LAFAYETTE, La. — The LSU men’s golf team, currently ranked 27th in the nation, struggled on the final day of the 19th-annual Louisiana Classics Intercollegiate, shooting a 15-over par 303 to finish sixth out of 15 teams at Oakbourne Country Club.
The Tigers, 27th in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, were in position for their third tournament victory of the season entering Tuesday’s final round, but struggled for consistency and dropped three spots in the standings. The Tigers were in third place and just six shots out of the lead after Monday’s first two rounds, but ended up 18 shots behind tournament champion SMU.
The Mustangs, who finished at 1-over 865, shot a 3-over 291 in Tuesday’s final round to win their third-straight Louisiana Classics title. Kansas moved up from fourth to finish second, just one stroke behind SMU. Texas Tech shot a 4-over 868 to place third while Tulsa and Texas A&M rounded out the top five.
Three Tiger golfers tied for 24th place at 7-over par 223. Juniors Jeff Riemann and Heath West along with senior Garrett Prather each tied for 24th. West shot a 1-over 73 on Tuesday, the Tigers’ best score of the day, to move up from 41st place. Junior Andrew Lanahan and true freshman Garrett Runion tied for 33rd at 8-over 224. The tournament marked just the second time this season that all five LSU golfers finished in the top 35 individually as LSU landed all five in the top 25 in a victory in the Baylor Invitational back in September.
“We went for the win today and really pushed it hard because I was not going to sit there and just be satisfied with a second or third-place finish,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “We really had to chase SMU because they came out today and were on fire so I pushed my guys hard and made them play aggressive and I guess we just got burned in the end.”
Kansas’ Kevin Ward fired a 6-under 66 on Tuesday to claim medalist honors, shooting a 6-under 210 for the tournament after posting consecutive even-par 72s in the first two rounds. SMU and Texas Tech each placed three golfers in the top 10.
The Tigers will next travel to Statesboro, Ga., for the Schenkel/E-Z-Go Invitational March 20-21 at Forest Heights Country Club.
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. SMU 290-284-291 – 865 +1; 2. Kansas 291-290-285 – 866 +2; 3. Texas Tech 290-289-289 – 868 +4; 4. Tulsa 303-283-293 – 879 +15; 5. Texas A&M 301-292-289 – 882 +18; 6. LSU 291-289-303 – 883 +19; t7. Texas-San Antonio 303-297-292 – 892 +28; t7. Tennessee 307-287-298 – 892 +28; 9. Colorado 302-292-299 – 893 +29; 10. Louisiana-Lafayette 303-292-300 – 895 +31; 11. Texas State 295-299-305 – 899 +35; 12. Rice 306-297-302 – 905 +41; 13. North Texas 298-299-310 – 907 +43; 14. Missouri 315-304-300 – 919 +55; 15. Arkansas State 317-205-308 – 930 +66
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
1. Kevin Ward, Kansas, 72-72-66 – 210 -6; 2. Will Dodson, SMU, 70-73-68 – 211 -5; 3. David Inglis, Tulsa, 73-71-71 – 215 -1; t4. Colt Knost, SMU, 73-70-73 – 216 E; t4. Chris Pace, Texas Tech, 72-72-72 – 216 E; t6. Andrew Dresser, Texas Tech, 73-71-73 – 217 +1; t6. Kane Webber, Colorado, 74-74-69 – 217 +1; t6. Oscar Floren, Texas Tech, 72-73-72 – 217 +1; 9. Scott Abbott, SMU, 72-70-76 – 218 +2; t10. David Tasker, Texas A&M, 75-70-74 – 219 +3; t10. Mitch Cohlmia, Tulsa, 77-70-72 – 219 +3; t10. Sam Korbe, Tulsa, 75-69-75 – 219 +3
LSU SCORES
T24. Jeff Riemann 72-75-76 – 223 +7
T24. Heath West 80-70-73 – 223 +7
T24. Garrett Prather 72-75-76 – 223 +7
T33. Andrew Lanahan 71-74-79 – 224 +8
T33. Garrett Runion 76-70-78 – 224 +8