March 27, 2010

Delray Beach, Fla. - Junior Chris DeForest backed up a first round 67 with a second-round 68 to move in front at the FAU Spring Break Invitational at the par 71 Gleneagles Country Club. The Illini used their depth to forge in front as a team.

Illinois shot a tournament-best five-under par 279 in Saturday's second round to take a 12-shot lead into Sunday's third and final round. Illinois is at -7, ahead of Penn State at +5. Big Ten teams make up the top four teams with Michigan (+6), Iowa (+8) and Florida Gulf Coast (+9) rounding out the top five.

Individually, DeForest is at -7, two strokes in front of second-place Barrett Kelpin of Iowa. Illinois senior Zach Barlow fired a second round 68 and sits in a tie for fifth at -3. For the second day in a row Illinois threw out a 74 as the low score. Junior Scott Langley is tied for 11th at +1 after a second-round 71. Luke Guthrie is tied for 17th at +2 after a second-round 72. Senior Matt Hoffman is tied for 35th in the 93-man field at +6.

"Chris is playing within himself this weekend," said head coach Mike Small of DeForest's play. "He is aggressive when he needs to be and lays up when he has needed to. As a team we got off to a fast start and really played solid golf from start to finish."

Illinois, ranked 12th in the latest coaches' poll, is gunning for its third tournament title of the season.

"We just need to play strong out of the gates tomorrow and continue where we left off," Small said. "Basically we need to play as if the last two days never happened and play our game."