ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Senior Andrew Lanahan followed his 1-under 69 in the first round with an even-par 70 in the second round Saturday to finish the day in sole possession of fourth place in the 2006 SEC Championships at the Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club.
Lanahan finished his round strong by making birdie on two of the last three holes to guide the Tigers into a tie for sixth place heading into Sunday’s final round. LSU has posted back-to-back team scores of 8-over 288 and is currently in a tie with Tennessee at 16-over 576.
“This was another good round for our team, and we got another solid round from Andrew,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “His 3-2-4 (birdie-birdie-par) finish was a great way to complete his round and should give him some momentum heading into the final round tomorrow. I’m excited to see our team play well again today.”
Lanahan was not the only Tiger to put himself in position to earn the best finish of his career as sophomore Brian Noonan finished the day tied for 14th at 2-over 142 after firing a 2-under 68. Noonan recorded his best round of the season by carding a team-best five birdies on the day with three coming in a five-hole stretch on the back nine.
“Brian Noonan‘s 68 was good to see today in that Brian has worked really hard this year to improve in every phase of the game,” Winstead said. “Hopefully he is starting to believe in himself and that he can compete at this level.”
Junior Chris Wells and sophomore Beck Troutman carded matching 5-over 75s, and sophomore Brent Struthers posted a 7-over 77 in Saturday’s second round. Wells enters the final round in a tie for 35th at 7-over 147, while Struthers and Troutman are each in a tie for 47th at 10-over 150.
Georgia has a one-stroke lead over Florida as the Bulldogs are currently at 2-under 558 for the championship. The Gators leaped Alabama into second place after firing the lowest team score of the tournament with a 6-under 274 and were the only team to have all five participants finish the day at par or better.
Matthew Swan of Alabama has taken a three-shot lead in the race for medalist honors after posting rounds of 2-under 68 and 3-under 67 for a two-round total of 5-under 135. Georgia’s Kevin Kisner and Florida’s Brett Stegmaier are in a tie for second at 2-under 138.
First-round leader Brian Harman of Georgia fell back into a seven-way tie for fifth place at even-par 140 after following his 3-under 67 in the first round with a 3-over 73 in the second round.
The forecast for Sunday’s final round calls for sunny skies with temperatures in the 80s and wind gusting to 10 mph throughout the day. The Tigers are paired with fourth-place Kentucky and fifth-place Auburn and will tee off from the first tee beginning at 7 a.m. CDT. Live scoring of the final round will be provided by www.golfstat.com.
“We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s final round,” Winstead said. “The forecast is for good weather, and the golf course here is in great shape. It has been all weekend. It should be a lot of fun and an exciting finish to a great tournament.”
2006 SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS — SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 560)
1. Georgia 276-282 — 558 -2; 2. Florida 285-274 — 559 -1; 3. Alabama 280-282 — 562 +2; 4. Kentucky 292-276 — 568 +8; 5. Auburn 289-285 — 574 +14; t6. LSU 288-288 — 576 +16; t6. Tennessee 286-290 — 576 +16; 8. Arkansas 295-288 — 583 +23; 9. Vanderbilt 290-296 — 586 +26; 10. South Carolina 292-295 — 587 +27; 11. Ole Miss 290-301 — 591 +31; 12. Mississippi State 305-293 — 598 +38
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 140)
1. Matthew Swan, Alabama, 68-67 — 135 -5; t2. Kevin Kisner, Georgia, 69-69 — 138 -2; t2. Brett Stegmaier, Florida, 68-70 — 138 -2; 4. Andrew Lanahan, LSU, 69-70 — 139 -1; t5. Matt Every, Florida, 70-70 — 140 E; t5. Brian Harman, Georgia, 67-73 — 140 E; t5. Chris Kirk, Georgia, 68-72 — 140 E; t5. Matt Kohn, Kentucky, 72-68 — 140 E; t5. Luke List, Vanderbilt, 68-72 — 140 E; t5. Chris Paisley, Tennessee, 72-68 — 140 E; t5. Tyler Wilson, Kentucky, 70-70 — 140 E
LSU SCORES
4. Andrew Lanahan 69-70 — 139 -1
t14. Brian Noonan 74-68 — 142 +2
t35. Chris Wells 72-75 — 147 +7
t47. Brent Struthers 73-77 — 150 +10
t47. Beck Troutman 75-75 — 150 +10