Luke Guthrie wins the Jack Nicklaus Invitational
Luke Guthrie won the Jack Nicklaus invitational that took place in Upper Arlington, Ohio on Tuesday. The Illinois men’s golf team was playing in this tournament for the first time which was why there were a lot of nerves. This was a different type of obstacle
that the team was very new to. Scott Langley, one of the senior members in the team, claimed that they knew this course was going to be a difficult preposition. “The pin locations were going to be tough, and we all heard about the greens and how it important
it was to stay patient,” said Langley.
Even with so much thrill and fear of the unknown, the Illinois team got off to a good start. They initiated just the way they needed to. After only 36 holes, Illinois were only one shot away from the lead. The Illinois junior Luke Guthrie led the tournament
after the first two rounds with a score of even par.
Guthrie complimented himself by saying that he started right out of the gun and was playing really well. The golfer further added that he was managing it himself. However, Luke did accept that the greens were not easy but his putting was his strong point.
Scott Langley was also part of the exciting action. Even though he didn’t win, Langley was only one over after the first two rounds. It was the final round that obviously turned into a decider for all the players. It was time when Guthrie sparked his magic.
He carded a course-record-breaking five under 65 and was adjudicated as the winner of the tournament.
After his amazing win, he said that Tuesday was a great day for him. “I went out there and played a solid round, made some clutch pars in the beginning, and everything took off from there,” Guthrie said. “I had 20-footers for par all day long, which makes
a round of golf much simpler.”
Where Guthrie was the winner, some of the other players in the team really struggled in the last day. Scott Langley had a birdie less round and finished at a nine which was a very disappointing performance by his standards. The newbie Thomas Pieters posted
a 13 over and the same score was achieved by Chris DeForest. The Illinois team was in second place overall by six strokes to the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
Overall, the team thinks that they can learn a lot from this experience and will definitely use their experience as they prepare to take a five month break.
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