Illinois Golf: Former Illini holding strong at 120th U.S. Open

Day one of the 120th U.S. Open concluded on Thursday, and Illinois golf had solid representation out on the course.

Things have been kind of quiet as far as the Illini and major championships are concerned. Former Illinois golfers have made waves on the professional scene, which includes a fourth-place finish at the 2016 Olympics for Thomas Pieters.

Pieters name is back in the running for one of the bigger tournaments in professional golf. The 2020 U.S. Open is being played this week, which is actually a part of the 2020-21 golf season.

Round one didn’t bear the usual carnage that a traditional U.S. Open presents. Peters took advantage of the great conditions and went out and shot an opening-round 66. This great -4 score put him just one back of the leader, Justin Thomas.

Side note, as I am writing this article, Peters has birdied two holes out of his first eight in the second round to give himself a one-shot lead to start day two.

The young Belgium isn’t the only former Illinois golfer to put up a solid score on day one of the U.S. Open. Former teammate Thomas Detry also shot a solid first round.

Detry, nationally lesser-known but has been holding his own on the European Tour, played a fairly consistent round one with only two birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey to shoot a first-round, 71. This +1 score currently has him sitting in a tie for 27th place.

While Peters has already teed off in the second round, Detry doesn’t go off until the afternoon at 12:54 PM local time. Look for this Belgium one-two punch to make the cut with relative ease on Friday.

Let’s also not forget about one of the oldest former Illinois golfers in the professional ranks, Steve Stricker. He is competing in the 2020 U.S. Open and shot a first-round 74. His +4 score is probably the cut line to make it to the weekend, so Stricker has some work to do in the second round to hold steady.

Illinois golf is well-represented at the 120th playing of the U.S. Open. There is a legit shot we can get three former Illini players into the weekend. My only question is; why didn’t the USGA pair the three up the first two days?