EUGENE, Ore. – Four members of the Fighting Illini lineup posted top-25 scores on Day 1 of the Duck Invitational at Eugene Country Club, while Illini junior Max Herendeen, who teed off this week as an individual competitor, sits atop the leaderboard heading into Round 3.
Herendeen, a Pacific Northwest native from Bellevue, Wash., opened with a 67 (-4) in Round 1, followed by a 69 (-2) in Round 2, to climb into sole possession of first, one shot ahead of host Oregon's Aiden Krafft. It marked Herendeen's first time posting consecutive rounds in the 60s since his season-best runner-up finish in October at the Fallen Oak Collegiate. Herendeen is in position to chase his fourth collegiate victory in Tuesday's finale.
Sophomore Freddie Turnell and senior Ryan Voois also shot under par on Monday to sit inside the top 10. Turnell carded rounds of 67 and 72 and is three shots off Herendeen's pace in a tie for fourth at 3-under. Voois is tied for eighth at 1-under after shooting a 72 in Round 1 and a 69 in Round 2.
Sophomore Trey Marrion is one shot outside the top 10, in a three-way tie for 11th, following back-to-back rounds of even-par 71. Junior Ethan Wilson (+3) is tied for 23rd through 36 holes after posting rounds of 76 and 69. Junior Dane Huddleston, who hails from Woodland, Wash., bounced back from an opening 80 in Round 1, to shoot a 2-over 73 in Round 2. He is in 77th place in the 88-playe field with 18 holes to play.
Herendeen is one of three individual competitors in action for the Illini, along with sophomore Jake Birdwell and freshman Dujuan Snyman. Birdwell (+4) is tied for 29th after posting rounds of 72 and 74. Snyman (+7) opened with a 77, but climbed 22 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for 44th with a 72 in the afternoon.
As a team, the Fighting Illini are 1-under at 567, and hold a six-shot edge over Oregon State (+5), and a seven-stroke lead over Michigan State (+6) heading into Round 3. Host Oregon rounds out the top five team standings in a tie for fourth with Boise State and San José State at 9-over.
Round 3 is set to begin Tuesday with a shotgun start scheduled for 10:30 a.m. CT/8:30 a.m PT. Live scoring is available on Clippd Scoreboard.
