The Illini have only played two tournaments so far this season, placing second at the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate and fourth at the John Burns Intercollegiate.

Through the team’s first two tournaments last year, the Illini placed third at Big Ten Match Play and second at the Louisiana Classics.

Although there aren’t big differences between Illinois’ first two tournament finishes in 2019 and 2020, this year’s squad is eager to build on their early success. Last year, Illinois had an advantage by playing against conference rivals before the actual Big Ten Championship – a tournament the Illini have had on lock for the last decade and won for the fifth-straight time in 2019.

Illinois, Big Ten programs move through top-25 rankings

According to Golfstat’s men’s Division I rankings, Illinois is ranked at No. 31, just outside the top-25, but leads the Big Ten as its highest-ranking team. The next closest is Northwestern, coming in at No. 37.

The rest of the Big Ten is trending down in this year’s rankings with Purdue landing at No. 51, Minnesota at No. 54, Penn State at No. 61, Ohio State at No. 71, Rutgers at No. 75 and Iowa at No. 76, Michigan at No. 79, Michigan State at No. 84, Maryland at No. 99, Indiana at No. 102, Wisconsin at No. 110 and Nebraska at No. 142, out of the 295 teams considered.

Players to watch

On Feb. 26, senior Giovanni Tadiotto was named Big Ten Player of the Week and has been the most consistent and best-performing golfer on Illinois roster so far this spring. He placed fourth overall at the MSAI and third at the JBI.

He shot the lowest round and has the lowest 54 hole score of any Illini during the spring season. He shot a 67 during the third round of the JBI and also had the most birdies with 17. At the MSAI he shot a 208 over 54 holes.

Senior Michael Feagles, another consistent veteran player, placed eighth at the MSAI and 22nd at the JBI. Freshman Jerry Ji also had a standout fall season and maintained that success this spring, placing 15th at the MSAI and 22nd at the JBI.

Illini in the pros

Since the start of Illinois’ spring season, alumni Steve Stricker, a graduate of the program in 1990, placed 56th out of 120 at the Professional Golf Association Tour Genesis Invitational, at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California.

Three former Illini participated in the Korn Ferry Tour Panama Championship, in Panama City, Panama from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2. The Korn Ferry Tour is a developmental tour for the PGA Tour similar to the relationship between the MLB Major and Minor leagues.

Luke Guthrie, who graduated in 2012, placed tenth out of 144 golfers; Scott Langley, a 2011 graduate, placed 15th; and Nick Hardy, who finished his collegiate career in 2018, placed 69th.

Langley also finished 51st out of 155 at the Country Club de Bogota Championship, in Bogota, Colombia from Feb. 6 to Feb. 9.

Guthrie and Hardy tied at 32 out of 144 at the LECOM Suncoast Classic in Lakewood, Florida from Feb. 13 to Feb. 16. Hardy also placed 16th out of 142 at the El Bosque Mexico Championship in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico from Feb. 27 to March 1.

Next up, Illinois travels to Lafayette, Louisiana for the Louisiana Classics on March 16 and 17. The tournament is hosted by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

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