May 1, 2009

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State College, Pa. - The 2009 Big Ten Championship is shaping to be a wild and crazy finish. After 36 of 72 holes, the top five teams find themselves within three shots of the lead and the entire 11-team field is separated by a mere 11 strokes. Illinois is among those teams in the hunt heading into the weekend. The Illini (+12) had a tournament best second round score of four-over par 288 and sit in second place, one stroke behind leader Ohio State (+11).

With ominous clouds and steady rain falling during the morning round, Illinois stumbled out of the gates, finishing the first 18 holes in eighth place at eight over par. But as the clouds cleared and the temperatures rose, so did the Illini. Paced by a solid front nine from junior Matt Hoffman, Illinois rallied in round two. Hoffman had four birdies on the front nine en route to a two-under par 69.

Hoffman is in a tie for third individually at -1, three strokes behind Northwestern freshman Eric Chun (-4) and Michigan State's Jack Newman (-2).

"I didn't think of scoring at all," Hoffman said. "I just tried to play one shot at a time. My swing and my rhythm felt good and I just made some putts. I've been hitting it really good lately, but the putts haven't been falling. They did today, especially on the front nine."

"The second round was only four shots better, but the aura and the feeling around the guys was so much better in the afternoon," said Illinois head coach Mike Small. "We got back down to business."

Case in point was Illinois' top two players in sophomore Scott Langley and Chris DeForest. The duo combined to shoot +14 in the first 27 holes, but turned it up when the team needed it on the back nine. DeForest had four birdies, including the closing hole of the day to finish with a 32 in the back nine and a round of 70 on the 7,200 yard par 71 Blue Course at Penn State University. Langley, meanwhile, made 13 straight pars to end the second round.

At one point midway through round two, Illinois was +11 in a tie for fourth compared to leader Indiana at +2, but Hoosiers came back to the pack on the back nine and into a tight battle for the top spot. The Hoosiers are tied with Minnesota for third at +13 with Iowa in fifth at +14. No team feels like it is out of the title hunt heading into the weekend.

"That's the way this conference is," Small said. "There are a lot of teams that can win this. I've been saying that all year. Anything can happen. "That's why they play it. That's why it's fun."

The race for the individual medalist is also close with first-round co-leader Jorge Campillo of Indiana and Minnesota's Ben Pasani lurking at even par, four strokes out and behind only Chun, Newman and Hoffman.

Illinois and Indiana were paired in the final group today as the top two ranked teams coming in. The Illini will be grouped with Ohio State and Minnesota in the final groups Saturday, teeing off between 8:50 and 9:30 CDT.

As for the rest of the Illini, DeForest is in a tie for 15th at +4 after rounds of 76 and 70; freshman Luke Guthrie is one stroke behind in a tie for 20th at +5 after rounds of 72 and 75; Langley is tied for 30th at +7 after rounds of 75 and 74; and junior Zach Barlow is tied for 35th at +8 after rounds of 73 and 77.

Besides the stronger mental approach to the day on Saturday, technically Small adds, "We need to play the angles better on some of these short holes. We're leaving ourselves some tough approach shots and we gave some shots away around the greens."

"It's good to see that even though we didn't have our best day, we're right there," Hoffman said. "We proven we know how to win this year, it's our job now to take that same approach in the final two rounds."