PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Fighting Illini men's golf opened play at the Cypress Point Classic on Monday, splitting a pair of matches in the opening rounds. The sixth-seeded Illini fell to the No. 3 seed UCLA, before defeating No. 7 seed, California, in the second round of play. The Illini will advance to take on Alabama in singles matches on Tuesday.
The tournament opened with a round of fourball matches, pitting the Illini against UCLA. The Orange and Blue fell to the Bruins, 2.5-0.5, in the first round, moving on to face No. 7 seed California.
The Illini picked up momentum in the second team match of the day, defeating California 2-1. The Illini posted two commanding victories in the round of foursomes, as sophomore Adrien Dumont de Chassart and senior Giovanni Tadiotto combined for a 5&4 win. Senior Michael Feagles and sophomore Tommy Kuhl earned a 6&5 victory for the Illini as well.
Around the rest of the bracket, No. 1-seeded Duke will take on No. 2 Georgia Tech on Tuesday for the championship after victories over No. 8 Alabama and No. 4 Stanford. No. 2 Georgia Tech advanced to the championship after wins over California and UCLA. Host, Stanford will match up against UCLA in the third-place match. The Illini and will take on Alabama tomorrow for fifth place, and No. 5 USC will meet No. 8 Cal for seventh place.
THE TOURNAMENT
A Ryder Cup-style tournament, the Cypress Point Classic splits eight participating teams into two groups for a head-to-head style competition. Each team will square off in three rounds of match play with six players on each side. Teams played a fourball match and a round of foursomes on Monday, and will concluding play with singles matches on Tuesday. Teams will be awarded one point for each match won, and teams with the highest point total at the end of each round will advance in the tournament bracket. The Illini are joined in the tournament field by host Stanford, California, UCLA, USC, Duke, Alabama and Georgia Tech.
FOLLOW THE ILLINI
The Cypress Point Classic does not feature live scoring, but a recap will be provided on FightingIllini.com following each day of play. Fans can check into FightingIllini.com for the latest on Illinois men's golf, or follow the Illini on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for even more live updates.
Fans wishing to attend the tournament are permitted on the golf course grounds with access to restrooms and the pro shop, and parking will be provided along ancillary roads. Long pants must be worn at all times at Cypress Point Club, and cell phone use is prohibited on the grounds unless being used to take pictures.
RESULTS
ROUND ONE
No. 3 UCLA, 2.5 – No. 6 Illinois, 0.5
UCLA – Devin Bling & Bryan Teoh UCLA WINS 4&3
Illinois – Adrien Dumont de Chassart & Giovanni Tadiotto
UCLA – Eddy Lai & Hidetoshi Yoshihara UCLA WINS 2 UP
Illinois – Varun Chopra & Brendan O'Reilly
UCLA – Sean Maruyama & Chaz Aurilla TIED
Illinois – Michael Feagles & Tommy Kuhl
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ROUND TWO
No. 6 Illinois, 2 – No. 7 California, 1
California – James Song & Kento Yamawaki
Illinois – Adrien Dumont de Chassart & Giovanni Tadiotto ILLINOIS WINS 5&4
California – Jamie Cheatham & Finigan Tilly CAL WINS 2&1
Illinois – Varun Chopra & Brendan O'Reilly
Illinois – Michael Feagles & Tommy Kuhl ILLINOIS WINS 6&5
California – Kaiwen Liu & Connor Golembeski
