be seeded sixth in the Cle Elum Regional in Washington for next week’s regionals.

   Illinois benefited at Crooked Stick by having two fifth-year players, Michael Feagles, a graduate student from Scottsdale, Ariz., and Giovanni Tadiotto, a graduate student from Belgium, in the lineup. Giving the opportunity to return for a fifth year by the NCAA to make up for the spring of their senior season stolen by the coronavirus pandemic, Feagles and Tadiotto took it.

   They are the last connections to the Illinois team that reached the semifinals of the NCAA Championship in 2017 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.

   Tadiotto had struggled mightily in the first two rounds at Crooked Stick, opening with an 83 before adding a 76 in the second round. But he was Illinois’ best player in the final round with a 1-under 71 that left him among the group tied for 29^th place at 230. Feagles also struggled in the opening round with a 77, but he carded a solid 1-under 71 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 72 that left him alone in fifth place at 4-over 220.

   It was another 13 shots behind Iowa to No. 65 Northwestern in third place, the Wildcats posting a 33-over 897 total. Like every other team, Northwestern struggled in an opening-round 309 before adding a 9-over 297 and closing with a solid 3-over 291. The Wildcats will join Illinois at the Stillwater Regional as an 11 seed.

   Michigan State, ranked 76^th, was another seven shots behind Northwestern in fourth place at 40-over 904, but that apparently was not enough to earn the Spartans an NCAA Regional berth. After struggling to an opening-round 312, Michigan State added a 6-over 294 before finishing up with a 10-over 298.

   No. 62 Ohio State finished a shot behind Michigan State in fifth place with a 41-over 905 total. After opening with a 309, the Buckeyes added a 301 before closing with a solid 7-over 295. Ohio State earned an 11 seed in the Tallahassee Regional.

   No. 45 Indiana finished a shot behind Ohio State in sixth place with a 42-over 906 total, the Hoosiers adding a 302 to their opening-round 311 before closing with a 5-over 293. Indiana will join Ohio State in the Tallahassee Regional field as an eight seed.

   After a promising start, Penn State, which finished the season ranked 93^rd, fell back and ended up in 10^th place with a 54-over 918 total. The Nittany Lions were just five shots behind Illinois and Iowa after opening with a 305, but couldn’t maintain the momentum from their solid start. Penn State carded a 307 in the second round before closing with a 306.

   The Big Ten would not allow its teams to compete in the fall portion of the 2020-2021 season due to the pandemic and most of the conference’s teams seemed to struggle to get up to speed in what amounted to a 12-week sprint to the Big Ten Championship.

   Penn State did claim a nice win in its Rutherford Intercollegiate last month and had a solid runnerup finish behind Illinois in Ohio State’s Kepler Intercollegiate at the always challenging Scarlet Course the week before the Big Ten Championship. I’ll get to the Penn State individual breakdown later in this post, but there were some encouraging signs for head coach Greg Nye in the latter portion of this shortened season.

   Feagles was not the low man overall for Illinois. That honor was earned by Adrien Dumont de Chessart, a junior from Belgium who finished among a trio of players tied for second place at 2-over 218, three shots behind Iowa’s McClear. Dumont de Chessart was an impressive co-medalist as a freshman in the Big Ten Championship in 2019 at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course, an A.W. Tillinghast gem. The second round of that championship was played in what can only be classified as a windstorm.

   Dumont de Chessart was nearly as solid  on Pete and Alice Dye’s Crooked Stick a couple of weeks ago as he added a 1-under 71 to his opening-round 73 before finishing up with a 2-over 74.

   Tommy Kuhl, a junior from Morton, Ill., gave the Fighting Illini a third finisher inside the top 10 as he sandwiched a 78 in the second round with a pair of 1-over 73s to end up among the group tied for 10^th place at 8-over 224. Jerry Ji, a sophomore from the Netherlands, finished in the group tied for 16^th place at 226. Ji struggled in the first two rounds, adding a 76 to his opening-round 77, but his final round of 1-over 73 was a critical counter for the Fighting Illini.

