Sept. 19, 2009

Olympia Fields, Ill. -

Team Scores in PDF Format
Player Scores in PDF Format

Sixth-ranked Illinois is tied for eighth after 36 holes in the 15-team field of the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational presented by Cleveland Golf/Srixon. The Illini played Saturday's round at +14, which, combined with Friday's +13 round, puts the Illini at +27. The Illini, however, are just two strokes out of the top five and six strokes from second heading into Sunday's final round.

"Today's round kind of felt like yesterday's and it showed with a similar score," said Illinois assistant coach Zach Guthrie. "Our ball striking hasn't been where it needs to be and with a course this course this difficult, that has meant relying on our short game to get up and down and save pars."

Fifth-ranked Arizona State made the charge on moving day with a four-over par 284 to charge from a tie for fourth into the team lead at +17. The Sun Devils lead tenth-ranked Texas (+21) by four strokes followed by a tie for third between No. 1 Stanford and No. 2 Oklahoma State (+23). No. 16 USC is in fifth at +25 followed by a tie for sixth between No. 25 Florida State and No. 7 Georgia (+26).

Junior Scott Langley continues to lead the charge for Illinois. Langley shot a two-over par 72 on the 7,205-yard par 70 Olympia Fields North Course to sit seventh at +2. Sophomore Luke Guthrie is tied for 23rd at +7 after a second round 74. Freshman Ross Frankenberg continues to impress. The Barrington, Ill., native shot a 73 on Saturday and is tied for 38th (+10) with senior Zach Barlow, who shot 75 on Saturday. Senior Matt Hoffman is tied for 42nd in the 75-man field a shot back at +11 after shooting 75.

Florida's Max Kieffer (69) shares the 36-hole lead with Florida State's Seath Lauer (71), who also was tied for the lead after round one. The duo is at -1. First round team leader Northwestern had a rough day following up Friday's 286 (+6) with a second-round 315. The Wildcats are now 12th at +41.

The final round tees off at 8 am Sunday.

"We still have the mindset that we want to win this golf tournament," Guthrie said. "There's no doubt that with a solid round tomorrow, we can move up the leader board. I thought that we had a more productive post-round practice and feel good about the way it's going heading into Sunday."