Illinois Golf: Elite 8 in sight for Illini with 19-stroke cushion

Day three is in the books, and the men’s Illinois golf team is sitting in a great position in the stroke play portion of the national championship.

Coming into the national championship, the Illini had been playing some of the best golf of the season. Winning three out of the last four contests, with the only non-win coming in the NCAA Regional where we finished in second place, is an incredible feat.

Illinois continued to ride that momentum into the national championship. After a slow round one, the Illini turned on the jets and skyrocketed to the top of the leaderboard. Going into day three with the outright lead, we just needed to have a solid round to make it to day four, and that is exactly what happened.

In the third round, the Illini came out firing with a team score of -3, 276, which was led by our No. 2 golfer, Tommy Kuhl, who was -3 on the day. Illinois’ -4 was the fourth-best score on the day, but it kept us in the lead and, more importantly, it keeps us in the top 15.

The men’s Illinois golf team is about to advance to the Elite 8 of the national championship

Making it into the top 15 enables the Illini to advance to day four of the stroke play portion. On Monday, Illinois will then have a chance to advance to the match play portion, which only eight teams will make.

As of right now, Illinois should cruise into the Elite 8 and face off against some of the toughest competition in the country. We are sitting at -6 for the tournament, and ninth place is +13. So, with a 19-stroke cushion with just 18 holes to play, I think Illinois is a near lock to advance.

If stroke play ended right now, Illinois would either take on No. 7 Florida State or No. 1 Vanderbilt in the first round of match play on Tuesday. The cream is rising to the top in this national championship as well. The top nine teams in the stroke play portion are all ranked inside the top 11 in the nation. That is insane to think about.