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Thompson, Men's Golf in Second at Louisiana Classics

by Will Stafford (@WillStaffordLSU)
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Thompson, Men's Golf in Second at Louisiana Classics

LAFAYETTE, La. – Junior All-American Curtis Thompson fired back-to-back rounds of 4-under par 68 in the first and second rounds on Monday to lead the LSU Tigers into second place with an outstanding 36-hole team score of 14-under par 562 after the first day of competition at the 29th-annual Louisiana Classics tournament being held at Lafayette’s Oakbourne Country Club.

The Tigers followed a season-low 8-under par 280 in the first round with a 6-under par 282 in the second round Monday as they positioned themselves for their best team finish of the 2013-14 season.

While the Tigers trailed No. 9-ranked Illinois by only a single stroke following the first round, the Fighting Illini fired an impressive team score of 18-under par 270 in the afternoon to finish the day 13 shots clear atop the team standings with just 18 holes to play. They were among five teams in the 12-team field to break par for 36 holes during the first day of the competition.

Tournament host Louisiana-Lafayette followed in third place at 9-under par 567, while Louisiana Tech trailed in fourth place at 3-under par 573 and Tulsa rounded out the top five in fifth place at 2-under par 574.

Thompson was certainly the catalyst for the Tigers as he is also on the verge of his best tournament of the 2013-14 season after firing back-to-back rounds of 4-under par 68 to finish just one shot off the pace in second place with his 36-hole score of 8-under par 136 on the day. Thompson actually fired his lowest rounds of the season in relation to par with matching scores of 4-under par 68 to lead the way for the Tigers.

Thompson will tee off in Tuesday’s final round trailing Illinois’ Brian Campbell by just one shot after Campbell finished the day atop the leaderboard at 9-under par 135, including rounds of 3-under 69 and 6-under 66.

Thompson is not only in position to earn his second top-five and top-10 finish in three tournament starts to open the 2014 spring season, but he is also in position to challenge for his second collegiate title after winning his first at the 2012 Shoal Creek Intercollegiate during the fall of his sophomore year a season ago.

Senior Smylie Kaufman and sophomore Zach Wright matched one another shot-for-shot during Monday’s opener at the 29th-annual Louisiana Classics as they finished the day in a tie for 10th place on the leaderboard at 2-under par 142. Wright is seeking his second top-10 finish of the season, while Kaufman is looking to crack the Top 10 of the final leaderboard for the first time in 2013-14.

Rounding out LSU’s lineup during Monday’s action were junior Ben Taylor in a tie for 14th place at 1-under par 143 and junior Stewart Jolly in a tie for 23rd place at 1-over par 145.

Also within striking distance of the individual championship at the 29th-annual Louisiana Classics is LSU junior Myles Lewis, who led a trio of Tigers competing as individuals during the event by firing rounds of 3-under 69 and 1-under 71 to finish the day five shots off the pace in a tie for fifth place at 4-under par 140. Lewis, who tied for 15th place at the David Toms Intercollegiate during the fall for his best finish of the season, is in a four-way tie for fifth place on the leaderboard with his 36-hole score of 4-under 140.

Senior Landon Lyons and freshman Brandon Pierce each finished Monday’s action in a tie for 14th place with matching 36-hole scores of 1-under par 143 while also competing as individuals for the Tigers.

Pierce fired a career-low 2-under par 70 in the opening round before carding a 1-over par 73 in the afternoon as he hopes to improve upon his best finish of the season when he tied for 34th place in his collegiate debut at the Golfweek Conference Challenge during the fall season. Lyons also posted his lowest round of the 2013-14 season while opening the tournament with a 1-under 71.

As they were during Monday’s action, the Tigers are paired with Illinois and Louisiana-Lafayette in Tuesday’s final round as they will tee off on holes Nos. 1-3 with a shotgun start set for 8 a.m. CT. Fans can follow LSU at Golfstat’s website at www.golfstat.com as it will once again provide the live scoring for the final round of the event.

29TH-ANNUAL LOUISIANA CLASSICS – SECOND ROUND RESULTS

TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
1. Illinois 279-270 – 549 -27; 2. LSU 280-282 – 562 -14; 3. Louisiana-Lafayette 281-286 – 567 -9; 4. Louisiana Tech 294-279 – 573 -3; 5. Tulsa 286-288 – 574 -2; 6. Texas-San Antonio 299-283 – 582 +6; 7. New Mexico State 296-289 – 585 +9; T8. Illinois State 293-297 – 590 +14; T8. Texas State 295-295 – 590 +14; 10. Southeastern Louisiana 299-295 – 594 +18; 11. Southern Mississippi 299-299 – 598 +22; 12. Kansas 303-298 – 601 +25.

TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 144)
1. Brian Campbell, Illinois, 69-66 – 135 -9; 2. Curtis Thompson, LSU, 68-68 – 136 -8; 3. Chris Verrougstraete, Louisiana-Lafayette, 67-70 – 137 -7; 4. Thomas Detry, Illinois, 71-68 – 139 -5; T5. Myles Lewis, LSU, 69-71 – 140 -4*; T5. David Kim, Illinois, 68-72 – 140 -4; T5. Charlie Danielson, Illinois, 71-69 – 140 -4; T5. Logan McCracken, Tulsa, 69-71 – 140 -4; 9. Thomas Strandemo, Louisiana-Lafayette, 72-69 – 141 -3; T10. Smylie Kaufman, LSU, 70-72 – 142 -2; T10. Zach Wright, LSU, 70-72 – 142 -2; T10. Jack Lempke, Louisiana Tech, 71-71 – 142 -2; T10. Jonathan Hauter, Illinois, 75-67 – 142 -2.

LSU SCORES
2. Curtis Thompson, 68-68 – 136 -8
T5. Myles Lewis, 69-71 – 140 -4*
T10. Smylie Kaufman, 70-72 – 142 -2
T10. Zach Wright, 70-72 – 142 -2
T14. Ben Taylor, 72-71 – 143 -1
T14. Landon Lyons, 71-72 – 143 -1*
T14. Brandon Pierce, 70-73 – 143 -1*
T23. Stewart Jolly, 74-71 – 145 +1

* – Denotes player competing as an individual.