July 29, 2008

Glenview, Ill. - Illinois golf coach Mike Small shot a three-under par 68 Tuesday to take a two-stroke lead into Wednesday's final round of the Illinois Open at The Glen Club in Glenview, Ill.

After firing a 69 in Monday's opening round, Small was in fourth place and trailed leader Blake Biddle of St. Charles by two strokes. Small took the lead with a morning second round then had to wait as players took aim at the four-time champion. Biddle shot 72 and sits in a three-way tie for second with Joe Emerich of Palatine and Michael Schachner of Libertyville at -3, two strokes behind Small's -5 pace.

Small says he knew that whatever happened in the afternoon, he figured to be at least in contention heading into the third 18-holes Wednesday no matter what the rest of the field did in the afternoon.

"I need to come out a little more comfortable and confident tomorrow," Small said. "I played a little squirrely from tee to green, but I managed to take advantage of the par fives and took care of business."

Indeed, Small had birdies on all three par fives and played the final six holes at three-under par. He is the three-time defending champion.

Langley opens play at Western Amateur Wednesday
Scott Langley has had a very productive summer, having made the match-play round at both the North & South Amateur and the United States Public Links Championship. Langley advanced to the round of 16 at the North & South in Pinehurst, N.C., the site of next month's U.S. Amateur, and reached the second round at the Pub Links event.

Wednesday, Langley tackles a challenging field in the first round of the 106th Western Amateur in Benton Harbor, Mich. The field includes six of the top 10 amateur players in the world according to Golfweek's Scratch Player Amateur rankings.