GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Senior Ken Looper fired rounds of 3-over 73 in the first round and 1-under 69 in the second round Saturday at the Mark Bostick Golf Course to help lead the Tigers into sole possession of third place in the team standings through the first day of competition at the 2011 Gator Invitational.
Looper wrapped up the afternoon just three shots off the pace with a 36-hole score of 2-over par 142 as he is now in position to earn his team-leading fourth top-10 finish of the 2010-11 campaign.
More importantly, the Tigers posted a two-round total of 14-over 574 to put themselves in a position for a strong finish in their spring season opener. LSU wrapped up the day in third place overall behind only the 3-over 563 by Florida and 9-over 569 by Auburn through 36 holes of competition. Central Florida follows closely behind in fourth place at 15-over 575, and North Florida rounds out the top five at 19-over 579.
After wrapping up the first round in a tie for 23rd place on the leaderboard with a 3-over 73, Looper ended the day with an impressive 1-under 69 in the second round to finish in a four-way tie for fifth place for the chase for medalist honors. Florida Andres Echavarria is the leader in the clubhouse at 1-under 139.
LSU seniors Andrew Loupe and Clayton Rotz are also on the cusp of a top-10 finish to kick off the spring as they matched one another with a pair of 4-over 144s to finish the day in a tie for 14th place overall.
Loupe, who earned a second-place finish on the leaderboard at the Gator Invitational in 2010, opened this weekend’s action with a 1-over 71 in the first round and 3-over 73 in the second round for a 36-hole score of 4-over 144. Rotz matched Loupe shot for shot in two rounds of play as he posted scores of 3-over 73 in the first round and 1-over 71 in the second round for a matching 4-over 144.
Fellow senior John Peterson rebounded from a difficult 7-over 77 in the first round with a near flawless 2-under 68 in the second round to finish the day in a tie for 20th place at 5-over 145. Peterson recorded three birdies with just one bogey during his final round for the team’s lowest score of the afternoon.
Junior Sang Yi carded consecutive rounds of 7-over 77 and 2-over 72 for a 36-hole score of 9-over 149 to head into the third and final round on Sunday in a tie for 38th place in the individual standings.
The Tigers will tee off in Sunday’s final round as part of the final grouping alongside Florida and Auburn as they will tee off from the front nine beginning at 8 a.m. CT. Live scoring for the final round will be provided by Golfstat and can be found online by logging on to www.golfstat.com.
GATOR INVITATIONAL – SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 560)
1. Florida 281-282 – 563 +3; 2. Auburn 291-278 – 569 +9; 3. LSU 294-280 – 574 +14; 4. Central Florida 292-283 – 575 +15; 5. North Florida 291-288 – 579 +19; 6. Ole Miss 292-291 – 583 +23; T7. Florida State 295-289 – 584 +24; T7. Coastal Carolina 289-295 – 584 +24; 9. Lamar 296-291 – 587 +27; 10. Mississippi State 303-296 – 599 +39; 11. UAB 298-302 – 600 +40; 12. Georgia State 308-298 – 606 +46; T13. Georgia Southern 310-301 – 611 +51; T13. Jacksonville 310-301 – 611 +51.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 140)
1. Andres Echavarria, Florida, 69-70 – 139 -1; 2. Jonathan Randolph, Ole Miss, 70-70 – 140 E; T3. Phillip Choi, Florida, 72-69 – 141 +1; T3. Drew Kittleson, Florida State, 72-69 – 141 +1; T5. Blayne Barber, Auburn, 73-69 – 142 +2; T5. Niclas Carlsson, Auburn, 72-70 – 142 +2; T5. MJ Daffue, Lamar, 73-69 – 142 +2; T5. Ken Looper, LSU, 73-69 – 142 +2; T5. Tyler McCumber, Florida, 73-69 – 142 +2; T5. Bank Vongvanij, Florida, 68-74 – 142 +2.
LSU SCORES
T5. Ken Looper, 73-69 – 142 +2
T14. Andrew Loupe, 71-73 – 144 +4
T14. Clayton Rotz, 73-71 – 144 +4
T20. John Peterson, 77-68 – 145 +5
T38. Sang Yi, 77-72 – 149 +9