Live Scoring | Results | Photo Gallery

PHILADELPHIA – The Fighting Illini men's golf team pushed through strong winds at Philadelphia Cricket Club on Saturday to climb into a tie for the top spot on the leaderboard at the 2019 Big Ten Men's Golf Championships.  Three Illini are currently among the top 15 individuals, led by sophomore Varun Chopra who is tied for seventh. The Orange and Blue are 30-over par in total and tied with Minnesota for the tournament lead. Illinois tee times for tomorrow's final round will begin at 8:25 a.m. CT.

"I thought the conditions on the golf course were tough yesterday, but you put in today's wind and it exacerbated those conditions," head coach Mike Small said. "It was a really difficult day, and we knew it would be when we teed off. Before the round, we talked about not having any expectations and about staying in the moment without getting too wrapped up in your score. We survived some tough stretches and we're smack in the middle of the action heading into tomorrow. It's going to be a shootout tomorrow and we need to play from strength and optimism from start to finish."

Chopra heads into tomorrow's final round with a total score 5-over par as he closed Saturday's round at 4-over. Chopra tallied a birdie for the Illini on the third hole, and was 1-over par through the front nine. 

Freshman Adrien Dumont de Chassart led UI on Saturday as he shot 2-over par for the round. He added two birdies on the day, and played the back nine at even par. Dumont de Chassart Is 6-over par for the tournament and tied for ninth individually.

Junior Giovanni Tadiotto joins Chopra and Dumont de Chassart among the top individuals as he is tied for 11th. Tadiotto also birdied the third hole for Illinois, and closed play at 6-over par on Saturday. He is 8-over par through two rounds.

Junior Michael Feagles is tied for 29^th individually as he is 12-over par through two rounds of play. Junior Bryan Baumgarten shot 6-over par on Saturday and is 18-over for the tournament.

THE TOURNAMENT

A three-day, 54-hole tournament, the Big Ten Championships are taking place on the 7,119-yard, Par 70, Wissahickon Course in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Teams will play 18 holes each day, with final round tee times beginning 7 a.m. CT on Sunday. Illinois' tee times are set to begin at 8:25 a.m. CT. UI led the way in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings heading into this week's championship. The Illini are currently ranked No. 24 in the country by Golfweek and are joined among the top-50 by Iowa (41), Northwestern (46) and Ohio State (49).

Live scoring for the tournament is available via Golfstat, and a recap will be posted on FightingIllini.com following each day of play. Fans can also follow along with the Illini on Twitter and Instagram for even more live updates.

FOLLOW THE ILLINI

Check in to FightingIllini.com for the latest on Illini golf. Illini fans can also follow @IlliniMGolf on Twitter, @IllinimGolf on Instagram and Fighting Illini Men's Golf on Facebook for and inside look at the Illinois men's golf program.