Illini Battle Tennessee, Stanford in Day 1 Matches at Cypress Point

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – The Fighting Illini men's golf team opened play at the Cypress Point Classic on Monday with a pair of tightly contested matches in the first two rounds of the Ryder Cup-style event at the famed Cypress Point Club.  

The sixth-seeded Illini opened with a narrow loss, 2-1, to No. 3-seeded Tennessee in foursomes matches, before finishing in a tie (1-1-1) against host and seventh-seeded Stanford in Round 2's four ball format.

The Fighting Illini's top pairing of junior Jackson Buchanan and freshman Ethan Wilson picked up a win, 3&1, in Round 1 over the Volunteers before falling, 4&2, in their matchup with Stanford in Round 2. Likewise, freshman Max Herendeen and sophomore Ryan Voois also went 1-1 on the day, first falling, ,1-down, on the final hole vs. the Volunteers before bouncing back to capture a victory, 2-up, against the Cardinal during the afternoon round. Fifth-year senior Timmy Crawford and senior Piercen Hunt went 1-0-1, with a 3&1 setback vs. UT before halving with Stanford.

Play concludes Tuesday with four singles matches starting at 10 a.m. CT/8 a.m. PT. The Illini will go head-to-head with No. 4-seeded Georgia Tech in the seventh-place match after Stanford moved on to the fifth-place tilt vs. No. 1-seeded Auburn by virtue of a tie breaker (a 13-11 edge in holes won) in Round 2 vs. Illinois.

No. 2-seeded Arizona State will face fifth-seeded Texas in the championship match. ASU picked up wins over Stanford (2-1) and Tennessee (2-0-1), while UT defeated Georgia Tech (2-1) and Pepperdine (2-1). Pepperdine, which opened with a 2-1 victory over Auburn, will face Tennessee in the third-place match.            

Full results from Rounds 1 and 2, and pairings for Round 3 are available at Golfstat.com.

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