NAPLES, Fla. – After opening with a team score of 2-over par 286 in the first round, the No. 7-ranked LSU Tigers followed with the lowest score in the field with an 8-under par 276 in the second round to close out the afternoon just two shots off the pace in second place at 2-under 562 in Sunday’s opener at the Talis Park Challenge being held at Talis Park Golf Club.
With senior Stewart Jolly, junior Zach Wright and sophomore Eric Ricard each breaking par in the afternoon round, the Tigers climbed four spots up the standings in the second round to wrap up the day just two behind the No. 6-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores leading the way with a 36-hole team score of 8-under par 560.
Four teams broke par in Sunday’s opener at Talis Park Golf Club as the Tigers and Commodores were followed by Wichita State in third place at 2-under 566 and Texas A&M in fourth place at 1-under 567.
With their performance, the Tigers are poised to challenge for their third team championship of the 2014-15 season when they tee off in Monday’s final round looking to erase their two-shot deficit to defending event champion Vanderbilt. They have already been crowned the team champions as the Golfweek Conference Challenge and David Toms Intercollegiate back in the 2014 fall season.
Wright is leading the LSU lineup for the second time in as many starts as he wrapped up the day in a tie for fifth place on the leaderboard with a two-round total of 3-under par 139. After opening with a 1-over 72 in the morning, Wright followed with a bogey-free round of 4-under 67 in the afternoon in which he carded four birdies at the par-four 10th, par-four 14th, par-five 15th and par-four 18th holes to dip into red figures.
Wright’s 4-under 67 in the second round matched the best round of his junior season as he ended the day in position for a second top-10 finish on the spin after also leading the Tigers with a tie for 10th place during the team’s last outing at the Querencia Cabo Collegiate held at Querencia Golf Club in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, nearly two weeks ago.
Ricard also finds himself on the cusp of the Top 10 of the leaderboard as he will tee off in Monday’s final round in a tie for 11th place on the leaderboard at 1-under 141, including a 3-under 68 in the second round.
The lone Tiger to appear in each of LSU’s six previous tournaments of 2014-15 prior to the Talis Park Challenge, Ricard has his sights set on a team-leading fourth top-10 finish of the campaign. Like Wright, Ricard posted a bogey-free round in the afternoon as he picked up shots with a trio of birdies at the par-five eighth, par-four ninth and par-five 15th holes en route to a 3-under 68 in the second round.
Sophomore Brandon Pierce carded back-to-back rounds of even-par 71 to finish the day in a tie for 15th place at even-par 142, while Jolly and fellow senior Ben Taylor matched one another with scores of 1-over par 143 to tie for 21st place through 36 holes. Jolly followed a 2-over 73 in the morning with a 1-under 70 in the afternoon, while Taylor opened with a 1-under 70 followed by a 2-over 73 on the day.
Texas A&M’s Adria Arnaus, Toledo’s Otto Black and Florida Gulf Coast’s Jake Sherwin each set the pace while wrapping up the day two shots clear of the field in first place with matching scores of 7-under par 135.
The Tigers are paired with Vanderbilt and Wichita State in Monday’s final round as they will tee off from holes Nos. 1-4 with a shotgun start scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT at Talis Park Golf Club. Fans can follow the Tigers in action by tracking the live scoring of the final round on BirdieFire’s website at http://www.birdiefire.com.
TALIS PARK CHALLENGE – SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 568)
1. Vanderbilt 276-284 – 560 -8; 2. LSU 286-276 – 562 -6; 3. Wichita State 276-290 – 566 -2; 4. Texas A&M 284-283 – 567 -1; 5. Northern Illinois 282-290 – 572 +4; 6. Michigan State 285-293 – 578 +10; T7. Eastern Michigan 289-290 – 579 +11; T7. Florida Gulf Coast 291-288 – 579 +11; 9. Toledo 295-285 – 580 +12; 10. Xavier 292-289 – 581 +13; T11. Miami (OH) 290-292 – 582 +14; T11. Notre Dame 290-292 – 582 +14; 13. Ball State 289-298 – 587 +19; 14. Akron 294-301 – 595 +27; 15. Indiana 301-304 – 605 +37.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 142)
T1. Jake Sherwin, Florida Gulf Coast, 67-68 – 135 -7; T1. Otto Black, Toledo, 67-68 – 135 -7; T1. Adria Arnaus, Texas A&M, 66-69 – 135 -7; 4. Matthias Schwab, Vanderbilt, 66-71 – 137 -5; T5. Zach Wright, LSU, 72-67 – 139 -3; T5. Theo Humphrey, Vanderbilt, 69-70 – 139 -3; T7. Hunter Stewart, Vanderbilt, 69-71 – 140 -2; T7. Nick Huggins, Northern Illinois, 70-70 – 140 -2; T7. Chris Selfridge, Toledo, 73-67 – 140 -2; T7. Jose Montano, Xavier, 72-68 – 140 -2.
LSU SCORES
T5. Zach Wright, 72-67 – 139 -3
T11. Eric Ricard, 73-68 – 141 -1
T15. Brandon Pierce, 71-71 – 142 E
T21. Stewart Jolly, 73-70 – 143 +1
T21. Ben Taylor, 70-73 – 143 +1