PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Sophomore Beck Troutman earned his third top-20 finish of the season by tying for 11th place Tuesday to lead the LSU men’s golf team to a sixth-place finish at the 16th annual Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship at Sawgrass Country Club.
Troutman posted rounds of 77, 72 and 77 to finish the tournament with a 10-over par 226, and the Tigers recorded a three-round total of 49-over 913 to earn victories over four teams currently ranked in the top 30 of the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings, including No. 4 Florida, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 26 Coastal Carolina and No. 29 Auburn.
“I don’t think that we’ll play a tougher field for the rest of the regular season,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “It was an outstanding field and gives the guys a feel about where their game is right now. We beat two top-10 teams and lost to another by one shot. We played against a tough field on a good golf course with tough conditions and played very well.”
The conditions of the course played more like Sunday’s first round with the Tigers having to battle high winds and rain for much of the day. Of the 77 individuals competing in the event, not one posted a round under par in the final round.
“Today was like the first round with the conditions of the course making it more difficult for the entire field,” Winstead said. “It was raining when we started with the wind blowing 15 to 20 mph. We played half of the round in the rain and the other half in high winds and cooler weather. I’m sure that had a lot to do with the higher scores today.”
Senior Andrew Lanahan matched Troutman’s 77 in the final round to earn his third top-20 finish in four tournament appearances by tying for 19th with a 12-over 228. Junior Chris Wells also tied for 19th for his team-leading fourth top-20 finish of the season. Sophomore Brian Noonan tied for 41st with a 17-over 233, while fellow sophomore Brent Struthers tied for 60th with a 25-over 241.
UCLA captured the tournament championship by five strokes over Texas Tech with a 32-over 896, but it was Texas Tech junior Oscar Floren claiming medalist honors by one stroke over UCLA freshman Erik Flores with a 1-over 217.
The Tigers return to action, Feb. 18-19, in the SunTrust Gator Invitational at the University of Florida Golf Course in Gainesville where they captured the team title in 2002 and finished in eighth place in last year’s 15-team field.
“When you play in a three-round tournament like we did under these conditions it takes a toll on you physically,” Winstead said. “These next couple of weeks will give the guys a chance to rest and get back into the flow of school. We’ll spend the next week or two working on the areas that need the most improvement as we prepare to play in the Gator Invitational.”
MERCEDES-BENZ COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIP — FINAL RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 864)
1. UCLA 290-304-302 — 896 +32; 2. Texas Tech 301-295-305 — 901 +37; t3. Alabama 300-300-305 — 905 +41; t3. South Carolina 308-297-300 — 905 +41; 5. Georgia State 304-294-314 — 912 +48; 6. LSU 308-290-315 — 913 +49; 7. Florida 320-289-305 — 914 +50; 8. Tennessee 313-301-302 — 916 +52; 9. North Florida 308-305-307 — 920 +56; 10. Auburn 313-299-314 — 926 +62; 11. Missouri 312-302-313 — 927 +63; 12. Coastal Carolina 319-300-309 — 928 +64; 13. Texas-Arlington 309-307-315 — 931 +67; 14. UAB 318-308-308 — 934 +70; 15. Mercer 317-324-313 — 954 +90
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 216)
1. Oscar Floren, Texas Tech, 71-73-73 — 217 +1; 2. Erik Flores, UCLA, 68-76-74 — 218 +2; t3. Dustin Johnson, Coastal Carolina, 74-73-74 — 221 +5; t3. Gator Todd, Alabama, 75-72-74 — 221 +5; 5. Andrew Dresser, Texas Tech, 71-75-76 — 222 +6; t6. Kevin Chappell, UCLA, 73-73-77 — 223 +7; t6. Florian Fritsch, South Carolina, 74-74-75 — 223 +7; t8. Brett Stegmaier, Florida, 78-72-74 — 224 +8; t8. Steve Tiley, Georgia State, 75-72-77 — 224 +8; 10. Mark Anderson, South Carolina, 79-74-72 — 225 +9
LSU SCORES
t11. Beck Troutman 77-72-77 — 226 +10
t19. Andrew Lanahan 80-71-77 — 228 +12
t19. Chris Wells 76-71-81 — 228 +12
t41. Brian Noonan 75-77-81 — 233 +17
t60. Brent Struthers 85-76-80 — 241 +25