Big Ten champion Illinois will take three-shot lead into final round of stroke play in NCAA Championship at Grayhawk

   With three players in the top eight in the individual standings, Big Ten champion Illinois remained atop the team leaderboard Sunday after three rounds of stroke-play qualifying for match play in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   The Fighting Illini, No. 3 in the latest Golfstat rankings, put together a solid third round of 4-under-par 276 over the 7,289-yard, par-70 Raptor Course layout at Grayhawk and will take a 6-under 834 total and a three-shot lead over West Coast Conference power Pepperdine, ranked eighth, into the Memorial Day windup of qualifying for match play.

   Finishing first would be nice, but three solid rounds has Illinois, under veteran head coach Mike Small, in good position to achieve the ultimate goal: Be one of the top eight teams at the end of the day Monday that qualify for match play in the battle for a national championship.

   The Golf Channel cameras will be rolling Monday as an individual NCAA champion is crowned and the eight match-play quarterfinalists are determined. Match play will get under way Tuesday morning.

   Georgia Tech’s Ross Steelman, a senior from Columbia, Mo. and No. 21 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), has the inside track on that individual title as he expanded his lead to four shots going into Monday’s final round.

   Steelman, who took control of the individual chase when he blitzed the Raptor Course layout with an 8-under 64 in Friday’s opening round, carded a solid 2-under 68 in Sunday’s third round that left him with a 9-under 201 total.

   Steelman’s closest pursuers were Ohio State graduate student Neal Shipley, the reigning Pennsylvania Amateur champion, and North Carolina’s Dylan Menante, a senior from Carlsbad, Calif. and No. 14 in the WAGR, both of whom were at 5-under 205, four shots behind Steelman.

   Illinois was led by Tommy Kuhl, a fifth-year player from Morton, Ill. and No. 56 in the WAGR who fired a sparkling 3-under 67 that left him among a group of five players tied for eighth place in the individual standings at 2-under 208.

   Illinois’ Jackson Buchanan, a sophomore from Dacula, Ill., carded his second straight 2-under 68 and was alone in seventh place with a 3-under 207 total.

   Adrien Dumont de Chassart, a fifth-year player from Belgium and No. 11 in the WAGR, matched par in Sunday’s third round with a 70 after back-to-back 2-under 68s in the first two rounds and was one of three players tied for fourth place in the individual standings at 4-under 206.

   Pepperdine put together the best team round of the weekend, a sizzling 11-under 269, to move into second place with a 3-under 837 total.

   The Waves have a pretty good track record at Grayhawk having won the national championship in the Arizona desert two years ago and making it to the semifinals in defense of that title a year ago.

   Southeastern Conference champion Florida, ranked ninth, was another two shots behind Pepperdine in third place with a 1-under 839 total after the Gators recorded a solid 2-under 278 in Sunday’s third round.

   Atlantic Coast Conference power North Carolina, the No. 2 team in the country, had its best round of the weekend, a 5-under 275 that left it in fourth place with a 1-over 841 total.

   The Tar Heels were led by Menante, who was in the Pepperdine lineup a year ago at Grayhawk before coming east to Tobacco Road. Menante registered a 3-under 67 that left him a tie for second place in the individual standings with Ohio State’s Shipley at 5-under.

   North Carolina’s ACC rival, conference champion Georgia Tech, ranked 11^th, was a shot behind the Tar Heels in fifth place with a 2-over 842 total after carding a 4-under 276 behind Steelman, the individual leader.

   The tournament within the tournament Monday will be the battle to finish among the top eight who will battle it out for the national championship and the next group of teams behind Georgia Tech in the team standings will be feeling the heat.

   Pac-12 rivals Stanford, the conference champion ranked No. 6, and No. 4 Arizona State were sitting in sixth and seventh place, respectively.

   The two teams hooked up in an incredible shootout in the Las Vegas Regional at Bear’s Best Las Vegas with Arizona State claiming the regional title with a 59-under total, two shots ahead of Stanford, which was 57-under.

   After a sluggish first two rounds, Stanford put together a solid 4-under 276 in Sunday’s third round to move into sixth place, eight shots behind Georgia Tech with a 10-over 850 total.

   Arizona State, which fell to Texas in the Final Match at Grayhawk a year ago, posted a solid 1-under 279 and was a shot behind the Cardinal in seventh place with an 11-over 851 total.

