GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The LSU men’s golf team shot a 1-under par 575 on Saturday on day one of the SunTrust Gator Invitational at the University of Florida Golf Course to finish the day in fifth place.
The Tigers, playing in their first tournament of the spring season, are currently 14 shots behind leader and host Florida, but are just six shots out of second place. Florida, the nation’s top-ranked team fired a 15-under 561 on Saturday and are eight shots ahead of second-place UAB, who finished the day with an 8-under 569. Kentucky sits in third place after shooting a 4-under 572, and North Florida is fourth at 2-under 574.
Senior Garrett Prather had the best two rounds of his season as the Crowley, La., native fired rounds of 68-70 for a 138 total and is just one shot behind individual leader Chris Cousins of UAB, who shot a 3-under 137. Prather’s 2-under 68 tied a career-low round as he also shot a 68 during his freshman season. Junior Andrew Lanahan shot a 2-over 142 and is in a tie for eighth place with seven other golfers.
Juniors Heath West and Jeff Riemann, two of LSU’s most consistent players this season, struggled on Saturday and each shot 8-over 148 to tie for 53rd place. West leads the Tigers with a 71.7 stroke average and four top-10 finishes this season while Riemann has one top-10 finish and two top-20s to go with a 73.6 stroke average. True freshman Ivan Brannan made his career debut and shot a 10-over 150 to finish the day in a tie for 62nd place.
“Overall we played okay today but we can do better and we have got to go out and play well tomorrow to make up some ground,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “Our short game was a little rusty today as was our decision making, but we now have gotten one day under our belt and will play well tomorrow,” said Jones.
The final round will begin at 8 a.m. on Sunday. The Tigers, winners of the 2002 Gator Invitational, finished 12th at the event last season. LSU will participate in the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship on Feb. 8-10 in Ponte Vedra, Fla.
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
1. Florida 281-280 — 561 -16; 2. UAB 283-286 — 569 -8; 3. Kentucky 285-287 — 572 -4; 4. North Florida 285-289 — 574 -2; 5. LSU 288-287 — 575 -1; 6. Tennessee 289-287 — 576 E; 7. Florida State 293-284 — 577 +1; 8. Alabama 299-279 — 578 +2; 9. Purdue 296-284 — 580 +4; 10. Georgia State 297-285 — 582 +6; t11. Baylor 298-285 — 583 +7; t11. Central Florida 293-290 — 583 +7; t13. Georgia Southern 293-298 — 591 +15; t13. Ohio State 293-298 — 591 +15; 15. College of Charleston 306-295 — 601 +25
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS (Par 140)
1. Chris Cousins, UAB, 67-70 — 137 -3; 2. Garrett Prather, LSU, 68-70 — 138 -2; 3. Camilo Villegas, Florida, 70-69 — 139 -1; t4. John Holmes, Kentucky, 68-72 — 140 E; t4. David Skinns, Tennessee, 72-68 — 140 E; t4. Brett Stegmaier, Florida, 70-70 — 140 E
LSU SCORES
2. Garrett Prather 68-70 — 138 -2
t8. Andrew Lanahan 70-72 — 142 +2
t53. Heath West 76-72 — 148 +8
t53. Jeff Riemann 75-73 — 148 +8
t62. Ivan Brannan 75-75 — 150 +10