PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Senior Chris Wells carded two birdies and an eagle on his round en route to firing a team-low 1-over par 73 on Monday to lead the LSU men’s golf team on the second day of the John Hayt Invitational at Sawgrass Country Club.
Wells, who eagled the par-five eighth hole and finished his round with a birdie on No. 18, paced the Tigers to a seven-stroke improvement in the second round as they posted a team total of 15-over 303 on Monday to sit in 11th place overall with a two-round total of 37-over 613.
“The conditions were much better today than they were yesterday with the wind dying down for much of the round,” Winstead said. “We started early on with three guys under par as they started the back nine, but we just didn’t finish the round like we wanted. We just need to come back out tomorrow and continue to show improvement.”
Wells improved six shots from his opening round 7-over 79 as he is currently in a tie for 27th place with teammate Beck Troutman at 8-over 152. Troutman, who was 3-under par on his second round through 10 holes, also finished with a birdie on the 18th hole as he followed his 5-over 77 in the first round with a 3-over 75 on Monday.
Junior standout Brian Noonan will lead the Tigers into the final round as he is currently in a six-way tie for 21st at 7-over 151 for the championship. The Austin, Texas, native carded a team-high four birdies on the day to shave three shots off of his opening round score with a 2-over 74 in the second round. Freshman Brent Blaum is currently in a tie for 56th at 14-over 158.
The fifth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide increased their lead to four strokes as they fired a team total of 3-over 291 on Monday to lead Coastal Carolina heading into Tuesday’s final round with a two-day total of 18-over 594. Central Florida vaulted into a tie for third place with Vanderbilt at 23-over 599 after firing the lowest team score with a 4-under 284 in the second round.
Coastal Carolina’s Dustin Johnson fired a 4-under 68 in the second round to carry a three-shot lead into Tuesday’s action as he leads Jon Curran of Vanderbilt the race for medalist honors with a two-round total of 3-under 141. First-round leader Kevin Chappell of UCLA sits in a tie for third at 1-over 145 after carding a 1-over 73 on Monday.
Tuesday’s final round is scheduled to get underway at 7 a.m. CST with the Tigers teeing off from the back nine alongside Charlotte and ninth-ranked Tennessee beginning at 8:24 a.m. Live scoring of the final round will be provided by Golfstat and can be found at www.golfstat.com.
JOHN HAYT INVITATIONAL ? SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
1. Alabama 303-291 ? 594 +18; 2. Coastal Carolina 309-289 ? 598 +22; t3. Vanderbilt 304-295 ? 599 +23; t3. Central Florida 315-284 ? 599 +23; 5. Georgia State 305-297 ? 602 +26; 6. UAB 312-293 ? 605 +29; 7. UCLA 309-297 ? 606 +30; 8. North Florida 309-298 ? 607 +31; 9. Augusta State 307-303 ? 610 +34; 10. Charlotte 307-305 ? 612 +36; 11. LSU 310-303 ? 613 +37; 12. Tennessee 313-302 ? 615 +39; 13. Pepperdine 311-308 ? 619 +43; t14. Notre Dame 311-314 ? 625 +49; t14. South Carolina 311-314 ? 625 +49
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 144)
1. Dustin Johnson, Coastal Carolina, 73-68 ? 141 -3; 2. Jon Curran, Vanderbilt, 73-71 ? 144 E; t3. Kevin Chappell, UCLA, 72-73 ? 145 +1; t3. Greg Forest, Central Florida, 76-69 ? 145 +1; 5. Luke List, Vanderbilt, 75-71 ? 146 +2; 6. Jeff Dennis, North Florida, 76-71 ? 147 +3; t7. Mike Giammaresi, North Florida, 75-73 ? 148 +4; t7. Shane Mason, Pepperdine, 72-76 ? 148 +4; t7. Philip Pettitt, Tennessee, 78-70 ? 148 +4; t7. Giwon Suh, Central Florida, 79-69 ? 148 +4; t7. Gator Todd, Alabama, 75-73 ? 148 +4
LSU SCORES
t21. Brian Noonan 77-74 ? 151 +7
t27. Beck Troutman 77-75 ? 152 +8
t27. Chris Wells 79-73 ? 152 +8
t56. Brent Blaum 77-81 ? 158 +14
78. Garrett Runion 81-92 ? 173 +29