Chambana Sun

The Fighting Illini men's golf team, ranked No. 14 and seeded third, strengthened its lead in the NCAA Urbana Regional. The team was bolstered by under-par performances from junior Ryan Voois and freshman Trey Marrion at Atkins Golf Club.

Voois achieved a 4-under 67, climbing ten positions on the leaderboard to contend for medalist honors. Marrion contributed with a score of 70 (-1) in his regional debut after being added to the lineup following Round 1, aiding Illinois' overall team score of 281 (-3).

Illinois holds a three-shot advantage over No. 2 Oklahoma State and No. 35 UNLV, both tied for second at 7-under entering the final round with an aggregate score of 558 (-10). The Orange and Blue are also significantly ahead of sixth-place Marquette by fourteen shots. The top five teams after Wednesday's final round will qualify for the NCAA Championship at La Costa scheduled from May 23-28. Texas Tech (-2) and Troy (-1) complete the top five as they prepare for the last eighteen holes.

Voois began with a solid start earlier in the week, recording a 1-under 70 on Monday before advancing to a promising position through six holes in Round 2. Despite encountering one bogey on hole seven, he finished without further errors and secured additional birdies on holes fourteen and fifteen, placing him two strokes behind leader Caden Fioroni (-7) from UNLV and trailing teammate Jackson Buchanan by one shot.

Buchanan experienced a shift from his course-record performance of sixty-three on Monday to finish with a two-over seventy-three in Round Two. He now shares second place at six-under alongside Michigan's Hunter Thomson. Sophomore Max Herendeen maintained consistency with another even-par seventy-one round contributing to Illinois' tally while standing tied for sixteenth among seventy-five competitors. Freshman Jake Birdwell is positioned forty-fifth at five-over but did not contribute to Illinois' Round Two score following his seventy-four (+3).

The concluding round is set to commence with tee times starting at eight o'clock Central Time on Wednesday morning as Illinois competes alongside Oklahoma State and UNLV beginning from Hole One; live scoring can be accessed via Clippd Scoreboard while spectators are welcome free-of-charge—further tournament details available online.