Illini Finish Fourth at Augusta Hawkins Award Invitational

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The 17^th-ranked Fighting Illini men’s golf team recorded its seventh top-five finish of the season on Sunday, closing out play at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational in fourth place with a team score of 856 (-8) behind a trio of top-20 individual finishes.

Jackson Buchanan, who entered the day with the 36-hole lead at 8-under, came up just short in his bid for back-to-back tournament titles. He finished three strokes behind medalist Tobias Jonsson of Mercer, but the Dacula, Ga., native’s tournament total of 210 (-6) was enough to claim a tie for third and close as the Illini’s top finisher for a team-leading third time this season.  

Buchanan maintained his lead at 10-under through 13 holes on Sunday. However, a tough stretch that included a double-bogey on 14 and bogeys on 15 and 16 opened the door for a group of challengers hot on his heels throughout the weekend. The tie for third marks Buchanan’s fourth top-five finish of the season and his 10^th as an Illini, overall.

Behind Buchanan, the rest of the Illinois lineup found a level of consistency on Sunday that the group had been searching for in Rounds 1 and 2. Three Illini – Ryan Voois, Tyler Goecke, and Ethan Wilson – each posted their lowest scores of the tournament in their final rounds and, along with Max Herendeen, combined to score a 282 (-6) in Round 3

Voois and Goecke made two of the day’s biggest final-round charges for the Orange and Blue. Voois shot a 3-under 69 to finish at 214 (-2) for the weekend and climb seven spots into a tie for 14^th. Goecke’s closing 70 (-2), helped him ascend nine spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 37^th at 219 (+3).  

Herendeen gave the Illini a trio of top-20 finishers, following Rounds of 74 and 70 on Saturday with a closing 72 to tie for 20^th at even-par 216. Wilson’s final round of 71 (-1) gave him a three-round total of 223 (+7) to tie for 49^th in the 78-player field.

Seven teams finished under par for the weekend led by No. 1 North Carolina, which claimed the team title at 843 (-21). No. 18 Texas (849) and No. 32 Oklahoma State (851) finished just ahead of the Illini (856) and host Augusta (857) to round out the top five. No. 14 Oklahoma and No. 19 East Tennessee State were two shots off the Illini’s pace in a tie for sixth at 858.  

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