NORTH PLAINS, Ore. – The No. 12-ranked Illinois men's golf team sits in third place after 36 holes of competition at the Big Ten Championship at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club's Witch Hollow Course. The Fighting Illini entered the day with a two-shot lead and carded a 286 (+6) to slip to 5-over at 565, 15 shots behind No. 33 UCLA.
The Bruins posted a blistering 11-under in Round 2 to overtake the Orange and Blue for the lead position, while Washington shot even-par to move into second place at 561 (+1).
"Most of the guys hit a rough patch today, and we didn't really get through them, didn't really bounce back like we'd talked about," head coach Mike Small said. "We had two guys under par - two guys, shoot 1-under - and UCLA had five guys all shoot under par ... That's just the way it goes. We've been on the other side of that, and now we're on this side of it.
"It's going to be a hard hill to climb tomorrow. We're going to need some help from them (UCLA). Our job is to come out, put pressure on them early, over the first three of four holes, and if you do that you might have a chance."
Junior Max Herendeen and senior Ryan Voois each carded 69 (-1) in Round 2 to move up the individual leaderboard. Herendeen is tied for third at 237 (-3), while Voois climbed 14 spots into a tie for 12th at 241 (+1). Round 1 co-leader Freddie Turnell sits in a tie with Voois at 1-over, two strokes outside of the top 10.
Junior Dane Huddleston closed out the scoring for the Illini in Round 2 with a 74 (+4). He enters Sunday tied for 51st at 146 (+6).
Sophomore Jake Birdwell, who subbed into the lineup prior to Round 2 in place of Trey Marrion (illness), opened his day with a 1-under following a birdie on No. 3. He shot six-over the rest of the way and finished with a 75 (+5) which did not factor into the Illini's Round 2 team score.
Behind Illinois, Nebraska, Purdue, and USC sit in a three-way tie for fourth at 10-over.
UCLA's Josh Kim (-7) is the 36-hole leader in the individual race. He is followed closely by USC's Jaden Dumdumaya (-5) who is two shots in front of Herendeen's pace.
Sunday's final round is set to begin with tee times off Holes 1 and 10 starting at 11:30 a.m. CT/9:30 a.m. PT. The Illini, paired once again with the Bruins and Huskies, will be among the last groups to tee off on the front nine beginning at 1:10 p.m. CT/11:10 a.m. PT. Live scoring is available via Clippd Scoreboard. Big Ten Network's live television coverage of Round 3 is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m. CT/2:30 p.m. PT.
