STATESBORO, Ga. – After firing a team score of 11-under par 277 in Saturday’s second round at the 32nd-annual Schenkel Invitational, the No. 11-ranked LSU men’s golf team remained in third place on the leaderboard as it heads into the final round Sunday at Forest Heights Country Club.
With a 36-hole score of 12-under 564, the Tigers have pulled to within four shots of No. 4-ranked Florida for second place after trailing the Gators by five shots entering Saturday’s competition. Auburn finished a tournament-low round of 13-under 275 to finish the day with a leading total of 22-under 554.
In firing the team’s second-lowest round of the 2010-11 season, all five members of LSU’s starting lineup broke par on Saturday en route to a score of 11-under 277 on the afternoon.
The Tigers nearly matched their season-low of 12-under 276 they fired in the second round of the second-annual David Toms Intercollegiate on Oct. 18 while winning the team championship.
Junior Austin Gutgsell continues to lead the way for the Tigers as he followed a 3-under 69 in the opening round with a 2-under 70 in the second round to finish the day in a tie for fourth place overall at 5-under 139 for the championship. With his performance, Gutgsell has put himself in a position to earn his second top-five finish of the campaign, which includes an individual title at the David Toms Intercollegiate.
Senior All-American and Ben Hogan Award candidate John Peterson follows in a tie for seventh place for the tournament at 4-under 140 as he added a 1-under 71 to his 3-under 69 from the opening round. He has an opportunity to earn his fourth top-10 finish of the year following Sunday’s final round.
While Gutgsell and Peterson continue to set the pace for the Tigers during the tournament, junior standout Sang Yi fired the team’s lowest score of the second round with a 4-under 68 on Sunday.
Yi matched his best score of the season as he catapulted himself from a tie for 25th place at the start of the day into the Top 10 of the leaderboard in a tie for 10th place with a 36-hole score of 3-under 141. After making the turn at even-par for his round, Yi carded four birdies on the back nine Saturday at the par-five 12th, par-four 14th, par-four 17th and par-five 18th holes for a 4-under par 68 for the day.
Senior All-American Andrew Loupe fired a 3-under 69 for the Tigers in the second round to move up into a tie for 32nd place overall at 1-over 145 for the weekend, while freshman Andrew Presley finds himself in a tie for 43rd place at 2-over 146, including a 2-under 70 during Saturday’s action.
While competing this weekend as an individual, LSU senior Clayton Rotz followed a 7-over 79 on Friday with a 4-over 76 on Saturday to finish the day in a tie for 74th place overall with a total of 11-over 155.
Florida standout Bank Vongvanij, who fired a 6-under 66 in the opening round to take the early lead, held his two-shot advantage on the leaderboard after posting a 4-under 68 in the second round for a total of 10-under 134 for the championship. Vongvanij holds a two-stroke lead over Niclas Carlsson of Auburn and a three-stroke lead over Blayne Barber of Auburn in the individual standings.
For the second day in a row, LSU will tee off alongside Auburn and Florida as they begin Sunday’s third round at 8:30 a.m. CDT from the first tee. Live scoring of the final round of the Schenkel Invitational can be found online by logging on to Golfstat’s official website at www.golfstat.com.
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
1. Auburn 279-275 – 554 -22; 2. Florida 282-278 – 560 -16; 3. LSU 287-277 – 564 -12; 4. Virginia 288-277 – 565 -11; 5. NC State 292-278 – 570 -6; 6. North Florida 291-282 – 573 -3; T7. Notre Dame 291-287 – 578 +2; T7. Tennessee 289-289 – 578 +2; 9. Minnesota 301-280 – 581 +5; 10. Georgia Southern 297-285 – 582 +6; 11. North Carolina 292-292 – 584 +8; 12. Vanderbilt 302-287 – 589 +13; 13. Ole Miss 304-292 – 596 +20; 14. Kentucky 306-292 – 598 +22; 15. Mississippi State 303-302 – 605 +29.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 144)
1. Bank Vongvanij, Florida, 66-68 – 134 -10; 2. Niclas Carlsson, Auburn, 69-67 – 136 -8; 3. Blayne Barber, Auburn, 68-70 – 138 -6; T4. Austin Gutgsell, LSU, 69-70 – 139 -5; T4. Ben Kohles, Virginia, 70-69 – 139 -5; T4. Phillip Choi, Florida, 69-70 – 139 -5; T7. John Peterson, LSU, 69-71 – 140 -4; T7. Drew Guffey, Georgia Southern, 73-67 – 140 -4*; T7. Kyle Kopsick, Auburn, 71-69 – 140 -4; T10. Sang Yi, LSU, 73-68 – 141 -3; T10. Albin Choi, NC State, 74-67 – 141 -3; T10. Kevin Aylwin, North Florida, 70-71 – 141 -3; T10. Donald Constable, Minnesota, 75-66 – 141 -3; T10. Niall Platt, Notre Dame, 69-72 – 141 -3.
LSU SCORES
T4. Austin Gutgsell, 69-70 – 139 -5
T7. John Peterson, 69-71 – 140 -4
T10. Sang Yi, 73-68 – 141 -3
T32. Andrew Loupe, 76-69 – 145 +1
T43. Andrew Presley, 76-70 – 146 +2
T74. Clayton Rotz, 79-76 – 155 +11*
* – Denotes player competing as an individual.