FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Piercen Hunt closed out a career-low score with his third-consecutive under-par round on Wednesday, but it was not enough for the No. 12-ranked Illini to overcome a scorching finish by host Arkansas at the second annual Blessings Collegiate Invitational at Blessings Golf Club.
After rallying to within one stroke of the Razorbacks on Wednesday, and briefly staking to a slim lead early in Thursday's final round, the Illini faltered down the stretch and ultimately fell back to the pack to finish tied for fourth with a Round 3 score of 297 (+9) and a 54-hole total of 1-under 863.
"Young teams, new teams, have an opportunity to show people who they are and create an identity," head coach Mike Small said. "We had an opportunity today, on national TV, to come out and play a solid round of golf. We wanted to win, but when you're playing a good team on their home golf course, that's always a hard task. But we still had the opportunity to come out and play solid golf and show who we are and where we're going this season. We didn't do that and we missed that opportunity. We fought ourselves early with unforced errors, just played kind of loose all day, and threw away a decent finish on the last couple of holes, which was disappointing."
Arkansas ran away with the team title finishing at 846 (-18) after a closing 281 on Thursday. Arizona (859) and Ole Miss (861) also slipped past the Illini, who finished 4-over on the final two holes to fall back from second place into a tie with Tennessee and North Carolina at 1-under for the week.
"We learned that you've got to play for all 54 holes, and you have to play clean and fundamental golf," Small added. "And at times this week, we didn't do that enough."
Hunt, a sophomore from Hartland, Wis., opened his week with back-to-back career-low rounds of 69, and fired a 1-under 71 during Wednesday's final round to finish with a 54-hole total of 209, four strokes better than his previous career-best tournament tally set at the Boilermaker Individual in his freshman campaign.
"Piercen had a very solid tournament," Small said. "He's a young player and he played solid golf all week. It was fun and encouraging to see, and I think Piercen has a lot of great golf ahead of him."
Illinois' senior duo of Adrien Dumont de Chassart and Tommy Kuhl each carded top-20 finishes. Dumont de Chassart finished with a three-round total of 214 (+4) to place alone in 14th. Kuhl finished at 219 (+3) in a tie for 20th, one stroke ahead of junior Jerry Ji (220) who moved four spots up the leaderboard with a final round tally of 73 (+1).
Freshman Dylan Keating, playing in his first event as a member of the Illini's scoring lineup, shot a 232 (+16) to finish tied for 51st.
UP NEXT
The Illini close out their fall competition schedule, Oct. 16-19, in Windermere, Fla., at the prestigious Isleworth Collegiate (previously the Tavistock Collegiate). The tournament is held at Isleworth Golf & Country Club, and is widely regarded as one of the top events on the college golf schedule. The Illini have competed in the event 11 times since 2007, including each of the last eight (2012-19), taking home the team title in 2015.
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