ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The No. 7-ranked LSU Tigers cut Alabama’s lead at the top of the team standings at the 2015 SEC Men’s Golf Championships to just three shots at the end of the second round as they fired the lowest team score of the day at 8-under par 272 on Saturday in the event being held at Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course this weekend.
After opening the championship with a round of 6-under par 274 on Friday, the Tigers teed off Saturday morning in second place and facing a five-shot deficit to the three-time defending SEC Champion Crimson Tide at the top of the team standings. The roles were reversed in the second round as the Tigers cut Alabama’s lead by two shots with an 8-under 272 for the leading score in the field on the day.
The top two teams from last year’s tournament will battle it out once again for the SEC Championship as Alabama tops the charts at 17-under 543 followed by LSU in second place at 14-under 546 for 36 holes.
With the Tigers trailing the Crimson Tide by just three shots at the top of the team standings heading into Sunday’s final round, No. 5-ranked Vanderbilt and No. 6-ranked South Carolina find themselves seven back this weekend in a tie for third place at 10-under par 550, while No. 15-ranked Auburn rounds out the Top 5 of the overall team standings in fifth place at 9-under par 551.
Three Tigers wrapped up Saturday’s action among the Top 10 of the SEC leaderboard as they were paced in the second round by junior Zach Wright with a team-leading 4-under par 66 and both senior Stewart Jolly and sophomore Brandon Pierce with matching scores of 2-under par 68. They also added a counting score of even-par 70 by senior Ben Taylor.
Pierce is the top Tiger through two rounds in his SEC debut as he is tied for fifth place at 5-under par 135, while Jolly and Wright both follow in a tie for eighth place overall at 4-under par 136 through two rounds.
“The key to our day was consistency, and that’s been the story of our spring,” said LSU head coach Chuck Winstead in the wake of the team’s performance. “When you have five guys all kind of in it and playing well for the team, it gives you a good chance. We know we can’t do anything about the other teams that are here. There are great teams with great players here. All we can do is play our game and see how it stacks up.”
It was certainly Wright turning in the round of the day for the Tigers as he carded a bogey-free 4-udner 66 for his second-lowest round in three appearances at the SEC Championships. Wright dipped into red figures on the day with birdies par-three third and par-four fourth holes before making the turn at 3-under par following a birdie at the par-five seventh hole. He then added a fourth birdie on the day at the par-four 16th hole in a round of 66, coming up just one shot short of his SEC-best 5-under 65 in last year’s final round.
Like Wright, Jolly signed an unblemished scorecard as he carded two birdies with no bogeys en route to a 2-under par 68 on the day. Jolly turned at 2-under par for his round thanks to birdies at the par-four second and par-four ninth holes before bringing it home in a round of 68 to move up three spots on the leaderboard into a tie for eighth place overall for the championship.
Pierce canceled out birdies at the par-four second, par-four fourth, par-four fifth and par-five 15th holes with just two bogeys at the par-three 12th and par-four 18th holes to match Jolly’s effort with a 68 of his own.
Taylor’s counting score of even-par 70 moved him eight spots up the leaderboard from his position at the start of the day as he wrapped up Saturday’s second round in a tie for 39th place at 3-over par 143. Adding his 1-over par 71 on Saturday afternoon was sophomore Eric Ricard, who ended the round in a tie for 23rd place overall at even-par 140 for the weekend.
Not only is there a tight race at the top for the team championship at this year’s SEC Men’s Golf Championships, but there is also a battle for the individual crown with South Carolina’s Matthew NeSmith adding a round of 6-under 64 in the second round to his 5-under 65 in the first round to claim a one-shot advantage at 11-under par 129 for the tournament. Alabama’s Robby Shelton follows just one shot back in second place with his 36-hole score of 10-under par 130, including back-to-back rounds of 5-under 65. Arkansas’ Kolton Crawford trails two shots back in third place at 9-under par 131 through two rounds.
The Tigers are paired with Alabama and Vanderbilt in Sunday’s final round at this year’s SEC Men’s Golf Championships as they will tee off in the final wave off the front nine beginning at 8:10 a.m. CT. Golfstat will again provide the live scoring of the final round of the championship as fans can follow the Tigers in action online at http://www.golfstat.com.
2015 SEC MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS – SECOND ROUND RESULTS
TEAM SCORES (Par 560)
1. Alabama 269-274 – 543 -17; 2. LSU 274-272 – 546 -14; T3. Vanderbilt 276-274 – 550 -10; T3. South Carolina 275-275 – 550 -10; 5. Auburn 275-276 – 551 -9; 6. Arkansas 279-275 – 554 -6; 7. Florida 282-276 – 558 -2; 8. Georgia 282-277 – 559 -1; 9. Ole Miss 288-278 – 566 +6; T10. Kentucky 284-284 – 568 +8; T10. Texas A&M 286-282 – 568 +8; 12. Missouri 287-283 – 570 +10; 13. Tennessee 284-292 – 576 +16; 14. Mississippi State 289-297 – 586 +26.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (Par 140)
1. Matthew NeSmith, South Carolina, 65-64 – 129 -11; 2. Robby Shelton, Alabama, 65-65 – 130 -10; 3. Kolton Crawford, Arkansas, 65-66 – 131 -9; 4. Ben Schlottman, Auburn, 67-65 – 132 -8; T5. Brandon Pierce, LSU, 67-68 – 135 -5; T5. Theo Humphrey, Vanderbilt, 68-67 – 135 -5; T5. Ryan Benton, Auburn, 69-66 – 135 -5; T8. Zach Wright, LSU, 70-66 – 136 -4; T8. Stewart Jolly, LSU, 68-68 – 136 -4; T8. JD Tomlinson, Florida, 70-66 – 136 -4.
LSU SCORES
T5. Brandon Pierce, 67-68 – 135 -5
T8. Zach Wright, 70-66 – 136 -4
T8. Stewart Jolly, 68-68 – 136 -4
T23. Eric Ricard, 69-71 – 140 E
T39. Ben Taylor, 73-70 – 143 +3