ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Junior Brian Noonan teed it up in the second round of the SEC Men’s Golf Championships looking to improve upon his 6-over 76 in the first round, and he did just that by firing a team-best 1-over 71 on Saturday at Sea Island Golf Club.
Noonan got off to a shaky start on his round as he was 3-over par through six holes but stayed focused and made three birdies with one bogey over the last 12 holes to finish with LSU’s lowest round of the championship.
Noonan made birdie the par-four eighth hole before making the turn at 2-over for the afternoon, while he added back-to-back birdies on the par-four 14th and par-five 15th en route to a 1-under 34 on the back nine. He finished his afternoon by draining a 12-foot par putt on the 18th green with family and teammates watching nearby.
The Austin, Texas, native is in a position to earn his first Top 10 finish at the SEC Men’s Golf Championships as he is one shot out in a tie for 13th place with a two-round total of 7-over 147. He finished the championship in a tie for 38th in his first career appearance a year ago.
“I really felt like I threw away some shots early on, but I just held it together pretty well and finished strong,” Noonan said. “I’m not going to change a thing tomorrow. It’s important on this course to keep hitting fairways and put the ball in the right spots on the greens to have a chance. I just need to try to get off to a better start and see what happens.”
The Tigers teed off on Saturday in a tie for third place and will enter the final round in eighth after making a four-stroke improvement with a team total of 17-over 297 in the second round. They finished the afternoon with a 36-hole score of 38-over 598.
Noonan was not the only Tiger to play well on yet another windy day at the Seaside Course as fellow junior Beck Troutman carded a solid round of 4-over 74 following a 7-over 77 in the first round. Troutman was 3-over after his first five holes but made a pair of birdies on holes No. 11 and No. 14 to finish the second day in a tie for 29th place at 11-over 151.
Freshman Bryant Lach has posted matching rounds of 5-over 75 as he sits in a tie for 22nd place with teammate Chris Wells at 10-over 150 after two rounds. Wells followed his opening round 3-over 73 with a 7-over 77 on Saturday, while freshman Brent Blaum has posted a two-round total of 19-over 159.
Tennessee, which opened the second round of play in a tie for third place, has taken the lead in the team standings after two rounds and will carry a two-stroke lead into the final round after firing the lowest team total of the day at 3-over 283. The Volunteers are two strokes better than Alabama with a two-round total of 24-over 584.
First-round leader Ole Miss held its lead through 15 holes on Saturday but gave ground to the rest of the field over the last three holes and will head into Sunday’s final round in a tie for third place with the Florida Gators at 28-over 588. Auburn follows in fifth place at 32-over 592.
Auburn junior Patton Kizzire followed his 2-over 72 in the first round by firing an impressive round of 1-under 69 in the second round to take a three-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round with a 36-hole score of 1-over 141. First-round leader Will Roebuck of Ole Miss leads a group of four golfers in a tie for second place at 4-over 144.
The Tigers are paired with South Carolina and Vanderbilt in Sunday’s final round and will tee off from the back nine beginning at 7 a.m. CDT. Live scoring of the final round will be provided by Golfstat and can be found online at www.golfstat.com.
2007 SEC MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS ? SECOND ROUND
TEAM SCORES (Par 560)
1. Tennessee 301-283 ? 584 +24; 2. Alabama 298-288 ? 586 +26; t3. Florida 304-284 ? 588 +28; t3. Ole Miss 295-293 ? 588 +28; 5. Auburn 304-288 ? 592 +32; t6. Vanderbilt 302-295 ? 597 +37; t6. Georgia 308-289 ? 597 +37; 8. LSU 301-297 ? 598 +38; 9. South Carolina 304-297 ? 601 +41; 10. Kentucky 312-293 ? 605 +45; t11. Mississippi State 304-307 ? 611 +51; t11. Arkansas 316-295 ? 611 +51
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 140)
1. Patton Kizzire, Auburn, 72-69 ? 141 +1; t2. Tyler Brown, Florida, 75-69 ? 144 +4; t2. Jon Curran, Vanderbilt, 76-68 ? 144 +4; t2. Will Roebuck, Ole Miss, 69-75 ? 144 +4; t2. Tino Weiss, Tennessee, 74-70 ? 144 +4; t6. Mark Harrell, Alabama, 75-70 ? 145 +5; t6. Andrew Landry, Arkansas, 73-72 ? 145 +5; t6. Matthew Swan, Alabama, 74-71 ? 145 +5; t9. Charles Ford, Tennessee, 75-71 ? 146 +6; t9. Callum Macaulay, Ole Miss, 75-71 ? 146 +6; t9. Chris Paisley, Tennessee, 76-70 ? 146 +6; t9. Brendon Todd, Georgia, 74-72 ? 146 +6
LSU SCORES
T13. Brian Noonan 76-71 ? 147 +7
T22. Bryant Lach 75-75 ? 150 +10
T22. Chris Wells 73-77 ? 150 +10
T29. Beck Troutman 77-74 ? 151 +11
54. Brent Blaum 80-79 ? 159 +19