BURLINGTON, Iowa – After teeing off in Monday’s second round with an eight-shot lead in the overall team standings, the No. 9-ranked LSU Tigers more than doubled their advantage over the rest of the field at the Golfweek Conference Challenge with a strong 7-under par 281 on the afternoon in the event being held at Spirit Hollow Golf Club.
With morning thunderstorms rolling through the Burlington area, the start of the second round was delayed four hours as the Tigers teed off with the rest of the 12-team field in a shotgun start at 1 p.m. CT.
Led by Stewart Jolly‘s 6-under 66, the Tigers turned in a team round of 7-under par 281 on Monday after opening with a 10-under par 278 on Sunday to take a commanding 17-shot lead over the SMU Mustangs looking ahead to Tuesday’s finale. Host Iowa wrapped up the day in third place at 11-over 587, followed by Southeastern Louisiana in fourth place at 15-over 591 and Eastern Michigan in fifth place at 17-over 593.
LSU looks to bring home its first team championship of the 2014 fall season after kicking off the campaign a week ago by tying for sixth place at the 26th-annual Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic.
The Tigers have taken over the leaderboard with their performance on Monday afternoon as Jolly jumped out to a seven-shot lead over sophomore teammate Eric Ricard with his combined score of 11-under 133 over two rounds. LSU’s senior All-American has carded 12 birdies and just one bogey in 36 holes of competition while posting team-leading rounds of 5-under 67 and 6-under 66 at the Golfweek Conference Challenge.
The Birmingham, Alabama, native is now poised to defend his tournament crown after sharing medalist honors in the event a year ago while staking claim to his third career individual title at the collegiate level. He won his first career tournament championship early in his sophomore season at the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate held in his hometown during the 2012 fall campaign.
Jolly has certainly caught fire to kick off his senior season as he is now a cumulative 20-under par in his five rounds played between the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic and Golfweek Conference Challenge.
Ricard is on the cusp of his first collegiate top-10 finish after following Jolly across the finish line on Monday in second place on the leaderboard with his two-round total of 4-under par 140. The Shreveport product fired a 1-under 71 in the second round after opening the tournament with a career-low 3-under 69 on Sunday to trail Jolly by seven shots on the leaderboard.
Senior All-American Ben Taylor and junior Zach Wright have also cracked the Top 5 of the leaderboard through two rounds at the Golfweek Conference Challenge after matching one another for a second-straight time, rounding out the scoring for the Tigers with rounds of even-par 72. They will tee off in Tuesday’s final round in a tie for fifth place with matching 36-hole scores of 1-under par 215.
Freshman Blake Caldwell followed his career-low 1-over 73 on Sunday with a 7-over 79 on Monday for a total score of 8-over par 152 to finish the day in a tie for 35th place in the individual standings.
The Tigers are again paired with second-place SMU and third-place Iowa in Tuesday’s final round as they will tee off from holes Nos. 1-4 with a shotgun start scheduled for 8:30 a.m. CT. Fans can follow the Tigers during the final round by going online to http://www.golfstat.com as Golfstat will provide the live scoring for the finale.
GOLFWEEK CONFERENCE CHALLENGE – SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 576)
1. LSU 278-281 – 559 -17; 2. SMU 287-289 – 576 E; 3. Iowa 286-301 – 587 +11; 4. Southeastern Louisiana 295-296 – 591 +15; 5. Eastern Michigan 293-300 – 593 +17; 6. San Jose State 294-300 – 594 +18; 7. Oregon State 301-294 – 595 +19; 8. Texas State 295-301 – 596 +20; 9. Austin Peay 299-303 – 602 +26; 10. Richmond 307-299 – 606 +30; 11. Xavier 298-318 – 616 +40; 12. UTEP 304-315 – 619 +43.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUAL (Par 144)
1. Stewart Jolly, LSU, 67-66 – 133 -11; 2. Eric Ricard, LSU, 69-71 – 140 -4; 3. Austin Smotherman, SMU, 68-73 – 141 -3; 4. Austin Kramer, Austin Peay, 70-72 – 142 -2; T5. Ben Taylor, LSU, 71-72 – 143 -1; T5. Zach Wright, LSU, 71-72 – 143 -1; T7. Grady Brame, Southeastern Louisiana, 72-72 – 144 E; T7. Baptiste Courtachon, Southeastern Louisiana, 72-72 – 144 E; T7. Cody Blick, San Jose State, 73-71 – 144 E; T7. Carson Schaake, Iowa, 71-73 – 144 E.
LSU SCORES
1. Stewart Jolly, 67-66 – 133 -11
2. Eric Ricard, 69-71 – 140 -4
T5. Ben Taylor, 71-72 – 143 -1
T5. Zach Wright, 71-72 – 143 -1
T35. Blake Caldwell, 73-79 – 152 +8