AWENDAW, S.C. – The 28th-ranked LSU men’s golf team extended its lead to two strokes following Monday’s second round at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate as four golfers carded rounds under par en route to a team score of 6-under par 278 on the afternoon at Bulls Bay Golf Club.
The Tigers, who opened play with a one-stroke lead over Duke and Wake Forest, fired their fourth-lowest team score of the season in relation to par for a two-shot lead with a 36-hole score of 2-under 566.
The 19th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks fired a 12-under par 272 on the day to move up six spots into second place with a two-day total of even-par 568. Virginia trails the Tigers by three shots with a two-day score of 1-over 569, while Duke and Wake Forest are tied for fourth at 2-over 570 after the second round.
Not only has LSU put itself in a position to win its third team championship of the campaign, but the team is on pace for its best finish in the sixth edition of the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate. The Tigers have earned a best finish of fifth place in five previous appearances in the annual event.
LSU will play alongside South Carolina and Virginia in the final round on Tuesday and is slated to tee off from the front nine beginning at 8:40 a.m. CT. Live scoring can be found online at www.golfstat.com.
The Tigers continue to be led by the outstanding performance of sophomore Sang Yi, who followed his 2-under 69 in the first round on Sunday with a 3-under 68 in the second round on Monday to finished the day in a tie for second place on the leaderboard with a 36-hole score of 5-under 137. NC State’s Matt Hill holds a two-shot lead over both Yi and South Carolina’s Patrick Rada with a score of 7-under 135.
After Yi opened with back-to-back birdies on holes No. 1 and No. 2, he fell back to even-par with bogeys at the par-three third and par-four fifth holes. But he was flawless over the final 13 holes while making birdies on holes No. 6, No. 10 and No. 11 en route to his lowest round of the year at 3-under par 68.
With his outstanding performance, Yi is poised for his best finish of the season and of his career. He has earned one Top 10 finish this season with a tie for 10th place overall at the Louisiana Classics on March 9.
Three other Tigers broke par for the second round Monday as junior Andrew Loupe, junior John Peterson and sophomore Josh Jones matched one another with a 1-under 70 on the afternoon. This marks just the third time this season that four Tigers have broken par in a single round, including the second round at the David Toms Intercollegiate on Oct. 26 and the second round at the Louisiana Classics on March 8.
Loupe finds himself just one shot out of the Top 10 of the leaderboard as he sits in a 15th-place tie at even-par 142, while Jones is tied for 28th place at 3-over 145 and Peterson is tied for 51st place at 7-over 149.
Sophomore standout Austin Gutgsell added a 3-over par round of 74 on Monday to finish the day in a 34th place tie in the individual standings with a 36-hole score of 4-over 146.
After wrapping up Tuesday’s final round at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate, the Tigers will make a trip to Austin, Texas, on April 5-6 to compete in the prestigious Morris Williams Intercollegiate hosted by the University of Texas at the University of Texas Golf Club.
HOOTIE AT BULLS BAY INTERCOLLEGIATE – SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 568)
1. LSU 288-278 – 566 -2; 2. South Carolina 296-272 – 568 E; 3. Virginia 295-274 – 569 +1; T4. Duke 289-281 – 570 +2; T4. Wake Forest 289-281 – 570 +2; 6. Auburn 291-280 – 571 +3; T7. Clemson 294-278 – 572 +4; T7. Augusta State 302-270 – 572 +4; T9. Chattanooga 300-277 – 577 +9; T9. NC State 291-286 – 577 +9; 11. Kentucky 299-283 – 582 +14; 12. East Tennessee State 301-284 – 585 +17; 13. Central Florida 307-286 – 593 +25; 14. Long Beach State 307-297 – 604 +36; 15. College of Charleston 314-299 – 613 +45.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 142)
1. Matt Hill, NC State, 68-67 – 135 -7; T2. Sang Yi, LSU, 69-68 – 137 -5; T2. Patrick Rada, South Carolina, 71-66 – 137 -5; 4. Brendan Gielow, Wake Forest, 72-66 – 138 -4; T5. Wesley Bryan, South Carolina, 75-64 – 139 -3; T5. Kyle Kopsick, Auburn, 71-68 – 139 -3; T5. Patrick Reed, Augusta State, 73-66 – 139 -3; T8. Mitchell Krywulycz, Augusta State, 72-68 – 140 -2; T8. Will McCurdy, Auburn, 70-70 – 140 -2; T10. Spencer Anderson, Duke, 70-71 – 141 -1; T10. Jacob Burger, Clemson, 70-71 – 141 -1; T10. Steven Fox, Chattanooga, 74-67 – 141 -1; T10. Luke Hopkins, Clemson, 72-69 – 141 -1; T10. Brinson Paolini, Duke, 73-68 – 141 -1.
LSU SCORES
T2. Sang Yi, 69-68 – 137 -5
T15. Andrew Loupe, 72-70 – 142 E
T28. Josh Jones, 75-70 – 145 +3
T34. Austin Gutgsell, 72-74 – 146 +4
T51. John Peterson, 79-70 – 149 +7