Illini Men’s Golf In the Pros | Feb. 27

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A busy week lies ahead for four former Fighting Illini slated to tee off on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions.

PGA TOUR

The PGA Tour is scheduled to host both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Puerto Rico Open this week, with a trio of Illini alums – Thomas Detry, Nick Hardy, and D.A. Points – all back in action.

Detry and Hardy, ranked No. 80 and 186 in the world, respectively, will tee off at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Fla. It marks the first time in the event for both golfers.

Meanwhile Points will tee off at the Puerto Rico Open at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. The event is the 376^th PGA Tour event of his career since making his debut on the tour in 2004. Points will make his 10^th-career start at the Puerto Rico Open, an event which he won in 2017.

PGA Tour Champions

On the PGA Tour Champions, Illini legend Steve Stricker is back in action and looking to continue his dominant run atop the senior circuit, when he tees off at the Cologuard Classic at OMNI Tucson National in Tucson, Ariz.

Stricker is making his 50^th start on the tour, and has already captured 12 PGA Tour Champions victories – including the 2018 Cologuard Classic – to match the 12 he won the PGA Tour.

He opened 2023 with a victory at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in late January and is looking for his fifth consecutive season with multiple victories; he won three Champions events in 2018, two each in 2019 and 2020-21, and four in 2022.

LIV Golf Tour

Thomas Pieters, the newest member of LIV Golf’s RangeGoats GC, helped his squad secure a tie for seventh, and one point in the standings, at the season-opening event at El Camaleon Golf Course in Mayakoba, Mexico.

After an opening 75 (+5), Pieters factored into the team scoring in Rounds 2 and 3 with tallies of 68 (-3) and 71 (E) to finish 32^nd in the 48-player field with a 54-hole total of 215 (+2).