PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – LSU’s Sang Yi leads the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational after one round, as the senior fired a career-best 5-under-par 67 on a breezy Sunday at Sawgrass Country Club.
Yi, who led the Tigers to a runner-up finish at Sawgrass in 2010, bogeyed the opening hole before picking up birdies on the par-three third and sixth holes, and adding two more on the par-five eighth and 11th holes. After a bogey on No. 13, Yi birdied Nos. 15, 17 and 18 to card his best round relative to par as a collegiate.
Yi leads Coastal Carolina’s Sebastian Soderberg and TCU’s Julien Brun and Johan de Beer by one stroke entering Monday’s second round. Only eight players broke par at the East-West Course which played host to the PGA TOUR’s Players Championship from 1977-81.
In its spring debut, the 14th-ranked Tigers shot 10-over 298 and are tied for fourth place with tournament host North Florida. Central Florida leads at 6-over 294, one shot better than Tennessee and two strokes ahead of Coastal Carolina.
LSU will tee off at 7:45 a.m. CT on Monday with the Ospreys and defending champion Arkansas. After winning the John Hayt in 2009, the Tigers are looking for a fourth top-three finish at the event in as many seasons.
LSU sophomore Andrew Presley had an even-par round derailed at the 16th hole with a triple-bogey 7 to finish at 3-over 75 and in a tie for 24th place. Sophomore Franco Castro added a 5-over 77, while sophomore Smylie Kaufman finished at 7-over 79 and freshman Curtis Thompson shot 8-over 80.
Though winds are expected to lay down Monday, there’s a 70 percent chance of thunder showers.
Live scoring of the event will be provided by Golfstat and can be found online at www.golfstat.com. LSU fans can also receive live updates on the Tigers throughout the three days of the event by liking LSU Men’s Golf on Facebook and following @LSUMensGolf on Twitter.
The 54-hole event is scheduled to conclude Tuesday.
JOHN HAYT INVITATIONAL – FIRST ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 288)
1. Central Florida 294 +6; 2. Tennessee 295 +7; 3. Coastal Carolina 296 +8; T4. LSU 298 +10; T4. North Texas 298 +10; 6. Arkansas 299 +11; T7. Ole Miss 300 +12; T7. North Florida 300 +12; T7. TCU 300 +12; T7. Jacksonville 300 +12; 11. Tulsa 304 +16; 12. Furman 306 +18; 13. UAB 307 +19; 14. Mercer 309 +21; 15. Georgia Southern 316 +28.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 72)
1. Sang Yi, LSU, 67 -5; T2. Johan de Beer, TCU, 68 -4; T2. Sebastian Soderberg, Coastal Carolina, 68 -4; T2. Julien Brun, TCU, 68 -4; 5. Jose Joia, Central Florida, 69 -3; T6. Rodolfo Cazaubon, North Texas, 71 -1; T6. Jamey Salmon, Jacksonville, 69 -3; T6. Brad Schneider, Central Florida, 71 -1; T9. Jay Vandeventer, Tennessee, 72 E; T9. Mark Mumford, Tulsa, 72 E; T9. Joe David, Ole Miss, 72 E.
LSU SCORES
1. Sang Yi, 67 -5
T24. Andrew Presley, 75 +3
T40. Franco Castro, 77 +5
T57. Smylie Kaufman, 79 +7
T67. Curtis Thompson, 80 +8