March 2, 2004

Westlake Village, Calif. - Illinois finished in 15th place with a 54-hole score of 898 at the 27th annual Cleveland Golf Collegiate Invitational, held at the par 71, 6,815-yard North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif. Illinois finished its second round this morning with a 300 and added a 302 in the afternoon's third round en route to an 898 total score.

The prestigious 17-team tournament, hosted by Southern California, consisted of nine teams ranked in the nation's Top 25. Texas was the only team to finish the tournament below par, winning the event with a score of 5-under par 847. The Longhorns held a commanding winning margin, beating runner-up Southern Cal by 15 strokes, as the host Trojans finished at 862.

Illini junior Mike O'Neal led the Illini at the Cleveland Golf Invite, carding rounds of 73-72-78 for a three-round total of 10-over par 223. O'Neal finished tied for 40th place among the 90-player field to became Illinois' top finisher for the first time in his career. His 1-over par 72 in the second round was the lowest score of the tournament by an Illini golfer.

Senior Joe Affrunti finished just one stroke behind O'Neal, tied for 43rd place at 11-over par with a 224.

Matthew Rosenfeld of Texas took home medalist honors with a 5-under tally of 208.

Illinois is now idle until its spring break trip the last week of March.

Cleveland Golf Collegiate Invitational Final Team Standings

1.    Texas                  281-278-288=847
2.    Southern California    283-286-293=862
T3.   Brigham Young          286-289-297=872
T3.   Texas Christian        285-295-292=872
5.    California             290-291-293=874
T6.   Arizona State          285-302-288=875
T6.   UCLA                   293-291-291=875
8.    Tennessee              279-303-294=876
T9.   Stanford               294-299-288=881
T9.   Alabama                280-299-302=881
T11.  Oregon State           292-284-315=891
T11.  Pepperdine             298-300-293=891
13.   Washington             298-297-297=892
14.   Arkansas               292-297-306=895
15.   ILLINOIS               296-300-302=898
16.   Oregon                 296-304-301=901
17.   Notre Dame             297-310-311=918

Final Illinois Results

T40.    Mike O'Neal          73-72-78=223    +10
T43.    Joe Affrunti         74-74-76=224    +11
T58.    Garrett Chaussard    75-78-74=227    +14
T64.    Ryan Tendall         76-76-77=229    +16
T70.    Patrick Nagle        74-81-75=230    +17