Illinois alumnus and current PGA golfer Steve Stricker won the 2011 Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club earlier this June. On Tuesday, Illinois sophomore Thomas Pieters took home the victory at the Jack Nicklaus Invitational, held at the same course and also the site of the 2013 President’s Cup.

Pieters opened with a bogey-free 6-under-par 66 in the first round and finished at 7-under for the weekend to win by two strokes over Tyler Duncan from Purdue and Jordan Spieth of Texas.

“I hit it better than I did in any other tournament this year,” Pieters said. “I kept the ball in play off the tee, which was really important on that course for low scores. Short putts were also key to my performance as well as not missing many fairways.”

The Orange and Blue had another top-five finisher in Luke Guthrie. The senior carded a final-round even-par 72 to end the week at 3-under, good for fourth place.

“I drove it well for the most part,” Luke Guthrie said. “It was just a pretty solid tournament for me. Nothing really stood out for the most part, but I was still happy with my play.”

Assistant coach Zach Guthrie was also very pleased with both Thomas’ and Luke’s showing.

“It was very, very impressive,” Zach Guthrie said. “Both these guys definitely showed off their stuff this weekend. It was equally impressive because it was on a PGA tour event course. For Thomas, it was a big deal because it was his first individual win.”

Even with the win this week, Thomas knows he still has things to work on to improve his game.

“My wedge play is something I need to focus on,” Pieters said. “Anything under 100 yards will be important for me. I need to get it closer to the pin. This weekend I made up for it with my putting.”

Though the Illini had two players in the top five, they fell short in the team competition, finishing in third place. Texas outshot the Illini by 22 strokes and Ohio State placed second, shooting six strokes better than Illinois. Junior Mason Jacobs was the only other Illinois golfer finishing in the top 50 in 22nd at 8-over. Sophomore Jonathan Hauter and junior Ross Frankenberg rounded out the Illini scorecard, shooting 25-over and 33-over, respectively.

“It was nice to hop into third as a team right at the end,” Luke Guthrie said. “But at the same time, it’s still third place, which means two teams finished above us. We want to win, and I know we’ll get better this winter.”

The Jack Nicklaus was the final event on the Illini’s fall schedule as they resume play Jan. 28 in the Tinervin Cup in Coral Springs, Fla.

“If you look at the way we played this fall, we always had guys in contention at the top,” Zach Guthrie said. “We need to get those bottom guys playing better. Striking the ball off the tee will be important for us to work on this winter so that we can be successful in the spring.”