BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s golf team fired its second-consecutive score of 1-over par 289 on Saturday in round two of the LSU Spring Invitational in Baton Rouge to stand in a three-way tie for the lead with 18 holes to play.
The Tigers are tied with Jacksonville State and South Alabama for the lead at 2-over par 578 in the third-annual event being held at the University Club. The Gamecocks of JSU and the USA Jaguars each fired rounds of 2-under par 286 to move into the first-place tie with the host Tigers. LSU, JSU, and USA will be paired together for Sunday’s third and final round and will tee off at 9:20 a.m. on hole No. 1. LSU’s six individual players will tee off at 7:52 a.m. to start the round, three on No. 1, and the other three starting at No. 10.
Senior All-SEC player John Humphries paced LSU by firing a 3-under par 69 on Saturday and is tied for second individually heading into final-round action on Sunday. Humphries is currently at 4-under par 144, tied with College of Charleston’s Bruce McDonald. Humphries shot a 1-under 71 in Friday’s first round. He is looking for his third-straight top-10 finish, placing in the top seven in both the Gator Invitational and Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate last month.
The Tigers also had three golfers finish the day in the top 20, as sophomores Tucker Ervin and Heath West tied for 14th at 1-over par 145, and fellow sophomore Jason Horrell is tied for 20th place at 2-over 146. West shot a 71, Ervin a 73, and Horrell shot his second-straight 73. True freshman David Pollet, in his collegiate debut this weekend, shot a second-round 76 and is currently tied for 32nd place at 4-over 148. He fired an even-par 72 on Friday in his first-ever round.
South Alabama’s Ryan Gildersleeve is the leading individual after 36 holes at 5-under par 139. He shot a 71 Saturday and is one stroke ahead of Humphries and McDonald. Humphries is looking for his first 54-hole tournament victory in his career. He did tie for first at the 2002 Spring Invitational, but the tournament consisted of only one round due to poor weather in Baton Rouge. He would be the first Tiger to win a tournament, not counting last year’s Spring Invite, since Alan Morgan won the Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate in October 2000.
“It would be pretty awesome to win tomorrow,” said Humphries. “I played one round last year and tied for first but I do not really consider that a win. I have put a lot of pressure on myself to win a tournament and I want to do it really bad.
“I hit the ball perfect and even had some putts I missed that I should have made, but I played well today,” Humphries said.
“We had a pretty good day and once again John Humphries played well,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “John is one of the hardest workers on this team if not the hardest, and he is carrying us right now.
“A lot of other guys had good rounds and it is a team effort right now,” said Jones. “We are in a good situation by being tied for the lead, but it is going to be a dogfight tomorrow so we will see what happens.”
The final round begins at 7:52 a.m., with the three leaders teeing off at 9:20 a.m. on the front nine.
LSU will next participate in the Louisiana Classics Intercollegiate March 10-11 at Oakborne Country Club in Lafayette, La.
2003 LSU SPRING INVITATIONAL
Feb. 28-March 2, 2003
UNIVERSITY CLUB
BATON ROUGE, La.
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
t1. LSU 289-289 — 578 +2; t1. Jacksonville State 292-286 — 578 +2; t1. South Alabama 292-286 — 578 +2; 4. College of Charleston 291-290 — 581 +5; 5. Lamar 289-293 — 582 +6; 6. Arkansas State 290-294 — 584 +8; 7. Furman 295-290 — 585 +9; 8. South Florida 295-291 — 586 +10; 9. Mississippi State 296-292 — 588 +12; 10. Memphis 296-294 — 590 +14; t11. Central Florida 297-297 — 594 +18; t11. Middle Tennessee State 295-299 — 594 +18; t13. Louisiana-Lafayette 301-294 — 595 +19; t13. Rhode Island 301-294 — 595 +19; t15. Tulane 301-297 — 598 +22; t15. Georgia Southern 301-297 — 598 +22; 17. Arkansas-Little Rock 301-298 — 599 +23; 18. Maryland 303-298 — 601 +25
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 144)
1. Ryan Gildersleeve, South Alabama, 68-71 — 139 -5; t2. John Humphries, LSU, 71-69 — 140 -4; t2. Bruce McDonald, College of Charleston, 70-70 — 140 -4; t4. Gareth Maybin, South Alabama, 70-71 — 141 -3; t4. Shawn Stefani, Lamar, 68-73 — 141 -3; t6. Matias Anselmo, Jacksonville State, 72-70 — 142 -2; t6. Brad Quiri, South Florida, 71-71 — 142 -2; t6. Kyle Bradley, College of Charleston, 70-72 — 142 -2; 9. Jeremiah Shields, Arkansas State, 73-70 — 143 -1; t10. Jose Campra, Jacksonville State, 74-70 — 144 E; t10. Matt LeConche, 75-69 — 144 E; t10. Shane Birckbichler, Furman, 72-72 — 144 E; t10. Joe Deraney, Mississippi State, 71-73 — 144 E
LSU SCORES *Played as an individual
t2. John Humphries 71-69 — 140 -4
t14. Heath West 74-71 — 145 +1
t14. Tucker Ervin 72-73 — 145 +1
t20. Jason Horrell 73-73 — 146 +2*
t32. David Pollet 72-76 — 148 +4
t50. Neil Self 75-75 — 150 +6*
t50. Jeff Riemann 78-72 — 150 +6
t65. Aaron Smith 76-76 — 152 +8*
t84. Adam Swope 81-75 — 156 +12*
t84. David Aitchison 80-76 — 156 +12*
t88. Justin Sevier 80-77 — 157 +13*