After two days of competition, Illinois is in a prime position to capture its 14th Big Ten Championship title in the last 16 events.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

April 26, 2025

And the freshman shall lead them.

The two first-year players in the Illinois lineup led their team with under-par scores in the second day of the 2025 Big Ten Championships as the Illini maintained its sizeable lead going into the final day of competition.

Despite posting a much higher score than its 10-under-par opening round in second-round conditions at Baltimore Country Club that were much rougher on the 90-player field, Illinois lost only one shot of its Friday night lead from seven to six when scores were tabulated Saturday evening.

Illinois is in a prime position to capture its 14th Big Ten Championship title in the last 16 events (the event was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus epidemic) under head coach Mike Small dating back to the 2008-09 season, including a conference-record eight straight from 2015 to 2023. During the Small era, the Illini also won or shared the individual title for nine consecutive seasons between 2011 and 2019, which is the longest streak in Big Ten history.

"We're in the lead, and you'd rather be in the lead than not, but we lost some momentum on the back nine today," Small said after the round. "We got a little soft before the rain came, and we made some unforced bogeys on some easy holes."

Trey Marrion, who has had one individual Top 20 finish this spring and opened with a 6-over 76 on Friday, rebounded to post the Illini’s best score on Saturday with five birdies and a 3-under 67 to rise over 40 spots on the individual leaderboard. Marrion’s 67 on Saturday matches his career low round in his early collegiate career after he arrived at Illinois as Golf Week’s No. 13-ranked player in the 2024 recruiting class.

Marrion’s big jump from Friday to Saturday was managing his mistakes as he made three double bogeys in his opening round but on Saturday managed to limit the damage to one bogey on each of his nine holes. Marrion’s round was tied for the second-best scorecard of the day.

Jake Birdwell, who was a substitution into the lineup this week by Small, now had back-to-back 68s to put himself in a position to possibly win the medalist honors of the Big Ten Championships as a true freshman. The 2023 Minnesota High School Golfer of the Year selection, who turned 19 years old in February, played the final 15 holes without a bogey and 3-under-par to get within three shots of the individual medalist lead currently held by UCLA’s Omar Morales. Birdwell will be in the event’s final pairing off the opening hole on Saturday with Morales and Indiana’s Clay Merchent (4-under-par) at 9:20 a.m. CST.

"They (Trey and Jake) were huge, today," added Small. "We've challenged them all spring to really grow and be a part of this, and they answered the bell with what they did today. They were a big, big part of it today, but as I'll tell the team, today is over and we will start again tomorrow."

Illinois sophomore Max Herendeen haD a three-shot lead after day one following a bogey-free 63 and maintained that lead after making the front-nine turn in 34 but suffered a terrible back nine Saturday that included four bogeys and a double bogey on the par4 10th hole that resulted in a finishing 40. Herendeen will sit four shots back of the individual lead in the second-to-last pairing off the opening hole.

Illinois third-year player Ryan Voois stumbled on the back nine to post a 3-over-par 73 after playing the first 13 holes at even par. Consecutive bogeys on No. 14, No. 15 (which all five Illini bogeyed on Saturday) and No. 16 derailed what was one of the better afternoon rounds on Saturday.

The four qualifying scores of Illinois played the back nine at Baltimore Country Club at a combined 6-over-par on Saturday after playing that set of nine holes at a combined 6-under-par just 24 hours ago.

"After the (weather) delay, the golf course changed right in front of our eyes with the hardest holes coming up that we had to face,” Small said. "Bogeys on 15? That's just a hard hole. But the bogeys on 13, 14 and 16, those are the ones that bother you as a coach because those were unforced. (Sunday) we will stay steadfast, stay hardened, stay in the moment, and embrace the challenge. It will be a good day."

With three qualifying scores on Saturday, Oregon is now the team chasing the Illini for the Big Ten title as the Ducks moved from fourth to second by being the only team in the field with two consecutive under-par rounds.

Indiana, which began Saturday seven shots behind Illinois in the team standings, is the only other team still with an under-par score but managed to not lose any ground on the front-running Illini from day one to day two.

Southern California was the biggest mover on Saturday as they vaulted four spots from 14th after an opening 8-over 288 to 10th after posting a 1-under 279 with all five of their scores being 72 or better in the second round.

2025 Big Ten Men’s Golf Championship Team Leaderboard
ILLINOIS - 270-282--552 (-8)
Oregon - 279-279--558 (-2)
Indiana - 277-282--559 (-1)
UCLA - 278-282--560 (E)
Minnesota - 281-280--561 (+1)
Ohio State - 282-279--561 (+1)
Maryland - 280-282--561 (+2)
Michigan State - 281-283--564 (+4)
Wisconsin - 282-282--564 (+4)
Southern California - 287-279--567 (+7)
Purdue - 285-285--570 (+10)
Michigan - 288-283--571 (+11)
Northwestern - 284-288--572 (+12)
Nebraska - 287-287--574 (+14)
Rutgers - 283-293--576 (+16)
Washington - 290-289--579 (+19)
Penn State - 289-291--580 (+20)
Iowa - 294-289--583 (+23)

ILLINOIS PLAYERS
Jake Birdwell 68-68--136 (-4)
Max Herendeen 63-74--137 (-3)
Ryan Voois 67-73--140 (E)
Trey Marrion 76-67 (+3)
Jackson Buchanan 72-74 (+6)