Feb. 11, 2011

Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. - Seventh-ranked and top-seeded Illinois took care of the first hurdle at the Big Ten Match Play on Friday. The Illini topped ninth-seeded Minnesota 5-0-1 in the quarterfinals of the third annual event held at the famed PGA National Resort Champions Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Of the five Illinois match victories over the Gophers, only Thomas Pieters at No. 4 had to go to the final hole to win his match. Through nine holes, Illinois was leading two matches while four of the matches were tied. The Illini players took care of business on the back nine, however, to post the convincing victory.

"For the first round of the spring, I feel pretty good about it," said Illinois head coach Mike Small. "We still have to build our body of the work. I'm pleased with how we played on the back nine, using our short games to our advantage and making some saves on the green."

Illinois advances to meet fourth-seeded Northwestern in one semifinal match at 6:07 am CT on Saturday. Third-seeded Ohio State faces seventh-seeded Indiana in the other semifinal. The Hoosiers pulled off the days' only upset with a 4-2 victory over second-seeded and ninth-ranked Iowa. The third-place and championship matches will follow in the afternoon.

Illinois senior Clayton Parkhill won three of the first four holes against Jon Trasamar to roll to a 6&4 victory over the Gopher freshman at No. 6. Sophomore Mason Jacobs' match with freshman Alex Gaugert was all square through nine holes, but Jacobs birdied the 545-yard par 10 to win the hole, then followed that by taking holes 14, 15, 16 to clinch the match, 4&2.

Senior Chris DeForest's match was all square through 12 before the Illini All-Big Ten performer won the next four holes to finish off the match against Minnesota sophomore David Haley at No. 3, 4&2. Much same for Illinois junior Luke Guthrie, who broke open a tied match with birdies on 11 and 12, then won No. 14 with a par to defeat South African Eric Van Rooyen at No. 2, 3 &2.

The No. 4 match had an international flavor featuring Illini freshman Thomas Pieters from Belgium and Minnesota sophomore Shang Zhi from China. Pieters posted three birdies in his round and with the match all-square through 15, pared the final three holes to win the match 1 Up.

Defending NCAA champion Scott Langley from Illinois had a spirited battle with the Gophers' Donald Constable at No. 1 with neither player leading by more than one hole. Trailing by a hole, Langley birdied the 434-yard par four 16th to tie, then equaled Constable's pars on 17 and 18 to halve the match.

Live scoring can be found at ajga.org

Round One Team Results

No. 6 Purdue def. No. 11 Michigan State, 5-1-0
No. 7 Indiana def. No. 10 Wisconsin, 6-0-0
No. 9 Minnesota def. No. 8 Penn State, 3-1-2

Quarterfinal Results

No. 1 Illinois def. No. 9 Minnesota, 5-0-1
No. 4 Northwestern def. No. 5 Michigan, 5-1-0
No. 3 Ohio State def. No. 6 Purdue, 4-2-0
No. 7 Indiana def. No. 2 Iowa, 4-2-0

Consolation Results

No. 8 Penn State def. No. 10 Wisconsin, 3-2-1

Illinois def. Minnesota, 5-0-1

No. 1 - Scott Langley (ILL) halved match with Donald Constable
No. 2 - Luke Guthrie (ILL) def. Eric Van Rooyen, 3&2
No. 3 - Chris DeForest (ILL) def. David Haley, Jr., 4&2
No. 4 - Thomas Pieters (ILL) def. Shang Zhi, 1 UP
No. 5 - Mason Jacobs (ILL) def. Alex Gaugert, 4&2
No. 6 - Clayton Parkhill (ILL) def. Jon Trasamar, 6&4