Olympia Fields, Ill. – Georgia Tech’s golf team, six strokes off the lead to start the day, is 9-under-par in the final round and holds a two-stroke lead over Arizona State after Saturday’s play was suspended due to darkness at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational. The 17th-ranked Yellow Jackets, who did not win a tournament in 2023-24, is in the cusp of its first victory since the 2023 NCAA Salem (S.C.) Regional.
With thunderstorms forecast for Sunday, the tournament pushed tee times ahead 30 minutes Saturday with the intent to play 36 holes and finish the tournament. The final group of Jose Luis Ballester of Arizona State, Benjamin Reuter of Georgia Tech and Ian Gilligan of Florida was the only one unable to finish Saturday before play was suspended at 7:56 p.m.
Reuter (-9), tied for the lead after Friday’s opening round, is one stroke behind Ballester (-10), the reigning U.S. Amateur Champion, as both players return to the Olympia Fields Country Club at 8:30 a.m. Sunday to complete their final two holes. Those two holes will determine the team and individual champion. Reuter is 3-under-par for the final round, while Ballester is even.
Tech posted a 3-under-par 277 in round 2 Saturday and has a 9-under-par final round going, seven strokes better than the next best round of the day. The Jackets, 13-under-par for the tournament, overtook the No. 2-ranked Sun Devils (-11), who are even-par in round 3, on the team leaderboard.
TECH LINEUP – Reuter, who’s previous high finish was a tie for fourth place at the 2022 NCAA Columbus Regional, has six birdies on his card for Saturday’s final round, and is 3-under-par despite a triple bogey on the par-4 14th. The redshirt junior from Naarden, The Netherlands shot even-par 70 in round 2 Saturday.
Reigning NCAA Champion Hiroshi Tai shot a pair of 1-under-par 69s Saturday and is tied for sixth place individually at 3-under-par 207. The junior from Singapore has nine top-10 finishes in his career.
Tech received stellar closing rounds from its two sophomores Saturday at Kale Fontenot (Lafayette, La.) led the Yellow Jackets with a 4-under-par 66, and Carson Kim (Yorba Linda, Calif.) posted a 69. Both players are tied for 28th place overall at 213 (+3).
Freshman Albert Hansson (Fiskebäckskil, Sweden) shot a 68 for Tech in round 2 Saturday and a 75 in the final round, and will finish in a tie for 37th place at 215 (+5).
Hiroshi Tai is tied for sixth place at 3-under-par 207. (photo by Clyde…
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