   There’s a lot of talent lined up right behind Stanford and Arizona State in what figures to be a contentious battle for the eight spots in the match-play bracket, including the No. 1 team in the country, SEC runnerup Vanderbilt, and No. 7 Florida State, another ACC entry, as those two formidable teams enter Monday’s final round in a tie for eighth place at 13-over 853, two shots behind the Sun Devils.

   It would have seemed almost unthinkable that Vanderbilt would not be one of the eight teams in the match-play bracket, but the Commodores are very much on the bubble after carding a 3-over 283 in Sunday’s third round. Florida State recorded a 2-over 282 to get its share of eighth place.

   Another ACC entry, No. 10 Virginia, was a shot behind Vanderbilt and Florida State at 14-over 854 as the Cavaliers rounded out the top 10 in the team standings in 10^th place after registering a 3-over 283 in Sunday’s third round.

   As I wrap this post up, No. 23 Ohio State, out of the Big Ten, and Big 12 power Texas Tech, ranked fifth, will be preparing for a playoff to determine the final team to survive the 54-hole cut after they both landed on 26-over 866.

   Ohio State’s Shipley, a member of Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s 2018 PIAA Class AAA championship team, had rattled off three straight birdies on the sixth, seventh and eighth holes at the Raptor Course – Shipley had started off the 10^th tee -- to surge into contention in the individual chase and move the Buckeyes a shot ahead of Texas Tech in the battle to make the 54-hole team cut.

   But Shipley closed with a bogey at his final hole, the ninth, and Ohio State’s 4-over 284 left it in a tie for 15^th place with the Red Raiders, who carded a 9-over 289.

   Shipley was a standout at James Madison and decided to take the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA to make up for the spring of 2020 lost to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic at Ohio State. He ended up with a sparkling 3-under 67 in Sunday’s third round to join North Carolina’s Menate in the tie for second place at 5-under, four shots behind Steelman.

   Backing up the top three for Illinois was another fifth-year player and Dumont de Chassart’s fellow Belgian, Matthis Besard, who posted a solid 1-over 71 that left him in the group tied for 44^th place with a 5-over 215 total.

   Rounding out the Illinois lineup was Piercen Hunt, a junior from Hartland, Wis. who carded a 3-over 73 and was among the group tied for 106^th place with a 222 total through three rounds.

   Joining Illinois’ Dumont de Chassart in the trio tied for fourth place in the individual standings at 4-under were Stanford’s Barclay Brown, a junior from England and No. 59 in the WAGR, and Florida’s Fred Biondi, a senior from Brazil and No. 16 in the WAGR.

   Brown carded a solid 3-under 67 to spark the team rebound by the Cardinal. Biondi’s 1-under 69 was his third round in the 60s for the weekend.

   Joining Illinois’ Kuhl in the quintet tied for eighth place at 2-under was a group headed by two of the country’s most talented freshmen, Alabama’s Nick Dunlap of Huntsville, Ala. who is No. 36 in the WAGR, and Virginia’s Ben James of Milford, Conn., who is No. 7 in the WAGR.

   Dunlap ripped off a sizzling 4-under 66, the best individual round of the day, while James posted a solid 1-under 69.

   Rounding out the group at 2-under were Pepperdine’s Luke Gifford, a graduate student from Boca Raton, Fla., and Texas A&M’s Daniel Rodrigues, a junior from Portugal.

   Gifford, who is taking his COVID year at Pepperdine after a standout career at South Florida, recorded a sparkling 3-under 67 in Sunday’s third round while Rodrigues posted a 2-over 72.

   No. 12 Auburn, out of the SEC, is still very much in the hunt for one of the eight berths in the match-play bracket as the Tigers are two shots behind Virginia in 11^th place with a 16-over 856 total after a 2-over 282 in Sunday’s third round.

   Auburn continues to be led by junior Carson Bacha, the 2019 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Central York and No. 86 in the WAGR. Bacha registered a solid 3-over 73 in Sunday’s third  round and was in the group tied for 28^th place in the individual standings at 3-over 213.

   Another Pennsylvania high school champion, Stanford sixth-year player Nate Menon, who claimed the Class AA crown in 2015 as a junior at Wyomissing, was in the group tied for 122^nd place at 225 following a second straight 4-over 74 that the Cardinal were able to throw out.

   Chattanooga sophomore Garrett Engle, a scholastic standout at Central Dauphin, carded a solid 1-over 71 and was in the group tied for 74^th place at 9-over 219.

   Not sure what the cutoff was to return for the final round of individual competition, but the No. 41 Moccasins, out of the Southern Conference, missed the cut in the team competition, landing in a tie for 23^rd place with BYU at 39-over 879.