It was the fourth time for the Men’s Big Ten Conference Championships to be contested at French Lick’s Pete Dye Course at French Lick. Northwestern’s David Nyfjäll claimed Big Ten medalist honors with a 1-under total of 215, the only golfer in the field to finish below par. Competing in their home state, Purdue claimed sixth place and Indiana took ninth. Northwestern and Wisconsin rounded out the top 5. Illinois (885, +21) outlasted MSU (886) and Maryland (887) atop a field in which the top seven teams were separated by 10 strokes. It was the 19th Big Ten championship overall for the Fighting Illini, who earned the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. In third place after Round 1 and second place after Round 2 of the three-day tourney, Illinois inched past Michigan State on the final day to claim its 12th Big Ten title in the last 13 years.
It took Illinois until the final day to reach the head of the pack, but a solid finish on a windswept Sunday at The Pete Dye Course at French Lick boosted the Fighting Illini to a very familiar spot atop the Big Ten.
