ROCKY FACE, Ga. – Senior All-American Stewart Jolly and junior standout Zach Wright each fired rounds of 2-under par 70 to lead the No. 9-ranked LSU Tigers into a fight for the team title in a five-way tie for first place in the team standings in the wake of Saturday’s second round at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic being held this weekend at The Farm Golf Club.
The Tigers teed off on Saturday morning just one shot off the pace in second place after opening the championship with an impressive season-opening 6-under par 282 in Friday’s first round. They broke par once again with a 1-under par 287 on Saturday for five-way tie for first place overall with a 36-hole score of 7-under par 569.
The Auburn Tigers lit up The Farm Golf Club with a tournament-low round of 13-under 275 on the second day of the competition to catapult themselves from 10th place into a tie for the team lead. Georgia Tech fired an impressive 12-under 276 during Saturday’s action to also move into a tie for the top spot after opening the day just one spot better than Auburn in ninth place overall.
Alabama and Kennesaw State round out the teams at the top of the leaderboard with two-day totals of 7-under par 569 as this year’s team championship is certainly up for grabs in Sunday’s final round.
In fact, nine teams will tee off Sunday morning within four shots of the lead as Clemson follows the leaders two shots back in sixth place at 5-under par 571, South Carolina trails three shots back in seventh place overall at 4-under par 572 and both Wake Forest and Chattanooga have also broken par for two rounds in a tie for eighth place at 3-under par 573.
Jolly and Wright have matched one another shot-for-shot through 36 holes at the 26th-annual Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic after firing matching rounds of 2-under 70 to lead the way for the Tigers on Saturday after a first round that saw both All-America hopefuls hole out with scores of 1-under 71 on Friday afternoon.
Senior All-American Ben Taylor continues to lead as the top Tiger on the leaderboard as he followed a bogey-free 5-under par 67 on Friday with a 1-over par 73 on Saturday to finish the day in a tie for sixth place on the board with his two-day total of 4-under par 140. Taylor carded two birdies with three bogeys during Saturday’s action after posting five birdies with no bogeys in Friday’s opening round.
Taylor will tee off in the final round four shots off the pace set by Georgia Tech All-American Ollie Schniederjans, who fired a tournament-low 8-under 64 on the day to 17 spots up the leaderboard into first place.
Rounding out the scoring for the ninth-ranked Tigers on the second day of the competition were sophomore Eric Ricard and freshman Blake Caldwell, who each posted matching rounds of 2-over par 74 as LSU carded a team score of 1-under par 287 on the day. Ricard ended the day in a tie for 42nd place at 3-over par 147 followed by Caldwell in a tie for 59th place at 7-over par 151 for the championship.
The Tigers will tee off in the final wave off the front nine in Sunday’s final round as they are paired with SEC rivals Alabama and Auburn with tee times beginning at 8 a.m. CT. Golfstat will provide live scoring of the third round of the 26th-annual Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic as fans can follow the Tigers in action online at http://www.golfstat.com.
26th CARPET CAPITAL COLLEGIATE CLASSIC – SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 564)
T1. LSU 282-287 – 569 -7; T1. Auburn 294-275 – 569 -7; T1. Alabama 286-283 – 569 -7; T1. Kennesaw State 281-288 – 569 -7; T1. Georgia Tech 293-276 – 569 -7; 6. Clemson 287-284 – 571 -5; 7. South Carolina 291-281 – 572 -4; T8. Wake Forest 286-287 – 573 -3; T8. Chattanooga 291-282 – 573 -3; 10. Tennessee 296-280 – 576 E; 11. North Carolina 286-291 – 577 +1; 12. North Florida 300-292 – 592 +16; 13. Middle Tennessee State 300-299 – 599 +23; 14. Florida 312-288 – 600 +24.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 144)
1. Ollie Schniederjans, Georgia Tech, 72-64 – 136 -8; 2. Robby Shelton, Alabama, 69-68 – 137 -7; T3. Miller Capps, Clemson, 69-69 – 138 -6; T3. Davis Womble, Wake Forest, 68-70 – 138 -6; 5. Matt Gilchrest, Auburn, 73-66 – 139 -5; T6. Ben Taylor, LSU, 67-73 – 140 -4; T6. Will Starke, South Carolina, 73-67 – 140 -4; T6. Brandon Dalinka, North Carolina, 70-70 – 140 -4; T9. Stewart Jolly, LSU, 71-70 – 141 -3; T9. Zach Wright, LSU, 71-70 – 141 -3; T9. Cody Proveaux, Clemson, 70-71 – 141 -3; T9. Austin Vick, Kennesaw State, 69-72 – 141 -3; T9. Chad Merzbacher, Tennessee, 69-72 – 141 -3; T9. Dru Love, Alabama, 71-70 – 141 -3; T9. Jimmy Beck, Kennesaw State, 68-73 – 141 -3.
LSU SCORES
T6. Ben Taylor, 67-73 – 140 -4
T9. Stewart Jolly, 71-70 – 141 -3
T9. Zach Wright, 71-70 – 141 -3
T42. Eric Ricard, 73-74 – 147 +3
T59. Blake Caldwell, 77-74 – 151 +7