LAFAYETTE, La. — The LSU men’s golf team, currently ranked 27th in the nation in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, shot a 4-over par 580 on Monday to finish the day in third place out of 15 teams in the Louisiana Classics Intercollegiate at Oakbourne Country Club.
The Tigers, who have not been in action in over a month, began the day with a 3-over 291 in round one but followed that score with a 1-over 289 in the afternoon round. LSU finished seventh out of 18 teams at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship on Feb. 10 in Ponte Vedra, Fla., in their last tournament.
LSU was led by junior Andrew Lanahan on Monday, as the Jacksonville, Fla., native shot a 1-over 145 to tie for 11th place. Lanahan fired a 1- under 71 in round one, his seventh round of par or better this season, and is in search of his second top-10 finish of the season. True freshman Garrett Runion, in only his second start of the season, shot a 2-over 146 to end the day in a tie for 15th. Runion fired a career-best 2-under 70 in round two after shooting a 4-over 76 in Monday’s first round.
LSU teammates Jeff Riemann and Garrett Prather are tied for 20th after each shot a 3-over 147. Riemann and Prather each shot identical rounds of 72-75 Monday. Riemann is after his third top-20 finish of the season while Prather has one to his credit. Junior Heath West struggled in his initial round on Monday as the Dothan, Ala., native recorded an 8-over 80 in round one but came back strong in the afternoon with a 10-under 70 to stand in a tie for 41st. West leads the Tigers this season with four top-10 finishes, nine rounds of par or better, and a 72.8 stroke average.
“We played pretty well today but we just made a few mistakes here and they which cost us some strokes, but overall I am pretty happy with the way we played,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “We just need to go out tomorrow and play a good round. The guys are ready and excited so we just need to execute,” said Jones.
SMU, the two-time defending champion of the tournament, leads the field after 36 holes. The Mustangs fired rounds of 290-284 on Monday to finish the day with a 2-under 574 and will enter the final 18 holes up five strokes over second-place Texas Tech. Kansas and Tulsa round out the top five. Kansas shot a 5-over 581 and is just one shot behind LSU for third place while Tulsa ended the day at 10-over 586.
LSU is just one shot behind the Red Raiders, and are only six shots off the lead. The Tigers are in search of their third tournament victory of the season, having already won both the Baylor Invitational and the Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate during the fall.
Kansas’ Andrew Prico is the top individual after one day of play, as he fired a 4-under 140 on Monday including a 4-under 68 in round two. SMU has three players currently sitting in the top three, as the Mustang’s Scott Abbott shot a 2-under 142 to end the day in second place while SMU teammates Will Dodson and Colt Knost are tied for third place at 1-under 143. Six players, including two Tulsa golfers, are tied for fifth at even-par 144.
The final round will begin at 7:15 a.m. on Tuesday. The Tigers are paired with SMU and Texas Tech and will tee off at 8:20 a.m.
The Tigers will next participate in the Schenkel/E-Z-Go Invitational March 20-21 in Statesboro, Ga.
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
1. SMU 290-284 — 574 -2; 2. Texas Tech 290-289 — 579 +3; 3. LSU 291-289 — 580 +4; 4. Kansas 291-290 — 581 +5; 5. Tulsa 303-283 — 586 +10; 6. Texas A&M 301-292 — 593 +17; t7. Texas State 295-299 — 594 +18; t7. Tennessee 307-287 — 594 +18; t7. Colorado 302-292 — 594 +18; 10. Louisiana-Lafayette 303-292 — 595 +19; 11. North Texas 298-299 — 597 +21; 12. Texas-San Antonio 303-297 — 600 +24; 13. Rice 306-297 — 603 +27; 14. Missouri 315-304 — 619 +43; 15. Arkansas State 317-305 — 622 +46
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS (Par 144)
1. Andrew Prico, Kansas, 72-68 — 140 -4; 2. Scott Abbott, SMU, 72-70 — 142 -2; t3. Will Dodson, SMU, 70-73 — 143 -1; t3. Colt Knost, SMU, 73-70 — 143 -1; t5. Tobias Winberg, Louisiana-Lafayette, 76-68 — 144 E; t5. David Inglis, Tulsa, 73-71 — 144 E; t5. Andrew Dresser, Texas Tech, 73-71 — 144 E; t5. Kevin Ward, Kansas, 72-72 — 144 E; t5. Sam Korbe, Tulsa, 75-69 — 144 E; t5. Chris Pace, Texas Tech, 72-72 — 144 E
LSU SCORES
T11. Andrew Lanahan 71-74 — 145 +1
T15. Garrett Runion 76-70 — 146 +2
T20. Jeff Riemann 72-75 — 147 +3
T20. Garrett Prather 72-75 — 147 +3
T41. Heath West 80-70 — 150 +6