Feb. 10, 2012

Live Scoring

BRADENTON, Fla. - Despite a strong comeback with wins in three of the final four matches, top-seeded Illinois fell to No. 8 Minnesota due to the tiebreaker rule (10-6) in the quarterfinal of the Big Ten Match Play Championship. The Illini split the six individual matches (3-3) at the Concession Golf Club, but the Gophers advanced to the semifinal after combining to be up 10 holes compared to six by the Illini. After falling behind 2-0 early, the Orange and Blue surged back to take a 3-2 lead with victories by sophomore Jonathan Hauter, junior Mason Jacobs and sophomore Thomas Pieters, but an uncharacteristic finish by senior Luke Guthrie knotted the match at three, which forced the tiebreaker to decide it.

Even though Guthrie turned in an even-par round on one of the toughest courses in the country, the All-American fell by one hole in the match play format at the par-72 course designed by Jack Nicklaus in association with Tony Jacklin. Guthrie, who never trailed during his first 16 holes, struggled down the stretch with a bogey-bogey finish to drop the final match to Minnesota's Erik Van Rooyen (1 up). The Quincy, Ill., native needed a two-putt to halve the match, but three-putted from just under 30 feet on the tricky 18th green.

"There is nobody else in the country I would rather have up there with that putt," head coach Mike Small said. "It was a hard putt, but one that he makes every time. He's never done that before, but that is just part of golf and it happens. Luke is one of the top players in the country, so for him to lose 17 and 18, just doesn't happen very often. I'm not concerned about it going forward because I know he will bounce back from it, and I would put him in that position every time."

The Illini grabbed their first lead of the match on that same green moments earlier thanks to a stellar comeback by Pieters. Trailing Minnesota's Robert Bell by two holes with three remaining, Pieters rallied to take his match by winning all three holes and capped it off with a clutch 25-foot birdie putt on No. 18. The Nijlen, Belgium, native played from behind the entire match before finishing strong to win 1 up.

"Thomas fought back hard and won his last three holes to flip that match around," Small said. "Thomas had a great putt to win it that was more or less about the same one Luke had, which shows just how great a putt it was. He refocused himself the last 10 holes, and it was really good to see him turn it around and play from a position of strength."

Hauter earned Illinois' first victory of the day with a 3 & 1 finish over UM's David Haley Jr. while Jacobs evened up the match at two with his 2 & 1 win over Jon Trasamar. Hauter led wire-to-wire while Jacobs fell behind just once following hole No. 5. Freshman Brian Campbell fell to Tyler Lowenstein (4 & 3) and junior Ross Frankenberg dropped a 5 & 3 decision to Tim Peterzen in the first two matches of the day.

"Jonathan and Mason have worked hard on their games and played well today," Small said. "We need to get off to a better start because it put us behind the eight ball to go down in the first two matches like that. There were a lot of positives to take from this round, but also some things we need to address."

Three of the four top seeds fell in the quarterfinal, with No. 2 Iowa losing to No. 7 Northwestern (4-2-0) and No. 3 Indiana coming up short against No. 6 Ohio State (3-2-1). No. 4 Purdue was the best seed to advance to the semifinal, topping No. 12 Nebraska by a count of 5-1-0. The Illini are slated to play the Corn Huskers on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. (ET) in their only match of the day after the tournament's consolation round was cut short due to time constraints.

Big Ten Match Play Championship Friday Results

Round One Team Results
No. 12 Nebraska def. No. 5 Michigan State, 3-3-0 (tiebreaker 9-7 NEB)
No. 6 Ohio State def. No. 11 Wisconsin, 4-2-0
No. 7 Northwestern def. No. 10 Penn State, 3-3-0 (tiebreaker 13-8 NW)
No. 8 Minnesota def. No. 9 Michigan, 4-1-1

Quarterfinal Results
No. 8 Minnesota def. No. 1 Illinois, 3-3-0 (tiebreaker 10-6 MINN)
No. 7 Northwestern def. No. 2 Iowa, 4-2-0
No. 6 Ohio State def. No. 3 Indiana, 3-2-1
No. 4 Purdue def. No. 12 Nebraska, 5-1-0

Minnesota def. Illinois, 3-3-0 (tiebreaker 10-6 MINN)
No. 1 - Erik Van Rooyen (MINN) def. Luke Guthrie (ILL), 1 up
No. 2 - Thomas Pieters (ILL) def. Robert Bell (MINN), 1 up
No. 3 - Mason Jacobs (ILL) def. Jon Trasamar (MINN), 2 & 1
No. 4 - Jonathan Hauter (ILL) def. David Haley Jr. (MINN), 3 & 1
No. 5 - Tim Peterzen (MINN) def. Ross Frankenberg (ILL), 5 & 3
No. 6 - Tyler Lowenstein (MINN) def. Brian Campbell (ILL), 4 & 3