URBANA, Ill. – The No. 14-ranked and third-seeded Fighting Illini men's golf team extended its lead in the team race at the NCAA Urbana Regional behind a solid team round led by under-par scores from junior Ryan Voois and freshman Trey Marrion on Tuesday at Atkins Golf Club.
Voois posted a 4-under 67 and jumped 10 spots up the leaderboard into the hunt for medalist honors. Marrion, who subbed into the Illinois lineup after Round 1, posted a 70 (-1) in his regional debut to help buoye the Illini's team score at 281 (-3).
Illinois (-10) enters the final round at 558 (-10) with a three-shot edge over No. 2 Oklahoma State and No. 35 UNLV in a tie for second at 7-under. The Orange and Blue are also 14 shots ahead of sixth-place Marquette, with the top-five team finishers after Wednesday's final round set to punch their tickets to the NCAA Championship at La Costa (May 23-28). No. 23 Texas Tech (-2) and Troy (-1) round out the top five with 18 holes to play.
Voois opened the week with a 1-under 70 on Monday and jumped out to a 3-under start through six holes in Round 2. Following his lone bogey of the day on No. 7, the Ladera Ranch, Calif., native closed out his score with a blemish-free finish and added two more birdies on 14 and 15 to move to 5-under overall. He is two shots off the pace of 36-hole leader Caden Fioroni (-7) of UNLV, and one shot behind teammate Jackson Buchanan.
Buchanan followed his course-record 63 from Monday with a 2-over 73 in Round 2, slipping one shot off the lead at 136 (-6) where he sits in a tie for second with Michigan's Hunter Thomson. Sophomore Max Herendeen posted the Illini's fourth counting score of the day with his second consecutive round of even-par 71 and sits in a tie for 16th in the 75-player field. Freshman Jake Birdwell is tied for 45th at 147 (+5) but did not factor into the Illini's Round 2 score with a 74 (+3).
Wednesday's final round is set to begin with tee times starting at 8 a.m. CT. Illinois, paired with Oklahoma State and UNLV, will be among the first groups off Hole 1. Live scoring is available via Clippd Scoreboard. The tournament is free and open to the public. Click here for more tournament information.
