Scores

PALM CITY, FLA. - Junior Thomas Detry (Brussels, Belgium) finished third individually in a strong field at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational, and the top-ranked Fighting Illini finished seventh as a team following final-round action today at the Floridian Golf Club.

Detry finished the 54-hole tournament with an 8-under-par 205, four strokes behind medalist Greg Yates (-12, 201) of Texas A&M and one stroke behind Florida State's Hank Lebioda (-9, 204).

As a team, top-ranked Illinois moved up one spot and had the fourth-best score of the day to finish seventh overall, one spot ahead of 10th-ranked UCLA and three spots ahead of No. 5 Georgia Tech. The Illini shot 285 on the day and finished with 865, one stroke over par on the day and 13-strokes-over par for the tournament. Second-ranked Florida State won the team championship with 835, 17-strokes under par.

"This was not a good tournament for us, but we had a chance to zero in on some issues we need to work on, both physically and mentally," Illinois head coach Mike Small said. "This is still early for us, so I would much rather have these issues exposed in March so that we're not dealing with them in May or June. Since this is spring break, we'll stay here in Florida for the rest of the week to just play golf and work on the things that will make us much better later in the spring. Thomas Detry was the lone bright spot of the week, and his third-place finish was really strong considering the depth and talent of the field."

Junior Charlie Danielson (Osceola, Wis.), finished in a tie for 25th (215) after shooting a blistering 67 in the third round, one of three golfers to post the top score today. Senior Brian Campbell (Irvine, Calif.) tied for 45th at 222, freshman Nick Hardy (Northbrook, Ill.) tied for 60th at 228 and freshman Spencer Reed (Louisville, Ky.) finished 70th at 234. Freshman Dylan Meyer (Evansville, Ind.) competed as an individual and finished tied for 35th with a six-over-par 219.

The Fighting Illini return to competition April 4-5 at the 3M Augusta Invitational in August, Ga.