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ATLANTA – Fighting Illini men's golf concluded the stroke play round of the East Lake Cup on Monday, and is set to take on the 2017 NCAA Champion Oklahoma Sooners in tomorrow's semifinal round of match play. As a team, Illinois earned the No. 3 seed after finishing the day 13-over par. Senior Nick Hardy (+1) led the Orange and Blue on Monday, finishing in a tie for second individually. Vanderbilt's Will Gordon won individual honors at the East Lake Cup, closing the round at even par.

The No. 2 seeded Sooners and the No. 3 seeded Illini will tee off beginning at 11:45 a.m. CT Tuesday, and live coverage will air on the Golf Channel beginning at 2 p.m. CT. Vanderbilt earned the No. 1 seed and will face No. 4 Oregon beginning at 10:05 a.m. CT.

"We didn't play great last year in stroke play, and we didn't play great today," head coach Mike Small said. "The course was difficult but fair, very fair today. We didn't handle the greens and we didn't drive it very well. In order to be competitive tomorrow we have to hit more fairways and we've got to be competitive on the greens."

Hardy started the day strong for the Illini as he was 1-under par at the turn on Monday. He negated an early bogey with two birdies on the front nine. He closed the round strong with a birdie on the 18^th hole, which helped to negate late bogeys in the round.

Senior Dylan Meyer tied for sixth in the stroke play portion as he closed the round 2-over par. Sophomore Michael Feagles shot 4-over par for the round, closing play with an eagle on the final hole. Feagles tied for 13^th individually.

Freshman Brendan O'Reilly shot 6-over par for the Illini to tie for 15th, while sophomore Giovanni Tadiotto finished at 8-over par and in a tie for 17^th overall.  

"They're a good team and they have good players," Small said of facing Oklahoma in tomorrow's semifinals. "That's the fun part of it, is testing ourselves against a good team. Last year they beat us, but every day is a new day in match play. This format is made for drama and it's not always the most exact science, so you've got to be ready to play tomorrow."

Held at East Lake Golf Club, the East Lake Cup is a three-day event that welcomes four of the top men's and women's collegiate golf teams. The tournament opened with an individual stroke play competition to determine the individual champion, and will continue with match play semifinals on Tuesday, October 31. The finals and consolation matches will follow on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

The East Lake Golf Club boasts a Par 72, 6,886-yard course and is the home of the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, the culminating event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedEx Cup. 

Live tournament coverage of the East Lake Cup will air on Golf Channel from 2-5 p.m. CT each day and will replay in primetime (6-9 p.m. CT). In addition, Golf Central and Morning Drive are live and on-site at East Lake, surrounding live tournament coverage with pre- and post-event news coverage. Complete information on the East Lake Cup can be found on the tournament website here.