WACO, Texas — The LSU men’s golf team fired a 2-under-par 574 on Monday to finish the day in second place, one shot off the lead, in the Baylor Invitational at Bear Ridge Golf Club.
The Tigers held a six-stroke lead over host Baylor after one round but the Bears fired a 3-under 285 in round two to enter the final round one stroke ahead of LSU. Lamar is in third place at 3-over 579, Southeastern Louisiana is fourth at 7-over 583, and Wichita State and Texas-San Antonio are tied for fifth at 8-over 584.
The 6-under 282 that the Tigers shot in round one on Monday is the lowest round shot by LSU since March 2003 in round two of the Louisiana Classics Intercollegiate in Lafayette, La. The Tigers shot a 4-over 292 in round two.
“Our concentration and focus was a little better today than it was in our first tournament last week,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “We shot pretty solid up and down the lineup and we now gave ourselves a shot heading into tomorrow.”
Junior Jeff Riemann, LSU’s top finisher at the Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate last week, shot a 2-under-par 142 and is in a tie for seventh place after two rounds. Teammate Heath West shot rounds of 67-75 to finish the day tied for seventh with Riemann. West’s 67 ties a career low, as he also shot a 67 at the 2002 Gator Invitational.
Junior Andrew Lanahan is tied for 11th place after shooting a 1-under 143 including a 3-under 69 in round one. Senior Garrett Prather is in a tie for 23rd at 3-over par 147. Junior Brandon Aydlett is tied for 34th place at 5-over par 149.
Lamar’s Chris Stroud is in first place individually after shooting an incredible 11-under-par 133 on Monday. Stroud fired rounds of 65-68 to lead two players by four strokes.
LSU is bidding for its first tournament title since winning the LSU Spring Invitational last March in Baton Rouge. The Tigers have won six tournaments since Jones’ arrival prior to the 1999-2000 season.
Scoring (after two rounds):
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
1. Baylor 288-285 — 573 -3; 2. LSU 282-292 — 574 -2; 3. Lamar 292-287 — 579 +3; 4. Southeastern Louisiana 293-290 — 583 +7; t5. Wichita State 297-287 — 584 +8; t5. Texas-San Antonio 294-290 — 584 +8; 7. Iowa State 301-286 — 587 +11; t8. SMU 293-295 — 588 +12; t8. Arkansas-Little Rock 296-292 — 588 +12; 10. Texas Tech 296-297 — 593 +17; 11. North Texas 295-300 — 595 +19; 12. Miami (Ohio) 303-297 — 600 +24; 13. Rice 303-302 — 605 +29; 14. Sam Houston State 303-307 — 610 +34
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS
1. Chris Stroud, Lamar, 65-68 — 133 -11; t2. Judd Easterling, Wichita State, 70-67 — 137 -7; t2. Jeremy Frye, Baylor, 68-69 — 137 -7; t4. Mike Mezei, Texas-San Antonio, 72-69 — 141 -3; t4. Andrew Dresser, Texas Tech, 69-72 — 141 -3; t4. Lee Sanders, Arkansas-Little Rock, 70-71 — 141 -3
LSU SCORES
t7. Jeff Riemann 72-70 — 142 -2
t7. Heath West 67-75 — 142 -2
t11. Andrew Lanahan 69-74 — 143 -1
t23. Garrett Prather 74-73 — 147 +3
t34. Brandon Aydlett 74-75 — 149 +5