Thomas Pieters wins 2012 NCAA individual golf title at Riviera
June 4, 2012 12:28 PM
University of Illinois sophomore Thomas Pieters fired an even-par 71 Thursday at Riviera Country Club to win the 2012 NCAA Championship by three shots with a 54-hole total of 208 (-5). The Nijlen, Belgium, native becomes the second Fighting Illini golfer to claim the individual NCAA title in the last three years, joining 2010 champion Scott Langley, who was the first in school history. Pieters also garnered the Arnold Palmer Award presented by Callaway for earning medalist honors and picked up PING first-team All-America honors, giving Illinois a first teamer for the third-straight year.
"It feels great and finally sank in once everyone got done out on the course," Pieters said. "The whole week was pretty solid. I hit a lot of fairways and greens again today. My mindset was to make a lot of pars and let other people make mistakes. Coach always tells me that if you play a steady round of golf, you won't have a lot of people finishing in front of you. I was disappointed we didn't make it to match play, but all my teammates are really happy for me, so it's pretty exciting."
fightingillini.com
"It feels great and finally sank in once everyone got done out on the course," Pieters said. "The whole week was pretty solid. I hit a lot of fairways and greens again today. My mindset was to make a lot of pars and let other people make mistakes. Coach always tells me that if you play a steady round of golf, you won't have a lot of people finishing in front of you. I was disappointed we didn't make it to match play, but all my teammates are really happy for me, so it's pretty exciting."
fightingillini.com
Filed under: Illini Golf
