Buchanan Leads Illini on Day 1 of John A. Burns Intercollegiate

LIHU’E, Hawai’i – The Illinois men’s golf team is tied for second place after the opening round of the John A. Burns Intercollegiate on Thursday. The 10^th-ranked Fighting Illini, led by Jackson Buchanan, carded a team score of even-par 280 at the Ocean Course at Hokuala on Kaua’i.

Buchanan anchored the Illini lineup by matching his season-low score of 66 to tie Brock Snyder of Missouri for the Round 1 lead in the individual race at 4-under-par. Teeing off on No. 10, the reigning Big Ten Golfer of the Year opened with a birdie and was 1-over at the turn after a three-hole stretch that included a double-bogey on 14 and a bogey on 15 followed by his second birdie of the day on No. 16. The senior surged on the front nine, posting four consecutive birdies on Holes 1-4, then closed his round with his seventh birdie on No. 9.

Behind Buchanan, sophomore Max Herendeen shot an even-par 70 and freshman Trey Marrion carded a 71 (+1) to tie for 15^th and 24^th, respectively.

Freshman Jake Birdwell made his debut in the Illini lineup and matched junior Ryan Voois with a round of 73 (+3) to round out scoring for the Illini on Day 1.

Sophomore Ethan Wilson tied for the best round of the day among individual competitors to sit in a tie for 15^th at even-par, while freshman Joseph Buttress, also competing as an individual, is tied for 92^nd in the 102-player field with an opening score of 79 (+9).

As a team, the Illini enter Friday’s second round seven strokes off the pace of No. 16 Utah. No. 41 UNLV is tied with Illinois, sitting one stroke ahead of No. 21 BYU in fourth place and two strokes in front of New Mexico, which rounds out the top five of the team leaderboard with 36 holes to play.

Play resumes Friday with a shotgun start set for 1 p.m. CT/9 a.m. HT. The Illini, paired with Utah, UNLV and BYU, will go off of Holes 1-4. Live scoring is available via Clippd Scoreboard.

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