Illinois Golf: Good second round puts Illini in great position for Sunday
The first two days are nearly complete, and the Illinois golf team is sitting in a solid position to advance to the next stage of the national championship.
Day one of their 13th straight national championship appearance didn’t start off well, as the Illini shot a 287. Jerry Ji led the way for the Orange and Blue with an even par, 70, and carding just one bogey and one birdie with 16 pars the entire day.
With a rough day one, Illinois needed a solid rebound round on day two, and they got just that. The Illini went from a tie for 10th place to a tie for 5th place with a great score of 279. Three different Illinois golfers shot at least even par, including Tommy Kuhl at even, Ji at -2 and Michael Fealges led the way at -3.
Illinois now enters the third round on Sunday comfortably inside of the top 15 they need to be in to continue advancing. The Illini are currently 14 strokes inside the top 15, which would move them into Monday where they would compete for the top eight spots to move into match play on Tuesday and Wednesday.
What does the Illinois golf team need to do to advance to the top 15?
I think it is pretty simple, play like they played in the second round and everything should be fine. Illinois wasn’t playing their best golf in round one, but that quickly changed and they got back on track on day two.
Feagles has been the leader the entire season. As long as he is playing well, Illinois will be in the running to win the national title. But, when Feagles doesn’t play well, the Illini tend to sink a little. An example of this is in the first round. Feagles couldn’t get going, throwing up four bogies to only two birdies for a +2 round. Illinois also struggled in this round. Feagles got into a groove in the second round. Look for that to continue on Sunday.
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Illinois just needs to play a solid round of golf to advance to Monday. That is when the real test starts. Among the top 15 teams right now includes eight out of the top 10 teams in the nation. The top echelon of programs are being represented, and the Illini belongs with the best of the best.