Sept. 18, 2009
Olympia Fields, Ill. -
Round 1 Team Scores in PDF Format 
Round 1 Player Leaderboard in PDF Format
Round 2 Tee Times in PDF Format
Sixth-ranked Illinois is tied for fourth after the opening round of the Fourth Annual Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational presented by Cleveland Golf/Srixon. Illinois shot an opening round 293 (+13) on the 7,205-yard par 70 Olympia Fields North Course.
The Illini are seven strokes behind tournament leader Northwestern, who shot an opening round 286 (+6). No. 25 Florida State is in second at +8 followed by No. 10 Texas at +12. The Illini played the back nine at +4 paced by a 34 from Scott Langley and a 35 from Luke Guthrie. Langley narrowly missed an eagle putt on 15 and sunk a 20-footer for birdie on 18. Guthrie finished strong as well, making a near 12-footer for par on 18.
"This is the kind of course that will wear you out throughout the day," said Illinois assistant coach Zach Guthrie. "We struggled early, but all the guys fought through it. To finish tied for fourth feels like a win for us. If we can get our games in better shape the next two days, we'll be right there."
After the front two teams, the field is bunched as places 3-11 are separated by just three shots. Illinois is tied for fourth with No. 30 San Diego State and No. 5 Arizona State at +13 just ahead of a two-way tie for seventh at +14 involving No. 18 Florida and No. 7 Georgia. The nation's top two teams - No. 1 Stanford and No. 2 Oklahoma State are lurking - in a three way for ninth with No.16 USC at +15.
Individually, Langley sits in a tie for fifth at even par 70 just two strokes behind the leaders. Northwestern's Eric Chun, who won the Big Ten title as a freshman in 2009, is in a three-way tie with Scott Pinckney of Arizona State and Seath Lauer of Florida State at -2. Purdue's Erich Johnston is in fourth at -1.
"I'm happy with the score," Langley said of his round. "I didn't hit it that well off the tee, but recovered very well from where I put myself. We had a so-so day as a team, but we're still within striking distance with plenty of time to make up that deficit."
Illinois sophomore Luke Guthrie shot 73 (+3) and is in a tie for 21st. Senior Zach Barlow is one stroke back at +4 after a 74. Senior Matt Hoffman and freshman Ross Frankenberg shot 76 and 77 on the day and sit tied for 43rd and 54th, respectively in the 75-man field.
Round two tees up at 8 am Saturday with the Illini playing with San Diego State and Arizona State, teeing between 8:40 and 9:20 am. The final round in the 54-hole tournament is slated for Sunday.
