Illinois goes wire-to-wire at Fighting Illini Invitational
9/18/2016 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff
see also: View results for Fighting Illini Invitational, Olympia Fields Country Club
Texas A&M's Cameron Champ earned top honors in the individual honors
OLYMPIA FIELDS, IL (September 18, 2016) --
Despite
struggling as a unit on Sunday, host Illinois finished
off
a
wire-to-wire run an won the Fighting Illini
Invitational for the third time. Illinois
started the day with a 21-stroke lead and after
finishing
play 5-over they were 13 shots in front of the pack
at
Olympia Fields Country Club.
"This is a big win for us," said Illinois head coach
Mike Small. "We're a young team, we're learning as
we go, evidenced by today. The tournament was won
yesterday, we played great the first two days and
put up a big lead. To win this event three times in 11
years speaks a lot for these kids and this program.
Again, this is just one little step in the process of a
long year. It's going to be a long season but this is a
good start."
The 3rd ranked Illini ended up with three players in
the
top-15 and they were led by junior Dylan Meyer who
was tied for second. The 2016 All-Big Ten first
teamer
was tied for the lead to begin the round before falling
back to 1-under with a final round 3-over 73.
Classmate Nick Hardy shot a 1-over 71 during the
final
round and ended the weekend tied for fourth at
even-
par. Hardy, the 2015 Big Ten Freshman of the Year,
posted rounds of 68-71-71.
Illinois also received a strong performance from
freshman Bryan Baumgarten who finished 4-over
and
tied for 15th.
The medalist race was won by Texas A&M junior
Cameron Champ, the first collegiate victory of his
career. A highly touted freshman, Champ closed with
a
1-under 69 to finish 5-under and ahead by four-
strokes.
"I'm so proud of Cam," Texas A&M head coach J.T.
Higgins said, "That is as good of a win as you're
going to get during the regular season. He was
competing against some of the best players in
college golf and came away with a three-shot
victory. To shoot five-under par on a course that
hosts major championships just shows the kind of
golf he's capable of playing and the player he has
become."
After beginning the finally round tied with Meyers,
Champ was able to create some separation with a
four
birdie, three bogey day. His birdies came on Nos. 1,
3, 7
and 12.
Along with Meyers, Ki Taek Lee of Arizona State
share
second at 1-under. Hardy, Gavin Hall of Texas and
Zach
Bauchou were all even-par and tied for fourth.
Team Standings Top Five:
1. No. 3 Illinois (+5) 2. No. 4 Oklahoma State (+18) 3. Texas A&M (+24) 4. North Carolina (+25) 5. No. 18 Florida State (+27)
-Illinois and Texas A&M Athletics contributed to this story
1. No. 3 Illinois (+5) 2. No. 4 Oklahoma State (+18) 3. Texas A&M (+24) 4. North Carolina (+25) 5. No. 18 Florida State (+27)
-Illinois and Texas A&M Athletics contributed to this story
Results: Fighting Illini Invitational
| Place | Player | Location | Pts | Scores |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sacramento, CA | 800 | 65-71-69=205 | |
| T2 | Evansville, IN | 500 | 69-67-73=209 | |
| T2 | Los Angeles, CA | 500 | 67-73-69=209 | |
| T4 | Northbrook, IL | 400 | 68-71-71=210 | |
| T4 | Pittsford, NY | 400 | 75-68-67=210 |
About the Fighting Illini Invitational
54-hole elite collegiate event hosted at Olympia Fields Country Club by the University of Illinois. Olympia Fields has hosted the 2015 U.S. Amateur. two U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships, five Western Opens and a U.S. Senior Open.
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