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SUGAR GROVE, Ill. – Fighting Illini men's golf will advance to the final round of stroke play at the 2017 NCAA Men's Golf Championship after a 3-under par third round score put the Orange and Blue in fifth place as a team. Junior Dylan Meyer led the Illini through Saturday's round as the Evansville, Indiana, native shot 3-under par to sit in a tie for third individually. Illinois is 14-under par through three rounds of play and will look at advance to the match play portion of the championship for the fifth consecutive season. 

"If we play a solid round tomorrow, we'll have a chance to advance," head coach Mike Small said. "If we don't, then we won't. That's what you want to happen, you want to have control over it. I thought we were in control most of the day, really most of the tournament, until the last couple holes today. But, that's what this golf course can do; I think it's happened to a couple teams already. We need to be stronger than that. If we play from the first hole to the 18^th green tomorrow, we'll have a chance."

Meyer got off to a hot start on Sunday, recording an eagle on the second hole. He followed that up with consecutive birdies on holes four and five before also making birdie on the seventh hole. Meyer was 5-under at the turn before closing the day with an additional birdie on the 18^th hole, which helped to negate three bogeys on the back nine. Meyer is 9-under through three rounds.

Sophomore Edoardo Lipparelli also closed his round among the top 20 individuals as he shot 2-under par for the day to finish in a tie for 17th. He carded two birdies on the front nine, making the turn at 1-under par. Lipparelli finished the round with birdies on three of his last four holes, which negated a few bogeys on the back nine. He is 5-under par through three rounds.

Junior Nick Hardy shot 3-over par in Sunday's third round and is 2-over par for the tournament. Hardy shot 1-under par on the front nine Sunday, using three consecutive birdies to negate two early bogeys. He is tied for 59th Individually. 

Freshman Giovanni Tadiotto carded his lowest score of the tournament so far as he posted a third-round 71 (-1). Tadiotto was even on the front nine before using consecutive birdies on the back nine to negate a late bogey in the round. He is 3-over par through three rounds and tied for 66th.

Freshman Michael Feagles shot 6-over par on Sunday for a total score 7-over par. He is tied for 95th individually. 

The fourth and final round of stroke play is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, May 28, with individual Illini tee times to begin at 11:50. The individual champion will be crowned at the conclusion of the round, and the low eight teams will advance to match play.

"I think we want to win everything we do," Small said. "This is a tournament inside of a tournament. Yes, we want to finish inside of the top eight, but it's easier to finish inside the top eight when you try to win. I'm glad the team has embraced the concept that we have in our program: that you win everything you do. We're five back, we want to look up the leaderboard, not down it. We were right there today, if we played the last couple holes like we should, we would be in that lead. We have to make up some ground tomorrow to get back in that lead."

The 2017 NCAA Men's Golf Championships are being held at Rich Harvest Farms (7,300 yards, Par 72) in Sugar Grove, Illinois.

 Live scoring for the tournament is available on Golfstat and a recap will be posted on FightingIllini.com following each round of play. Monday's round will also air live on the Golf Channel from 3-7 p.m. CT. Fans interested in purchasing tickets can click here. 

Golf Channel NCAA Men's Golf Championships Coverage (all times CT)