ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Freshman Brent Blaum wrapped up the 2007 SEC Men’s Golf Championships in impressive fashion as he fired the lowest round of his LSU career in Sunday’s final round with a 1-under par 69 at Sea Island Golf Club.
Blaum paced the Tigers on the final day as the squad posted a team score of 14-over 294 to earn a ninth-place finish with a three-round total of 52-over 892 at the Seaside Course.
“We played our best round of the week on Friday in the worst conditions,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “Unfortunately, today was similar to many of our rounds this spring where we didn’t take advantage of ideal conditions. We needed one more score to improve our finish.
“With that being said, the future of LSU golf is very bright. Our young guys got some valuable experience this week by getting to play in the last wave on Saturday, and we have some talented newcomers heading to Baton Rouge in the fall. We’re certainly looking forward to coming back.”
Blaum got off to a solid start after teeing off from the back nine as he made par on his first four holes before dropping a shot at the par-four 14th hole. He rebounded by holing a 20-yard bunker shot for eagle from the left side of the green on the par-five 15th and made the turn at 2-under on his round following a birdie on the par-three 17th.
Blaum picked up another shot on the first hole of his back nine by making birdie on No. 1 to move to 3-under for the day. But a double bogey on the par-five seventh hole dropped him back to 1-under to finish with a solid round of 69.
The native of Coral Gables, Fla., finished the championship in a tie for 40th at 18-over 228 in his first career appearance as he followed scores of 10-over 80 on Friday and 9-over 79 on Saturday with LSU’s lowest 18-hole score of the weekend in Sunday’s final round.
“I just went out and had a lot of fun today,” Blaum said. “Other than making double on No. 7, I’m very happy with how I played. I played with more confidence and took advantage of my chances when I was able to pick up some shots. I just feel like I tried to do too much the first two days when I should have just stayed patient like I did today.”
Senior Chris Wells also posted a solid round for the Tigers as he carded a 2-over 72 to finish in a tie for 23rd at 12-over 222 in his final career appearance at the SEC Championships.
Wells got off to a shaky start on his round after making bogey on his first three holes but kept his focus to finish at 1-under par over the remaining 15 holes. The Mobile, Ala., native capped the afternoon by draining a birdie putt that he stepped off at 57 feet on the green at hole No. 9.
Junior Brian Noonan was the Tigers’ top finisher at this year’s championship as the Austin, Texas, native tied for 16th at 11-over 221 after posting a solid round of 4-over 74 on Sunday. Freshman Bryant Lach and junior Beck Troutman fired matching rounds of 9-over 79 in the final round to finish in a tie for 45th and 47th, respectively.
Sunday’s action proved once again why the SEC Championships is considered among the most competitive conference tournaments in college golf as Tennessee and Alabama battled for top honors by playing within one shot of one another until the 72nd and final hole of the weekend.
Tennessee’s Tino Weiss tapped in for par on the 18th green to clinch the championship for the Volunteers, who ended an 18-year drought by winning their first conference title since 1990 and their third in program history with a 54-hole score of 29-over 869. Alabama finished two strokes back in second place at 31-over 871 for the championship.
The race for the individual title was not as close as Auburn junior Patton Kizzire entered the final round atop the leader board with a three-stroke lead over the rest of the field. He extended that lead to four strokes by the end of the day as he fired an even-par round of 71 to win the individual title with a total of 1-over 211.
Kizzire becomes the first golfer at Auburn to win medalist honors at the SEC Championships since Roland Thatcher accomplished the feat in 2000. He is the fourth Tiger in program history to finish atop the standings as he follows Jimmy Green in 1991 and Bryant MacKellar in 1997.
Weiss posted a 1-over 71 in the final round to finish in a tie for second place at 5-over 215 with teammate Chris Paisley, who followed an even-par 70 in the second round with an impressive 1-under 69 on Sunday. First-round leader Will Roebuck of Ole Miss led a contingent of four golfers in a tie for fourth place at 6-over 216.
The Tigers will wrap up the regular season in three weeks as they are set to compete in the prestigious Linger Longer Invitational at Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Ga., from May 13-14. The event is one of the premier college tournaments of the spring season.
2007 SEC MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS ? FINAL ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 840)
1. Tennessee 301-283-285 ? 869 +29; 2. Alabama 298-288-285 ? 871 +31; 3. Auburn 304-288-282 ? 874 +34; 4. Ole Miss 295-293-288 ? 876 +36; 5. Florida 304-284-290 ? 878 +38; 6. Georgia 308-289-286 ? 883 +43; 7. Vanderbilt 302-295-289 ? 886 +46; 8. South Carolina 304-297-288 ? 889 +49; 9. LSU 301-297-294 ? 892 +52; 10. Arkansas 316-295-286 ? 897 +57; 11. Kentucky 312-293-296 ? 901 +61; 12. Mississippi State 304-307-302 ? 913 +73 +73
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 210)
1. Patton Kizzire, Auburn, 72-69-70 ? 211 +1; t2. Chris Paisley, Tennessee, 76-70-69 ? 215 +5; t2. Tino Weiss, Tennessee, 74-70-71 ? 215 +5; t4. Tyler Brown, Florida, 75-69-72 ? 216 +6; t4. Andrew Landry, Arkansas, 73-72-71 ? 216 +6; t4. Will Roebuck, Ole Miss, 69-75-72 ? 216 +6; t4. Michael Thompson, Alabama, 77-72-67 ? 216 +6; 8. Charles Ford, Tennessee, 75-71-71 ? 217 +7; t9. Jon Curran, Vanderbilt, 76-68-75 ? 219 +9; t9. Mark Harrell, Alabama, 75-70-74 ? 219 +9; t9. Callum Macaulay, Ole Miss, 75-71-73 ? 219 +9; t9. Glenn Northcutt, Auburn, 81-70-68 ? 219 +9; t9. Chris Rogers, Ole Miss, 76-74-69 ? 219 +9; t9. Brendon Todd, Georgia, 74-72-73 ? 219 +9; t9. Gator Todd, Alabama, 73-75-71 ? 219 +9
LSU SCORES
T16. Brian Noonan 76-71-74 ? 221 +11
T23. Chris Wells 73-77-72 ? 222 +12
T40. Brent Blaum 80-79-69 ? 228 +18
T45. Bryant Lach 75-75-79 ? 229 +19
T47. Beck Troutman 77-74-79 ? 230 +20