   Tadiotto, of course, rounded out the Illinois lineup, the veteran saving his best for last, his 1-under 71 in the final round going a long way to earning the Fighting Illini a sixth straight Big Ten crown.

   McClear was the only player to finish under par the weekend at Crooked Stick with a 1-under 215 total. After opening with a 2-over 74, McClear carded a 2-under 70 in the second round before closing with a 1-under 71.

   Joining Illinois’ Dumont de Chessart in the tie for second place at 2-over 218 were Purdue’s Joe Weiler, a senior from Bloomington, Ind., Iowa’s Alex Schaake, a redshirt senior from Omaha, Neb.

   Afrer opening with a 77, Weiler matched the best individual round of the weekend, a sparkling 4-under 68 that got him within a shot of the individual lead shared by McClear and Dumont de Chessart after 36 holes. Weiler closed with a 1-over 73 to finish three shots behind McClear. Schaake matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 2-over 74 in the second round before again matching par in the final round with a closing 72.

   Rutgers’ Christopher Gotterup, a senior from Little Silver, N.J., matched Weiler’s second-round 68 in the final round and that enabled him to land among the trio tied for sixth place at 5-over 221, a shot behind Illinois’ Feagles.

   Joining Gotterup at 5-over were Northwestern’s John Driscoll III, a sophomore from Lake Mary, Fla., and Michigan State’s James Piot, a senior from Canton, Mich. Driscoll was the only player in the field to get it in under par in the opening round with a 1-under 71 before adding a pair of 3-over 75s. After struggling to an opening-round 77, Piot posted a solid 1-under 71 in the second round before closing with a 1-over 73.

   Like Illinois, Penn State had a pair of fifth-year players in Alec Bard of New Hartford, N.Y. and Ryan Davis of Berkeley Heights, N.J. who wanted one more shot at playing in a Big Ten Championship. Bard and Davis were at Rich Harvest Farms in 2017 as freshmen on the last Penn State team to qualify for the NCAA Championship.

   Bard and senior Lou Olsakovsky, who starred scholastically at Upper St. Clair, led the way for Penn State at Crooked Stick as each landed among the group tied for 20^th place at 11-over 227. Bard opened with a 76 and added a 74 in the second round before closing with a 77. Olsakovsky, coming off a solid tie for ninth place in the Kepler Intercollegiate, opened with a 1-over 73 and added a 78 in the second round before finishing up with a 76.

   Davis completed a solid Penn State career as he ended up among the group tied for 48^th place at 235. After opening with a 76, Davis registered a 77 in the second round before struggling in the final round with an 82.

   James McHugh, a senior from Rye, N.Y., was another shot behind Davis in the group tied for 51^st place at 236. McHugh, who probably earned the starting nod at Crooked Stick with his tie for 22^nd place a week earlier in the Kepler Intercollegiate, struggled in the opening round with an 81 and added a 78 before closing with a 77.

   Sophomore Patrick Sheehan, the District One Class AAA champion in 2018 as a senior at Central Bucks East, capped a solid spring campaign as he finished alone in 58^th place at 239. Sheehan had trouble solving Crooked Stick, adding an 83 to an opening-round 80 before righting the ship a little with a final-round 76.

   Sheehan solidified his spot in Nye’s starting lineup with his runnerup finish in the Rutherford Intercollegiate on his home course, the Blue Course at Penn State. He will bring some experience, in addition to his considerable talent, when he returns for the fall of his junior season at the end of the summer.

   Maryland sophomore Austin Barbin, who defeated Sheehan in the 2019 Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship at Coatesville Country Club, finished three shots better than his old junior rival, ending up in the group tied for 51^st place with a 236 total. Barbin, of the golfing Barbin family of Elkton, Md., struggled in the first two rounds with a pair of 82s, but closed out his sophomore season by matching par with a solid 72.