UCLA overtakes the Illini from an eight-shot deficit to take home the Big Ten team title in its inaugural debut in the league’s men’s golf premier tournament.

Matthew Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

April 27, 2025

For the second consecutive year, Illinois men’s golf has finished second in the Big Ten Championships.

With wind gusts at Baltimore Country Club reaching as high as 39 miles per hour and consistently staying around 15-17 miles per hour, the scoring conditions on the final day of competition completely flipped to a brutal day of 18 holes.

Illinois lost a six-shot lead through the first 36 holes of play as UCLA, which started the day eight shots behind the Illini, jumped three teams on the leaderboard to get in the clubhouse over a full hour before the top three Illini players finished their final rounds.

“Backdoor team wins in college golf happen a lot when you’re dealing with players of this age and in this format,” Illinois head coach Mike Small said via a teleconference with local reporters. “You can be from way back, make birdies and good scores when you’re not in the limelight but then post a score and watch the top teams make more bogeys. That happens a lot in college golf.”

Illinois struggled on the final day to eventually post an 11-over-par 291 as their four qualifying scores played the final 10 holes at a combined 10-over. UCLA’s dramatic comeback to win the Big Ten team title in its inaugural debut in the conference included getting two of the seven scores on Sunday at even-par 70 or better.

“The real frustrating about today is it was a lot of easy shots that did us in,” Small said. “That’s something we need to clean up quickly and I think we will. It’s not like we need to make wholesale changes…At this age and in this conditions which were very difficult but not impossible, it’s about the mental and emotional components. Kids think it’s a swing problem or a physical adjustment that is needed but it’s about getting your mind right to deal with all the adversity.”

Jake Birdwell, who was a substitution into the lineup this week by Illinois head coach Mike Small, recorded a third-place individual finish by posting a 1-over-par 71 following back-to-back 68s to be the only Illini individual under par after 54 holes of play.

Birdwell, who was in the final group of competition, had a birdie putt from approximately 13 feet on the final hole to salvage a tie with the Bruins but the attempt rolled about three feet past the hole. The freshman from Blaine, Minnesota birdied the par-4 17th hole to keep hope of a co-championship alive for Small’s program as Birdwell played the back nine at an impressive even-par 35.

“When we recruited Jake, we saw unbelievable talent but he’s very raw as a player,” Small said. “He’s improved greatly and last week (at Purdue) he went and competed very well although he’s been playing mostly as an individual this season.”

“We saw enough last week where we thought as a staff that we’d shake it up and I’m glad we did because we needed him all weekend,” Small said. “Who would’ve thought coming down the stretch of this thing we’d be relying on a second-time tournament college player? He played very well but [relying on Birdwell late] shouldn’t have happened.”

Illinois third-year player Ryan Voois was the only Illini player at even-par or better Sunday by posting a 70 to record an even-par 210 for the weekend. Voois and Birdwell both played the final nine holes on Sunday at a cumulative even par while the Illini’s top two ranked players (Jackson Buchanan and Max Herendeen) played the back nine at a combined 8-over-par.

This second-place finish for the Illini marks the first time Small’s program has failed to take home the Big Ten team title in back-to-back years since 2008 when it started its run of winning 14 of 15 from 2009-23.

Small was undoubtably displeased with his team’s final-day performance when speaking with local reporters on a conference call from Baltimore as the 25-year veteran head coach said the Illini “didn’t deserve to win it” and “adversity hit and we didn’t handle it very well at all”.

“We’re going to need to grow up,” Small said. “We’re going home, and we need to regroup and handle adversity better than we did today.”

UCLA swept the championship ceremonies as Omar Morales held on to his overnight lead by posting an even-par 70 to win the individual medalist honors by three shots. Morales, who was the No. 1 ranked amateur player in Mexico when he signed over four years ago to play at UCLA and has qualified for the last two United States Open Championships, made just three bogeys through his 54-hole tournament this weekend.

Illinois will undoubtably qualify for the NCAA Regional round slated to start on May 12 but the 2025 version of the Illini’s first step of NCAA play will feel a little different because for the first time in program history they’ll be hosting the regional round from Atkins Golf Club in Urbana.