PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The LSU men’s golf team shot its lowest round of the tournament, a 2-over par 290, in the final round of the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship on Tuesday at Sawgrass Country Club to finish seventh out of 18 teams.
“Well, we have to look at it as the glass being half full because we beat some good teams today and finished up pretty well,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “We now have two or three weeks off to practice and get better before we get back into action again,” Jones said. “We finished ahead of Georgia, who is ranked No. 3 in the country, and Augusta State, who is ranked eighth, so those were some quality wins for our team.”
South Carolina, ranked 28th in the nation, won the Mercedes championship by firing a 3-under par 861 and finished 21 strokes ahead of No. 1 Florida and 12th-ranked Oklahoma State, who each tied for second place at 24-over 888. Clemson, ranked second, and No. 13 Texas tied for fourth at 25-over 889. Texas’ Jason Hartwick claimed medalist honors by firing a 5-under par 211. Tiger junior Andrew Lanahan earned his third top-20 finish of the season by shooting a 6-over par 222 to tie for 18th place. The transfer from Faulkner State Community College fired a 1-under 71 in Tuesday’s final round.
Junior Jeff Riemann shot a 7-over 223 and finished in a tie for 23rd place. Senior Garrett Prather and junior Heath West tied for 45th at 13-over 229. West, normally the Tigers’ most consistent golfers, uncharacteristically shot rounds of 75-76-78 at the tournament and finished outside the top 20 for only the third time this season. West owns four top-10 finishes as well as four top 20s this season. Junior Jake Shaw, making just his third tournament appearance this season, placed in a tie for 78th place at 23-over 239, but was a bright spot for the Tigers on Tuesday as he fired a season-low 2-under 70.
Tournament host North Florida shot even-par 288 on Tuesday to move up to a tie for eighth place with No. 24 Kentucky at 34-over 898. Texas fired a tournament-low 7-under 281 to finish in the top five. The tournament featured seven teams currently ranked in the top 15 of the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings in addition to the top three teams in the nation.
LSU will have a lengthy break from action before participating in the Cajun Classic March 8-9 at Oakborne Country Club in Lafayette, La. The Tigers will then take part in the Schenkel/E-Z-Go Invitational March 20-21 in Statesboro, Ga.
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. South Carolina 288-289-284 — 861 -3; t2. Oklahoma State 308-289-291 — 888 +24; t2. Florida 299-300-289 — 888 +24; t4. Clemson 306-284-299 — 889 +25; t4. Texas 311-297-281 — 889 +25; 6. Tennessee 303-299-289 — 891 +27; 7. LSU 305-200-290 — 895 +31; t8. North Florida 318-292-288 — 898 +34; t8. Kentucky 317-288-293 — 898 +34; 10. Georgia 314-290-298 — 902 +38; 11. North Carolina State 315-295-295 — 905 +41; 12. Northwestern 319-297-290 — 906 +42; 13. Augusta State 319-295-297 — 911 +47; t14. Duke 314-300-300 — 914 +50; t14. Auburn 317-304-293 — 914 +50; 16. North Carolina 319-300-296 — 915 +51; 17. Florida State 326-298-295 — 919 +55; 18. Vanderbilt 322-301-299 — 922 +58
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
1. Jason Hartwick, Texas, 71-73-67 — 211 -5; 2. Eirik Johansen, South Carolina, 71-76-67 — 214 -2; t3. Gregg Jones, Clemson, 77-66-72 — 215 -1; t3. Jake Thompson, South Carolina, 71-71-73 — 215 -1; t5. Dustin Bray, North Carolina, 73-72-71 — 216 E; Tom Johnson, Northwestern, 74-73-69 — 216 E; t5. Martin Rominger, South Carolina, 73-73-70 — 216 E; t5. Camilo Villegas, Florida, 72-74-70 — 216 E
LSU SCORES
t18. Andrew Lanahan 79-72-71 — 222 +6
t23. Jeff Riemann 73-76-74 — 223 +7
t45. Garrett Prather 78-76-75 — 229 +13
t45. Heath West 75-76-78 — 229 +13
t78. Jake Shaw 88-81-70 — 239 +230