ATLANTA – They call him “Big Body Burge,” partly because the 6-foot, 185-pounder is a beast in the weight room, but mostly because he mashes the ball off the tee - he’s longer than any player in college golf.
The problem Illinois senior Alex Burge occasionally encounters, of course, is that those big blasts tend to drift off-line, leading to big numbers and squandered opportunities and disappointing rounds.
“He’s been so up and down,” said Illini assistant coach Zach Barlow, and so it wasn’t a total surprise that when he approached the penultimate group Tuesday at East Lake, Burge was searching, 3 down with six to play in his match against Georgia junior Greyson Sigg.