Buchanan, Herendeen Lead Way for Illini on Day 1 at Purdue Fall Invite

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Fighting Illini received a pair of top-five scores from Jackson Buchanan and Max Herendeen on Day 1 of the Purdue Fall Invitational and sit in seventh place through 36 holes in the 15-team field heading into Tuesday’s final round of action at the Ackerman-Allen Golf Course.

Buchanan carded rounds of 68 and 69 and holds sole possession of fourth place at 5-under, four shots off the individual lead. His effort marks the first time the junior has shot back-to-back rounds in the 60s since a run of three such rounds to cap a runner-up performance in stroke play last May at the NCAA Championship in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Herendeen, playing in just his third collegiate event, continued to show the form that helped him close as the team’s top finisher in each of the Orange and Blue’s first two events of the fall schedule. He opened with a 1-over 72 Monday morning, before vaulting up the leaderboard with a 66 (-5) during the second round to match the day’s lowest round. Herendeen capped his day with a bogey-free run that included three birdies over his final nine holes, and he is one stroke behind Buchanan in a solo fifth.

Sophomore Ryan Voois and fifth-year senior Jerry Ji, competing as individuals, also posted top-15 scores for the Illini on Day 1 but did not count in the team total. Voois (72-68) is tied for eighth at 140 (-4), a career-low 36-hole total. Ji is 1-under after rounds of 71 and 70 to sit in a four-way tie for 15^th. Senior Piercen Hunt, also playing as an individual, is 4-over in a tie for 41^st.

Freshman Ethan Wilson and fifth-year senior Timmy Crawford rounded out the scoring for the Illini in Rounds 1 and 2. Wilson’s opening 70 is his lowest through the first three rounds of his collegiate career after shooting 72-72 in his debut at the weather-shortened OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational last month. He followed with a 74 in Round 2 to sit in a tie for 32^nd at 2-over. Crawford is 8-over in a tie for 66^th, while classmate Tyler Goecke is 13-over in a tie for 80^th.

As a team, the Illini are alone in seventh place at 569 (+1). The team is nine strokes off the pace of co-leaders Northern Illinois and Illinois…