After starting off with a high first round score at the Puerto Rico Classic, the Illinois men’s golf team rebounded Monday and Tuesday, moving from 16th to 11th place in the standings. Illinois posted a season-low 2-under par 286 on Tuesday, which landed it just four shots out of sixth place at the end of the tournament.

“We had to keep some 75’s early, but if we eliminate those we can do really well from here,” said coach Mike Small. “For the last two rounds we were one of the top four or five teams out there. That’s the best we’ve played, the guys re-focused and showed that had a little extra in them.”

The Puerto Rico Classic was held at the par 72, 6,902-yard River Course at the Westin Rio Mar Country Club against one of the toughest fields Illinois has faced to date. Their opponents included four of the top five teams in the nation. There were also seven other teams ranked in the top 25 in the field.

Georgia took the team title with a score of 843, beating out Florida (847) by just four strokes. In the individual race, Georgia’s Chris Kirk was a medallist at 11-under par (205), defeating Oklahoma State’s Pablo Martin (-10) by one shot.

The Illini had two golfers place in the top 10 as Mark Ogren and junior Patrick Nagle both finished at two-under par, posting scores of 214. Sophomore Danny Zimmerman took the third spot for Illinois (223), followed up by junior Kyle Hosick (229) and Andy Mack (230).

“It was the most people we’ve had shoot under par this season,” Small said. “I think the guys gained a lot of confidence from this.”

With Illinois’ late surge, only its opening round 305 kept the team from taking down half of the top 25 ranked teams in the field.

With Illinois’ recent history of bad opening rounds, followed up by tremendous play later in the tournament, the Illini hope this will be a turning point in their season. They are leaving Puerto Rico with a positive mindset and aspirations to put together a complete tournament their next time out.

The Illini will look to continue their surge in two weeks when they head to Myrtle Beach, S.C. to play in the General Jim Hackler Invitational on March 12-13.

“Anytime you play well you want to get right back out there and play,” Small said. “Unfortunately in the northern regions that’s not always possible. We are hoping to get outside a few times but if not we’re going to make sure we stay positive and mentally carry over the momentum, (from Puerto Rico).”