ROCKY FACE, Ga. – LSU’s senior All-American Ben Taylor fired a bogey-free round of 5-under par 67 to finish the day tied atop the leaderboard, and the No. 9-ranked Tigers kicked off their season by posting a team score of 6-under par 282 to take second place in Friday’s opening round at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic being held at The Farm Golf Club.
The 2014 NCAA Semifinalists are just one shot off the pace set by Kennesaw State in the first round as the Owls fired a leading 7-under par 281 during Friday’s action at The Farm.
Taylor’s performance helped lead the Tigers into second place in an outstanding 14-team field with two rounds still to play with their season-opening round of 6-under par 282. LSU will tee off in the second round with a four-shot edge over the Alabama Crimson Tide, North Florida Ospreys and Wake Forest Demon Deacons in a tie for third place with matching scores of 2-under par 286 on the opening day of the event.
This marks the fourth-straight season in which the Tigers have opened the collegiate campaign by competing at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic as they earned their best finish of third place in the event a year ago.
After opening the championship with eight-straight pars on the front nine, Taylor made the turn at 1-under par for his round with his first birdie of the day at the par-five ninth hole. He then turned in a brilliant 4-under 32 on the back nine with a second-straight birdie at the par-four 10th hole, back-to-back birdies at the par-four 14th and par-five 15th holes and a birdie at the par-four 18th hole to close out his season-opening 5-under 67 while matching his career-low round as an LSU Tiger. Taylor twice fired a 5-under 67 a season a year ago.
Taylor matched the 5-under 67 turned in by Chattanooga’s Andrew Weathers as they tee off in Saturday’s second round with a narrow one-shot lead in the race for medalist honors. Kennesaw State’s Jimmy Beck and Wake Forest’s Davis Womble are each just one shot back with opening 4-under 68s, followed by a host of six golfers just two shots back in a tie for fifth place at 3-under 69.
Senior All-American Stewart Jolly and junior standout Zach Wright each chipped it with scores of 1-under par 71 on Friday afternoon to finish the day on the cusp of the Top 10 of the leaderboard in a tie for 13th place as Jolly carded four birdies and three bogeys and Wright added three birdies with two bogeys on his card in the opening round.
Rounding out the first-round scoring for the Tigers was sophomore Eric Ricard, who posted a 1-over par 73 to finish the day in a tie for 24th place overall and help the Tigers finish with a 6-under 282 for the round.
Blake Caldwell made his collegiate debut for the Tigers on Friday as he shot a 5-over par 77 to finish the day in a tie for 59th place in the individual standings. The freshman from Ponchatoula, Louisiana, was impressive to start with back-to-back birdies on the second and third holes before making the turn at even-par for his round and holding steady at even par through 14 holes on the day.
The Tigers are paired with Alabama and Kennesaw State in Saturday’s second round at The Farm Golf Club as they will tee off from the front nine beginning at 8 a.m. CT. Live scoring of the second and third rounds with the 26th-annual Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic will be provided by Golfstat and can be found online at http://www.golfstat.com.
26TH CARPET CAPITAL COLLEGIATE CLASSIC – FIRST ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 288)
1. Kennesaw State 281 -7; 2. LSU 282 -6; T3. Alabama 286 -2; T3. North Florida 286 -2; T3. Wake Forest 286 -2; 6. Clemson 287 -1; T7. South Carolina 291 +3; T7. Chattanooga 291 +3; 9. Georgia Tech 293 +5; 10. Auburn 294 +6; 11. Tennessee 296 +8; T12. Middle Tennessee State 300 +12; T12. North Florida 300 +12; 14. Florida 312 +24.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 72)
T1. Ben Taylor, LSU, 67 -5; T1. Andrew Weathers, Chattanooga, 67 -5; T3. Jimmy Beck, Kennesaw State, 68 -4; T3. Davis Womble, Wake Forest, 68 -4; T5. Austin Vick, Kennesaw State, 69 -3; T5. Chad Merzbacher, Tennessee, 69 -3; T5. Kelby Burton, Kennesaw State, 69 -3; T5. William Register, North Carolina, 69 -3; Miller Capps, Clemson, 69 -3; T5. Robby Shelton, Alabama, 69 -3.
LSU SCORES
T1. Ben Taylor, 67 -5
T13. Stewart Jolly, 71 -1
T13. Zach Wright, 71 -1
T24. Eric Ricard, 73 +1
T59. Blake Caldwell, 77 +5