CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico – After opening the championship with a score of 1-over par 72 in Sunday’s first round in his first action of the 2015 spring season, LSU junior Zach Wright added an even-par round of 71 in Monday’s second round to crack the Top 20 of the leaderboard in a tie for 17th place at the Querencia Cabo Collegiate at Querencia Golf Club.
Wright wrapped up the day as the top Tiger once again with a 36-hole score of 1-over par 143 to tie for 17th place overall and three shots outside the Top 10 of the leaderboard heading into the final round.
After teeing off from hole No. 15 in Monday’s shotgun start at 10 a.m. CT, Wright dropped his only shots of the day with a triple bogey at the par-four 16th hole to drop to 3-over par for his round. But Wright rebounded straightaway with a birdie at the par-four 17th hole to make the turn at 2-over par before adding two birdies on his final two holes of the round at the par-three eighth and par-five ninth holes for an even-par 71.
Wright is seeking his first top-10 finish of his junior season after entering the week on the back of three-straight finishes tying for 13th place in his last three appearances of the 2014 fall season. He is poised to guide LSU across the finish line as the leading Tiger at Querencia Cabo Collegiate in his 2015 spring season debut.
Wright’s performance highlighted Monday’s round for the No. 3-ranked Tigers as they ended the day in 13th place in the team standings with a 36-hole team score of 17-over par 585. After opening the tournament in a round of 8-over par 292 on Sunday, the Tigers added a round of 9-over par 293 on Monday to finish the day at 17-over par 585 through two rounds of the competition.
Rounding out LSU’s scorers on the day were sophomores Brandon Pierce and Eric Ricard with matching rounds of 1-over 72 and senior All-American Stewart Jolly with a 7-over 78 in Monday’s action.
Pierce followed his 2-over 73 in the opening round with a 1-over 72 in the second round to finish the day in a tie for 30th place individually at 3-over par 145 for the championship. Ricard matched Pierce with a score of 1-over 72 on Monday after opening with a 4-over 75 on Sunday to tie for 39th place at 5-over par 147 heading into Tuesday’s final round. Jolly ended the day in a tie for 61st place overall at 10-over par 152.
After equaling Pierce’s performance with a 2-over 73 in the first round, senior Myles Lewis added a 10-over 81 to his tournament score to wrap up Monday’s competition in a tie for 65th-place at 12-over par 154.
No. 15-ranked South Florida has overtaken No. 2-ranked Florida State for the overall team lead on the strength of a 1-under 283 in the second round following its 8-under 284 in the first round. The Bulls finished up the day one shot clear of No. 10-ranked Stanford with a two-day total of 9-under 559. After teeing off with a leading 9-under 275 in the first round, the Seminoles fell three shots behind South Florida in the race for the win with their 3-over 287 on Monday afternoon for a 36-hole team score of 6-under par 562.
Washington’s Cheng-Tsung Pan, Stanford’s Viraat Badhwar and South Florida’s Rigel Fernandes are locked in a tight race for the individual title after wrapping up Monday’s round tied atop the leaderboard with 36-hole scores of 7-under par 135 for the championship. Washington’s Corey Pereira followed two shots back in fourth place at 5-under par 137 in the standings.
The Tigers are paired with Arkansas Razorbacks and Rice Owls in Tuesday’s final round and will tee off from holes Nos. 15-18 with a shotgun start set for 9 a.m. CT. Golfstat will provide the live scoring for the final round at this year’s Querencia Cabo Collegiate as fans can follow the Tigers in action by logging on to http://www.golfstat.com.
QUERENCIA CABO COLLEGIATE – SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 568)
1. South Florida 276-283 – 559 -9; 2. Stanford 282-278 – 560 -8; 3. Florida State 275-287 – 562 -6; 4. Washington 282-281 – 563 -5; T5. Wake Forest 285-289 – 574 +6; T5. Vanderbilt 287-287 – 574 +6; 7. Houston 285-290 – 575 +7; T8. Baylor 288-290 – 578 +10; T8. Ole Miss 287-291 – 578 +10; T8. Kentucky 290-288 – 578 +10; 11. Lamar 286-296 – 582 +14; 12. Arkansas 291-293 – 584 +16; 13. LSU 292-293 – 585 +17; 14. Rice 300-297 – 597 +29.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 142)
T1. Cheng-Tsung Pan, Washington, 68-67 – 135 -7; T1. Viraat Badhwar, Stanford, 67-68 – 135 -7; T1. Rigel Fernandes, South Florida, 64-71 – 135 -7; 4. Corey Pereira, Washington, 69-68 – 137 -5; T5. Will Zalatoris, Wake Forest, 70-68 – 138 -4; T5. Rowin Caron, Florida State, 67-71 – 138 -4; T7. Chase Koepka, South Florida, 69-70 – 139 -3; T7. Roman Robledo, Houston, 69-70 – 139 -3; T7. Kyle Jones, Baylor, 69-70 – 139 -3; 10. Hank Lebioda, Florida State, 67-73 – 140 -2.
LSU SCORES
T17. Zach Wright, 72-71 – 143 +1
T30. Brandon Pierce, 73-72 – 145 +3
T39. Eric Ricard, 75-72 – 147 +5
T61. Stewart Jolly, 74-78 – 152 +10
T65. Myles Lewis, 73-81 – 154 +12