DECATUR, Ala. — LSU sophomores-to-be Josh Jones and Sang Yi celebrated the Fourth of July weekend at Burningtree Country Club where they dominated the competition in winning the team title at the 42nd annual Spirit of America Championship on Saturday afternoon.
Not only that, but Yi cruised to a four-stroke victory for the individual title at the par-71 layout as it marks the second time in as many weeks he has captured a tournament championship following his victory June 26 at the Gateway Tour Summer Series event held in Lewisville, Texas.
Jones and Yi battled 40 teams of two from universities across the country through 54 holes to win the title, including teams for Auburn, Florida State, Mississippi State, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt.
Both LSU standouts kicked off the event with an even-par round of 71 on Thursday, while Jones followed with an impressive round of 4-under 67 and Yi broke par with a round of 1-under 70 on Friday. The duo wrapped up the team championship with yet another outstanding round Saturday as Yi fired a 2-under 69 and Jones posted a 1-over 72 for a 54-hole team score of 6-under 420.
The LSU tandem ran away with the win by finishing an amazing 14 shots ahead of New Orleans’ Ken Looper and Jose Toledo and Vanderbilt’s Trey DelGreco and Ryan Haselden.
But the action continued into Sunday’s final round in the race for the individual championship as Yi matched his third-round score with a 2-under 69 to win medalist honors with a 72-hole total of 5-under 279. Jones finished five shots behind Yi in a tie for third place at even-par 284, including a 3-over par round of 74 during Sunday’s action.
Yi has been on fire this summer after firing a 54-hole score of 16-under 200 to win the individual title as an amateur at the professional event on the Gateway Tour’s Summer Series on June 26.
LSU golfers have enjoyed great success at the Spirit of America Championship in recent years as former Tiger standouts Chris Wells and Andrew Lanahan captured the team title in 2005, while it was Wells finishing second and Lanahan taking third in the individual standings that year.