University of Illinois
Jack Nicklaus Invitational
Pieters Wins First Title at Jack Nicklaus Invitational
October 11, 2011 | Men's Golf
Oct. 11, 2011
Jack Nicklaus Invite Final Results 
| Golfstat Tournament Summary
DUBLIN, Ohio. - For the second-straight year, an Illinois golfer won the Jack Nicklaus Invitational. Sophomore Thomas Pieters carded an even-par 72 during the final round on Tuesday to clinch his first collegiate tournament title with a career-low 54-hole score of 209 (-7). Senior Luke Guthrie, who also earned his first career title in winning the inaugural event last season, finished fourth overall at 213 (-3), as the duo led the No. 16 Illini to a third-place finish in a quality 12-team field.
"Thomas winning his first college event was the highlight of the day," head coach Mike Small said. "It's great to have an Illinois winner two years in a row, and I am very happy for him. Thomas has played pretty well all fall and has really taken it to another level over the last two weeks. He made about a 15-foot birdie putt on the last hole that helped him get the win."
Pieters had an up-and-down day at the par-72, 7,352-yard Muirfield Village Golf Club, starting with two bogeys before bouncing back with four-consecutive birdies to close out the front nine. In total, he rolled in eight birdies, including a big one on No. 18 to get back to even after bogeying 16 and 17. The Nijlen, Belgium, native won by two strokes, edging Purdue's Tyler Duncan and Texas' Jordan Spieth, who tied for second at 211 (-5).
During the fall campaign, Pieters finished in the top eight at three of the four tournaments. He totaled four rounds under-par, including twice tallying his best 18-hole score at six-under. His victory also gave Illinois an individual champion at an event for the second week in a row.
Guthrie posted a final round 72 to wrap up the fall season and earned the 11th top-five finish of his career. The Quincy, Ill., native placed in the top 15 in all four tournaments this fall, including his fifth career victory at the D.A. Weibring Invitational.
"Luke played a solid tournament," Small said. "He didn't have his best stuff, but he's so good that he'll be in the hunt no matter what. It should be a confidence booster that he still finished top four, so if he cleans things up, he can really do some damage."
As a team, Illinois turned in an eight-over 296 in the final round to finish alone in third with a 54-hole score of 884 (+20). Junior Mason Jacobs led the squad on the final day with a one-under 71, as he moved up 21 spots to finish in a tie for 22nd at 224 (+8). The top-three Illini scores combined to total one-under, but the team counted an 81 in the last spot to wrap up the tournament.
"Our top two guys played really strong to carry us, and Mason had a really strong final round to help us out," Small said. "He was a big part of the team's movement on the final day. We still counted a high score, which we don't want to do, but we will address that moving forward. When you count an 81 and still finish third, you have to look at the positive side."
The Illini finished ahead of four ranked squads according to the Golf World/Nike Coaches' poll, including No. 3 UCLA (886), No. 9 Arkansas (887), No. 22 LSU (893) and No. 2 Oklahoma State (903). No. 7 Texas (862) won the tournament by 16 strokes over host No. 25 Ohio State (878).
"We beat some really good programs in our last fall tournament," Small said. "It was good to finish this way, so we will carry this forward into this spring and let our clubs do the talking then."
Illinois is now done with its fall slate and will focus on practice until beginning the spring schedule. Illinois' first event will be on Jan. 28, 2012, at the Tinervin Cup in Coral Springs, Fla.
Jack Nicklaus Invitational Final Results
3rd of 12 ILLINOIS 288-300-296 = 884 (+20)
1st Thomas Pieters 66-71-72 = 209 (-7)
4th Luke Guthrie 71-70-72 = 213 (-3)
T-22nd Mason Jacobs 75-78-71 = 224 (+8)
55th Jonathan Hauter 76-84-81 = 241 (+25)
58th Ross Frankenberg 83-81-85 = 249 (+33)
