April 24, 2010
West Lafayette, Ind. -
Team Scores in PDF Format 
Individual Scores in PDF Format
Illinois senior Matt Hoffman shot a first-round four-under par 68 and is tied for the lead at the Boilermaker Invitational held at the 7.464-yard Kampen Course at Purdue University. Illinois has three players in the top five individually as the Illini, the defending champions, lead the tournament by nine strokes over second-place Ohio State. The second round was suspended because of rain after about 13 holes and will resume with a shotgun start at 8:45 am EST on Sunday. The third and final round will follow, weather permitting.
Hoffman and sophomore teammate Luke Guthrie had two of the four eagles by the competitors during the opening round.
"Matt came to play today," said Illinois head coach Mike Small. "To his credit, he has gone back to the basics with his game and his progress has really shown."
Hoffman is tied for the lead with Brad Smith of Ohio State. Illinois junior Chris DeForest, coming off a victory earlier in the week at the Crooked Stick Invitational, continued his hot play with a three-under par 69, tied for third with Tyler Duncan of Purdue. Guthrie, meanwhile, is tied for fifth at two-under par. Illinois didn't have to count a score over par as junior Scott Langley was the Illini's no. 4 player on the day with an even par 72 round, good for a tie for 15th. Senior Zach Barlow shot a two-over par 74 and is tied for 29th.
Illinois, which needed a late third-round rally to win the tournament in 2009, is the only school under par in round one with a nine-under par 279, ahead of Ohio State (288), Iowa (291), Toledo (291), Purdue (292), Indiana (293) and Northwestern (293) in the 12-team field.
"To shoot under par is an accomplishment on this course," said Small of the course that also hosted the 2008 NCAA Championship. "Our guys got it going early and were up to the challenges of what it presented."
