AUGUSTA, Ga. – Led by seniors Dylan Meyer and Nick Hardy, Fighting Illini men's golf currently holds the lead after two rounds of play at the 3M Augusta Invitational. Meyer (-8) fired rounds of 67 and 69 on Saturday to climb to the top of the tournament field. Hardy joins him among the top five individuals as he is 3-under par and tied for fourth.

As a team, Illinois is 12-under par, heading into Sunday's final round of play. Tennessee (-6) and Wake Forest (-4) join Illinois among the top three teams on the leaderboard.

"It feels good to have the lead on this golf course and against this field," head coach Mike Small said. "I thought we really had a chance to push it out in the second round, but then we ran into some issues on the back nine. Our seniors, Dylan {Meyer} and Nick {Hardy}, finished strong and maintained the lead for us, but I think it was a total team effort today. Everyone had some good stretches out on the course, and I think it was a positive day. We're on the verge of playing really good golf, and that could've shown up this afternoon. Tomorrow, our hope is to come out and follow this up with another good day of golf."

Last year's 3M Augusta Invitational individual champion, Meyer began to pick up momentum as he made the turn during Saturday morning's first round of play. The Illini senior birdied six holes on the back nine as he headed into the second round of the day. He shot 5-under par for the first round. Meyer found a tough stretch as he started the second round of the day, making the turn at 2-over par. Once again, however, he was strong on the back nine, making five birdies to end the day. He was 3-under par for round two.

Hardy started the day with a first-round score 2-under par. He shot even on the front nine, and used four birdies on the back nine to negate late bogeys in the round. He continued his strong play into the second round, using two birdies to make the turn at 2-under par. He added consecutive birdies on the back nine to help negate late bogeys in the round. He was 1-under for the second round, closing the day at 3-under par.

Sophomore Michael Feagles currently sits with a total score at even par, and in a tie for 19^th overall. He posted a 1-over par tally to open play at Forest Hills Golf Club, opening with a birdie on his first hole. Feagles opened his second round at even par, and also turned on the heat after the turn. He posted two birdies and an eagle as he rounded the back nine, and finished the second round at 1-under par.

Currently tied for 26^th individually, sophomore Giovanni Tadiotto also started the day with a score 2-under par. He opened play with a birdie on his first hole, and he made the turn at even par. Tadiotto tallied an eagle and a birdie on the back nine to negate a late bogey in the first round. He added two more birdies in the second round, which helped negate early bogeys. Tadiotto was 3-over par through the second round for a total tally 1-over par.

Sophomore Bryan Baumgarten headed into the second round of play with a total score 4-over par. He picked up momentum to start the second round, as he shot 2-under par through the front nine. He closed the second round 1-over par for a total tally 5-over par.

THE TOURNAMENT

The 3M Augusta Invitational is being held at Forest Hills Golf Club, which boasts a Par 72, 7,005-yard course. The final round of play will begin with tee times at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday. Illini tee times will begin at 9:10 a.m. CT off of the first tee.

The 3M Augusta Invitational features some of the nation's top teams, as ranked by Golfstat, including No. 13 Illinois, No. 21 UCLA, No. 28 Wake Forest, No. 38 South Carolina, and No. 40 Marquette. The field also includes host Augusta, Central Florida, Georgia State, Houston, Kennesaw State, Navy, New Mexico, Tennessee, USC Aiken and Virginia Tech.

FOLLOW ALONG

Live scoring for the 3M Augusta Invitational is available on Golfstat, and fans can follow @IlliniMGolf on Twitter for even more live updates. A recap will be posted on FightingIllini.com following the final round.