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Illinois Fighting Illini men’s golf has title shot because of depth

By Rees Woodcock

Jan 26, 2017; La Jolla, CA, USA; A ball hit by Ryan Blaum (not pictured) lays in the 9th hole rough during the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament at Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 26, 2017; La Jolla, CA, USA; A ball hit by Ryan Blaum (not pictured) lays in the 9th hole rough during the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament at Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Illinois Fighting Illini men’s golf team has advanced to the stroke-play portion of the NCAA tournament.

Getting to the Finals wasn’t an easy task for this talented Illini team. They were struggling after day two sitting in sixth place five shots back of getting in the top five. They needed to have a solid final day to advance to the Finals, though.

The hopes that the Illini were going to advance to their 10th straight NCAA tournament were looking bleak after a rough front nine that had the team at +3 for the day. After a bad start to the back nine that saw Edoardo Lipparelli double No. 11 and Dylan Meyer bogey No. 10 and No. 12, Illinois’ hopes were dwindling.

But, a late push starting on No. 14 turned things around for the Illini. Nick Hardy and Lipparelli birdied No. 14, and Hardy and Meyer birdied No. 15 to bring Illinois back into contention. The team then finished strong only shooting +3 on the final three holes as a squad. A combination of the Illini finishing strong and other teams crumbling helped them advance to the national championship.

Coming into this Regional Final, the Illini were led by No. 11 ranked player in collegiate golf, Dylan Meyer. He was projected to finish toward the top of the leaderboard, but golf is a sport of unknowns and Meyer had a bad tournament by his standards. That is why having depth is so important, and his teammates picked him up and now they get to reset for a title run.

Illinois played good enough golf and even had Hardy earn Co-Medalist honors shooting a three-day total of -3. But, the player who most impressed me was Giovanni Tadiotto. This kid is a true freshman and goes out there, shoots a three-day total of +6 and finishes in 17th place. If the Illini can get this type of production out of their No. 4 spot then I think they have a legit shot at winning the national title.

Next: Projecting the Illini class of 2018

The Illini will now travel two and a half hours north to play in the national championship held at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois. The first round of stroke play will be held May 26, 2017. Hopefully, the Illini can continue their great golf and take home the title.

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