LIHU'E, Hawai'i – The No. 10 Illinois men's golf team slid five spots down the team leaderboard into seventh place on Day 2 of the John A. Burns Intercollegiate at the Ocean Course at Hokuala on Kaua'i.
Illinois followed an opening-round 280 with a 282 (+2) on Friday, despite a five-stroke improvement from Ryan Voois. Voois jumped 18 spots up the individual leaderboard with a 68 (-2), the lowest round of the day by a member of the Illini lineup. He is tied for 29th with sophomore Max Herendeen with a 36-hole tally of 141 (+1).
Senior Jackson Buchanan continues to pace the Illini, overall. After tying for the individual lead with a 66 (-4) in Round 1, Buchanan shot even-par on Friday. He enters tomorrow's final round four strokes off the lead held by Utah's Sergio Jimenez (-8).
Freshmen Trey Marrion and Jake Birdwell each posted rounds of 73 (+3) in Round 2. Marrion is tied for 50th at 144 (+4), two shots ahead of Birdwell's 146 (+6).
Sophomore Ethan Wilson, competing as an individual, shot 1-stroke better than Voois in Round 2 and is just one shot behind Buchanan at 3-under. His 67 on Friday marks a season-best round, eclipsing the 68 he carded in his final round of the fall en route to a T24 finish in the Illini's victory at the Steelwood Collegiate in late October. Freshman Joseph Buttress is also playing as an indy and has carded a two-round total of 166 (+26).
In the team race, the top 10 features all seven programs that entered the week ranked in the top 50 nationally. No. 16 Utah leads the way at 15-under. No. 39 Long Beach State carded the best round of the week with a 15-under team round on Friday and is six strokes behind the Utes in second place. No. 41 UNLV (-8), Santa Clara (-7), No. 21 BYU (E), and No. 26 Texas A&M (+3) are third through sixth, respectively, ahead of the Illini. Fresno State (+3), New Mexico (+5), and No. 20 San Diego State (+7) round out the top 10 heading into the final round.
The final round is set for Saturday with a shotgun start set for 1 p.m. CT/9 a.m. HT. The Illini, paired with BYU, Texas A&M, and Fresno State, will go off of Holes 4-7. Live scoring is available via Clippd Scoreboard.
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