LAFAYETTE, La. -- Sixth-ranked Illinois fired the lowest team score in relation to par in school history with an 18-under-par 270 in Monday’s second round of the Louisiana Classics at the par-72, 7,098-yard Oakbourne Country Club. The Illini hold a 13-shot lead against LSU with a 36-hole total of 549 (-27), the second-best 36-hole score in school history. Junior Brian Campbell continued to swing it well and holds the individual lead by one stroke against LSU’s Curtis Thompson at 9-under after rounds of 69-66.
All five Illini who are playing as part of the team are in the top 10, with Thomas Detry in fourth place at 5-under, Charlie Danielson and David Kim among a four-way tie for fifth at 4-under and Jonathan Hauter in a four-way tie for 10th at 2-under. Junior Alex Burge, who is playing as an individual, is tied for 29th at 2-over.
The final round has been changed to a shotgun start at 8 a.m. on Tuesday because of the threat of rain throughout the day.
“I thought the way we finished the first round helped propel us into the second round,” Illinois head coach Mike Small said. “We started kind of flat in the morning but the way we finished the last five or six holes [of the first round] was a big key for us today. The second round of a 36-hole day is ‘moving day’ and you need a team effort. We got that today and when we all start playing well, it’s going to be a fun ride.”
Indeed, the four Illini whose scores counted in the morning round – Campbell, David Kim (68), Charlie Danielson (71) and Thomas Detry (71) – combined to play their last two holes 5-under-par, swinging the team into first place as LSU faded a bit down the stretch. And four of Illinois players started the second round hot, as Campbell birdied his first three holes, Kim and Jonathan Hauter birdied their first hole, Detry birdied his second.
Campbell even had enough momentum to overcome a double-bogey on No. 5 and a bogey on No. 9 that left him 1-under at the turn in the second round. He followed that rocky patch with birdie-eagle-birdie-par-birdie to quickly move to 6-under for the round, which is where he closed it out.
Both Detry and Hauter got as deep as 6-under in the second round, with Detry starting on No. 2 and rebounding from a bogey at No. 5 to birdie 6 and 7, turning at 2-under. From there, he proceeded to rattle off four consecutive birdies, giving him six birdies in a span of eight holes and pushing him to 6-under. A double-bogey on No. 18 left him with a 4-under-par 68, equaling the second-best score of his career.
Hauter equaled the best score of his career with a 5-under 67. He birdied his first hole, No. 3, along with Nos. 9, 11, 13, 16 and 17 to get to 6-under. But a bogey on No. 18 put him at 5-under for the round. His afternoon round was even more impressive considering it came on the heels of a 3-over 75 in the morning, as he made just two birdies. Danielson played a bogey-free second round, finishing 3-under after birdies on 7, 8 and 11.
In the morning, Kim led the way with a career-best 68 (4-under) despite making bogey on his third hole of the round. He carded a birdie on No. 9 to make the turn at even par, then birdied Nos. 11 and 13. He added another on 17 before a bogey on 18 put him back to 2-under. But he finished the round strong, making birdies on his final two holes. Campbell played a bogey-free first 18 on Monday, notching birdies on Nos. 7, 17 and 18 for his 69.
Danielson was much more up-and-down in the morning, with four birdies against three bogeys for his 71. Detry also had an inconsistent middle section of his first round, with three birdies and two bogeys all coming between Nos. 8 and 13.
