PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Led by sophomore John Peterson‘s 1-under par 71 in Sunday’s first round, the LSU men’s golf team posted a team total of 8-over 296 to wrap up the day in sole possession of second place at the John Hayt Invitational at Sawgrass Country Club.
The Tigers currently trail eighth-ranked Arizona State by six strokes in the team standings as the Sun Devils fired an 18-hole score of 2-over 290 on Sunday. Georgia Southern and UAB are each in a tie for third place at 10-over 298, while Tennessee and Georgia State round out the top five in a tie for fifth place at 11-over 299 after the first round.
Peterson also finds himself in a tie for second place on the leader board as he is one of only three golfers in this year’s field to break par in the opening round.
Peterson, who opened play on the back nine with the rest of his Tiger teammates, raced out of the gate with three birdies and one bogey in the first nine holes to make the turn at 2-under par on his round before dropping to 3-under on the day with a birdie on the par-four first hole. He then made a double bogey on the par-three sixth to finish the day with a 1-under 71.
The Fort Worth, Texas, native trails Arizona State standout James Byrne by three shots as the Sun Devil fired a tournament-low 4-under 68 on Sunday afternoon. Peterson is tied for second with Coastal Carolina’s Zack Byrd, who also broke par with a 1-under 71 in the first round.
Like Peterson, fellow sophomore Andrew Loupe finds himself in the Top 10 of the leaderboard in a tie for ninth place after opening the championship with a 1-over 73 in the first round.
Loupe struggled out of the gate with a double bogey on the par-four 10th hole and dropping a shot with a bogey at the par-three 15th. After picking up two shots with birdies at the par-four 17th and par-four second holes, Loupe then fell back to 3-over for his round with bogeys at the par-three third and par-four fifth. But the Baton Rouge native catapulted himself into the Top 10 by carding a pair of birdies at the par-three sixth and par-five eighth to finish the day at 1-over 73.
Junior Brent Blaum also posted a solid round of 2-over 74 to finish the first round in a tie for 12th place, while freshmen Josh Jones and Sang Yi are each in a tie for 52nd with matching rounds of 6-over 78. In addition, senior Jarrod Barsamian added a 6-over 78 while playing as an individual.
LSU is paired with Arizona State and Georgia Southern in Monday’s second round and will begin play from the front nine with its first tee time at 8:30 a.m. CT. Live scoring of the second round is provided by Golfstat and can be found online at www.golfstat.com.
JOHN HAYT INVITATIONAL ? FIRST ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 288)
1. Arizona State 290 +2; 2. LSU 296 +8; T3. Georgia Southern 298 +10; T3. UAB 298 +10; T5. Tennessee 299 +11; T5. Georgia State 299 +11; 7. Coastal Carolina 301 +13; 8. TCU 302 +14; 9. Tennessee-Chattanooga 303 +15; 10. Tulsa 304 +16; T11. UNC-Wilmington 305 +17; T11. North Florida 305 +17; 13. Alabama 307 +19; 14. Furman 310 +22; 15. Duke 314 +26.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 72)
1. James Byrne, Arizona State, 68 -4; T2. John Peterson, LSU, 71 -1; T2. Zack Byrd, Coastal Carolina, 71 -1; T4. Logan Blondell, Georgia Southern, 72 E; T4. Tobias Rosendahl, Georgia State, 72 E; T4. Ryan Brooks, Tulsa, 72 E; T4. Zach Sucher, UAB, 72 E; T4. Hunter Hamrick, Alabama, 72 E; T9. Andrew Loupe, LSU, 73 +1; T9. Chris Paisley, Tennessee, 73 +1; T9. Johan de Beer, TCU, 73 +1.
LSU SCORES
T2. John Peterson, 71 -1
T9. Andrew Loupe, 73 +1
T12. Brent Blaum, 74 +2
T52. Josh Jones, 78 +6
T52. Sang Yi, 78 +6
T52. Jarrod Barsamian, 78 +6