STATESBORO, Ga. — LSU freshman Sang Yi was masterful in firing an opening round 3-under par 69 to finish the day with a share of the lead and guide the 18th-ranked Tigers on Friday at the prestigious Schenkel/E-Z-Go Invitational at Forest Heights Country Club.
Yi, who is making his seventh tournament appearance of the season for the Tigers, is tied atop the leaderboard with three other golfers after carding four birdies and just one bogey on his round and firing his second-lowest round of the 2008-09 season.
The Tigers finished the afternoon with an 18-hole team score of 8-over 296 to tie for 11th place in the team standings with the Vanderbilt Commodores and Virginia Cavaliers.
After teeing off from the back nine, Yi fired out of the blocks by making back-to-back birdies on the par-four 11th and par-five 12th holes. He then dropped to 3-under on his round with a birdie on the par-three third after making the turn at 2-under par for the day. After giving a shot back with a bogey on the par-four fifth hole, Yi birdied the par-five seventh down the stretch for a 3-under 69.
The native of Carrollton, Texas, is now in a position to earn the best finish of his young career as he boasts a pair of Top 10 finishes already this season. Yi’s best finish came in the season opener when he tied for fifth place at the Gopher Invitational back on Sept. 14.
Sophomore Andrew Loupe wrapped up the opening round in a tie for 18th place after recording an even-par round of 72 that included a trio of birdies on the day.
While making only his second tournament start of the season, freshman Austin Gutgsell proved to be steady in the opening round while carding a 3-over 75 to finish the day in a tie for 45th place in the individual standings. Fellow freshman Josh Jones posted an 8-over 80 to tie for 89th place, and sophomore John Peterson carded a 9-over 81 to finish in a tie for 92nd place.
The 15th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers have jumped out to a three-stroke lead over North Florida in the team standings after blistering the course with a round of 1-under 287.
Yi is currently tied atop the individual leaderboard with Tennessee’s Robin Wingardh, Auburn’s Glenn Northcutt and Augusta State’s Taylor Floyd as each competitor fired matching rounds of 3-under par 69. They hold a narrow one-stroke lead over a trio of golfers at 2-under 70.
LSU is paired with Georgia Southern and South Carolina in Saturday’s second round and will tee off from the front nine beginning at 8:45 a.m. CT.
SCHENKEL/E-Z-GO INVITATIONAL ? FIRST ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 288)
1. Tennessee 287 -1; 2. North Florida 290 +2; T3. Georgia Southern 291 +3; T3. South Carolina 291 +3; 5. Florida 292 +4; 6. Oklahoma 293 +5; 7. Auburn 294 +6; T8. Georgia State 295 +7; T8. Ole Miss 295 +7; T8. NC State 295 +8; T11. LSU 296 +8; T11. Vanderbilt 296 +8; T11. Virginia 296 +8; 14. Kentucky 297 +9; 15. Augusta State 298 +10; T16. North Carolina 302 +14; T16. Iowa 302 +14; 18. Notre Dame 311 +23.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 72)
T1. Sang Yi, LSU, 69 -3; T1. Robin Wingardh, Tennssee, 69 -3; T1. Glenn Northcutt, Auburn, 69 -3; T1. Taylor Floyd, Augusta State, 69 -3; T5. Darren Blair, NC State, 70 -2; T5. Jeff Dennis, North Florida, 70 -2; T5. Tom Sherreard, Georgia State, 70 -2; T8. Logan Blondell, Georgia Southern, 71 -1; T8. Sam Braver, South Carolina, 71 -1; T8. Wesley Bryan, South Carolina, 71 -1; T8. Will Collins, Virginia, 71 -1; T8. Matt Hill, NC State, 71 -1; T8. Henrik Norlander, Augusta State, 71 -1; T8. Chris Paisley, Tennessee, 71 -1; T8. Jonathan Randolph, Ole Miss, 71 -1; T8. Andy Winings, Kentucky, 71 -1; T8. Ryan Zabroske, Georgia Souther, 71 -1.
LSU SCORES
T1. Sang Yi, 69 -3
T18. Andrew Loupe, 72 E
T45. Austin Gutgsell, 75 +3
T89. Josh Jones, 80 +8
T92. John Peterson, 81 +9