BATON ROUGE — Heath West fired an even-par 140 Saturday to claim a share of the lead after two rounds of the SunTrust Gator Invitational at the University of Florida Golf Course. The Tiger senior shot a one-under 69 in the first round and followed that with a one-over 71 in the second.
“He played really well today. With the exception of a couple of bad breaks, he could have really put some distance between himself and the rest of the field,” said LSU head coach Greg Jones. “He’s really hungry and is playing well and swinging it well.”
LSU posted a 23-over 583 for the day and currently sits in a tie for fifth place with the Florida State Seminoles for the championship.
“We still had some sloppiness due to it being the first event of the spring, but other than that I think we were pretty solid,” Jones said. “We had a nice day and got a little bit of confidence. The players know what they can do, and if we put a nice round up tomorrow, anything can happen.”
Sophomore Chris Wells is currently tied for 17th after shooting a five-over 145, while sophomore Garrett Runion is two shots behind in a tie for 25th with a seven-over 147. Junior Aaron Smith and freshman Beck Troutman are in a tie for 56th and 66th, respectively.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons lead the tournament by one stroke over UAB and tournament host Florida after recording a 17-over 577. Brett Stegmaier of Florida is the only player in the field tied with West, also shooting an even-par 140.
Final-round action begins Sunday with the first group teeing off at 7 a.m. CST.
GATOR INVITATIONAL — Day One
TEAM SCORES (Par 560)
1. Wake Forest 286-291 — 577 +17; t2. UAB 290-288 — 578 +18; t2. Florida 287-291 — 578 +18; 4. South Carolina 292-288 — 580 +20; t5. Florida State 291-292 — 583 +23; t5. LSU 293-290 — 583 +23; 7. Central Florida 283-301 — 584 +24; 8. Georgia State 22296-290 — 586 +26; 9. Georgia Southern 290-298 — 588 +28; 10. Tennessee 290-301 — 591 +31; 11. Purdue 295-302 — 597 +37; 12. College of Charleston 302-299 — 601 +41; t13. Ohio State 303-301 — 604 +44; t13. Kentucky 294-310 — 604 +44; 15. North Florida 303-307 — 610 +50
TOP FIVE INDIVIDUALS (Par 140)
t1. Heath West, LSU, 69-71 — 140 E; t1. Brett Stegmaier, Florida, 72-68 — 140 E; t3. Ryan Thomas, UAB, 71-70 — 141 +1; t3. Erik Johansen, South Carolina, 70-71 — 141 +1; t3. Jonas Blixt, Florida State, 71-70 — 141 +1; t3. Chris McCartin, Wake Forest, 71-70 — 141 +1; t3. Mark Anderson, South Carolina, 69-72 — 141 +1
LSU SCORES
t1. Heath West 69-71 — 140 E
t17. Chris Wells 74-71 — 145 +5
t25. Garrett Runion 71-76 — 147 +7
t56. Aaron Smith 79-74 — 153 +13
t66. Beck Troutman 81-74 — 155 +15