PALM CITY, Fla. – The No. 9-ranked LSU Tigers wrapped up Monday’s opener at the Valspar Invitational at Floridian locked in a two-horse race for the team championship with the No. 2-ranked Florida State Seminoles after posting a 36-hole team score of 15-under par 553 for a one-shot lead in the event being held at Floridian Golf Club.
Senior All-Americans Stewart Jolly and Ben Taylor, junior Zach Wright and sophomore Brandon Pierce each cracked the Top 10 of the individual leaderboard to spark the Tigers into the overall lead with impressive team rounds of 11-under par 273 in the morning and 4-under par 280 in the afternoon to grab a one-shot lead over the nation’s second-ranked team in Florida State.
LSU’s opening-round 11-under 273 was the team’s second-lowest round in relation to par in eight tournament appearances in 2014-15 as the Tigers jumped out to a five-shot lead heading into the afternoon.
The Seminoles ended the day just one shot off the pace at 14-under par 554 as they are sure to square off for this year’s team title in Tuesday’s final round. No. 13-ranked South Carolina was the only other team in the 13-team field to break par in Monday’s opener as the Gamecocks ended the day 11 shots behind the Tigers with their 36-hole score of 4-under par 564.
Rounding out the Top 5 in the team standings through two rounds were No. 18-ranked South Florida in fourth place at even-par 568 and No. 7-ranked UCLA in fifth place at 6-over par 574 for the day.
Wright was the top Tiger on the day as he followed a 2-under 69 in the first round with a matching 2-under 69 in the second round while carding six birdies, one eagle and four bogeys on the day for his score of 4-under par 138 on the opening day of the competition. He ended the day in a tie for fifth place on the leaderboard to position himself for a second top-10 finish in his last three starts of the spring season.
Pierce continued the form he has shown throughout the spring season with rounds of 2-under 69 and 1-under 70 to finish the day five shots off the lead in a tie for seventh place overall at 3-under 139. Pierce, who has finished in the Top 20 in each of his three previous starts this spring, is now poised for a second top-10 finish of his own this season.
Jolly and Taylor each fired matching scores at 2-under par 140 to finish the day tied with one another for ninth place on the leaderboard. Jolly counted scores of 3-under 68 in the morning and 1-over 72 in the afternoon toward LSU’s team scores, while Taylor added a counting score of his own at 2-under 69 in the second round after opening with an even-par 71 in the first round in Monday’s opener at Floridian Golf Club.
Sophomore Eric Ricard fired LSU’s lowest individual round of the day with a 4-under 67 in the morning before finishing with a 3-over 74 in the afternoon to tie for 15th place with a score of 1-under par 141 on the day.
Texas A&M’s Greg Yates fired back-to-back rounds of 4-under 67 for an 8-under 134 to claim a two-shot lead over Illinois’ Thomas Detry and South Florida’s Rigel Fernandes in the race for medalist honors.
LSU will look to make it two wins in a row by closing out the victory at the Valspar Invitational at Floridian just one week after bring home the team championship from the Talis Park Challenge held at Talis Park Golf Club in Naples, Florida. By coming out on top at the Valspar Invitational at Floridian, the Tigers would claim a fourth team title in a season for the first time since 2010-11 and just the sixth time in the program’s history.
The Tigers are paired with the Seminoles and Gamecocks in Tuesday’s final round as they will tee off in the third wave off the front nine with tee times beginning at 8:33 a.m. CT. Golfstat will provide live scoring for the final round as fans can follow the Tigers in action throughout the day by logging on to http://www.golfstat.com.
VALSPAR INVITATIONAL AT FLORIDIAN – SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 568)
1. LSU 273-280 – 553 -15; 2. Florida State 278-276 – 554 -14; 3. South Carolina 285-279 – 564 -4; 4. South Florida 281-287 – 568 E; 5. UCLA 294-280 – 574 +6; 6. Oklahoma State 290-287 – 577 +9; 7. Texas A&M 290-289 – 579 +11; 8. Illinois 287-293 – 580 +12; T9. Georgia Tech 296-288 – 584 +16; T9. Houston 298-286 – 584 +16; 11. Kent State 300-290 – 590 +22; 12. Tennessee 298-296 – 594 +26; 13. Memphis 305-291 – 596 +28.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 142)
1. Greg Yates, Texas A&M, 67-67 – 134 -8; T2. Rigel Fernandes, South Florida, 66-70 – 136 -6; T2. Thomas Detry, Illinois, 67-69 – 136 -6; 4. Hank Lebioda, Florida State, 69-68 – 137 -5; T5. Zach Wright, LSU, 69-69 – 138 -4; T5. Josh Lee, Florida State, 68-70 – 138 -4; T7. Brandon Pierce, LSU, 69-70 – 139 -3; T7. Roman Robledo, Houston, 70-69 – 139 -3; T9. Stewart Jolly, LSU, 68-72 – 140 -2; T9. Ben Taylor, LSU, 71-69 – 140 -2; T9. Zack Maguire, Florida State, 74-66 – 140 -2; T9. Rowin Caron, Florida State, 67-73 – 140 -2; T9. Claudio Correa, South Florida, 69-71 – 140 -2; T9. Will Murphy, South Carolina, 70-70 – 142 -2.
LSU SCORES
T5. Zach Wright, 69-69 – 138 -4
T7. Brandon Pierce, 69-70 – 139 -3
T9. Stewart Jolly, 68-72 – 140 -2
T9. Ben Taylor, 71-69 – 140 -2
T15. Eric Ricard, 67-74 – 141 -1