CARLSBAD, Calif – The No. 11-seeded Fighting Illini men's golf team is tied for fifth in the 30-team field after opening the NCAA Championship on Friday afternoon with a 2-under 286, led by a pair of top-five scores from junior Ryan Voois and sophomore Max Herendeen at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa's North Course.
The duo of Voois and Herendeen carded matching scores of 4-under 68 and are the only teammates inside the top 10 of the player leaderboard after 18 holes of action. They sit two shots off the individual lead held by Texas A&M's Phichaksn Maichon (-6).
As a team, the Orange and Blue are six shots off the pace set by No. 6 Oklahoma (-8) on the team leaderboard, sitting in a tie with No. 1 Auburn and No. 5 Arizona State. No. 4 Texas, No. 7 Florida, and No. 9 Florida State are all at 3-under, one shot ahead of the 12th-ranked Illini.
Voois, who hails from Ladera Ranch, Calif., less than 40 miles from La Costa, raced out to a strong start with birdies on Holes 1 and 2 and was bogey-free at 4-under when he made the turn after adding two more birdies on Nos. 4 and 7. His fifth birdie of the day on No. 10 briefly pushed him into the lead, before giving back a shot with a bogey on 12 when his par putt just lipped out. Coming down the stretch, however, he bounced back from a bogey on 17 and closed with an clutch par putt on 18 to slide inside the top five alongside Herendeen.
Herendeen, who finished T2 at La Costa as a true freshman last season, picked up right where he left off with five birdies to offset just one bogey in his opening round. He started 3-under with birdies on Nos. 2, 5, and 6 before his lone blemish of the day on No. 7 pushed him back to -2. On the back nine, he was the only Illini to avoid a misstep for bogey, while posting birdies on Holes 11 and 18 to close out his round at 4-under.
Behind Voois and Herendeen, senior Jackson Buchanan is 1-over in a tie for 47th after Round 1, while true freshman Trey Marrion battled back from a slow start – 4-over through three holes – to post the team's fourth counting score of the round with a 5-over 77. Marrion birdied 17 and 18 coming in to jump one shot ahead of classmate Jake Birdwell who is 6-over heading into Saturday.
Round 2 is slated for Saturday morning. The Illini tee off – again paired with Texas A&M and UCLA – on No. 10 beginning at 9:47 a.m. CT/7:47 a.m. PT. Live scoring is available via Clippd Scoreboard.
