PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — After posting the lowest team total in Monday’s second round at 7-over par 295, the LSU men’s golf team has taken a two-shot lead in the race for the team title at the 2009 John Hayt Invitational at picturesque Sawgrass Country Club.
The Tigers, who opened play Monday trailing 10th-ranked Arizona State by six shots, were seven shots better than any other team in the field on the day and wrapped up the second round with two day total of 15-over 591 at the par-72 layout.
LSU used a furious finish down the stretch to snatch first place from the Sun Devils as its top four scorers combined for an impressive score of 3-under par over the final three holes.
Arizona State finished the day two shots back in second place at 17-over 593, including a 15-over 303 in the second round. Georgia Southern posted the second-lowest team total of the afternoon at 14-over 302 to move into third place with a 36-hole score of 24-over 600, while UAB is fourth at 28-over 604 and Georgia State is fifth at 31-over 607 for the championship.
A win would give LSU its third tournament championship of the 2008-09 season as it also shared the team title at both the Gopher Invitational and Squire Creek Invitational during the fall season.
“We have only been through two rounds, and this tournament is a long way from over,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead. “This is a hard course with windy conditions. I’m very proud of our finish today. We had an eagle and a birdie coming in, and with the conditions out here today, that can be a five or six-shot swing on one hole. We expect it to be tough out there again tomorrow.”
Not only is LSU in position to bring the team title home to Baton Rouge, but sophomore Andrew Loupe is within striking distance of the leaders in the chase for medalist honors after blistering the course with the lowest second-round score in the field at 2-under 70.
He currently trails Zack Byrd of Coastal Carolina and James Byrne of Arizona State by two shots on the leaderboard as he enters Tuesday’s final round with a 36-hole score of 1-under 143.
Loupe led the LSU charge down the stretch with a pair of birdies on the par-four 14th and par-four 17th to finish 2-under in his final five holes. Loupe is on the verge of earning his first top 10 finish of the season and his best career finish as an LSU Tiger, which is currently a tie for fourth that he recorded at the SunTrust Gator Invitational as a freshman a year ago.
Like Loupe, fellow sophomore John Peterson is also in contention for the individual crown with a two-day total of even-par 144 to sit in a tie for fourth place on the leaderboard.
Peterson, who followed a 1-under 71 in the first round with a 1-over 73 in the second round, got off to a rough start Monday after making a pair of double bogeys on the par-four second and par-four fifth holes. After making the turn at 4-over for his round, Peterson made eagle on the par-four 10th hole before finishing the day with a birdie on the par-five 18th hole for a round of 1-over.
Junior Brent Blaum and freshman Josh Jones carded matching rounds of 4-over 76 on Monday as Blaum finds himself just outside the Top 10 in a tie for 13th place at 6-over 150 and Jones will tee off in the final round in a tie for 33rd place at 10-over 154 for the championship.
Freshman Sang Yi finished Monday’s second round in a tie for 67th at 16-over 160. Senior Jarrod Barsamian is currently tied for 45th place at 12-over 156 while playing as an individual.
LSU is paired with Arizona State and Georgia Southern in Tuesday’s final round and will tee off from the front nine beginning at 8:30 a.m. CT. Live scoring of the final round will be provided by Golfstat and can be found online at www.golfstat.com.
JOHN HAYT INVITATIONAL ? SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAMS SCORES (Par 576)
1. LSU 296-295 ? 591 +15; 2. Arizona State 290-303 ? 593 +17; 3. Georgia Southern 298-302 ? 600 +24; 4. UAB 298-306 ? 604 +28; 5. Georgia State 299-308 ? 607 +31; T6. Tulsa 304-305 ? 609 +33; T6. Coastal Carolina 301-308 ? 609 +33; 8. Tennessee 299-311 ? 610 +34; T9. North Florida 305-307 ? 612 +36; T9. Alabama 307-305 ? 612 +36; 11. TCU 302-317 ? 619 +43; 12. Tennessee-Chattanooga 303-317 ? 620 +44; 13. UNC-Wilmington 305-316 ? 621 +45; 14. Furman 310-312 ? 622 +46; 15. Duke 314-317 ? 631 +55.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 144)
T1. Zack Byrd, Coastal Carolina, 71-70 ? 141 -3; T1. James Byrne, Arizona State, 68-73 ? 141 -3; 3. Andrew Loupe, LSU, 73-70 ? 143 -1; T4. Hunter Hamrick, Alabama, 72-72 ? 144 E; T4. John Peterson, LSU, 71-73 ? 144 E; 6. Zach Sucher, UAB, 72-74 ? 146 +2; 7. Drew Lethem, Georgia Southern, 75-72 ? 147 +3; 8. John Allen, Georgia State, 75-73 ? 148 +4; T9. Stephan Gross, Arizona State, 74-75 ? 149 +5; T9. Tripp McAllister, Coastal Carolina, 74-75 ? 149 +5; Kaylor Timmons, UAB, 74-75 ? 149 +5; T9. Joe Monte, Georgia Southern, 76-73 ? 149 +5.
LSU SCORES
3. Andrew Loupe, 73-70 ? 143 -1
T4. John Peterson, 71-73 ? 144 E
T13. Brent Blaum, 74-76 ? 150 +6
T33. Josh Jones, 78-76 ? 154 +10
*T45. Jarrod Barsamian, 78-78 ? 156 +12
T67. Sang Yi, 78-82 ? 160 +16
* – Denotes player competing as an individual