WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The Purdue men's golf team struggled late in its first two rounds, resulting in a 7-over par 583 after 36 holes at the Boilermaker Invitational, the team's final regular-season event of the season.
The Purdue counting team played holes 16 through 18 in 9-over par, dropping the Boilermakers to eighth place after rounds of 291-292=583 (+7). Purdue also played the par-4 holes in a combined 17-over par and managed just eight birdies in the second round, tied for the fewest among all 15 teams.
Enzo Perez is in 10th place after 36 holes at 3-under par 141.
No. 3-ranked Illinois had a phenomenal day under nearly perfect conditions at the Kampen Course. The Illini fired a 36-hole total of 276-268=544 (-32) to lead Louisville by 17 shots (280-281=561).
Georgia Regents (formerly Augusta State) is third at 2-under par, while Ohio State is fourth at 1-under par. Northwestern (even-par), Northern Illinois (+3) and Indiana (+5) round out the top seven teams after 36 holes.
Senior Enzo Perez continued his strong late-season surge, finishing his first 36 holes in 3-under par 141 (72-69) to sit in a 10th-place tie. Perez played the par-5 holes in 4-under par and ranked sixth in the field with 36 pars, en route to his score of 141. His second-round 69 was a season-best score.
Sophomore Austin Eoff is in a tie for 13th at 2-under par 142 (69-73). Eoff played the par-3 holes in 2-under par, the second-best score of the day, and his 25 pars were 11th. His first-round 69 was his 12th round of even-par or better this year.
Freshman Brian Carlson is tied for 39th after identical rounds of 2-over par 74. In the first round, Carlson was 2-under par through 16 holes before back-to-back double bogeys dropped him back over par.
Junior Stuart Macdonald is 65th at 10-over par 154 (78-76), while senior Ben-Marvin Egel is 81st at 17-over par 161 (76-85).
Individually, Justin Cho is 41st at 5-over par 149 (74-75), Chad Phillips is 74th at 13-over par 157 (80-77) and Philippe Schweizer is 79th at 16-over par 160 (83-77).
The final round will tee off at 8:45 AM (ET) at the Kampen Course on Sunday.
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