By Connor Sindberg
The Hawkeyes were just 18 holes away from claiming their second-ever Big Ten title, but after starting the final round in first place, they weren’t able to hang with Illinois’ excellent final round and historic team score of 838.
Ranked second in the national coaches’ poll, the Illini never looked back after taking the lead early on in the final round, finishing the day with a team score of 24-under. The victory was the second-consecutive Big Ten championship for the Illini.
Iowa’s second-place finish marks the fourth-straight year the Hawkeyes have placed third or better in the event.
Illinois’ final round helped lead to a new Big Ten championships team scoring record. The Illini’s team score of 838 surpassed the previous standard of 842 set by Ohio State in 2004.
Matching the team title, Thomas Detry of Illinois claimed medalist honors with a score of 206, edging teammate Charlie Danielson by 1 stroke. Michigan’s Kyle Mueller took third place.
The Hawkeyes had three individual top-10 finishes helped lead them to their second-consecutive second-place Big Ten finish.
Leading the way was junior Carson Schaake, who tallied a three-round 210 to finish fourth. The Omaha native’s finish matches his best finish of the year and his fourth top-10 finish of the season.
Schaake was the two-day tournament leader heading into the final round, but he wasn’t able to keep up with the scoring pace, posting a 73 — his worst round of the tournament. Despite not playing his best, Schaake battled, making par or better on 14 holes in the final round.
Raymond Knoll joined Schaake with a fifth-place finish in the tournament. The Naperville, Illinois, native saved his best for the final round, jumping 15 spots on the leaderboard after carding a final round 67, matching Iowa’s lowest round of the tournament.
Freshman Matthew Walker, who continues to impress observers, matched Schaake and Knoll in the top 10 and finished tied for sixth. He was consistent throughout the three-day event, carding three-straight rounds of 71.
After finishing third place at the April 16-17 Hawkeye Invitational, senior Nate Yankovich had another solid showing, finishing 14th. The final score of 216 was Yankovich’s seventh top-20 finish of the season.
The Hawkeyes will now wait until the May 5 NCAA championship selection to find out if their postseason will continue.