BATON ROUGE, La. – The Fighting Illini men's golf team won its second tournament in as many outings to open the spring season, showing resiliency in a strong finish against tough conditions, and an even tougher field at the LSU Invitational.
"This was a great win for our guys against a top golf conference with a lot of great coaches and great players," head coach Mike Small said of the event that featured 12 of 14 members of the Southeastern Conference, hosted at LSU's University Club. "At this time in the season, I'm very proud of the guys for coming down here and competing against this level of competition.
"They faced a lot of adversity this week, with the conditions, the weather and the golf course, and scores showed that. But the resiliency they showed on the back nine today is what team golf is all about. I was proud of them for staying the course, after a rough front nine, and staying steadfast and keeping on point."
Three Illini – senior Michael Feagles (T4), junior Adrien Dumont de Chassart (T7) and sophomore Jerry Ji (T15) – tallied top-15 finishes in the 90-player field.
"This was a total team effort," Small added. "Guys made big shots on big holes coming in down the stretch; the eagle by Adrien on 17 was huge, and Feagles' birdie on 17 was huge as well."
Feagles shot even-par 72 during Sunday's final round to finish with a 54-hole total of 218 (+2), seven strokes off the pace of medalist      Jackson Suber of Ole Miss (211). He struggled mid-round with three bogeys on Holes 7, 9, and 10, but the birdie on No. 17, his third of the day, helped the Illini keep second-place Vanderbilt at bay.
Like Feagles, Dumont de Chassart also came up big with his eagle on No. 17, and finished the tournament at 3-over (219). Ji, who led after Round 1 but shot a 79 in Round 2 to slide down to a tie for 26th, came back with a final round of 73 (+1) to jump 11 spots into a share of 15th.
Senior Giovanni Tadiotto and junior Tommy Kuhl each finished three strokes behind Ji with 54-hole totals of 224 (+8) in a tie for 33rd. While senior Brendan O'Reilly, competing as an individual, carded his best round of the tournament, a 2-over 74, to finish at 227 (+11) in a tie for 49th.
As a team, the Illini (876) finished 12-over for the tourney, two shots ahead of Vandy (878). South Carolina (881), Arkansas State (887) and Florida (889) rounded out the top five of the team standings.
The Illini will be back on the course again in two weeks, returning to the Pelican State to compete in the two-day Louisiana Classics hosted by the University of Louisiana at Oakbourne Country Club in Lafayette, La., March 15-16.
