AUGUSTA, Ga. – The No. 13-ranked Fighting Illini men's golf team closed out a strong week of competition with a third-place showing at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational on Sunday at Forest Hills Golf Club. Sophomore Max Herendeen led the way for Illinois, capping a sensational 12-under 204, but came up just short of victory in a playoff for medalist honors.
"It was a solid tournament," head coach Mike Small said. "We had a lot of positives this week. We beat some good teams, had some flashes and stretches of really good golf. However, today we didn't have the depth that we needed. When you're going against two of the top five teams in the country, you've got to have everyone on point. We just didn't have enough firepower today, but I think it was positive and I think we're going to learn from this in a lot of different ways.""
The Illini entered Sunday's final round with a one-stroke lead over a group of challengers that included No. 1 Texas, No. 5 Oklahoma State, and No. 9 North Carolina, and closed out the weekend with a 4-under 284 to finish with a three-round total of 849 (-15). OSU and Texas tied for the team title, overcoming the Illini with closing rounds of 278 (-10) and 277 (-11), respectively, to finish five shots ahead of the Orange and Blue.
The Illini picked up head-to-head wins over 12 programs, including the ninth-ranked Tar Heels and three other top-40 ranked teams that rounded out the top seven of the team standings. No. 39 Notre Dame tied with UNC for fourth at 8-under, while No. 28 Texas Tech (-4) finished sixth, and 19th-ranked Arizona (-2) finished seventh. Â
Herendeen, and UNC's David Ford, each began the day one shot behind Oklahoma State's Preston Stout in the individual race. Each carded rounds of 3-under 69 to finish one shot ahead of Stout, but Ford narrowly edged Herendeen for medalist honors – and a PGA TOUR exemption to compete in July's 3M Open – with a birdie on the first playoff hole following Sunday's round.
"Max played solid all week, and had a chance to win this tournament and earn that exemption," Small said. "He had chances to birdie 17 and 18 in regulation, and then the playoff didn't turn out his way, but he played well all week. He deserved to be in that position and he just continues to get better."Â
It marked the second time in his career that Herendeen shot scores in the 60s in all three rounds of a 54-hole stroke play event, a feat he accomplished in his win last spring at the NCAA Stanford Regional. His 12-under 204 marks a season-low tournament score.
Behind Herendeen, three other Illini posted top-30 scores. Senior Jackson Buchanan matched Herendeen's closing 69 (-3) to jump seven spots into a tie for 12th at 213 (-3). Junior Ryan Voois finished with an even-par 216 in a tie for 23rd, and sophomore Ethan Wilson fired an even-par 72 in Sunday's finale to finish T30th at 218 (+2). Freshman Trey Marrion placed 75th with a three-round total of 232 (+16).
The third-place finish caps a week that began with a victory for the Illini on Monday and Tuesday with a win at the Memphis Intercollegiate.
UP NEXT
Now, the Illini turn their attention to the team's regular-season finale at Purdue's Boilermaker Invitational, April 19-20, at the Ackerman-Allen Golf Course in West Lafayette, Ind.
