Bradenton, Fla. -The Illini were put to the test on Monday, starting the final round of stroke play at the NCAA Men's Golf Championships 9-over par in fifth place. Performing well under pressure, the Illini fired a fourth round score 6-under par to earn a No. 1 seed into the Match Play Quarterfinals on Tuesday, June 2. Illinois will face UCLA beginning at 7:50 a.m. CT. The Illini have earned a spot in match play in each of the last three years.
"We're ready to compete," Small said of heading in to match play. "We've been training for this all year. To come in this week, with the pressure of people talking about it, to play in a whole different part of the country than we're used to playing in, experience all the adversity and to play like we did today, that's impressive. I'm proud of them. We're ready to go."
Junior Thomas Detry had quite the final round of stroke play, battling for the individual NCAA title. The junior tallied two birdies on his front nine for a score 2-under par as he made the turn. He was tied for the lead heading into his back nine holes. Playing alongside Vanderbilt's Hunter Stewart, the two continued to fight for the lead throughout the day. Both finished in a tie for third overall. Detry shot even on the back nine as the heavy rains forced a bogey on the 13th hole. He was able to negate that with a birdie on 17 to finish 2-under for the day and 6-under in total.
With a total score just 1-over par, freshman Dylan Meyer kicked it into high gear for the round as well. He negated an early bogey with back-to-back birdies on the front nine, sitting at 1-under as he made the turn. Meyer made an early bogey during his last nine holes, but posted birdies on both the 13th and 15th holes. Meyer closed the round with three-straight bogeys, however, to finish 1-over for the day and 2-over in total.
Known for his consistent play, Brian Campbell closed the day with a tally 2-under par. He shot 3-over through all four rounds. Campbell started his round at even par, negating an early birdie with a bogey on the eighth hole. He quickly recovered with a birdie on 10, starting his final nine holes 1-under par. After the turn, the senior recorded three birdies, including two back-to-back. Despite finishing the round with a bogey, Campbell recorded his best round of the tournament so far.
Freshman Nick Hardy also started out hot in the final round of play. He posted two birdies on the front nine, however a late bogey gave him a tally 1-under as he headed into the back nine holes. Hardy recorded one more bogey on the back nine to finish the day at even par, good for 7-over through four rounds.
Also recording his best round of the tournament so far, junior Charlie Danielson closed the day 2-under par. He helped negate an early bogey by snagging two birdies on the front nine. He then followed a bogey on number 11 with two more birdies to keep things low for the day.
"To come out today and have five guys under par for most of the day, to shoot the score that we shot and not count a double bogey out there, that was just impressive," head coach Mike Small said of the round. "I told those guys, that was the best example of pressure-team golf I've seen in my life."
Held at Par 72, 7,483-yard course at The Concessions Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla., the Match Play Quarterfinal round begins tomorrow with tee times at 6 a.m. CT. No. 2 seed Vanderbilt will face No. 7 seed LSU beginning at 6 a.m. on hole 1, while No. 3 seed Georgia will face no. 6 seed USF on hole 10. No. 1 seed Illinois takes on No. 8 seed UCLA starting on hole 1 at 6:50 a.m. and No. 4 seed Texas faces No. 5 seed USC starting on the 10th hole. The semifinal round will follow, beginning with the winner of the match between the 2nd and 7th seeds taking on the winner of the match between the 3rd and 6th seeds.
Live scoring is also available on GolfStat, and live updates will be posted on the Illini Men's Golf Twitter page (@IlliniMGolf).
Keep checking in to FIGHTINGILLINI.com for more information on Illinois Men's Golf. 
