BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Fighting Illini men's golf team opened the 2021-22 season on Sunday at the Hoosier Collegiate Invitational, carding a two-round total of 573 (+5) to sit alone in second place heading into Monday's finale at The Pfau Course.

The Orange and Blue were led by top-15 individual scores from a trio of seniors - Luke Armbrust, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, and Tommy Kuhl – and are two strokes off the pace set by team leader Cincinnati (571). The Illini were tied for third after the opening round, but carded the lowest team score of the day in Round 2, a 282 (-2) to pull within striking distance of the lead.

Kuhl leads the Illini in second place after carding rounds of 70 and 69 to finish the day at 3-under. He is on stroke behind the Bearcat's Ty Gingerich who sits atop the individual leaderboard. Kuhl's 69 in Round 2 matches his season-low from a year ago, and marks the eighth time he's carded a round in the 60s during his Illini career.

Dumont de Chassart is three strokes behind Kuhl in a tie for eighth after shooting back-to-back rounds of even-par 71. Armbrust, teeing off in the Illini's scoring lineup for the second time in his career, tied a career-low with a 68 in Round 2, bouncing back in a big way from his opening 76 to jump into a tie for 14^th at 2-over on the day.

Junior Jerry Ji is tied for 38^th at 9-over after carding rounds of 77 and 74. Piercen Hunt rounds out the lineup for the Illini and is 11-over in a tie for 49^th after shooting 74-79 to open his sophomore campaign. Junior Nico Lang, competing as an individual, is one stroke behind Hunt and sits in a tie for 58^th in the 84-player field with scores of 78 and 76.  

As a team, the Illini hold a slim, one-stroke advantage over host Indiana (574) in third place. Memphis (578) and Valparaiso (584) round out the top five in the team standings with 18 holes remaining.

Tee times for Monday's final round are slated to begin at 8:30 a.m. ET/7:30 a.m. CT. The Illini, grouped with the Bearcats and Hoosiers, tee off beginning at 10:10 a.m. ET/9:10 a.m. CT. Live scoring will be available at GolfStat.com.

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