UPDATE: Illini tee off in match-play quarterfinals

Joe Vozzelli, The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
·5 min read

May 30—Today marks the eighth time Illinois has reached match play since the format change in 2009. The Illini's best result: a runner-up finish to Alabama in 2013.

The match-play quarterfinals start at 8:20 a.m. with the semifinals later in the day.

UPDATES here.

NCAA Championship Match Play — Quarterfinal

New format. Same mindset!

⛳️: Grayhawk Golf Club

️: 6:20 a.m. PT

: Florida State

: @GolfChannel (9-11:30 a.m. PT)

: https://t.co/qTHejeBp7i#Illini // #HTTO // #NCAAGolf pic.twitter.com/AZzakpL3mh

— Illinois Men's Golf (@IlliniMGolf) May 30, 2023

***

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Illinois is back in the Elite Eight of men's college golf.

And that means the Illini will have a chance to chase after an elusive national championship.

Illinois saw Jackson Buchanan make a bid at winning an individual national title on Monday.

Buchanan had a birdie chance on No. 18 that would have tied him with Florida's Fred Biondi, who was on the 18th fairway when the Illini sophomore's curling birdie putt just missed to the right.

That putt was set up by Buchanan hitting a stellar shot out of the fairway bunker to within 15 feet of the hole on No. 18.

"Under those conditions and the pressure, that's one of the best shots I've ever seen," Illini coach Mike Small said during a media teleconference with reporters on Monday night of Buchanan. "We should have made that putt. I was back helping Adrien (Dumont De Chassart) in the fairway. That was an awesome day. He handled himself like a veteran and showed maturity. I was very impressed and proud of him."

Biondi two-putted from the back on the green on 18 to save par, as the Gators senior held on to win an NCAA individual national title.

Biondi finished at 7-under 273, one stroke ahead of a second-place tie between Buchanan and Georgia Tech's Ross Steelman, who was the overnight leader.

Buchanan fired a 3-under 67 on Monday to finish at 6-under for the tournament.

It was the third-best individual finish in program history with Scott Langley and Thomas Pieters both winning NCAA titles during their Illini careers.

Illinois had all but taken care of business entering Monday's final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championships with a 19-stroke advantage over the eighth-place bubble before the start of play on the Raptor Course at Grayhawk Golf Club.

That proved advantageous considering the Illini didn't play their best golf on Monday. Illinois, which began the day as the clubhouse leaders, slipped into a tie for second place after posting a round of 4-over 284 in Monday's final round.

That was still more than good enough to clinch a spot in the match-play portion of the NCAA Championships with the Illini finishing at 2-under overall over 72 holes.

"Mission accomplished," Small said. "You come here, like you do at regionals, to keep advancing, and we advanced. We got to the final eight.

"We've played a lot of good golf this week. We didn't have our best (Monday) — came out a little flat — but we persevered through it, circled the wagons, and got a respectable score, so that's a very positive sign. But we made it through, and that's all that counts. Finished in a tie for second (in the stroke play of the national championship), that's pretty dang good.

"You just play Illinois golf and play solid golf. You don't look at the lead. You don't look at what we're trying to do. You just play golf the right way. We didn't have the edge we needed to have early. We found it on No. 4, 5 or 6 somewhere in there and turned things around. Jackson held us in there (on Monday). That was a big deal."

North Carolina finished four shots ahead of Illinois and Florida in stroke play. The Tar Heels were 7-under on Monday.

Tuesday will mark the eighth time Illinois has reached match play since the format change in 2009. Illinois' best-ever result is a runner-up finish to national champion Alabama in 2013.

The match-play quarterfinals start at 8:20 a.m. central time on Tuesday with the semifinals later that day.

Besides Buchanan's runner-up finish, the Illini had two other players end up in the top 10 on the individual leaderboard with Tommy Kuhl and Dumont De Chassart both tying for seventh at 1-under 279. Kuhl wound up with a 3-under 67 in Monday's final round, while Dumont De Chassart produced an even-par 70.

Piercen Hunt delivered Illinois' final counting score on Monday with a 3-over 73. The junior tied for 74th. Matthis Besard shot a 7-over 77 in the final round and tied for 68th.

North Carolina is the No. 1 seed for the match-play quarterfinals and will face Arizona State, which beat Stanford in a playoff after both teams were tied in stroke play. Illinois is the 3-seed and will play Florida State in the quarterfinals, while 2-seed Florida matches up with 7-seed Virginia. The last quarterfinal match on Tuesday morning will feature fourth-seeded Pepperdine against fifth-seeded Georgia Tech.

The Illini tee off their quarterfinal match with the Seminoles at 8:20 a.m. central time on Tuesday. The winner will face either Florida or Virginia in a semifinal match at around 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday.