June 03--Nick Hardy experienced the range of what golf has to offer -- all in one day. The Illinois freshman buried a 6-foot putt to close out the match the sent the Illini to the semifinals of the NCAA Championship at Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla.
But Hardy's game deserted him early Tuesday evening, and USC opponent Eric Sugimoto was outstanding down the stretch. The result was a 3 and 1 victory for Sugimoto that sent the Trojans to Wednesday's final against LSU -- and ended Illinois' season.
Vying to become the first cold-weather school to win the men's championship since Minnesota in 2002, the Illini won the stroke-play portion of the event before going down in the semifinals of match play, 3-1-1.
"Once you get into match play, it's a sprint, a shootout," Illinois golf coach Mike Small said on Golf Channel. "And with that comes uncertainty. We played well at times and didn't finish at others. Hats off to USC. They played solid coming in, applied the pressure and we just crumbled a little bit."
Hardy, the standout freshman from Glenbrook North, took a 1-up lead on Sugimoto after 13 holes but lost the next four holes. Sugimoto essentially ended the match with a 250-yard 3-wood to 10 feet on the par-5 17th hole.
