BATON ROUGE – In the wake of their impressive second-place team finish at the Valspar Invitational at Floridian on March 24, the LSU Tigers have returned to the nation’s Top 10 teams once again as the No. 6-ranked team in the Golfweek Men’s Collegiate Team Rankings and the No. 7-ranked team in the Golfstat power rankings released over the past week.
The Tigers are up seven spots in Golfstat and four spots in Golfweek in the latest men’s rankings as they head down the homestretch of the 2015 regular season among the nation’s premier programs.
After winning their third team championship of the 2014-15 season on March 16 at the Talis Park Challenge at Talis Park Golf Club in Naples, Florida, they returned to the state of Florida and earned a runner-up finish in a loaded 13-team field at the Valspar Invitational at Floridian with a final score of 12-under par 840 to finish five shots off the pace set by No. 1-ranked Florida State (835).
Not only have the Tigers climbed back into the Top 10 of the national rankings on the strength of their performance, but five members of the team are ranked among the Top 100 players in the country this week with a lineup of seniors Stewart Jolly and Ben Taylor, junior Zach Wright and sophomores Brandon Pierce and Eric Ricard all eyeing postseason honors in 2015.
Pierce leads the group as the No. 26-ranked player nationally by Golfstat and the No. 28-ranked player nationally by Golfweek as he has earned a pair of top-10 finishes in his four tournament starts this spring, while he also leads the Tigers with a 70.58 scoring average on the season. Pierce tied for sixth place as the top Tiger on the leaderboard at the Valspar Invitational at Floridian held last week.
Ricard is ranked as high as No. 51 nationally by Golfweek and No. 66 nationally by Golfstat, while Wright is No. 55 by Golfstat and No. 75 by Golfweek in the latest individual player rankings released since last week.
After earning All-American honors after helping lead the Tigers to the semifinals of match play at the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships last spring, Jolly and Taylor are both pushing for All-American recognition once again in 2015 as Jolly ranks No. 76 in Golfweek and No. 99 in Golfstat and Taylor ranks No. 77 in Golfweek and No. 88 in Golfstat as they head down the stretch this season.
The Tigers will be wrapping up their 2015 regular season as the defending team champions at Texas A&M’s Aggie invitational that will be held Saturday and Sunday at Traditions Golf Club in Bryan, Texas.
The Tigers and Aggies were co-champions of the Aggie Invitational a year ago when they posted matching scores of 35-over par 899 ahead of the SEC Championships. This year’s Aggie Invitational will be the team’s last opportunity to prepare for the start of the championship season at the 2015 SEC Men’s Golf Championships that return to Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course in St. Simons Island, Georgia, from April 17-19.
Golfweek Men’s Collegiate Team Rankings (as of March 30)
Team, Rating
1. Florida State, 69.61
2. Illinois, 69.67
3. Texas, 69.80
4. Auburn, 69.93
5. Vanderbilt, 70.04
6. LSU, 70.11
7. South Carolina, 70.20
8. Stanford, 70.21
9. Texas Tech, 70.27
10. Arizona State, 70.28
11. Georgia Tech, 70.37
12. UCLA, 70.37
13. Southern California, 70.40
14. Baylor, 70.40
15. South Florida, 70.43
16. Oklahoma, 70.48
17. North Carolina, 70.49
18. Washington, 70.50
19. Oregon, 70.50
20. Oklahoma State, 70.52
21. Wake Forest, 70.56
22. California, 70.62
23. Alabama, 70.73
24. UNLV, 70.74
25. New Mexico, 70.84
Golfstat Top 25 (as of March 25)
1. Florida State
2. Arizona State
3. Texas
4. Illinois
5. South Carolina
6. Vanderbilt
7. LSU
8. Southern California
9. Oregon
10. Auburn
11. Washington
12. Texas Tech
13. Oklahoma
14. Baylor
15. UCLA
16. Georgia Tech
17. Stanford
18. South Florida
19. Oklahoma State
20. North Carolina
21. Kennesaw State
22. Virginia
23. California
24. Wake Forest
25. UNLV