April 19, 2009
West Lafayette, Ind. -
Individual Results in PDF Format 
Team results in PDF Format
"As a coach, I'm proud of the way our team kept fighting to the finish," said Illinois head coach Mike Small following his team's victory at the Boilermaker Invitational. "We got some breaks down the stretch, but more importantly, we kept playing until the end."
Illinois, ranked 15th in the latest Golf World/Nike coaches' poll, gained eight strokes during the final three holes to edge second-round leader Penn State by one stroke in capturing the team title. The Illini finished the 54-hole event at -9 (855) at the challenging 7,162-yard par 72 Kampen Course. Illinois posted its second straight four-under par round of 284. Penn State finished at -8 (856) after a final round 287.
Junior Zach Barlow and sophomore Scott Langley each posted a pair of birdies down the stretch, freshman Luke Guthrie got up and down to save par and sophomore Chris DeForest finished what Small called his "best tee to green tournament" of his young career with a par on the challenging 18th hole.
The Big Ten comprised the top five teams in the tournament with Iowa finishing in third at even par and Wisconsin fourth at +1, while sixth-ranked Indiana finished strong with a final round 281 to move from 11th to fifth on the final day at +10. Host Purdue was seventh at +12 while Michigan State was 11th at +26 in the 18-team field.
The victory was Illinois' sixth of the season, including three in a row. Two weeks ago, the Illini broke the school's regular season mark for tournament victories with their fifth. Today, the Illini broke the overall tournament wins mark with their sixth. The 1988 Illinois team won four regular season events and also the Big Ten title.
The Boilermaker Invitational marked the end of the 2008-09 regular season with the 72-hole Big Ten Championships ahead on May 1-3 in State College, Pa. Illinois will be looking for its first Big Ten title since that '88 season.
"This tournament just shows the depth of the Big Ten," Small said. "Home course advantage is so important, so Penn State proved it will be contenders (for the Big Ten title) for sure, but truly over half the teams feel they have a legitimate shot to win this deal."
DeForest played consistently all weekend and was the only player in the tournament to post three rounds under par with two 70s and Sunday's 69. He finishes in third at -7 (209), two strokes behind co-medalists Dan Woltman of Wisconsin and Kevin Foley of Penn State at -9 (207). Iowa's Vince India was third at -5 followed by All-American Jorge Campillo of Indiana at -4.
"Chris really put his nose to the grindstone and demonstrated a lot of composure," Small said. "That really showed in his short game."
Langley saw some birdie putts fall on Sunday and tied for the best round of the day with a four-under par 68. That moved him into sole possession of sixth place at -3. Langley played the par fives at a tournament best -8 for the weekend, while DeForest was -6 over those holes.
Jacobs used his first two rounds to propel him to a tie for 16th at +2 despite a final round 77. Guthrie finished in a tie for 23rd at +3 after an even par round, while junior Zach Barlow tied for 43rd out 93 competitors at +8 (224) after shooting a final round 75.
"This was a total team effort," Small added. "We didn't have our best stuff for most of the weekend, but it shows the value of every shot. We needed all of them to pull out the win."
