ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — LSU sophomore John Peterson teed it up in Friday’s opening round of the 2009 SEC Men’s Golf Championships among the hottest golfers in the field, and he continued his steady play with a team-leading 1-under par 71 at Frederica Golf Club.
Peterson entered the weekend with three top-five finishes in his last four tournament starts, and he is in position for yet another top finish as he is currently tied for eighth place on the leaderboard.
With his effort, Peterson led the Tigers into a tie for ninth place in the team standings as they shot a team score of 13-over 301 in the first round.
The top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs have raced out to an eight-stroke lead in the team chase for the team championship as they are the only squad under par after firing an impressive 6-under 282 on the day. The Arkansas Razorbacks follow in second place after posting a 2-over par 290.
LSU is paired with defending SEC champion Alabama and Tennessee in Saturday’s second round as the trio will tee off from the back nine beginning at 7:50 a.m. CT. Live scoring of the second and third rounds of the 54-hole championship will be provided by Golfstat and can be found online at the organization’s official Web site at www.golfstat.com.
Peterson seemed destined for a modest finish in the first round after dropping to 3-over par for his round following a tough double bogey at the par-four 12th hole.
But the sophomore from Fort Worth, Texas, caught fire with a birdie on the par-four 13th hole and closed with a fury after carding birdies on the par-five 15th, par-four 16th and par-five 18th holes to finish at 1-under on the day. His four birdies over the final six holes matched the best finish of the tournament’s opening round over that span.
Peterson trails Kentucky’s Jordan Blann by four strokes on the leaderboard as the Wildcat will tee off in the second round with a one-stroke lead over Billy Horschel of Florida and Mark Silvers III of South Carolina following a tournament-low 5-under 67 on Friday. Like Peterson, Blann closed with four birdies over his final six holes to take the lead in the race for medalist honors.
Freshman Sang Yi added a 3-over par round of 75 to the Tigers’ total as he finished the afternoon in a tie for 28th place in the individual standings.
Sophomore Andrew Loupe carded a 5-over 77 to finish in a tie for 40th place as he is now making his second start at the SEC Championships, while freshman Josh Jones is in a tie for 49th place at 6-over 78 and sophomore Clayton Rotz is in a tie for 55th place at 9-over 81 for the tournament.
SEC MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS ? FIRST ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 288)
1. Georgia 282 -6; 2. Arkansas 290 +2; T3. Vanderbilt 292 +4; T3. Florida 292 +4; T5. South Carolina 293 +5; T5. Mississippi State 293 +5; 7. Ole Miss 296 +8; 8. Kentucky 297 +9; T9. LSU 301 +13; T9. Auburn 301 +13; 11. Tennessee 305 +17; 12. Alabama 308 +20.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 72)
1. Jordan Blann, Kentucky, 67 -5; T2. Billy Horschel, Florida, 68 -4; T2. Mark Silvers III, South Carolina, 68 -4; T4. David Lingmerth, Arkansas, 70 -2; T4. Will Roebuck, Ole Miss, 70 -2; T4. Harris English, Georgia, 70 -2; T4. Brian Harman, Georgia, 70 -2; T8. John Peterson, LSU, 71 -1; T8. Noah Goldman, Mississippi State, 71 -1; T8. Toby Ragland, Florida, 71 -1; T8. Carlos Sainz, Jr., Mississippi State, 71 -1; T8. Russell Henley, Georgia, 71 -1; T8. Hudson Swafford, Georgia, 71 -1.
LSU SCORES
T8. John Peterson, 71 -1
T28. Sang Yi, 75 +3
T40. Andrew Loupe 77 +5
T49. Josh Jones 78 +6
T55. Clayton Rotz 81 +9